Rainbows are nature's gay flag

It is official. We have a bus ticket leaving tomorrow (Sunday) at 5 PM from Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazu. We also have a flight from Puerto Iguazu to Buenos Aires on Thursday afternoon. What happens in between is yet to be determined. Hopefully it includes sunshine & 120+ waterfalls.

Have a great week!

Braving La Boca

La Boca is a spot everyone must see when they visit Buenos Aires. At the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, a huge influx of French and Italian immigrants landed in the port of La Boca and decided not to leave. Plagued by poverty, but filled with a sense of pride, they began to construct homes and businesses. As most of them worked in the port, they scrounged up any unused paint they could find at the shipyard to spruce up the exterior of the buildings. These bright colors (originally purchased to paint the shipping containers), that still remain today, are what draw people to the area as a tourist attraction. Now, business owners and street vendors have capitalized on the tourism by selling every kind of trinket and memorabilia in shops and kiosks lining every street. Tango performers can be found at each corner, and most restaurants employ tango dancers to entertain the patrons willing to spend top dollar for their food.

Yesterday, Abby and I crawled out of our cave at an early-ish hour, packed our pockets with only the bare essentials, grabbed the city bus book (its huge!) and headed out. The tourist location of La Boca is basically a 5 square block area, with a pedestrian street called Caminito at its center. The surrounding areas of La Boca are rumored to be extremely dangerous. In fact, we have heard multiple stories of people being mugged or assaulted when they ventured out into the local neighborhood. We even met 2 Israeli girls who got on a bus at Caminito but realized once the bus took off that they did not have any change (buses here only take exact change). The bus driver refused to take any bills, pulled the bus over and forced them to get off. Before the girls could figure out what to do (it was still daylight), they found themselves surrounded by a group of hoodlums armed with a gun. They handed over their purses, but not before one of them was pushed down so hard that she cracked her head off the curb. Luckily, aside from a lot of blood and a headache (figurative and physical), they are both OK.

Given that, we decided to take a cab directly to Caminito (we locked the doors when we got in because we have heard of people getting ripped out of cabs too!) instead of risking a bus not dropping us off exactly where we wanted to be. We made it there without issue and felt much more at ease once we saw the brightly painted buildings, the abundance of milling tourists and the tented walkways of a street fair (but still alert, no worries). We scoped out the local crafts market which was really beautiful and had very high quality goods. We bought a couple things (we only had a little bit of money stuffed in our bras or else we probably would have bought a bunch more!), wandered around the neighborhood, took pictures and relaxed by the water for a bit.

When we decided it was time to head back to San Telmo, we agreed that we wanted to give the bus a try. There are 3 privately owned bus companies that function within the city. We knew which buses dropped off in our area and we wanted to scope out a little bit of La Boca on our way through. Our first choice was Bus #20, but the driver was so rude to us when we got on, refusing to confirm our stop that we jumped off before the doors closed. The next bus, #29, was our second choice and the driver was much more helpful – even though he had cut outs of scorpions all over the front dash.

The bus only did a small circuit through La Boca before dropping us off safely in San Telmo, so we were not able to see much of the neighborhood but we were happy to spend $1.20 for the trip instead of the $15 for a cab. We headed home, made dinner and then took off to Abasto for the 22:10 showing of Avatar.

All in all, yesterday was a pretty productive day. La Boca: Check! Avatar: Check!

Avatar 3D, finally.

After weeks and weeks of trying and failing to buy tickets for a Wednesday night showing of Avatar in 3D (because they are half price - but they get booked up very quickly and the seats are assigned so you cant just show up early for a good one!), we caved and bought the full price tickets for tonight's 22:10 show. We had a little time discrepancy and ended up running a little later than planned, but we made it on time, got our tickets, our 3D glasses and our seats before the opening credits.

Abby's not a big movie fan, especially not main-stream, big screen movies, so it took me weeks to even convince her to go. My family swore by it, many friends swore by it and then finally, I think (don't tell her I said this), she actually got excited about checking it out. I know she was nervous about the fact that it was 3 hours long, but we got a medium popcorn, a water, and broke out the chocolate covered peanuts from the health food store that we snuck in and settled in for the long haul.

It opened up a little rocky with the military theme, but once they set foot into the forest, we were both hooked. I think the theme of the movie was what sucked us in so deep. I fought back tears at least 5 times (I always come out of the movie theater crying and it is so embarrassing!!) and felt so strongly about the mission of the indigenous people that I was actually angry! But the colors, the emotions evoked by the animals, the vegetation and the living creatures were really unexpected, and very welcome. When the lights came up after 3 very short hours, we were in total agreement: We loved Avatar! And she even admitted (shhhh!) that she teared up on a few occasions, too!

Looking back at the film now, it seems so connected to the problems of the human race as a whole. Not only are we destroying "mother earth" but there are those of us who don't even see the problem. We are happy to lay waste to the things that give us life, with $dollar signs$ in our eyes. It almost seemed like an intentional crack at the wars being waged today - against one another and the environment. What really got me, were the emotions on the face of the main female character when she was confronted with the death of any living creature. She was so powerfully sad. She truly respected each and every part of the forest. It was especially incredible when she did not even flinch at the sight of the main male character's human body. It was obvious that she found each and every living creature beautiful - that is something I can relate with.

Well, that was my experience anyway.

At the close of the movie we realized that we still had 1/2 of our ginormous tub of popcorn left (did you know you can get it sweet or salty here??), so we brought it along in case we saw a homeless person on our way home who might want it. We walked a ways but Corrientes was surprisingly free of anyone [obviously] in need. We grabbed a cab home. On our way out of the taxi Abby, with her sweet heart and her infinite wisdom, offered the popcorn to our taxi driver, whose eyes lit up at the offer! It reminded me of the time we were on a late evening bus from Rio Gallegos to El Calafate and we happened to be in the front seat. We were tearing off huge chunks of cheese and eating it with fresh bread. We offered the bus driver a slab and he was all about it. No problem that I tore both the bread and the cheese with my bare hands! He even accepted seconds. Man, I love Argentina!

From the Inside, Out.

There is always a major to-do list when you travel. Some people want to pack every bit of culture into 5 days and some people want to make sure they leave enough time to spare to either relax, or spend the evenings soaking up the bar or club scene. However, when you are actually “living” in a city, its very easy to get swept up into life and forget to take part in all the cultural, touristy things you would never have missed if you were only in town for a week. I found this to be the case in London and in Leeds, and now its the exact same in Buenos Aires. And now that we are down to the tail end of our trip, we have a to-do list the size of Texas and no possible chance we would ever be able to complete it.

The good news (for us) is that we have done so many things that have already made the trip amazing and culturally fulfilling, and have spent plenty of time exploring the city from the inside out --- as opposed to the outside in, as a tourist. But which is better? Of course they both have value. I was recently emailing with a friend of mine, about how easy it is to miss the things that really matter by over-jamming your schedule to see as much as possible in the time you have. What usually happens is that you come out in the end with hundreds of pictures that look almost the same, that could all pass for another city you have already been to one time or another. Essentially, you skim over the surface without actually absorbing any of the nuances, or characteristics that make the city unique, and therefore, it doesn't take root in your memory (and ultimately the character never finds its way into the photos taken, either).

I am not sure how well it has come through, but I have been trying to capture more than Buenos Aires: The City, in my photos --- I have tried to detail out a little more of the experience this city has to offer. It almost seems like a waste to me to neglect the culture or the details, like a missed opportunity to learn something. How can you truly experience a city without taking the time to observe the people who call it home? You have to try the food, walk the walk, talk the talk. So even though our to-do list will probably only decrease 1/3 by the time we kiss this part of our journey goodbye, we have truly invested in our lives here. And although we would love more time to settle in, study and give back, we feel good, because we have lived.

Scratch That

Change of plans...not leaving for the falls today. In fact, probably not leaving tomorrow. But we shall see.

Either way, off to enjoy one of our few days left in BA!

Gone Fishin'

Tomorrow we are hopping on the bus to Iguazu Falls for a couple days. The plan is to come back Friday (arrival on Saturday AM because the ride is 17+ hours), but we might stick around if the weather doesn't cooperate. So keep your fingers crossed that we get at least a day (or hopefully 2) of sun, and that we don't get tossed into Brazilian jail for sneaking across the border illegally...

I promise to be more diligent with my blogging upon return from this trip.

Oh yeah, and check out a beautiful picture of Iguazu Falls, if you haven't seen one yet (I'm really hoping my pics rival this one!!):

Click Here
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I Heart My Siblings!

It has been a fun-family-filled evening for me. First a great Skype chat with Robin, a 2 hour video call with Mary Rose and then almost an hour video call with Carlin & Amy that just ended a few minutes ago.

I have got to say, I have one seriously kick ass family. My siblings are so amazing and I am so lucky to have them all in my life. Be jealous, be very jealous!

Private Peter, this one goes out to you!

In just a couple hours my cousin Peter ships out of the Berkshires to spend a year + in Afghanistan. It has been really hard on our family to accept this fact, although we knew it was inevitable. But even though we all wish we could smuggle him into Canada so that he doesn't have to go, we know that he is tied into this mission.

So this post is a shout out to my cousin Peter, a really great kid, with lots of heart and so much to offer. We can not wait until he is back home safe and sound, but until then, there are a bunch of us who will be vibing health, safety and love in his direction.

Pete, we all love you! Be safe and be smart and know that you have an army of people back home who love you and can't wait to see your smiling face again soon!

Big Bellies Exposed!

Summertime in Buenos Aires is undeniably hot. Its not just the heat, but the overpowering humidity. Most shops and restaurants (I speak for San Telmo only here) do not air condition, and if they do, its minimal. However, we have been seeing more and more "skin" lately....and I'm not talking about skimpier clothes on the ladies. Apparently the men have decided that their mid-drifts (regardless of size or shape) are too warm to be trapped inside a shirt and to cool down, they pull their shirts up as high as they can on their chests for maximum airflow throughout the day. Today on our way out of the grocery store, a [large] man was entering with a woman in tow. She had on shorts and a modest, practical t-shirt (covering her whole stomach - that was surprising in itself), but his t-shirt was pulled up past his plentiful gut and resting on his nipples, exposing his entire mid-section to the world. Yum.

In addition, when it rains here, we appear to be the only ones wearing any sort of rain jackets. Some people have umbrellas, but the majority of people are just cruising around getting soaked by the downpour. However, what better way to keep your shirt dry than to take it off all together? Based on the number of shirtless men on the street this week, none.

Flooding in BA

Today, whilst enjoying a coffee at the local cafe, we caught a little bit of local news. In Palermo, a few miles away and somewhere we spend quite a bit of time (many milongas are in that area), there was extreme flooding today. In some places, the water was up to people's waists. The local police had ropes tied up so that people could hold onto them as they waded through the filthy water.

The waiter at the cafe said that the drainage system in Buenos Aires is terrible, and that flooding happens much too often. I believe this because when it rains, water pools at the bottom of the stairs on the way into the subway. Sometimes it is a couple inches deep. In addition, we have seen people pour everything from trash to buckets of building paint down the drainage grates in the streets...that certainly can't help...

Jackie, I thought of you...if you don't even like to walk around when its raining because of the filthy water on the sidewalks, imagine wading through waist thick, mud colored flood water in the streets? Ew.

Chica Spotting

Today I saw my first female taxi driver in Buenos Aires. Rumor has it that there are somewhere between 38,000 and 50,000 taxis in the city itself, so that means that I have seen many a taxi driver in my 3.5 months here. I find that fact quite interesting.

Party in the Back.

Today on the subte, one of our fellow passengers had a hair-do that I can not let slide without a blog mention. I'm not sure if you are all aware but the national hairstyle here is the mullet. Abby and I are actually scared to get our hair cut (as you can see from the overgrown, shag dos we are sporting in my pics) because we don't want to end up mullet-ed. However, this hair-do took the mullet to a whole new level. The top half of his head was a buzz cut and then about half way down (top of ear level) it turned into mid-back length dreads. It was like rasta-wanna-be-gone-Argentine. There was even a bead or two. I went for my camera but got such a piercing death stare from Ab that I was forced to give that plan up.

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Tonight on our way back from a very nice dinner & helado with friends, we grabbed a Radio Taxi back to San Telmo (ONLY use Radio Taxi's in BA). Hanging from the rear view mirror was a thick pink ribbon from which many mismatched, odd, and dirty earrings were dangling. I thought maybe he was selling them (ew). Abby thought it might be some fetish thing where he keeps the earrings from women he has killed. Happily, we lived to tell the tale...

For your viewing pleasure:

Oh our way back from the cafe (coffee and flashcards) today, we saw a bum-looking-dude (dirty and probably homeless), wearing black jeans and (get this) a woman's white negligee. Yes, it was satin, with little white straps and a lacy design on the front. He was dead serious too. Things have got to be bad if thats the only shirt he can get his hands on...or maybe he didn't want t-shirt tan lines...or maybe he is coming out as a drag queen/trans? Now that I can support (but doubt). Either way, thought I would pass this comical (but sad) sighting on.

Valentine's Day Drama

Yes, I agree. Valentine's Day is absolutely a Hallmark, media concocted load of crap that encourages needless spending, and silly expectations. The part that bothers me the most is that it takes away the spontaneity of love and discourages creativity within a relationship. Never mind the fact that it makes single people everywhere feel like shit (I would like to remind them that probably half of the married folks out there wish they were single again!). But you can also look at it as another reason to celebrate love. You can make a kick-ass dinner and share massages. That costs nothing and is can make for a very nice night. Just remember, this shouldn't be the only dinner you cook, or the only massage you give!
Last year Valentine's Day was pretty fantastic. I will leave out the gooey details because they are not “internet-friendly” but I will say that things just fell right into place and I couldn't have asked for better “circumstances.” (Just went into a 2 minute reverie remembering it...)
This year I wanted to do something simple, practical and cute. Nothing expensive, or over the top. I popped down to Abasto to pick up a little something...and 6 hours later I left the mall in a state of horrified shock. Yes, 6 hours. The people were rude, unhelpful, unwilling to work with me to figure out what I needed, even though I practically begged them (I broken Spanish) to take my money. All I needed was clarification of size (things are measured very differently here) but what I ended up with was dirty looks and shrugs saying “oh well.” I even made a bathroom pit-stop to regain composure and blot the tears from my eyes. Can you believe that?
After leaving the Abasto-Mall-O-Misery at 9:30 PM, I wandered around for a while trying to find a store that sold paper and pencils, and then grabbed the last train home. I texted Abby (who was pretty sure I was dead by this point) to tell her I would be home in an hour and took up camp at a local cafe (it was 10:30 PM by this time) to relax, have a coffee and make a card. Thank goodness THAT went well.
At 10:30 AM the next morning, I snuck out of bed and popped down to the local bakery to grab some pastries and stopped into the florist for 3 large, beautiful gerber daisies. I tiptoed back home (of course Abby was awake by then, so I told her to stay in the bedroom – damn!), and made a little breakfast spread consisting of 8 medialunas & facturas (yummy pastries), fresh-squeezed orange juice mimosas, flowers and the little gift I had purchased. We chowed down on medialunas, laughed about the drama of the previous day and got a little tipsy on the mimosas. It even turns out the gift might work OK.
Needless to say, we had a nice morning, but I officially have a couple extra white hairs from the experience and we are on a salad-only diet until we can get rid of the lbs we packed on from the overload of white sugar and carbs.
Worth it, you might ask? Eh, whatever.

Nuevo Photo Album Added

New picture album added this afternoon: The End of the World & Back - Ushuaia - Fin del Mundo. This is the final album from out trip to the Patagonia.

Enjoy.

The Valentine's Day Massacre

Last night when I got back from an extremely stressful (borderline horrific) day of Valentine's Day prep, I found Abby running around the house swatting at the air and yelping out at pain (spinning around like a dog chasing its tail)! After I stopped laughing, I found out the source of the running, swatting and yelping: mosquitoes!
Well in that case...I grabbed a nearby magazine and went to town. 30 dead skeets, 2 & 1/2 hours, and a nasty blood-spattered wall later, we were exhausted, covered in lemon pieces and ready to relax. Up to this point I had successfully fought off the scary skeets, but in a moment of unguarded "relaxation" I ended up with 3 bites! With the additional bite I got before actually falling asleep, and then one excruciating bite on my finger during the night, I ended up with 5, the most bites I think I have ever gotten in one night!! Those bastards must have been really desperate because usually they don't bit me.
The night was dubbed "The Valentine's Day Massacre" because of the bloody aftermath, and the guerrilla tactics used by all parties involved. I am happy to say that team C & A won the battle (although we mourn those valiant fallen soldiers that were lost during those messy hours)! :)

FACT:
Did you know that lemon makes mosquito bites stop itching? If you keep a lemon piece around and rub it on the bite it reduces the puffiness and removes the itch within a minute. It is fantastic!

El Tigre.

Yesterday we went to El Tigre, a town located in the Delta region, approximately 40 minutes outside BsAs by train. Actually, it is a bunch of islands, connected by rivers and canals. The locals use boats to get around because there are no bridges. In fact, the public transportation in the area are boats. You stand on the dock and flag them down just like a bus. Certain ones go to certain islands. We paid $17 AR for an hour round trip journey to and from a small island called Tres Bocas (3 mouths), where we wandered around, checked out the local houses, and almost got attacked by two scary, territorial, barking dogs (Ab was armed with a stick, thank goodness). This island was recommended to us by the tourist office because of its traditional homes & gardens of the Delta region. However, when we saw the return boat in the distance (we were trying to check out a local school and church), we took off running and luckily caught it as the last couple people got on. After the near death dog experience, we were quite finished with 3 Bocas.

After that we headed down the Puerto de Frutos (a local fair that was highly recommended), which turned out to pretty much be a pile of junk, grabbed a rip-off meal and then paid the $7 AR (they gave us the “locals” rate accidentally – nice! - was supposed to be $12 AR each) fare for the Tren de la Costa which was also highly recommended on reviews I saw online for its scenic views of the Rio Plata and the coast. However, during the 30 minute ride, we saw the coast for about 30 seconds. The benefits were the air conditioning, the spacious seats, and the view of the local color/poverty-stricken areas (heartbreaking) on the way.

We grabbed another train where the Tren de la Costa dropped us and headed back into the city. The area around Retiro (the train station) is one of the large slums in Buenos Aires. We passed shanty-towns and areas of severe poverty. That kind of thing really opens your eyes and reminds you to be thankful for what you have.

Other noteworthy items:
On the way there we took the regular commuter train with the locals ($1.35 AR). By the time we were 8 stops into the trip every seat was taken and there were quite a few people standing. I noticed that behind us there was an elderly Asian woman standing. She was an itsy bitsy thing, so instead of getting up (we still had quite a ways to go), we just pushed over and she squeezed in next to us (all three of us in 2 seats). She was so adorable and thankful.
We also saw a young kid (20 or so) that had huge blood-soaked bandages on his elbows and knees and his arm in a homemade sling. Aside from the fact that he looked like absolute hell and could barely walk, he looked so sad. We were really hoping he was on his way to the hospital.
When we got off the train and walked out of the train station we were in shock! Manicured lawns, cross walks, a rotary with flowers! We instantly loosened up the death-grip we have learned to keep on our purses.
We also checked out a small Mate Museum in town, which was pretty cool. Mate is a gigantic part of the culture here. There were many incredible artifacts and we enjoyed the 45 minutes or so that we spent there. Did you know that yerba mate is traditionally drank out of a gourd? If you want more info on mate, check out my earlier article:
http://corinisliving.blogspot.com/2010/01/rules-of-mate.html

Pics to come soon.

A Hot Pepper Burned Me.

Last night I had a little run in with a HOT pepper. I cut it up, tossed it in the soup and thought nothing of it. About 20 minutes later the skin between my pinky and my 2nd to last finger started to burn, along with the skin under my thumb nail on the other hand. I scrubbed my hand with soap and water and tried to ignore it but it kept getting worse and worse. After another 20 minutes I decided I had to do something, so I grabbed the low-fat milk out of the fridge, poured about a cup of it into a bowl and stuck my hand in it. It did nothing. I tried Neosporin and alcohol based hand sanitizer. I scrubbed it with a Brillo pad. I tried everything we had in the house. We had to go for whole milk.
At 10 PM, Abby (a true angel), went out to try to find some. About 30 minutes later (I was starting to get really nervous), she rolled back in with full fat CHOCOLATE milk and vanilla yogurt (everything was closed except the gas station across the 9th de Julio - a 16 lane avenue near our house - and this was all she could find). We determined the yogurt had more fat, so I dumped it in a bowl and stuck my hand in it. In this condition, I ate dinner and surfed the net for more solutions.
After about 30 minutes of solid vanilla-yogurt submersion (it actually smelled kind of yummy), the burn started to subside enough for me to wash my hand and go to sleep.
Surprisingly (it hurt THAT bad), there was no lasting damage and no pain in the morning. Thank goodness. Lesson learned.

This link proved exceedingly helpful in my time of need:
How to get hot pepper sting off the skin?

The Ugly Truth.

In less than one month, we will bid farewell to this wonderful city, our wonderful apartment and our 4 months of blissful freedom. In just one month and a couple hours, we will land at JFK Airport in New York.

Goodbye, I'm off to cry myself to sleep...

Irony #2

Tonight for dinner (because we didn't have water AGAIN), we went out to the sushi place a couple blocks away from our house. The waitress came over to the table and started speaking to us at a mile a minute in Spanish. She was very animated, with hand gestures and everything. After a little while, we determined that it would be impossible to understand her, so we asked her if she would speak in English (we knew she spoke English from previous visits). She said:

"Of course! You've been here before, haven't you?"

We replied, "Yes."

She then said, "So then you know we have an all you can eat option? And, you know I'm gabby."

Us: Blink, blink. Is she making fun of herself? Should we laugh?

Then finally, OH! Gabby! Her name is Gabby...how fitting!

You might have had to be there.

Irony

This week, Abby saw a city street sweeper put down his broom, take one final puff of his cigarette, and then toss it on the ground before entering a cafe.

Why?

Came home last night with a huge bag of veggies to roast in the oven (carrot, onion, red & green pepper, zucchini, potato & pineapple), and found we had no water. So we made rice noodles with peanut butter sauce instead (using bottled water). So tonight we are making a huge pan of roast veggies to make up for lost time.

It's pretty weird to lose water. This was the second time it happened. Why? No weather issues, no warning. Either way, we always keep extra bottled water in the house just in case.

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PS. Is my blog so boring that it incites no comments from anyone (but my wonderful brother whose comments I love!)? Or are you in such agreement that you don't feel the need to comment? I do hope its not because you fell asleep on your keyboard. Haha, thanks for reading!

New Pix

New photo album added last night. #10: The Wicked Peaks of El Chalten. 2nd to last installment from my trip to the Patagonia.

I hope you enjoy them.

Evolved Thought

Last night we went out to dinner with a woman from the Netherlands that we met during our travels in the Patagonia. She was passing through BsAs at the tail end of her month-long backpacking trip through Argentina, so she sent us an email to see if we could do dinner.

We got to talking about life, and what we wanted out of it as individuals and as women. She told me that about 5 years ago her serious boyfriend (who she is no longer with now) had expressed interest in moving to Asia for work, and that he wanted her to quit her job and come with him. She was just beginning her career, and with no real experience (aside from the foot in the door she had) her resume would not give her much opportunity. So she told her boyfriend that if she was going to give up her career for his dreams, they would have to see a lawyer and draw up an agreement that guaranteed she would receive a portion of his income if anything happened to their relationship. She felt that if she was going to give up her opportunities, she wanted some sort of security for herself in the future. I thought this concept was very interesting.

From there we discussed my plans for the coming months and I expressed my internal conflict between my desire to have a high-power corporate career and my desire to be a humanitarian and travel the world. Right away she expressed that she feels similarly conflicted. In fact, in the Netherlands they actually acknowledge the feeling! Similar to the “Mid-life crisis,” they call it the “30's Dilemma.” Its a period of uncertainty, where you have to make large scale decisions about what path you want your life to follow. As a woman, do give up my career to have a family? Do I put off having a family (tick, tick, tick) for a great career opportunity? Or do I quit my job and take off to see the world?

Hearing her tell me about the 30's Dilemma was so liberating for me. Isn't that so evolved? To actually give value to that period of time. So many women feel their biological clock ticking and they truly have to make these decisions (I'm not forgetting about men, just speaking from what I know). But I think people in the United States (for many reasons I really wont get into here), just blindly follow a path that has been pre-determined for them. College, marriage, house, baby, TV, die. Or some variation of that, without the impetus to truly seek happiness or enlightenment (until its to late – the TV stage – another issue I wont get into here). But what if we actually recognize that there are options? That it is admirable (or even encouraged!) to seek the path less traveled, or more challenging because of the possible benefits? How empowering that would be! We might actually end up with a country of people who smile once in a while, or are grateful for what they have, instead of a bitter, entitled mass of people who end up unhappy because one day they wake up to find they are 50, broke, have 2 kids that hate them, a spouse they know nothing about, and that they spent spent 25 years in denial about their sexual orientation. Talk about a dilemma.

Imagine how many more happy people there would be out there if we actually encouraged people to get to know themselves before diving into a life they are not sure they want? Or allowing people to explore their options before getting married, having children, or burying themselves in a financial decision they can never get out of? I love the idea. In fact, every woman should have to kiss another woman and every man should have to kiss another man before they are given a marriage certificate! Or we can just do what we have been doing...living beyond our means, pressuring our children into marriage and ignoring the issue entirely if its more convenient! (I'm having a blast writing this!)

Oh, how I love the left! And I don't mean the United States left, I'm talking the Netherlands left!

Lessons, where you least expect them.

When you're young, its easy to make friends, and lose friends. You grow, or they grow, or someone moves and a tear or two fall but there is no lasting damage. However, when 18 turns into 28, things are different. All the time you had in high school or college to devote to whatever fancy crossed your path, has somehow dwindled into extremely valuable minutes extracted from a jam packed schedule.

At this point, friendship should feel good, it shouldn't be a hassle and it shouldn't be a guilt trip. I want different things. I understand the value of a true friend, and although acquaintances and crowds of people you would never share your secrets with have value, for a night or two, thats not what I am looking for. I want heartfelt friendship, where time and distance doesn't break us, where I know that they have my back before they even hear my side of the story, and they know I unequivocally have theirs. No judgments, no tears.

Its important to be good to yourself. While a true friendship is worth the fight, we need to learn to recognize the ones that offer less than they put in. Time is too valuable.

The reason I even mention this (at least one of them), is because Abby and I met a new friend recently. She comes from a very different part of the world, where our "lifestyle" isn't accepted, or understood, yet she has committed to accepting us for who we are. And its very interesting, because the value she places on our friendship is much higher than we find in western culture. Its a recognition of a connection that has been made, and no matter how much we put ourselves out there, a connection, at 28, or 30, or 34 IS special.

Every day is a learning experience if you're open to the lessons, and that is truly incredible. I love that those lessons often come when you least expect them. To our new friend, thank you for opening yourself up and allowing me to learn from you.

Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes

The Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes is a free museum located near the cemetery in Recoleta. We were told by a friend that it is worth the trip over, so we decided to check it out yesterday. Unfortunately, yesterday ended up being a terrible day for the journey because it rained and rained, but after much deliberation and a yummy coffee from the local cafe, we decided to go for it.

The main gallery of the museum was comprised of traditional 17 and 18th century paintings. There were a couple noteworthy artists, but not many noteworthy pieces. By the time we finished the main floor we were pretty disappointed and dreading the trip back home in the rain. We decided to check out the second floor, which contained works from Argentine artists. It was like night and day! There were quite a few modern pieces, as well as some older pieces depicting Argentine cultural and social issues. Some pieces were so uncomfortable and moving that they were hard to look at. I was extremely impressed.

Unbeknownst to us, there was also a 3rd floor gallery, with a small but relatively impressive photography exhibit. The carpets were moldy and dirty and the mildew smell and moisture in the air must not be good for the photography, but the walk through was worth the discomfort. One interesting piece was a photograph of a yearbook shot taken of a Buenos Aires elementary school class (date unknown, but possibly from the 1950s or 60s), on which the artist had written details of what she knew about each classmate, all these years later. Additionally, there were some shots of the Argentine countryside and village culture. But, above all else, one large scale colored photograph caught my attention the most. It was a stark but soft photograph of a women, obviously posed for the camera. The colors, deep reds and green contrasted by the paleness of her skin and the filmy whiteness of her top, created a shockingly beautiful image. I wish I could have captured a photo to pass on but unfortunately cameras were absolutely forbidden and security was extremely present.

We spent a few moments gazing at her beauty and then headed back out into the elements where the heavens proceeded to dump buckets of water on us.

Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes - Check!

A Day in the Life

Today, we finished up our last class without issue. We handed in our final assignment and got a chance to look at 2 graded assignments we did in the past. I got a 97 and a 95. Not bad. We can go back tomorrow for our final grade and a certificate of completion.

On the way home, Abby and I ran across an interesting sight that I wanted to pass on to you all. A nice gentleman, of approximately 50 years, with a serious comb over was strolling through the subway. He had on faded, dirty, stained, dark blue Adidas running pants with the white stripes down the leg (not 100% sure they were brand name because I didn't actually see a logo but you get the picture) and an off-white work shirt (like a plaid button-up farmer's shirt but without the plaid) that was equally stained and rolled up to the elbows. The front was unbuttoned half way, exposing some sort of t-shirt underneath (at least it wasn't chest hair...you might laugh, but we see that here ALL the time!). Navy blue too, I think. But the funny part, was that he was wearing a brown leather belt around the top of his pants. It was a kind of fancy belt too, with some designs or embroidery on the sides and a shiny buckle. No belt loops, nothing else leather on his body. A very nice fashion statement. I wanted to take a picture to pass on to you, but Abby wouldn't let me. That happens a lot. I want to take pictures of EVERYTHING and Ab thinks it is inappropriate. She might be right...

On the other hand I just watched her down a large glass of Malbec (a very nice Malbec too, I might add) in one gulp. My glass is nearly full.

Then again, she was kind of a hero in class today. Some big scary dragon fly who appeared to be hurt in some way because of its crazed, erratic flying, flew into the classroom and dive bombed both Abby and our classmate, Wendy. I started to get a little nervous (I might have jumped a little bit, don't tell anyone) but Abby just got up, gently captured the creature by cupping it in her hands, walked over to the window and tossed it out. Not too shabby, huh? That's my girl!

Dragonfly (English to Spanish translations):
1. libe-lula
2. caballito del diablo (little horse of the devil)

All Good Things Must End.

Tomorrow is our final Spanish class. 40 hours of Spanish with one nut-ball teacher and one legit one, plus homework and studying and trying to listen in on every conversation we come across (that kind of thing can get awkward). Do we know Spanish, you might ask? Well...no. But we are getting better. Tonight, for my final assignment (and what I think is a take home test because we actually get a grade in this class) I wrote a page about my "Rutina Dairia" (my daily routine) using reflexive verbs & appropriate reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, herself etc). Plus, of course, everything else we have learned up until this point (present tense, infinitive verbs, pronouns, conjunctions etc). It was kind of a nightmare, but it also felt good to finish it up. I think most of it is right...but who knows? Abby is my proof-reader (and I am hers, ha), and although she has a pretty good grasp on it all, we cant really guarantee that nailed all the irregular verbs and didn't miss a reflexive pronoun opportunity.

Either way, we are considering taking 2 weeks of the Spanish II level, so that we still have some time to relax and explore, and are not taking classes up until the day we head back to Estados Unidos. However, we would both like to spend as much time studying as possible. We shall see.

AND, I have a special little treat for you all. I usually dont put pics in the blog, but this one is a must. In the name of blogging, I asked our crazy teacher if we could get an end-of-year photo with her and naturally, she was all about it. Unfortunately, Ab and I both looked a little scary in the shot (keep in mind the heat and humidity and the fact that most of our things are in storage 10K miles away) so i cut us out, and you cant see the 2 best features of Silvia, our profesora (her chipped, blood-red, polished toes hanging off the front of her cork & bejeweled platform sandals and her extremely ill-fitting bra that has caused her to have a terrible hunchback - dont even get me started on this one!) but here goes anyways.

Enjoy!

New Pix.

New pix added today of the amazing Perito Moreno glacier and our time in El calafate.