a life less ordinary…

Well, I haven’t been writing much for personal purposes lately because I’ve been writing up a storm for a website about tourism in Buenos Aires (http://www.buenostours.com). It started as a one-time gig, and now I’ve been writing at least one article per day for the sites. I think it’s actually my dream job. I go to all kinds of places: historical cafes from Buenos Aires’ aristocratic days, modern hipster cafes where people discuss Foucault and Borges, bookstores, jazz clubs, boutiques, museums, artisan fairs, and so on. Then I take pictures of the place, take notes on what there is to do/see/eat/drink/admire/ponder, talk to the owners and staff a bit, have a drink or some food, and turn it all into an article for the site. It’s not much money, but I really enjoy doing it. The best part is that I’m getting to know places in Buenos Aires on a totally different level. Read the rest of this entry »

I started practicing yoga in high school, when my theater arts teacher Ms. Cadby would lead pre-performance sessions to help us focus and remain calm despite our jitters. Now I am a fanatic, unable to go a few weeks without practicing postures for strength, health, relaxation, and concentration. Here in Buenos Aires, yoga has been an inseparable part of my life and has helped me integrate myself into the culture here. Read the rest of this entry »

When I first arrived in Buenos Aires, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to live by myself (luxury of privacy, no confrontations with roommates, my own bathroom and peace and quiet) or with roommates (much cheaper, more social atmosphere, people to share experiences with and learn from, better parties). Read the rest of this entry »

It’s a specific kind of woman who makes the decision to move to Buenos Aires, Argentina—one of the largest metropolises in the world—by herself, inviting all kinds of uncertainties, potential dangers, and cultural challenges. However, it’s not just the favorable exchange rate that brings her to the Paris of the South. She is attracted to Buenos Aires for her own unique reasons, and she has individual goals she wants to accomplish there. For her it is an adventure, a test of her self-reliance and independence. She knew she could have started climbing up the career ladder in New York or headed into a graduate studies program but she’s on a different path: one less focused on career development, and more concentrated on discovering her own independence and uniqueness. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, it looks like the inevitable is on the way: Starbucks in Latin America. Now all of the people who work in the urban office districts can speed up their lives even more by grabbing their coffee on the go. I am sure people will still do what they normally do here, which is have delivery runners bring coffee and pastries on a tray to their offices.

Here’s what one blogger says:
Poor Dispositionist dijo…

“In an aboriginal native american tongue, Starbucks actually means “Over Roasted Coffee Cheaply Plucked From Formerly Colonized African Nations Below Market Price and Sold to the Wealthy at Exorbitant and Foolish Prices.” ”

I think business and economics have always had a significant role in altering culture world-wide. There has never been a society that was completely self-sufficient and cut-off from other cultures, so it’s nothing new that a wealthier corporation is investing in Latin America and bringing its foreign concepts disguised as Mochachocalattes (people are already joking that coffee drinks here will be served with dulce de leche drizzled on top).

I can’t wait to see how an efficient, speedy, and impersonal Starbucks works in Argentina, a country where the businesses often give away things for free because they don’t have any change, and a culture in which time and interpersonal communications are valued more than anything.

Yesterday Argentina’s government required the energy companies serving the greater Buenos Aires area to restrict the supply of natural gas that flowed to businesses and homes all over the city, but primarily in the poor parts on the city outskirts. This means that on the coldest day of the year so far, people were shivering in their homes, and many schools had to close because they had no heat. Forty thousand taxi drivers parked their cars at home because they can’t afford the high gas prices. At the same time the subway workers are striking, so traveling anywhere in the city is a mess right now.

Why would this happen in Argentina, a country with one of the largest supplies of natural gas in the world? Let’s look at how fuel functions in a South American economy. Chile is a neighboring country with very little natural gas but a stronger economy. Bolivia also has natural gas, but no access to the coast, and a destitute economy, so they are unable to export abroad for a profit. So Bolivia sells gas to Argentina, and then Argentina sells its gas to Chile for a profit. When there is a shortage, the government is obliged to uphold business contracts it has with countries it exports gas to, like Chile (although they did have to cut off their shipments for a day or so). Meanwhile, the country’s own people go cold and can’t afford the gas prices.

Does this make any sense? Look at how capitalism works. It forces countries to serve other countries’ interests better than their own. I’m not saying that complete socialism is the right answer, either. But Argentina is a perfect example of how unsustainable the neoliberal economic model is.

…must be the sexiest city in the world.

The sweat and sand from the beach give the air a lusty, youthful scent, and the lush green trees create shade where people of all colors, hairstyles, and sexual leanings mill around on the sidewalks, sipping natural fruit juices. The people are so lively, friendly, unafraid to make eye contact, and above all, beautiful. Their strong, slim, tan bodies, and healthy skin and hair, are the result of lots of good sun and fresh fruits and seafoods. Everywhere you go at night, people are dancing the samba: shaking their hips frenetically as their feet jump back and forth as if they were on hot coals. And they do it all while looking so damn cool. With a surfboard in one arm, dark shades, and a smile that lights up like a tropical mid-day sun, the Carioca radiates sexiness.

Tropical paradise, smiling faces offering you coconuts to drink the juice from, miles and miles of beaches where you can dive in the waves, sip caipirinhas on the shore, watch the pink-and-orange sunset on the horizon…papayas and guavas…drummers and capoeira circles everywhere in the streets and in the plazas…brightly-colored colonial architecture filled with the sounds of people selling coffee on portable carts (”cafezinhos…”) and street foods… Read the rest of this entry »

Comentarios acerca del Centro Conviven

Hace tres meses que estoy trabajando en el Centro Conviven de Mataderos como profesora de inglés. No es una escuela como cualquiera, sino que es mucho más. Es un lugar donde gente con pocos recursos puede encontrar cariño y atención sin preocuparse de las diferencias sociales. Yo, como una parte de la enseñanza del inglés, me he enamorado de la energía, la gente, y la ideología del Centro Conviven. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s hard to say what exactly I am learning now in my life. I keep telling people I am a student of the world, or sometimes I say I am an anthropologist and I study people. But really I am only beginning to understand myself. Read the rest of this entry »