We found Mexican food!! Last night we ate at a restaurant called Xalapa in Palermo that was authentic Mexican food, and we were finally able to satisfy our craving! It was a great place with bright colors and Mexican tile everywhere and we sat outside where there was great weather. Our waiter even spoke spanish! (haha small joke-remember we're in Argentina?) Anyway, it was a fun break from the very Italian/beef and potato centered culture. We still haven't found Chinese or Japanese food. Now, for those of you who know my family well enough, you know that every Friday night for as long as I can remember has been Chinese-take-out-from-Fortune Cookie-night. I've now gone 2 months without Chinese food, and it's becoming a problem. We've been really surprised at how in such a big city there is so little presence of other international cultures besides Italian and American. Thus the difficulty in finding Chinese, Japanese, or Mexican food. We've even sunk to the level of searching mall food courts for an Asian buffet...it's getting bad.
Oh, and Caitlin bought skinny jeans this week! Now we're looking for her some converse tennis shoes...next step: mullet!
Now, on a more serious/exciting note: On Tuesday night, Caitlin and I were in the kitchen eating dinner, about to head out to a tango class with some girls from school, when Amalia (host mother) came in and said in her infamous spanglish, "Chicas, you need to come out here to see something that you do not see in the States." Walking into the living room we began to hear the noise, and as we stepped out on to the balcony we saw the source. All around us in our building, the one across the street and others on our block, people had stepped out with pots, pans, and whatever they could find to hit them with to make noise. Amalia had to shout over the racket to explain to us that the President, Cristina Kirchner, had just made a speech in response to the farmers' strike that was infuriating to the people of Argentina.
Let me back up here and explain what we've come to understand about the strike. There recently was passed some legislation that said that the farmers would have to pay 44% of their sales, international and within the country, to the government. In addition, there would be a 60% mark up on the price of meat within Argentina that would also go to the government. The explanation given was that the farmers are getting all of the profits from Argentina's biggest industry, and especially benefiting from the value of the dollar, the pound, and the euro when they sell their products internationally. Therefore, they feel it is their right, nay, their "obligation to the people" to take up some of these profits and redistribute them for the benefit of the country as a whole. Sounds great right? Slightly socialist, but the intentions seem good, especially for a country where the separation between the upper crust and the lower class is becoming more and more extreme all the time. It wouldn't hurt to do a little redistribution. So we've been asking everybody we talk to why this action frustrates them. The resounding response: After they take the money, we never see it again until Cristina(this is how they refer to the president) comes on tv with a new piece of jewelry, or we hear that she and the first gentleman have a new home somewhere in the world. Overall, Argentines feel forgotten and completely unrepresented by their government. That's why, once every 10 or 20 years, they've had to resort to what we witnessed the other night to get their frustrations heard.
Now, back to Tuesday night. The speech was angering because Cristina's response to the strike was to say that the government would not have any talks with the farmers until they come off of strike. Of course everyone knows that as soon as they come off of strike they will continue to be ignored and no negotiations will be made. Caitlin and I assumed that this would be maybe ten-twenty minutes of people banging pans on their balconies before returning into their houses, so after taking it in for a few minutes, we went on with our plans for the night. We were continually being surprised and a little chilled by the spectacle as we walked to the tango place and it was not only continuing but spreading all over the city. We were inside the tango studio for a little while before we decided to wait and go again another night when more girls could come. We left, and walked home by way of 9 de Julio, rumored to be the widest avenue in the world, that runs through the center of the city. Keep in mind that ever since we were in our apartment the persistent rhythm of 1-2, 1-2-3, 1-2,1-2-3 on pots, pans, cowbells, and car horns had not stopped. As we were walking, we were passing a train of citizens who had walked out of their homes after the speech to head to the center of the city. The train of people never stopped for as far as we could see ahead of us, and their numbers were continually growing as they walked and were joined by people ranging in age from 8-70, all with pots in hand. We saw people in work uniforms, suits, scrubs from the hospital, and house clothes; mothers with their children and those who were old enough that they saw things like this in the days of Evita and Juan Peron. Impromptu signs had been made and Argentine flags were flying everywhere. They were escorted by the police but not stopped because it was completely peaceful.
Caitlin and I got back to our apartment and watched the rest unfold on the news. As the night went on, it continued to grow and spread. There were manifestations in every big city in Argentina, and in 4 or 5 different major locations in Buenos Aires. After midnight, the peaceful but huge statement started to get a little violent when picketers in favor of the government arrived at the scenes. It is well known by the people that this group of picketers is unofficially hired out by the government and used as both a scare tactic and also to make sure the protests don't look so one sided. They come out flying black and red flags that, since the first use of this group in 2001, have been a symbol of hate and violence. They bring clubs and do plenty of damage to people and to property in the name of the government and, mysteriously, nobody stops them and none of them has ever been arrested.
On Wednesday we half expected to wake up to either utter chaos or alternatively that the city had shut down because people were hiding out in their homes to avoid potential conflict. Instead, we found that life had gone back to normal, and while there was talk of the night before and what would happen next, everything else was the same as always. Everyone went to work, kids went to school, and so did we. This was when we started to realize that manifestations and conflicts like this are a part of the way of life, and accepted as a norm and just another way of getting things done. In the last few days, there have been more protests on smaller scales and more unproductive speeches made. The shelves in the super markets are emptied of meat products, and Caitlin and I have some chicken and milk saved up, but soon we might have to go vegan. Other than that, life has gone on and we feel that we've come to a new level of understanding and respect for the people of Argentina and their ability to go on.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Hi, Everyone!
Caitlin and I are both very sorry we haven't done a better job of updating the blog lately! Since we returned home from our week vacation in Mendoza, we have started classes. We will both be taking a class on globalization from the Latin American perspective, Latin American Nobel prize winners, International Cooperation for cultural development, and a Spanish class. We have been so incredibly thankful because we now know that we will definitely be getting 12 hours of credit for these classes at home. God is constantly reassuring us that we are exactly where we need to be. It has been really good to attend class the last couple of weeks and see who will be in each of our classes, and getting to know those people better. It looks like we will have great opportunities to study and hang out socially with other international students who we see in class regularly. We were also able to get all of our classes on only three days out of the week, so we will be able to volunteer out at Crecer con Amor two afternoons each week. That was exactly what we were praying for!
We are also continuing to meet on Friday afternoons with two women from the church who invited us to join their 'celular'. The structure is very similar to what we would call a discipleship group or Bible study group at home. We pray together and Everlides shares something with us that God has been teaching her, and we talk about it. This is one of those times when we really have to flex our Spanish muscles because they really don't speak any English. Something we would really appreciate for you to be praying for us is that our Spanish would continue to improve, and specifically that we would be able to absorb the sermons on Sundays, what we talk about in our small group, and what the teachers tell us in class. This week, we have decided to speak only Spanish to eachother as well to try to get more practice with our speaking.
In our free time we continue to explore the city trying to find new things, absorb more of the culture, and get a better feel for how people live in Buenos Aires. We've done dinners out in different neighborhoods, some Salsa classes at a great local place, hanging out in parks(they have great parks all over the city) and drinking mate, and this next week we're making plans to go out with some of the Argentine students we've met at UCA.
Oh, and apparently the cow farmers have gone on strike, so we have about 6 bags of milk(did I mention that milk is in bags here) in our freezer, and dehydrated milk in our pantry. We'll let you know how this one turns out.
We are also continuing to meet on Friday afternoons with two women from the church who invited us to join their 'celular'. The structure is very similar to what we would call a discipleship group or Bible study group at home. We pray together and Everlides shares something with us that God has been teaching her, and we talk about it. This is one of those times when we really have to flex our Spanish muscles because they really don't speak any English. Something we would really appreciate for you to be praying for us is that our Spanish would continue to improve, and specifically that we would be able to absorb the sermons on Sundays, what we talk about in our small group, and what the teachers tell us in class. This week, we have decided to speak only Spanish to eachother as well to try to get more practice with our speaking.
In our free time we continue to explore the city trying to find new things, absorb more of the culture, and get a better feel for how people live in Buenos Aires. We've done dinners out in different neighborhoods, some Salsa classes at a great local place, hanging out in parks(they have great parks all over the city) and drinking mate, and this next week we're making plans to go out with some of the Argentine students we've met at UCA.
Oh, and apparently the cow farmers have gone on strike, so we have about 6 bags of milk(did I mention that milk is in bags here) in our freezer, and dehydrated milk in our pantry. We'll let you know how this one turns out.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Cultural Blending 1102
1)The most useful item I brought to Argentina has most definitely been the "skinny jeans". For our dads: skinny jeans are jeans that are tight all the way down to your ankles. This is how the girls wear ALL of their pants. You can spot a foreigner from a mile away if you see that they're wearing boot cut jeans.
2)I can't get a cup of coffee "to go" to save my life! When I ask the response is either that of a frustrated "no you have to drink it here" (this happens in more touristy areas b/c clearly they've heard this question before), or utter confusion at the idea of ordering coffee and then leaving before you've drunk it, but taking it with you...what??? At UCA, the coffee is served in styrofoam cups b/c all of their food is served on disposable ware. It still has never occurred to the local students that this could lend itself to taking it with you somewhere b/c they have no inclination to do so. You can spot an international student if you see that they've taken the styrofoam cup as a cue to carry their coffee with them.
3)We joined a gym...Just imagine all the instructions on the machines being in spanish, weights and distances being in the metric system, and to add to the anxiety you end up on a treadmill in between two girls who are each the size of one of your thighs. But then we had the satisfaction of realizing that we could run faster and farther than these girls, but only b/c they are mostly likely smokers with mild cases of anorexia(both epidemics in Buenos Aires that I can confidently say will not affect Caitlin or me-note the two jars of peanut butter emptied since our moms sent them in the mail)
4)Just something funny: A man at our gym who recognized the fact that Caitlin was not from Argentina (que extrano!) struck up a conversation with her today. He asked the usual questions: What are you doing here? What are you studying? Where are you from? When Caitlin told him she was from Georgia, his response was "So you are a Georgia cracker?" (imagine this being said in a hispanic accent)
5) The other day, I sat outside of the wrong classroom for 20 minutes waiting for the rest of my class and the professor to show up. I didn't think to check that I had the correct location b/c I've been conditioned to think on "Argentina time". So, it seemed pretty normal that everybody else would be 20 minutes late. While I was waiting, though, an Argentine student struck up a conversation and we ended up passing the time. Caitlin and I have come to understand that everyone here is very aware of and passionate about all things politics. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that they are all too aware that they can't afford to be at the mercy of their government, so they stay very well informed. This particular guy asked me who I was voting for in November before we knew eachother's names.
*Also an interesting thing to note: His name is Emmanuel. Now, as if it wasn't bold enough for someone to name their child Jesus, someone went as far as Emmanuel, "God with us". Pretty serious title to live up to.
6)Salsa Golf, we now know, is nothing more than a mixture of Mayonaise and Ketchup. This may not be significant to you, but we've tossed and turned over that one for 6 weeks now, so it seemed blog-worthy.
7)Contrary to what our Spanish teachers taught us, when asked your nationality, you are not to say that you are American. This is highly offensive considering that, technically, everything from Canada to Argentina is "America". One person told us that they think we should come up with another adjective such as "United Statian"
8)The mullet is an art form down here. There are so many different variations that we're going to have to start classifying them further.
9)Everyone has Thursday through Monday of Holy Week, or Semana Santa, off from work and school. Pascua(Easter) is a nationally celebrated day, and yesterday as we were walking around our neighborhood, the streets were deserted and we ran across three wooden crosses erected in one of the parks. Argentina is not immune, however, to the commercialization of religious holidays. Chocolate eggs that range from the size of your fist to larger than your head dominate the windows of every store whether they sell groceries or children's shoes. These are the traditional gift on Easter.
2)I can't get a cup of coffee "to go" to save my life! When I ask the response is either that of a frustrated "no you have to drink it here" (this happens in more touristy areas b/c clearly they've heard this question before), or utter confusion at the idea of ordering coffee and then leaving before you've drunk it, but taking it with you...what??? At UCA, the coffee is served in styrofoam cups b/c all of their food is served on disposable ware. It still has never occurred to the local students that this could lend itself to taking it with you somewhere b/c they have no inclination to do so. You can spot an international student if you see that they've taken the styrofoam cup as a cue to carry their coffee with them.
3)We joined a gym...Just imagine all the instructions on the machines being in spanish, weights and distances being in the metric system, and to add to the anxiety you end up on a treadmill in between two girls who are each the size of one of your thighs. But then we had the satisfaction of realizing that we could run faster and farther than these girls, but only b/c they are mostly likely smokers with mild cases of anorexia(both epidemics in Buenos Aires that I can confidently say will not affect Caitlin or me-note the two jars of peanut butter emptied since our moms sent them in the mail)
4)Just something funny: A man at our gym who recognized the fact that Caitlin was not from Argentina (que extrano!) struck up a conversation with her today. He asked the usual questions: What are you doing here? What are you studying? Where are you from? When Caitlin told him she was from Georgia, his response was "So you are a Georgia cracker?" (imagine this being said in a hispanic accent)
5) The other day, I sat outside of the wrong classroom for 20 minutes waiting for the rest of my class and the professor to show up. I didn't think to check that I had the correct location b/c I've been conditioned to think on "Argentina time". So, it seemed pretty normal that everybody else would be 20 minutes late. While I was waiting, though, an Argentine student struck up a conversation and we ended up passing the time. Caitlin and I have come to understand that everyone here is very aware of and passionate about all things politics. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that they are all too aware that they can't afford to be at the mercy of their government, so they stay very well informed. This particular guy asked me who I was voting for in November before we knew eachother's names.
*Also an interesting thing to note: His name is Emmanuel. Now, as if it wasn't bold enough for someone to name their child Jesus, someone went as far as Emmanuel, "God with us". Pretty serious title to live up to.
6)Salsa Golf, we now know, is nothing more than a mixture of Mayonaise and Ketchup. This may not be significant to you, but we've tossed and turned over that one for 6 weeks now, so it seemed blog-worthy.
7)Contrary to what our Spanish teachers taught us, when asked your nationality, you are not to say that you are American. This is highly offensive considering that, technically, everything from Canada to Argentina is "America". One person told us that they think we should come up with another adjective such as "United Statian"
8)The mullet is an art form down here. There are so many different variations that we're going to have to start classifying them further.
9)Everyone has Thursday through Monday of Holy Week, or Semana Santa, off from work and school. Pascua(Easter) is a nationally celebrated day, and yesterday as we were walking around our neighborhood, the streets were deserted and we ran across three wooden crosses erected in one of the parks. Argentina is not immune, however, to the commercialization of religious holidays. Chocolate eggs that range from the size of your fist to larger than your head dominate the windows of every store whether they sell groceries or children's shoes. These are the traditional gift on Easter.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Monday, March 3, 2008
"attack the wave"
so...i'm sitting in a hostel in mendoza, argentina right now trying to type quickly because i'm only allowed 15 minutes on the computer. i don't have nearly enough time to go into detail on all the things i want to tell y'all...
as darrah said earlier, we have this week off before school starts next tuesday. so saturday night we packed our bags and boarded an over-night bus to mendoza (the wine country of argentina that rests at the foot of the andes mountains).
we arrived yesterday and were immediately sucked in to going hang gliding. if you're not familiar with this activity, it's basically where you strap and parachute and an experienced hang glider to your back and run off the side of a mountain. you get about 25 minutes of flying time; which, over the andes, is incredible.
today we went white-water rafting which i highly recommend as a mode of transportation in viewing the andes. we had a super-crazy guide named marcos whose primary instruction to us was "attack the wave" (hence, the title of this post).
i wish i could type more but i have to go.
love y'all!
as darrah said earlier, we have this week off before school starts next tuesday. so saturday night we packed our bags and boarded an over-night bus to mendoza (the wine country of argentina that rests at the foot of the andes mountains).
we arrived yesterday and were immediately sucked in to going hang gliding. if you're not familiar with this activity, it's basically where you strap and parachute and an experienced hang glider to your back and run off the side of a mountain. you get about 25 minutes of flying time; which, over the andes, is incredible.
today we went white-water rafting which i highly recommend as a mode of transportation in viewing the andes. we had a super-crazy guide named marcos whose primary instruction to us was "attack the wave" (hence, the title of this post).
i wish i could type more but i have to go.
love y'all!
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