A few more pictures to share...

just a few shots from Palermo, La Boca and from the roof top of my house

First official holiday in Buenos Aires...

So apparently it's a holiday here in BsAs, banks, schools, most businesses, etc.are closed- it's official. Por que? Well, if you, like me, are not Catholic you probably wouldn't know it's the Catholic Church's observance of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. And since I did not know all of that- I looked it up of course. So this holiday celebrates the Immaculate Conception of Mary and therefore the beginning of her divine grace bestowed from God and free from sin existence. So there you go, a little religion theory (notice I say theory, not history), tossed in this blog for a bit of enlightenment of sorts.

So what does holiday mean in modern day? To be honest, I really don't know, so far it seems that families get together and eat- much like most holidays celebrated across the globe. For me? It means I get the day off of work and sit around sweltering the heat. No medialunas today- it's too hot and the bakery is closed (ya' I know the real reason lies in the latter.) I would have loved to be working on my tan on the beach but, which this might come as an alarming surprise as it did me, there is no beach in Buenos Aires. WHAT? You ask? Sad, but true, no beach, the closest "proper" beach with sand and surf lies a few hours out of the city. Here is BsAs the "beach" consists of a coast line in the Ecological Reserve composed of construction remains, no sand, not even real salt water as the Rio de la Plata runs into the ocean here. Lame, eh?

Not that I'm complaining... I am in Argentina, one of the most beautful countries in the world... its just hot and humid today...... okay I am complaining, I'll shut up now.

Picture captions-

The first 3 are from a barrio here called "La Boca", its the home of the Boca Juniors Futbol club as well as brightly painted buildings and the place where Tango started.

The rest are from the barrio I live in called Abasto, which I've already spoke about.

Life in BsAs

Hey everyone,

I suppose it's about damn time I serve up an update of my where with alls and actions. I have been in Buenos Aires over a month now sustaining on medialunas (yummy mini crossiants), dulce de leche, and mate, which all of these things will be very hard habits to kick once I leave! I think most know what dulce de leche is, however mate is a strong very caffieinated tea drink you drink with a silver, filtered straw. Very delicioso abeit adicting- think quadruple espresso with a lively light bodied cup of joe with lots of sugar, and maybe a redbull thrown on top!

I started working with a NGO PH15, an organization that teaches photography to children and teenagers from Ciudad Oculta, a shantytown in BsAs. (Ciudad Oculta means the hidden city). I have mostly just been in the darkroom with that org so I joined up with another program called Club Acorn that provides afterschool activities for the children in the barrio of La Boca. Tomorrow we start a photography, art and theatre project- "Nuestro Barrio es tu Casa" (Our Neighborhood is Your Home). I'm very excited to see what their minds will create!

Also within the last month I moved from the San Telmo area of Buenos Aires to the Abasto neighborhood. This is where the Tango Godfather Carlos Gardel grew up and lived before he died tragically in a plane crash. He is known for his unique embodiment of the Tango song and soul of its music. It is a beautifully colorful area of Buenos Aires as on practically every corner there is a Tango hall and/or a mural dedicated to Mr. Gardel. This area is also very hasidic, reminiscent of old Brooklyn with views of wide brimmed black hats and yamikas.

Alrighty my dear readers I will leave it at that for now. But before I go here's a little info about the pics...

The first one is from right around the corner of my house, an example of the ornate architecture here.

The next few are from the Botantical garden and its fine abundant community of cats, all very sweet, and hungry.

The next picture is of the cartinas that rummage through the garbage to pick out and every resellable material others throw out. Families make their living this way.

Lastly, is the sweet little Airdale that likes take on the role of the neighborhood's alarm clock and howl for everyone to hear... at 5 in the morning.

Chau for now, I promise there will be more soon!

RIP... more pics from Recoleta

My Own Dia De Los Muertos Festivities

November 2nd- without any formal traditons to attend I ventured to the Recoleta cemetery for a little Gravedigger's dance of my own. This cemetery is expansive, it is a city within a city, though in habited by ghosts, skeletons and cob-webbed statues. Evita Peron is buried here as well as many of Argentina's presidents, poets and artists. It is almost entirely mausoleums, though not all of them in appropriate repair for the memorial of the deceased. Good for me though- peeking through the broken glass and viewing a very ancient and very real coffin- creepy enough to make my skin crawl! What I found most interesting was the extensive effort that some visitors were giving to decorate their loved ones graves. Painstakingly winding individual flowers around the window and bars of the mausoleums and in the end creating beautiful murals of color.

A Few of My Favorite Things- Galleries and Halloween

So this Halloween I missed out on the debauchery and multitude of costume changes and traded them for a bit of art and culture. Well, truthfully, Halloween is a very American holiday, not celebrated in BsAs, except in tourist bars and clubs. Even Dia de los Muertos isn't a tradition here... that made me very sad. (It is however celebrated November 2nd in Brazil and parts of Uruguay, just in case any of you morbid partiers out there are planning a trip to hang with the deceased!)
This is not to say that I didn't dress up... I had full intentions to go to the drag bar (but where else to party on Halloween?) and party like nobody's business but on the way there I experienced one of those very cliche chick moments- broke the heel of my shoe. Cinderella can't go to the ball with only one shoe can she? So instead went a very laid-back, locals typical bar and felt like a complete arse being the only one obvisiously dressed up.
(Oh well, its nothing that a few Jim Beam's can't fix!)

The art scene here in Buenos Aires is phenomenal- so many different
and expressive styles abound. From fashion designers with emerging boutiques to instillation artists creating full room pieces that
evolve with the addition of its observers. There is very
limited, if at all, creative censorship in the artistic community
here. Anything goes, and for many art is more about the process
than the finished piece. In fact there is one gallery here that all of the 9 artists involved share the rent to for a space in which they all contribute a drawing a day, every day without plans to sell any
of the drawings. An exercise in deligence.

Another gallery here in San Telmo exhibits their artists in a
backstage style- meaning there are a few pieces on the wall though much of the work is stacked against the wall so you have to search through it. Like rumaging through a thrift store and finding a fantastic vintage ski sweater. Here is also where there is
an instillation that recreates tea-time in an old folks home complete with

moth balls, faded institutional green walls, and old movies replaying over
and over. The viewer is invited to partake
in tea and cookies, share in a smoke while
thumbing through fabric patterns from the 40's and 50's. The remnants of this experience is left until another patron adds to the piece, to partake in the surreal reality/fanatasy recreation.

There are so many more galleries to explore, I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of the major museums that are housed in the city, so much more to come...

Point to ponder

How does one exactly read a Chinese menu in Spanish?

I have been craving Chinese for weeks now and have scoured Buenos Aires for a decent restaurant, by the way there are is, in fact, a huge Asian population in South America, especially BsAs, and even an emerging Chinatown in the Recoleta nieghborhood.

So back to my culinary penchants...

My espagnol is coming a long, not well persay, but nonetheless I know a fair amount of food words. However, while parousing the 3rd Chinese menu I have found there are words that I can't even begin to try to interpet. Mongos? Que signifigance? Oh what to do... go for the dish with not recognizable ingredients (probably most tasty) or the one I can figure out (most likely the most bland.) Hmmmm....

okay this is all for now

mas mas!

picture pages...

visuals... from Chile to Argentina

This week on Amanda's Walkabout Adventure

And so across the continent I went... it's been too long since my last update! Let's see you last caught up with your adventurina on the way to Santiago? Well Santiago proved to be much more than just a hub from which to visit Valparaiso and surrounding areas from. This city is full of rich culture and young artistic minds on the rise. From the vast array of graffiti on the wall (ranging from works of art to political satire) to portofolio toting art students, Santiago breathes creativity. I love it! And in Santiago its sentry is the Virgin, not good ol' Jesus this time. So what did my adventure consist of? Well, a visit to the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, at the Universidad de Catholica there was a Chuck Close exhibit strangely enough, of course a visit to the Virgin in all her glory, though my favorite was the barrio Bellavista at the foot of Cerro San Christobal which was full of incredible art galleries and definitely the heart of the bohemian Chilean culture.
From there was an overnight trip to Valparaiso which as my hostel manager Bobbi (from Baltimore!) instructed- I got lost- meaning by exploring the winding back allies and stone staircases that weave throughout the city's 42 cerros (hills) one can just almost feel like a rat in a maze. However, because the cerros grade down to the ocean there are only 3 directions to figure out and from there find your destination. There are also ascensores a cable car elevator of sorts to take you up to the second or third level of the city in case the stairs look too daunting. I had my first taste of freshly caught Congrio which is chilean eel- so delicious especially while watching the full moon rise over the bay and to the tunes of the horns honking in celebration of Chile's maybe first ever victory over Argentina in futbol.
I would have liked to stay longer in Valpo but a ride across the Andes to Mendoza, in a truck! not a bus! Argentina awaited me back in Santiago (thanks again Randi from Tour d'Afrique! -sorry for the shameless plug!)
And this is where the commercial break gets inserted. -Stay tuned!!!

cacti, hot springs and hot dogs!

from ocean to desert... dessert??

After 3 beautiful sun filled days body boarding in the frigid Pacific ocean, warming one's self under the sun and crusing the coast on bikes, our small group of Estatos Unidos vagabonds traded in our bikinis for mittens for the bone-chilling nights in the Atacama desert. San Pedro de Atacama is a bohemian wonderland full of long haired musicians and bonfires to keep a body warm. (not in that order of course!)

There is much to do abeit the fact it is the driest place on the Earth- trekking to geysers, (I have now witnessed 2 of 5 in the world), star-gazing, horse back riding and my favorite, (I did have to break out the bikini again, under the layers of warm clothes)- the very wonderful and very hot thermal springs. Fantastic!

So beautiful and tranquillo San Pedro is, land of cowboys and climbers, even a celebrity- (Frodo was 2 tables down from us one night at dinner, no paparazzi!)

However, after 4 days of blistering hot sun to accompany my chapped and cracked lips I have to say adios and travel 23 hrs by bus to Santiago. (Wait, what trade the serendity of SP for the bustle of city life again!?!) But of course! In Santiago begins the land of vineyards and seaside ports. I fell asleep to browns, reds and purples of the desert plains and awoke this morning to lush green fields, vast blue ocean, and... a grey deary sky. Bummer, perhaps it will burn off as I start my exploration. Ciao!

more pics from MP