Friday, October 30, 2009

What do you know about 50% humidity, 90 degree heat, and a chance of storms?

So I now take back all of the bad things I had been saying about the cold(ish) Buenos Aires weather thus far.
I no longer am perusing the overpriced boutiques for a clearance-priced chunky sweater.
Yesterday my roommates and I woke up naturally around 9 because we were sweating.
Today, our entire house (or at least those who didn't have anything imperative to do) sat around on the living room level of our house in utter stillness. Moving is asking for it.
Out on our patio, I took about 15 minutes to hand wash my white clothing, and came back into the kitchen literally dripping with sweat.
Other than the intense heat the last few days, not too much has been going on.
I finished by behemoth 80 page translation two days ago at my internship... I started doing small projects at my internship yesterday, and I think I might be useful this month! Maybe.
Besos,
Breezy

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Tags and Stencils


The graffiti tour of BA yesterday was awesome... There is such a rich history of street art (tagging, stenciling, graphic art) here, it's impressive. Our tour was mostly in the areas of Colegiales, Villa Crespo, and Palermo. The guide we had was not native, but she was working closely with the artists in the area to promote their work, get them gallery showings around the world, and promote small galleries that are speckled throughout BA. Our tour was about 3 hours long, walking, and about 10 minutes by taxi. She talked about how there are various groups of graffiti artists here; one group that started in a University in BA working with graphic design and fine art, a group that is traditional in their tagging, and another that is a mixture, using stencils, paper, tag and fine art elements. The pictures I took show a little bit of it all...
It was pretty cool actually that by the end of the tour I could recognize a few of the artist's styles as well as which group they originated from.
Another pretty interesting thing was that throughout our tour, we could actually see the 'graffiti turf war' that was going on. We would pass by an elaborately created graphic art-inspired mural that had distinctive  tagging over the top of it, in an attempt to re-claim territory and artistic space.
The tour was only a small chunk of the art I think is out on the streets of BA, and I intend to find some cool spots on my own. Lucky for me, the BA government, as well as the portenos, are pretty relaxed and accepting of this art being spread across their storefronts, walls, and bus stations, so I will not be hard pressed in my quest.
Besos,
Breezy

Thursday, October 15, 2009

¡La Boca!


Today I went to the infamous La Boca pedestrian area... Honestly it has become such a tourist trap (tons of little stores with postcards, guacho gear, leather, scarves,) that it isn't much other than colorful. And how colorful it is! It's visually the coolest little 3 blocks I've seen in Buenos Aires... It has cobblestone streets, tango shows at nearly every cafe you pass by, and tons of freshly painted tin and cement. There are stores, houses, and cafes all with colorful signs, window-frames, and doors. If you can keep your (expensive and pretty) camera close enough and brush off the restaurant owners and men that try to whisk you into a tango, then it's a nice little walk to take. One more small task checked off of the 'Buenos Aires To-Do List.'

Photos are HERE at my good 'ol Picasa site, as well some pictures I forgot to mention in my last post. They are of me, my roomies, and friends out and about, in case you were craving some actual faces in my pictures! Here is my album, an ode to the Long, Long Nights here in the city that honestly must never sleep.
Besos,
Breezy

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Playing Hooky


I didn't go into my internship today and went with some girls from the house to ramble around Recoleta and go to the HUGE cemetery again. It was so worth it! We saw some fruit stands that we drooled over (left) and a little bit of cool, Banksy-esque stencil graffiti (I'm preparing myself for the graffiti tour I'm taking this weekend.) My camera is going out so much more now... it's a good thing too, the weather is beginning to be unbelievably beautiful.

Tomorrow I foresee another day of little work (minus the translating I'm doing,) and lots of play.
As for work (at Conciencia) I still have not gone to the promised barrio for surveying, but I mean, as I have mentioned previously, things move at lava pace in this country. I am patiently waiting for a call, and then off I will go by train to change the world (okay, or maybe just a neighborhood in northern BA.)
My other time-consuming project now is translating a document from the Conflict Center from english into spanish essentially for the Ministry of Education in BA. I'm under the assumption that they will be using this teaching manual/class structure for the jails... Although I'm not positive. Anyway it is very time sensitive (aka done by November) so I'm having to crank out a good 4 pages of translation per sunny day in order to finish the 80 page monster in time.
All is well, in fact better than well...
Here is my new photo album, Wandering Recoleta, and make sure to check out my album Week One Recoleta if you love the cemetery pics, I added a few more from the previous visit. I'm finally figuring out Picassa 3.5 for my Mac.
Besos,
Breezy

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Domingo en San Telmo

My friends and I went to the wonderful market or ferria in San Telmo (the tango quarter) today. I was under the impression that it was small, with it's focus on antiques, tango clothing, and other traditional Argentine goods. I was wrong. It was massive, with everything from antique leather, plastic sunglasses, Indian scarves, and art. We walked about 10 blocks of it, got the biggest empanadas I have ever seen (we're talking calzone-sized,) and returned to quiet Recoleta.
I think that it has taken me this long to realize how quaint Recoleta is compared to the rest of Buenos Aires. Microcentro is insane, with 9 de Julio (one of the largest avenues in the world, it takes like 4 or 5 island-hops before you get to the other side,) San Telmo has its bustling market, and Palermo with its busy shopping quarter.
I braved the pickpocketers and professional landrones and took out my precious camera a few times.... and under the Caos y Belleza album title, are the photographs I captured: New photographs!


Besos
XoXo,
Breezy

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Ice cream prices rose $2 pesos per size today! The travesty!

It seems as though another week in Buenos Aires has slipped through my fingers somehow!

I have been battling the inevitable cold/congestion/allergies thing for the last week (as is the rest of our house,) but today was the first without serious consideration of visiting Pharmacity, so things are looking up for the weekend!
Anyway let me first say that these Argentines have a very loose sense of 'Spring' or Primavera... I have been here now for about 3 weeks, most of which were considered to be part of the 'Spring' season, but I have only once or twice been comfortable in my capris and long sleeved t-shirts. It has been unbelievably chilly! I have been scrounging the sale racks at all of the little boutiques near our house for a huge, chunky sweater for days (and nights) like the ones we have had lately.
On the plus side, the forecast for this next 10 day set seems to hold lots of sol (sun) and warmish temperatures! Break out the Havaianas and the shorts, baby!

Moving on from the temperature...
I only went into my internship once this week due to my 'illness,' but, when I did go, it was worth my visit! The coordinators at work gave me an opportunity to shadow some Conciencia people who are working in cohorts with PepsiCo to survey a barrio in Northern BA that is notoriously impoverished. They are going to be asking a variety of questions of the residents here in order to create a database that will allow Conciencia (and maybe other aide-based organizations) to better serve their community and create programs for their neighborhood. Anyway, I should be hearing back from my program coordinator, or at least just see her on Tuesday to clear up the details and such. If it turns out the way I want it to, I will be working a few more hours per week for the entire month of October! There are some other little side project type things in the mix too, if they develop, you will be sure to hear about them.

My roommates are moving out this weekend into posh, expensive housing in Palermo SoHo, and I'm going to miss having them around, but gratefully there is a kind of constant trickle of new, cool people flowing in from all over the world.
This weekend promises a craft market in San Telmo, the tango quarter, an asado (Argentine grill-out,) yoga, some shopping, and a few very, very late nights (or early mornings) with good friends.

Besos XoXo,
Breezy