Galerias de arte

In Argentina and lovin' it!

Well, finally I find myself with an hour to spare. No application stuff hanging over my head, no roommates around to interrupt me and no websites left to surf. No, in all seriousness, I haven't had much to report. I plan on actually doing interesting things and getting to know the city but I need to finish my applications first. The good news is that I have 2 down already so I'm a lot less stressed. The bad news is that my final one (due Wed) is for my top choice school so its important to stay focused and keep my ideas fresh. I'm pretty happy with my essays and now I'm just waiting for people to get back to me with comments and thoughts. But this blog isn't about my applications!

To the good stuff. Like I said before, I haven't done too much. A couple of weekends ago I went to Recoleta to see the feria (outdoor market) there. Ferias are pretty big in Bs As (the acronym for Buenos Aires as they say it here). The feria itself was pretty fun - tons and tons and tons of stalls with leather, scarves, jewelry, mate cups, your usual touristy fare. There were lots of lawn areas also which made nice resting spots in between browsing.

But the best part was going to the Recoleta cemetery. Its filled with these crazy huge mausoleums so it feels like a mini-city as you're walking around. Some of the structures are huge and ornate but most of them are old and crumbly now (Evita's tomb is there but I couldn't find it). It was just a bit spooky to be in this city of death but it seemed so tranquil at the same time. My favorite place by far.

Peaceful, creepy cemetery

The following weekend, I got deathly ill with a fever and a terrible cough. I haven't been that sick for a really long time. I started to feel a little ill on Friday so I skipped my classes but when I woke up on Saturday, I could barely get out of bed. I spent the entire weekend on the couch trying not to move too much. Pretty much everyone in the house was gone (we had a 3-day weekend to celebrate Columbus Day, which I didn’t realize was such a big deal down here) so at least it was quiet and peaceful. After about a zillion bowls of instant chicken noodle soup, I finally started to feel better though I still have a lingering cough.

Finally, this weekend, I was ready to start having fun! I still had a lingering cough so I wasn’t really up for any heavy drinking. On Friday night, we threw a party at the residence. I invited a couple of people from my classes and these Argentinean people that I randomly know. We all got pretty dressed up for the party, which was really nice. Since the party was just at home, there really weren’t any worries about heels or purses so we just went all out. I wore a white top and this white skirt with faint green flowers that I bought here (USD $8!), which probably wasn’t very smart considering all the red wine that was at the party but it worked out. Lots of people got trashed, wine was spilt everywhere but I think everyone had a good time.

All the female residents. There are also 4 guys but they were too ugly to make the cut :)

Some other partiers. The party was on our roof.

"Nice and Sleazy" is one of my dorm-mates, Blair. Marie, blonde in the black sweater, also lives here.

Gaston, helping me practice Spanish!

I spent a lot of time talking with random Argentineans and I got to practice a lot of my Spanish but towards the end, I was a little desperate for some English speaking people, especially after a couple of drinks. Spanish is hard! It takes so much concentration to figure out what their saying and then its even worse when they want me to respond! I’m starting to feel more comfortable with speaking though. My conjugation is spotty and my vocabulary is tiny but at least I’m putting myself out there!

A lot of people went to this club after the party but it was 4am and I was pretty exhausted. Seriously, people go out really really late here! I haven’t stayed out like this since I was 18 and that was unfortunately quite a few years ago. In any case, I wanted to meet Majo and Albano the next day to tour some art galleries so I fell into bed at 4ish after everyone left. Majo and Albano are some Argentineans that I know through 3 or 4 degrees of separation. I’m here to learn Spanish so I need to hang with the locals rather than the American/European English-speaking people in my dorm. Anyway, they are so nice to take me under their wing and show me around.

The party scene in Bs As

This morning, we went to a couple of galleries, one in San Telmo and the other in La Boca. Majo is an art history grad student and Albano is a photography student so they know all these artists and galleries. Both were very artsy and reminded me of wandering the Chelsea galleries in college. And everyone was dressed so funky and cool that now I really want to go shopping! With the prices here, its like, why not? So a great afternoon after all. By far the best one since I got here! I spent the entire time practicing my Spanish, seeing funky art, and hanging out with really awesome people.

Me, Majo and Albano on the colectivo (bus)

I also got to see some of the various neighborhoods around Bs As. San Telmo is really cool with tons of antique shops, crumbling mansions with 19th century French architecture, cobble stone streets and trendy clothes shops. In the late 19th century, it was the neighborhood of the filthy rich but they fled to Recoleta during a yellow fever/cholera epidemic. I can’t wait to come back during a Sunday and seeing the antique feria that’s there. There’s also this pretty pedestrian street with a bunch of cafes overlooking it so the next Sunday I have free I’m just going to sit with a café con leche and people watch.

The other gallery was in La Boca, a very poor neighborhood next to the part of the river where a lot of industrial waste used to be dumped. It stinks and it’s dangerous but it turned into this bizarre tourist trap. They painted a bunch of the building bright rainbow colors and opened a whole bunch of kitch-y souvenir shops and restaurants with waiters in ridiculous costumes. And now they have these huge tourist buses that come and dump tons of tourists here. It doesn’t make any sense. Well, at least I saw it once so I won’t have to come back.

Touristy La Boca!

Some kids playing futbol (La Boca is also the home of one the most popular teams, the Boca Juniors)

Anyway, that’s probably enough to get everyone up to speed! Sorry about not keeping up a bit but with my applications, these last couple of weeks have been a MAD HOUSE. But after Wednesday, its on!