Argentina 2010

I have returned to Argentina. When I visited three years ago, I flew to Santiago and then to the south. This time I am in Buenos Aires. Last time I committed to a brief one-week overview of Spanish, but this time I have committed to four weeks. After studying, I will rent a car and drive south to Junin de los Andes. I plan to stay in the same apartment I found last time and fish the same rivers. Maybe I can found the same trout and they will be even larger. I will be gone a total of two months. The last two weeks are open, meaning I have no specific plans. The return flight leaves from Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires is about 20 hours of travel time from home; I flew from Oregon to San Francisco to D.C. to BsAs. I left at 10:30 a.m. and arrived about 10:30 a.m. the following morning. There are other South American countries I would like to visit, but for this time of year Argentina is among the best; many of them have rainy season this time of year.

I had tofu last night

I had tofu and vegetables for dinner last night, but followed the example of Fred Flintstone for today's lunch. That's Argentine beef, " Tira de Asado. " My friend is a classmate from Germany named Thilo. We ate at an outdoor café beside the river in Puerto Madero.

getting started

It is warm here and the city is vibrant, but I have had some problems getting started. Jet lag is at the top of the list. Yesterday, I broke a tooth while eating some soft bread (?!?). I didn't like my classes and changed them. Then, I got a cold.

Tomorrow will be the end of the first week here and things seem to be settling down. We bought some fresh pasta in a local neighborhood store to cook in our kitchen. I found a bakery with medialunas (type of croissant) and bought some peach marmalade. The apartment is a clean, new and comfortable. While it doesn't have a view, it is somewhat tucked away from the noise and pollution.

Each day, we take the subway to school. It is located on a pedestrian street (Florida) and thousands of people rushing to work each morning. There are a lot of Brazilian students and they learn Spanish very quickly because Portuguese is similar to Spanish. I liked the two teachers I had today. I say, "Mi nombre es Patricio." It has been two years since I stayed in a Spanish-speaking country and the language wheels are turning slowly.

Un hombre y un mujer

Un hombre tiene un mujer.
Ella fue su querida y su esposa.

Ellos viven en su departimento y disfrutan sus vidas.
El trabaja a una liberia, comprando y venden libros.
Y ella ensenar los escolares chicos.

Un dia,

remember

I remember Argentina, now. Some things I observed last time I was here. Familiar enough to be comfortable, but different enough to be exciting--full of Italian, Spanish and European flair.
The smoke of bife de lomo, grilled steak from the parrillada or bar-b-que, wafts into the streets. The ice cream is rich gellato in chocolate and fruit flavors with dulche de leche at the top of the list. Couples embrace with deep kisses at the bus stop beside the lamppost, and there in the plaza. Don't be hungry at dinnertime; restaurants don't even open until eight or nine. Cafes with strong espresso and medialunas (like croissants) are seemingly on every corner and bookstores are almost as common. Plaques and statues abound not only for revolutionaries but for Borges, Cortazar and Saint-Exupery.The aisles in the grocery stores have four times as much yerba mate as coffee, and ground coffee comes with sugar added. Be careful with the bidet or you will get a shower instead of a rinse.

Arrived, Buenos Aires

Arrived this afternoon. Everything went according to plan. We are jet lagged after 24 hours of travel. The flight was bumpy after takeoff from D.C. The apartment doesn't have a view, but is new, clean, comfortable and secure; the staff is friendly and helpful. Walked around our neighborhood for awhile. Had lunch at a café and dinner at an Italian restaurant.

next stop, Buenos Aires

I am starting a new trip to Argentina. Tomorrow will be a long day. I leave here about 10:30 a.m. and get there about 10:30 a.m., but on the following day. Twenty hours in transit.

The temperature here is 19 degrees and it is also 19 degrees in Buenos Aires. But Oregon is Fahrenheit and BA is Celsius. Cold versus comfortable.

I am looking forward to living in the center of the city and going to Spanish school. After that, it will be time to relax in Patagonia--and catch some trout.

trip summary for Argentina10

In December to January 2009/2010, we visited Argentina for the second time. Three years earlier we visited southern Argentina, from Bariloche to Ushuaia. This time, we flew to Buenos Aires, the capital. We enrolled in IBL, a Spanish language school located on Florida Street in the heart of downtown. We rented an apartment and developed a daily routine. We awoke, had breakfast, rode the subway a few stops, walked to school and attended class for four or five hours. Afterwards, we had lunch, visited a tourist site and went home to rest and study some more.

After a month in the city, I was definitely ready for the mountains of Patagonia. We took an overnight bus to Neuquen where we rented a car and drove to Junin de los Andes. We stayed in the same apartment we rented three years earlier. The sleepy little town had grown up. We visited San Martin (to the south) and were amazed how much development had taken place. We went to Lago Huechulafquen, stayed in Aluminé and visited a Maupuche village high in the Andes.

See photo collections: Patagonia, school, and Buenos Aires.