Week's End

So I get one more day of rest tomorrow, it's Labor Day here and that means school's closed, work's out and sleep's on! This weekend has been awesome so far, starting off with the fantastic Friday night and continuing onto Saturday morning, where I woke to a bright and chipper text from Lisa "Good morning! Going to knitting stores?" To which I of course quickly replied "SI!!!" And away we went. I picked up some gorgeous purple wool and Lisa knocked a good 150 pesos out of her wallet, an hour later carrying home two huge sacks large enough to make Santa Clause look wimpy. Then I ran into my house to take a shower, as it was muggy and gross and we were sweaty from our trek down Cordoba (BA weather goes from hot to freezing in the blink of an eyes...), then I went back to pick her up and we headed down to Cumana, my faaavorite restaurant (well, one of them) to meet Anna and her Dad, who is visiting for a couple of weeks, and Anna's friends. Eventually working out a table for 9 we immediately ordered 3 bottles of wine to share, and 4 bottles of agua sin gas. The waiter said "Ahora (now)?" We said "Si!" He said "todos?" We said "Si!" He said "Todos ahora? 7 botellas?" And we said "SI!!!" Then he let out a low whistle, shrugged his shoulders and was like "OK, I'll bring them then!" We totally made his day, he was going to have stories about his crazy 7-bottle-at-once-ordering table to impress all the other waiters for the rest of the shift!

After Cumana we all found room for a little ice cream and headed to Volta, the amazing heladeria across the street from Cumana where they have Cookies-n-Cream and Cappuchino! Those are really exotic flavors, let me tell you! After finally feeling the stretch in our bellies we parted ways and Lisa and I headed where? To knit, of course. God, are we a bunch of grandmas or what? I finished my hat, as you can see from the photo, then when Anna got back she and her dad were craving Mexican, so you know I was going to join! Lisa, Kylie, Anna, her dad and I headed downtown to put our names in at Xalapa. An hour and a half later, no kidding, we got a table outside, perfect on a cold windy night, but we were hungry and it was already after midnght. I had ceviche-so spicy I burned my lips off! and then after dinner went back home.

Today I read in bed til 3 in the afternoon, then Lisa and I headed to the book fair again at about 5. It was packed, I think because the Dalai Lama was speaking (for 75 pesos a ticket...hmmm...) so we could only take an hour in the crowd before we headed back out. Still, got some books, Lisa too, and then we found a cute place for dinner and now here I am, chatting on the phone and, of course, getting started on my new knitting project! Nerd Alert!

It's Friday!

I started my day wearing the coolest shirt ever, one that shows that I am down to sip a brewsky and hell, I can probably match you pint for pint! (But, actually I can't, I just talk a good game...) The after a long day of studying spanish, eating a big burrito, taking a nap and starting a new knitting project, I hopped on a bus and headed to meet Kylie and Holly for "Galerias Abiertas," the open studios that are held the last friday of every month. They also have free champagne (supposedly) in every gallery, though we found the pourer to be mysteriously elusive... Then after a number of walks through rather uninspired art we decided to head out for dinner, but not before asking a guy to take our picture. Here is his artistic contribution to our "Art Night."
After dinner at a little empanada and cazuela joint Kylie started to get fresh with a local.
Last stop-The Spot, a nice, understated bar in Recoleta that plays great music and has a dart board, where we were sipping vodka pomelos (grapefruit) and butterfly mojitos (with passionfruit). When we decided our loud conversation in English wasn't enough, we decided we needed photos-with a flash! to mark our entrance into Argentine nightlife. Oh yeah, we blend!
Now it's 2:30 in the morning, my eyes are burning, it is pouring rain and there's thunder booming and lightning flashing outside. I am expecting to be met by my pet mosquito when I decide to go to bed. This clever and delightful little guy stays dormant until about 3:30 every morning when he divebombs in and buzzes loudly in my ear, just to remind me that yes, it is still mosquito season and that in the morning, somewhere on my body, I will be really itchy. Cute, no?

Mira Vos!

So here I am with the sweater I have been working on! I just finished the hood and added it today. I worked without a pattern, just went with what I thought would work. I love it, the color is so pretty and the wool is so silky soft and warm. Next come the sleeves, but I'm wearing it like this til I finish those! A view of the hood...
With the hood up...
The whole thing!

The Plan

So as my time in Argentina comes to a close I have started going crazy with plans.

First is "the birthday."
Whose birthday?
Mine!
When?
May 4th!
Do I still have time to mail a card?
Yes!
Do I have the address?
Here it is!
Salguero 1357 Dept. 2
Capital federal
Buenos Aires 1177
Argentina

Next plan: May 15 Amanda, Nic and I are boarding a bus which we will ride on for 21 hours up to the city of San Salvador de Jujuy, in the Northwest corner of Argentina. After stumbling off the bus we will beeline it straight to the famous hot springs to rest our bus-stiff bodies. For the next seven days we will make our way down to Salta, then San Miguel de Tucuman, hiking, photographing, strolling, drinking, eating and relaxing our way through the Northwest corner. We will arrive back in Buenos Aires on May 23rd, and May 24th I get ready for my next trip...

Peru! I am flying to Lima on the 24th, then I have the whole day and a night there, wherein hopefully I will connect with my (Ritchie side) family there, then bright and early the 25th I fly into Cuzco. While in Cuzco I will hopefully met up with a friend who will be there too, and we will drink some mate de coco and catch up before heading up to Machu Picchu-a long held dream and I am hoping a highlight of my time in S. America!!! Then I have another day in Lima on the 30th, and I arrive in BA on the 31st at 3:30 in the morning! It gives me just enough time to sleep, get all the last minute good-byes in, and on the 1st I board the plane back to California. I can't believe how fast it has all gone and is all going! Incredible! By the time I leave I will have visited Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Peru! So exciting.

But, first, the birthday!

Feria de Libros

Yesterday I went to the International Book Fair, which is held every year here in Buenos Aires. I was totally thinking of the Castro teachers, who would just be going crazy here with all the kids books-in spanish!-5 to 30 percent off if paid "en effectivo" (cash). The convention hall where it is being held is huge, and walking around it was easy to get lost. I went with my friend Justin, and we wandered for a good two hours before all the cookbook browsing got the better of me and we headed to Gardelito for some steak. It was like being in the world's largest book store, and I could easily have stayed all day. They also have tons of speakers and readings and signings going on during the two weeks that the feria is being held. I kept wanting to buy books and get them signed, til Justin was like "Why would you do that? You don't even know what those books are!" So sensible. Browsing, browsing...will she find something good?
Success! That little baby is a Lumfardo Dictionary. Lumfardo is another language spoken here, with tons of slang and colloquialisms, but it is really common. So now I will have a clue what people are saying. And it's little enough to keep with me all the time! I also bought a few Mafalda books, a famous cartoon strip here about a little girl who hates soup, and a Dictionary of Argentine Rock. Looked for a cookbook with local dishes, but apparently people in Argentina already know how to cook their typical dishes, as I could not find a thing. Oh well, maybe next time.

Those Nutty Knitters!

So when word got out that I can knit, it caused a wave of interest.

We went to the shops on Scalabrini, got some fun new yarns, needles and got to work!

Check out my new pupils. They are such good little knitters!

And, as Anna said, At least now they've done something wholesome while in BA!

Kylie went straight to the advanced level with her skinny string and needles,

so I sat by her to help when things "didn't look quite right..."

Anna went with a beautiful blue, while Lisa went all crazy with that technicolor wool. Now we'll be able to find her no matter where she goes this winter!

A Little More Jesus Is Good For The Soul

Where the food can only be described as "heavenly."The Wailing Wall
Jesus For Sale!
The Foot Washing Scene

(Jesus Gives A Pedicure)
Shall We Dance?

Me and Amanda at the front of Tierra SantaMe with one of the many sheep dotting the landscape.
Here is Jesus receiving his crown of thorns. Do not smile when taking a picture with him.
Easter Sunset
Overview of the park.

Easter In Jesusland

Today to celebrate Easter, Amanda and I went to Tierra Santa, a religious theme park. In fact, the one and only religious theme park in the world. It was unlike anything I have ever seen. We lined up to buy tickets, then lined up again to go to a play about the baby jesus being born. There were lots of angels and a fog machine, and rays of light coming up from the crib. It was pretty entertaining. Theh we were left to explore the rest of the park, which basically consists of lots of rooms with scenes from the bible.

Here I am with Jesus. Here's Jesus being nailed to the cross. Creepy.
Here is me and Amanda and my pet camel.
J on a burro.
Jesus and some others on the crosses. All those people are fake. Or are they?
Jesus with Mary, after getting off the cross.
Jesus at the top of the mountain.
Jesus with the crowds behind him. He's huge!
Hey, look! A resurrection!
Here he comes...
Every half hour the Halleluja chorus blasts and Jesus resurrects. And if you're not sure where to look, there's the sign.
Whew! Made it!

There were all sorts of scenes with Jesus, one being the receipt of the crown of thorns. Jesus was on his knees looking up and a little girl ran up to him and hugged him while I was about to take a picture. The rest of the family gathered around to take a picture, but as they posed the mother took the camera away from her face and told the girl "No, don't smile. Not for this picture," because as we all know, a crown of thorns isn't funny. But taking a family picuture next to Jesus receiving it, now that's hilarious.

The latest

So the last few days have been really hot, and the mosquitoes will not stop! I was in class and we watching the movie Nueve Reinas, or Nine Queens, which was really good and so Argentine, really worth seeing to get a feeling for how people talk and what they are like.

Today was the last day of class for the week, because everyone gets the day off tomorrow for Good Friday. Actually most people have today off too, so it was awesome, like there was no one here. I was literally walking down Corrientes, a very busy street, with my arms oustretched, and I didn't run into anyone. I admit I probably looked really weird, but it was a crazy feeling to have that much space around me while walking down the street. And, it only took 1 hour to walk, instead of the usual hour and a half, because I didn't have to keep waiting for a small coutry to get out of my way first.

Now, I know I have the disease where I think, when I am running late, that people were actually put in my path to piss me off, but here I think it really is the case. People walk in packs, with at least 3 generations at a time walking together, making one or two middle-aged people, a geriatric with (usually) a walker or a cane, and then a toddler or, more likely, a stroller. And it wouldn't be so bad if they would just go somewhere, but they always seem to be somewhere on a very busy street and have no destination, so they will stop at any time, or will decide all of a sudden to turn onto a street or cross the street, and it's like a wave of people tripping you up or stopping quickly in front of you, and they all come up to about my collarbone, so I am literally tripping over them. I also love when they all stop to look at something in a window or decide just after they passed something that that was where they wanted to be. Ugh!

And it was even worse this past week because there was a strike on the subte. Normally there is always a strike about something here in this country, but this past week there was no subte for two days. This is a big deal.There were riot police down there, but I don't know what they were doing. Just kinda hanging out and being yelled at by some workers, from what I could see. Anyway, to get to school I usually need 15 minutes. On the bus I need an hour. I was shocked to find the subte closed Tueday morning so I grabbed the bus, which was packed, of course, so I had to stand smooshed between a whole bunch of strangers, some of them with really bad breath, and stand for an hour. At this point, not even to the Obelisco yet, I was totally late and not even to school so I decided the traffic was so bad it would be faster to walk, and I was right! I hopped off the bus, was behind some daydreaming 12-year old with a weaving way of walking that made passing frustratingly impossible, but after a while I broke into a slow jog and passed his ass, then the stupids in front of him, ti lI got to Florida. And there, looking over my shoulder, I saw that I had actually beaten the bus by a few seconds. Sheesh, thank God the subte is running again! Makes my life SO much easier!

We have a long weekend which will be great, I plan to enjoy the mellowness of an emptied city, go to the park if it's warm or, if it finally cools down break out the poncho and march proudly through the streets begging for compliments and showing off my knitting prowess.

Google Joke

My teacher told me about this. If you go to www.google.com.ar and type in "encontrar un trabajo digno," which meand find a dignified job, then hit I'm Feeling Lucky, you get a fake error page that has the following:

No se puede encontrar un trabajo digno con un sueldo decente
El empleo solicitado no está disponible en este momento.
You can't find a dignified job right now with a decent salary.
The job you are looking for is not available at this moment.
Puede que el país tenga problemas económicos o que necesite
ajustar la configuración de su política económica.
It might be that country has economic problems or that it needs
to change the configuration of the political economy.
Pruebe lo siguiente:
Try the following:
Haga clic en el botón Seguir Buscando o vuelva a intentarlo más tarde... cuando la situación mejore.
Click this button-keep looking-or try again later...when the situation improves.
Si describió su trabajo ideal en la barra de direcciones, compruebe que esté ajustado a la cruda realidad.

Para comprobar la configuración de su contrato, haga clic en el menú Herramientas y después en Opciones de Contrato. Haga clic en Duración en la ficha Contratos Basura. La duración de su contrato debe ser igual a la que más le convenga a su patrón (CEOE) o a la política de empleo del gobierno (PP).

Si el gobierno de la nación lo habilita, un inspector de trabajo puede examinar la empresa y detectar automáticamente la configuración de sus contratos basura.Si desea que la inspección de trabajo lleve a cabo esta detección, haga clic en Detectar contratación abusiva

Algunos sitios requieren una jornada semanal de 128 horas. Haga clic en el menú Ayuda y luego en Acerca de este curro de mierda para determinar su capacidad de aguante antes de caer enfermo.

Si está intentando obtener acceso a un empleo seguro, asegúrese de que es compatible con su configuración de contactos. Haga clic en el menú Enchufes y después en Familiares y Amigos. En la ficha Enchufes avanzados, desplácese a la sección de Contactos y compruebe el estado de CuñadoEnElMinisterio 2.0, SobrinoDelJefe 3.0, PeloteoVariado 1.0 y NasíoPaCurrá 1.0.

Haga clic en el botón Atrás para probar suerte con la lotería y las apuestas.

No se pudo encontrar un trabajo digno o error patronalCurro Explorer
Busca otras cosas difíciles de encontrarComenta esta página en el foro de NoSeEncuentra

house tour

This is the roof to the sunroom in the place. Cool huh, like being inside and outside at the same time! Sunroom
Dining Room/Computer room, as this is the only place I get Wifi reception.
Kitchen
Living Room/Knitting Parlor
My room!!!

poncho is done!

April 6-Aniversario

So April 6 was exactly 1 year from me and Levi's first date!!! Since he wasn't here I had to celebrate alone. Luckily I have some friends who will take any excuse to party, so after dinner I went to their place, popped champagne and toasted to a fantastic year!

Me and Lisa getting over our margaritas and getting ready for champagne.

Un brindis! Cheers to me and Levi!!!
So yummy! Down the hatch!
All alone, wish Levi were here! Oh well, I will drink anyway, can't let the champagne get warm!!!

Levi-Te mando un beso grande. xxoo