Wednesday, July 31, 2013

The Feast Day of San Ignacio de Loyola

Today is the feast day of San Ignacio de Loyola.

Google Images
















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As the founder of la Sociedad de Jesús, (the Jesuits), his influence was tantamount to the development of la Universidad del Salvador (USAL), a Jesuit institution by foundation, which is where I am attending school here in Buenos Aires.













To read more about San Ignacio:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignatius_of_Loyola


¡Chao!

On Assimilating in Argentina, Points 001 and 002

001. Yerba mate
002. Dulce de leche

PALERMO

The other day, las chicas and I visited Palermo - one of the ritzier neighborhoods in Buenos Aires - just to meander a bit and explore new territory.

First, we took a stroll through the Jardín Botánico, which proved to be a delightful escape from the rush of the city.





Then, we stumbled upon a quaint little restaurant called La Moresca. With the encouragement of their advertised special for the day, we went in for an early-afternoon lunch.
La Moresca as seen from my seat.
FUN FACT: Argentines are used to eating meals a couple hours later than Americans.
It is customary have el almuerzo, lunch, around 2 PM.
The obligatory (and much admired for my part) post-meal café
After lunch, we strolled about tienda-and-café-filled Palermo...
...and fell in love.


Roughly, "Live without shame."

 At the end of our day, we hit a feria to see if we could find any treasures.

One of those treasures ended up being a perfect veranda outside a bar, where we sat for a while to enjoy some native Argentine Quilmes Stout brew.


Friday, July 26, 2013

El Cementerio Recoleta

There are no words, except for this: 
photos from a camera do not capture, in the slightest, the majesty of this place.



  

Thursday, July 25, 2013

El Campo en la Ciudad

Yesterday, a group of us study-abroaders took an excursion with a few of our host peers to La Rural - a little feria, or fair, exhibiting rural life inside the city. Think 4-H, Mid-westerners, in the center of a city much like Chicago.

And the eccentric one in the middle is Fran, my assigned anfitrión!



There was a strange conglomeration of nice restaurants, expensive shops, and truck and gaucho shows - but a part of it felt a little like home. Until I read the information plates written in Spanish, that is.

I leave you to your imaginations with this photo:

What story is this man telling?
Comment with your guess below!
¡Chao!

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Un descanso por un café...

 Between visiting the Plaza de Mayo...
La Casa Rosada
...and viewing the famous Obelisco de Buenos Aires...
(while indulging in a few famous jokes about it)
...las chicas and I decided to stop for a bit of café and medialunas at a most ideal bar called Confiteria Ideal.
How European!
Amid all this perfection, I keep taking moments for myself to think, "Wow, I'm actually here." No puedo creerlo.

Que hermosa es la vida.

Monday, July 22, 2013

This is Buenos Aires.


Everywhere, birds. Hitchcock amounts of birds.
That's Islas Malvinas, also known as The Falkland Islands,
which are currently controlled by the big GB. Which also take
root right next to the Argentine mainland. A curiosity, you say?
Quite.
Just your average porteño trying to make a living while idiot
tourists take pictures.
And these are the cars that weave across la carretera.
Driving motto: "Turn signals? Pfffft. ¡ADELANTE!"
I have finally arrived, and a thousand new things are introduced to me every day.
Por ejemplo, the lingo:
  • acá > here
  • allá > there
  • Buen día > Good morning/ Good day
  • dale > good, OK
  • ¿De dónde sos? > Where are you from?
  • Por favor > For use after someone gives thanks
  • No pasa nada > No big deal
  • Chau > Goodbye
  • All double-l's are pronounced with a "zsh" sound. A ver:
    • "Vamos así por la cazshe Cazshao"
If you played along, you just said, "Let's go this way, to Callao Street." If you want to get even closer to speaking Buenos-Airesian, add a little "e" sound to every vowel, and practice until you can say it as fast as possible. This is Buenos Aires.

Needless to say, there are countless points of distinction in the porteño dialect, and I've been acclimating myself to the way they speak 'round these parts. That means I adopt an expression similar to this one...
From El Museo de las Bellas Artes
...whenever I hear something I don't understand. Which is often. Bueno, I will have improved my Spanish greatly by the time I return to the States - if only by grueling trial and error and listening.

That's all for now, readers. More experiences to share soon!

¡Chao!