Adventures in South America

All good things...

all good things must come to an end, or so i'm told. as we reach the end of our 2nd stay here in Buenos Aires i thought i would do some recapping, some lists and random thoughts.

things i love about Buenos Aires:
- our friends, the people in general. we have made some amazing friends for life and in such a short time i feel really close to so many different people here (you know who you are:). all i can say is thank you (mil gracias!)
- steak, carne, steak.... i think we've explained how good the steak is here.
- persicco our home away home:) the best ice cream in the world (and no that is not an exaggeration) plus anyplace where there is a line for ice cream at 2:30 am is doing something right.
- un cortado which is basically an espresso with a touch of steamed milk hmmmmmmm.
-aspen classic - the radio station that plays a random mix from bob marley to depeche mode.
-colectivos - the local bus system which we've previously discussed
-3-4hr dinners. just the lack of pressure on diners allows a comfortable environment where conversation flows and makes the going out to a restaurant experience completely different than anything we are used to in the u.s. some of our best times have been just sitting around talking in a restaurant and not realizing its 2am and we have been there since 10pm...
-goooooooooooool - the sights, sounds and general activity around futbol. on a sunday you can hear the shouts all over the city when one of the big clubs scores. and if you can get to a game there is nothing like it in the u.s. ( i imagine european league futbol is about the same level of craziness).
- che, que hac- ES? just the general slang and accent of the portenos - its almost a language apart and the different greetings and goodbyes are always interesting.
- clay courts - well the abundance of cheap clay tennis courts allows for a lot of opportunities for me to play which has been a lot of fun.
- well this is a quick thoughts list for now - there are many other small details of life here that we have loved and will add to later as this is a to be continued. buenos aires will always be a part of our life (maybe not 3-4month every year part) but some part nonetheless. i look forward to spending vacations here and we will miss our friends greatly - hopefully some of them will be able to make it to nyc one day for us to show them the same hospitality.

un beso enorme a todos nuestros amigos, hasta pronto!

Sabrina, Mikaela and Cristian

After dinner conversation

Dinner at the house of Sergio's Family

Kathy, Diana and Fernando out to dinner at Roof Restaurant

Dinner with Diana and Fernando

Javier and Kathy

me and Miriam Sebauss

Javier from Panama - proud of his finished product

Students taking pictures of the finished products

Fellow students in Middle East cooking class putting the final touches on a dish

Juana, me and Sophy

me and Juana

Roberto, the proud father of Juana

me and Juana

Roberto and Sophy's latest addition - baby Juana

Me in my Chef Whites :)

My Friend Javier from Culinary Classes (Fusion Cooking)

Graciela's Bday Party

The Family on Easter

Easter Lunch with Desiree's Family

Seth and Gaby

Me and my Birthday Tart!

Gimena and Pato

Vanesa and Silvina

Kathy, Desiree, Vanesa

Trying to stop the tickle attacks from Desiree. Vanesa is on the right

Adriana and Gaby

Vanesa, Martin and Fernando

Ashley, me and LIli

Kathy, Lukas and Lili

The Megatlon Crew at my Birthday - Lukas, Claudio, Lili and Nico

It's MY Party!!

My birthday on April 22nd was a lot of fun. Definitely some déjà vu, as it was at the same place as last year – Morelia Pizza in Palermo Hollywood. It’s a swanky pizza place that has a private loft/living room type space that is perfect for a group of 15-25 people. In addition, pizza fits everyone’s budget. Seth and I, and 16 of our closest Argentine friends made it out that night. We arrived around 10pm and didn’t get home til 3am (which is the time Senior Citizens go to bed is this part of the world… 6/7am is more inline with my age group!). As we get closer to our departure date (May 9th) it’s been fun to get as many friends together as possible… to try and see as many people as possible before we leave. We are lucky to have such a good group of friends here, and we look forward to coming back to visit during future vacations.

Kathy, Adrian and Deepali with a Cow from the Puerto Madero Cow Parade

Adrian and Deepali in Buenos Aires for a visit

Sunday Brunch at Olsen with Silvina, Deepali, Lili, Vanesa and Kathy

Seth, Sergio and Gonzalo

Just the 6 of us (plus Seth taking the picture!)

Deepali, Adrian and Pablo

Monday night Dinner at Bangalore

Atilio, Florencia, Kathy and Seth

Atilio, Florencia and friend

Celebrating Passover with the family

Atilio's grandparents at Passover Seder

semana santa

semana santa (holy week) - it is that time year again Easter (pasqua) for christians - pretty much all catholic here in argentina - and Pesach (passover) for jews. here in argentina it starts on thursday and mainly it is a long weekend of seeing family and relaxing. On Thursday night we were invited by a friend of ours. Florencia, to the home of her husbands (Atilio) family for what is known as Seder (in celebration of passover the 1st two nights of the holiday you usually have a traditional meal with family and friends).

Atilio's family is Sephardic (meaning of spanish or middle eastern descent, as opposed to most jews in the u.s. who are ashkenazi/eastern european/russian descent). And so with Sephardim the food is completely different, one major difference is they eat rice while traditionally my family does not (on this holiday). It was a nice size group of about 20 people including his mother, grandparents, brother/sister, and brother/sisternlaw, cousin, uncle etc... of course as is traditional in foreign countries nowdays when you are introduced as being from the u.s. there is sure to be a few people who ask about our "friend" George (in case you dont get the reference think about our intelligent president). let's just say he has a lot of "admirers" worldwide:)

some of the conversation got pretty lively (all in good fun:) atilio's brothernlaw, Walter, made some interesting points about the bellicose nature of the u.s. historically using the example of in ww2 after the japanese attacked pearl harbor (and killed about 5k innocent people) we used that as justification to drop (the only time so far and hopefully forever) 2 atomic bombs on them killing instantly over 100,000 innocent people:( - for further reading American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer - anyway i thought it was an interesting point and he made the analogy to today, not sure i fully agree but its always nice to hear other perspectives. overall everyone was really nice and the evening went very late (2am) as is typical here in buenos aires, with espresso, wine, good conversation ahhhhhh porteno life...

the actual traditional part of the meal (meaning the prayers, story etc...) was essentially the same and that cultural/historical link is nice to feel even halfway around the world:) i really appreciate the warmth and hospitality that was shown to us by Atilio and his family and thank Florencia for thinking of us and inviting us. Hopefully one day we can show them the same in nyc...

Happy Holidays everyone!

When in Armenia...

Last night we went with our Fernando Schapachnik to an Armenian restaurant called.... Armenia (bet you didn't see that one coming!). It's a restaurant that's located at the Armenian Cultural Center here on Armenia Street (in Palermo Viejo). Fernando recommended the restaurant for a fun night out and I really enjoyed the experience. Armenian cuisine has a lot of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean influences. We had a price fix option for $24 Pesos (per person) that included 3 appetizers, 1 main course and dessert (per person). We enjoyed Tabbuleh, Hummus, a spread made from Roasted Red Peppers, salad of roasted eggplant, red pepper. almonds and raisins, and grape leaves stuffed with rice as appetizers. For main course we had beef shish kebabs and for dessert baklava, fruit salad and mamul (a type of cookie stuffed with nuts and sprinkled with powdered sugar). What made the evening particularly interesting was that there was an Armenian dance performance that occurs every Friday and Saturday night. There were four talented dancers - 3 men and 1 women - in traditional garb that performed various dances and explained the meaning and history of each dance. Of course there was the standard audience participation and the crowd was very lively. Will definitely go back to this old school restaurant the next time I am in the mood for Armenian food.

"They will remain alive for as long as we do, for by remembering them they are already part of us." We dedicate this display to the 30 thousand dissappeared, in the memory of Victor Galuz and Armando Croatto. We invite you to complete this dedication with the names of the people you would like to remember.

random thoughts

well, its been awhile in between posts i thought i would just throw together a list of random things.

sundays in buenos aires:) they are truly special in the sense that it is a real day of rest (not necessarily in the religious sense) but the fact is most people take the day to relax. the usual activities are eat a big lunch get together with family or friends, watch futbol and of course sleep in from saturday nights activies... i love the tranquility and lack of activity on a sunday where the city really recharges and takes a break.

futbol locura. this year is the world cup and in addition to it being just general hype and craziness they have now floated the idea of closing schools on the day argentina plays! there is absolutely nothing to compare to the importance of futbol here as a sport. when the two biggest local teams are playing (boca jrs, or river plate) you can usually here screams after gooooooooools from all over and if they happen to be playing each other in a super-clasico (twice a yr) everybody in the city pays attention. its hard to put into words the level of craziness the fans have here for futbol.

24 de marzo. that is the day that was declared a holiday this year in memory of the start of the military dictatorship here on march 24th, 1976, which lasted 7 years. there were countelss articles, tv shows, street marches etc... in advance of this day and on the day. i think it is good that the country is facing its past and demons and teaching its children about what happened so that they can truly live up to the 'nunca mas' slogans. the other day kathy and i went to a museum dedicated to this era. it had many chilling photos, satire and information unfortunately the good ole u.s.a was involved. i wonder how many people in the u.s. know our involvement in destabilizing latin american countries during this era (chile, brasil, el salvador, panama, nicaragua etc.....) and our role in providing tactictal military advice and not to mention infusing us$$ - it would be nice if we were taught our history in our schools:)

and lastly for now how bout it for the 2006 ncaa mens national champs, Florida Gators!! :) it was fun watching here with commentary in spanish.
thats it for now i will try and check in more this last month.

Long overdue South Africa Wrap Up

During our last two days in South Africa, we just enjoyed being there. We spent one afternoon at the beach. Afterwards we went to a bar in Clifton and met two lovely Black South African women named Cynthia and Moretlo. We had very interesting conversation with them – the conversation started because they were sitting at the table next to us and one of them began to loudly express her glee over the fact that the South African movie “Tsotsi” one the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. This was big news in South Africa and was in every newspaper. We invited them to join us at our table and learned that they both moved to Cape Town from Johannesburg several years ago (they are both in their early 30’s). Moretlo is a Hair Stylist in a salon where most of the clientele is white and Cynthia is a Make up artist. It was very interesting to hear their perspectives about the race situation in South Africa. Their general sentiment, which seemed to echo the feelings of the black South Africans that we came into contact with, is that to forgive, but not to forget. They don’t seem to harbour any negative feelings about Apartheid and are just trying to improve their lives. This was a really enlightening evening for us, as this was the first meaningful contact that we had with young, black professionals in Cape Town.

On our last night, we went to an Improvisational Comedy Show at the Artscape Theatre Center. That night we also happened upon the opening night party being held at the center for the Cape Town Theatre Festival. It was quite a big shindig with free food, wine and entertainment. There were several hundred people there! We had a good time at the ‘pre-party’ before watching the enjoyable Improvisation group. Afterwards we went to a bar on Kloof Street (the “nightscene” of sleepy Cape Town).

Some other observations about Cape Town
Many of the roads are one way along the drive to the Garden Route. Common passing courtesy in South Africa dictates that you put on your blinking emergency lights when you pass someone on a one lane road
The hardest part about the Garden Route drive was that the radio stations were AWFUL. There were two stations for most of the drive – one was in Afrikaans, the other seemed to be big fans of Jefferson Starship. For a country that has such a rich musical history, we had a hard time finding any decent music on the radio.
As is the case in Buenos Aires, in Cape Town you are also expected to Tip ‘Car Attendents’. These Car Attendents were self appointed locals who would come up to your car as you were parking, and inform you that they were going to guard your car. They expected a tip upon your return.
Baboon Crossing signs – Along several points along our drive to the Cape of Good Hood, there were signs indicating a Baboon Crossing. That was a “you know you are in South Africa” moment for me.
Kingklip Fish – the most common type of fish eating in South AFrica
Umoja – a very entertaining play that we saw while we were in Cape Town. It was a musical that told a story about the history of South Africa music – lots of great dance numbers.
Hitchhiking is very common – there does not seem to be a great public transport infrastructure.
Rooibos Tea – basically the national beverage of South Africa. It is a type of tea that is grown only in South Africa. It’s considered very healthy and has no caffeine. We drank this tea nearly every day and purchased quite a bit to bring back.
Springbok (a type of antelope) and Ostrich meat are commonly found in the grocery store.
Woolworth’s in South Africa is an upscale Target-like National Brand. In addition to selling clothing and household goods, they also have great grocery stores
In many of the restaurants we went to in Cape Town, there were very few blacks that weren’t part of the staff.
“Pleasure” We heard this phrase over and over again while we were in South Africa. Instead of saying “You’re Welcome”, “Pleasure” is said – short for “It’s a pleasure.” Ile de Pain and Lush in Thesen Islands - two restaurants we ate at while in the Garden Route

Martin getting cosy with a bear outside of the restaurant German restaurant Baviera (Bavaria in Spanish) in Belgrano

A statue of Pope John Paul the 2nd with the creepy National Library behind him.

Seth getting very hungry...

Coffee and Dessert at a sidewalk cafe around 1am on a Friday night. The sidewalks WERE PACKED. Porte�os really are vampiros.

Birthday dinner for Martin! From L to R - Gaby, Desiree, Martin, Alvaro and Seth

Pictures of the crew

Dinner at our place

Just the four of us!

Kathy, Roberto and Seth

Sophy, Kathy and Roberto

Sophy and Roberto

Party at Desiree's - Kathy w Florencia and Mariana

Surprised by COWS

Inspired by Charles Lindbergh...

An interesting design

Desiree and Kathy

Desiree and Seth

Cows by the River Plate

The Buenos Aires Cow Parade

Seth's stitches on the day before they were taken out.

Nardo and Maggie

Our soon to be doctors at Rivadavia Hospital that put in and took out the stitches on Seth's finger. Left to Right - Nardo, Seth, Kathy and Maggie

Seth and Kathy

Our Hosts Pablo and Gonzalo

When Ice Cream is delivered to you here, it is packed with Dry Ice (frozen CO2) to keep it cold. When Dry Ice is dropped in water it bubbles and the melts causing the CO2 to be released (as illustrated in this photo).

Seth, Kathy and Sergio

Clark

Gaby and Desiree at Pablo & Gonzalo's

Desiree's Family - L to R - Mr Jaimovich, Sergio, Vanessa, Gabriel, Vanessa's Boyfriend, and Desiree

The group of us by the river - L to R Graciela, Kathy, Lukas, Lili and Silvina

Ramiro, in an observational mood

Lili and her magical Mate

The view of B.A's skyline

Seth and Silvina

Lili - the Mate Maestro

Conversation flowing

Ramiro in peaceful reflection

Sunday with friends

We had a very busy Sunday on a beautiful bright 74 degree day! Seth and I started off the day by having a light brunch at the delicious Oui Oui in Palermo Hollywood. This was very much the New York style French Café. The menu consisted of pastries, coffee, gourmet salads and sandwiches all posted on chalkboards at very reasonable prices. I had a veggie sandwich with oven roasted potatoes, Seth had a spinach crepe with salad. We also shared a orange chocolate tart for dessert. Everything was very good and I am looking forward to returning the next time we are in the mood for a light, healthy lunch.

We then made our way out to Martinez and stopped by to pick up Silvina along the way. Martinez is a grassy area along the River Plate that is about 30 minutes outside the city. It is usually along the lines of the West Side Highway in Manhattan, but more space, more tranquil and less people. You also have great views in the distance of the Centro of Buenos Aires with it’s taller skyscrapers. We met up with Lili, Lukas, his wife Graciela and their adorable 4 month old Ramiro (who thankfully did not cry quite as much as last time we saw him). The sun was strong, but the temperature and the low humidity made the afternoon perfect. We sat on a blanket, shared facturas (pastries), mate and good conversation. It was an enjoyable afternoon and around 6pm it was an easy colectivo ride back to the city.

That evening we saw Desiree and Gaby for the first time in a month!! On Feb 23rd we left for South Africa for 2 weeks. Shortly before we returned they took a two week vacation to Gaby’s hometown of Comodoro in the South of Argentina. They just returned yesterday (Sunday). We stopped by their apartment and saw the Desiree’s growing belly and also the many changes that have been made over the month to their apartment in preparation for the arrival of their baby boy. They moved out a lot of furniture and enclosed an area to make a room for him. We also had the pleasure of seeing Desiree’s father, sister Vanessa and her boyfriend who happened to be there.

Pablo and Gonzalo invited us all over to dinner, so we ended up spending the rest of the evening with Desiree, Gaby and Sergio over at their place. We had some delicious tortas or pies, made of vegetables with Persicco Ice Cream delivered for dessert. The company was great – we laughed the whole evening and didn’t end up coming home until 230 am.

All in all a perfect way to spend Sunday with friends.

Tanghetto

Last night (Saturday) we went to a Tanghetto concert at the ND Ateneo Theater in the Centro neighborhood of Buenos Aires. We attended with Fernando and Maru and had an enjoyable experience. For those of you that haven’t heard of Tanghetto, they are a group that fuses electronic music with traditional Tango music. They have been very successful here in Argentina, as well as abroad. It is not uncommon to go into a lounge, bar or swanky restaurant and hear their songs over the locale’s sound system. They have released several albums, many of which we have seen for sale at Virgin in NYC. We own the CD Emigrante, which we purchased it here last year.

The band is made up of 6 members –
Max Masri – the founder of the group, he plays the synthesizer, composes and produces the music
Diego Valazquez – plays guitar, also arranges and composes the music, he served as the MC for the evening
Hugo Satorre – percussion (drum set)
Gabriel Clenar – Acoustic and Electric Piano
Chao Xu – Violoncello and Erhu

The theater was packed and the band played a set that lasted about 90 minutes. They played songs off of their previously released albums, as well as tracks that they had never played live that are on their soon to be released album (i.e. Testigo and Tango en Crisis). There were also some interesting twists to the show – they featured 4 different tango couples. The couples all danced beautifully and it was interesting to see the traditional dance being interpreted to this newer style of Tango music. I especially liked how the fashion styles of the dancers varied – while a few of the men had the suave debonair look that is traditionally associated with Tango dancers, one of the men wore jeans, a t-shirt and a bandanna on his head (his style was definitely more hip-hop but that just emphasized that this music is also appealing to the newer generations). Another highlight was the fact that they played two 80’s songs al estilo Porteño – anotherwards with a Tango flair. New Order’s Blue Monday and Depeche Mode’s Enjoy the Silence.

A Visit to the Emergency Room

Yesterday Seth cut the index finger on his right hand pretty deeply while washing a knife. The wound was definitely about 1/2 cm deep, but Seth thought that applying pressure and a bandaid would be sufficient medical attention. I felt otherwise. I knew he needed to go to the hospital to get some stitches! After making some phone calls to a friend and going by a medical center that didn't have an emergency room, we ended up at Rivadavia Hospital in Recoleta. The hospital is on a big campus and we ended up in the wrong direction a few times. We finally ended up in La Guardia (the Emergency Room) and upon showing his cut to an employee there, were rushed into one of the hospital rooms. Although the hospital itself seemed dark and a little prison like, the service was great. Definitely more laid back than we are used to, with all of the doctors and nurses passing through to see what was going on and to greet the two Doctors to be that were attending to Seth. I was in the room with Seth the whole time and watched the process. A thorough cleaning of the open wound, an injection of novacaine and Seth was ready to receive the 4 stitches required from Dardo and Maggie - two "not quite" Doctors. In Argentina, you go to school for 8 years to become a Doctor (you don't go to undergrad, you study to become a doctor from the beginning of your university career). After completing/passing your 8 years of school, you must wait another year for your Doctor's license to be processed. This is where Dardo and Maggie are in the process. You can began working after you finish school, but you are of course, supervised by a doctor. Maggie and Dardo want to be surgeons. The best part about all of this? Thanks to Argentina's Socialized Medical care, it was completely free!! There were no forms to fill out (I just needed to leave Seth's name and Passport number at the front desk) and we were out of there about 45 minutes after arriving. We will be back to see Dardo and Maggie in a week to remove the stitches.

Adventures in South America

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

All good things...

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Saturday, April 29, 2006

It's MY Party!!

Saturday, April 15, 2006

semana santa

Saturday, April 08, 2006

When in Armenia...

Friday, April 07, 2006

Thursday, April 06, 2006

random thoughts

Long overdue South Africa Wrap Up

Sunday, April 02, 2006

Friday, March 24, 2006

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Monday, March 20, 2006

Sunday with friends

Sunday, March 19, 2006

Tanghetto

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

A Visit to the Emergency Room

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