Family Reunited

For weeks I had been anticipating the visit of my father to the city for a week. I had set out itineraries, lists of restaurants and multiple back up agendas. I was ecstatic waiting for this week to come, just so I could see a familiar face and talk in real time instead of Skype! As the day neared I was counting down in my head the hours until I could get a real daddy hug. As I walked in the airport I saw him standing in the corner waiting for me. I dashed across the lobby grinning from ear to ear! He was finally here! As I turned to leave he diverted me towards a money converter, insisting that he get change. As we stood in line both my mother and sister came from behind him! A full family surprise! I was blindsided, but even more excited that the whole gang was here in Buenos Aires together!

Driving through the city to their hotel I was pointing out buildings and monuments that we would see in the following week. Although tired from traveling, they wanted to set out and see the city. We took the subte to calle Florida to walk the long street of shops and the Plaza de Mayo. I had to break for class, and they took a break for siesta. After, I showed them around my neighborhood, pointing out all of my favorite stores and magnificent buildings that I am neighbored with. We ate at one of my favorite restaurants, Madeline’s, where we had empanadas, milenesas and pizzas. We followed the cobblestone street up to the cemetery and peered in the cultural center; a free art exhibit. We even got to see a sculptor at work. We watched the sunset over the city and left for ice cream at Volta.

Having no class on Friday is excellent because I was able to spend the whole day with my family. We walked all the way to El Centro, to Silvia y Mario’s, a leather shop. One of the first things to check off my dad's itinerary. We spent the day shopping and exploring the city. We went all the way to Plaza Italia to a winery that my dad was interesting in as well. Argentina is known for it's excellent leathers as well as it's wine. The malbec is world famous, grown from the grape vines of Mendoza. At the winery, I had my mom and sister try mate, which they did not like at all! Mate is a traditional tea that all Argentinians drink. It is served hot in a gourd from a metal bombilla, or straw. The Yerba Mate is bitter, but has an excess of caffeine, which is why the gauchos on the Pampas drink so much of it! Later, I took them to my university in Belgrano, which was decorated for primavera. The university was also featuring student’s art projects, so the lobby was weaved with the exhibits. That night, we went to a parrilla in Recoletta, where they were able to have an authentic Argentinian cooked steak.

Saturday was another beautiful day in the city, which was perfect for walking the cemetery and the Recoletta markets. My sister found plenty of trinkets for her friends at home, and we all enjoyed looking at the crafts at the fair. We had dinner at the famous Cafe Tortoni which has hosted many famous faces from around the world. After dinner, we went downstairs to the tango show. The music, dancers and actors were all full of energy, it almost made me want to dance on stage!

Since Buenos Aires shuts down on Sundays we took advantage of the San Telmo antique markets. We started from the Casa Rosada at el centro and walked the markets straight through to San Telmo. Almost 22 blocks! We found scarves and colorful jewelry and some traditional Tom’s footwear that the Argentine’s wear! We broke off from Telmo and explored Puerto Madero too. We crossed the famous walking bridge, Puente de la Mujer. The big sailboats and private yachts made for a beautiful backdrop in mom’s many photos of us.

Monday we explored the gardens of Palermo, starting first at my favorite, the Rosedal. The sun was perfect for lounging in the grass and enjoying the swans and birds bathing in the pools. We took a horse drawn carriage around the gardens and stopped at Plaza Italia for lunch. We enjoyed the sauna at the hotel and relaxed for the night laughing about the week and enjoying each other's company after a few months apart.

I forgot how much I had missed my family until they were here with me! I am not accustomed to going long periods of time without seeing them, so being in Buenos Aires for five months was a big change! It was an interesting experience sharing my city with them and all the things I love because I wanted them to see it all, when all they were interested in was seeing me! As we walked the city they used me as a translator, which was a great way to practice my Spanish comprehension! It was sometimes difficult to relay messages back from English to Spanish but, it helped! It was amazing being able to share the things I love with the people I love!

Hamburgesa Completa

Good Eats

One of my favorite things about traveling, is discovering new foods! I had expectations of Argentina’s food being more similar to central American cuisine, with spices, rice and fajita wraps. Instead, I found that because of the Italian influence there are more pizzerias and pasta houses than burrito stands! The pizza is usually thin crust, little tomato sauce and overflowing with mozzarella cheese. The most popular pizzas are jamon y queso, with slices of ham and cheese, as well as napolitana, which is mozzarella, tomato slices and basil.

The pasta as well is very popular and full of cheese! Most popular is the Italian dish, gnocchi. Gnocchis are little rolled up pastas with cheese inside. They are delicious, but filling! Here, we have gnocchis on the last day of every month, a little tradition Julio does for the family.

Similar to American diets, Buenos Aires has choripans, or complete hotdogs. Choripans come complete with a hotdog, topped with ketchup, mustard, relish and fried sticks similar to potato sticks. They are a local favorite here.

Another local favorite as well as one of my favorites are the empanadas. Empanadas are baked pockets that are filled with either beef, jamon and queso, or anything else you can imagine. They are similar to hotpockets, but in the shape of a half moon. Empanadas come baked, or fried and sometimes even as a dessert filled with dulce de leche.

Dulce de leche, “sweet milk,” is a caramel spread which is put on everything, similar to our use of peanut butter. It comes in many forms such as, coffee flavors, ice cream, sandwich fillers and in alfahores as well.

Alfahores are pastries filled with dulce de leche. In between two cakes is a layer of dulce. The look similar to whoopie pies, but with white cake and caramel spread. There are hundreds of different types of alfahores to chose from. I love the cracker alfahores, covered with white chocolate as opposed to the soft cake alfahores covered with milk chocolate.

Apart from all the carbs, Argentina is most well known for it’s cattle industry. Every other restaurant in Buenos Aires is a parrilla, or steak house. You can smell the coal burning ovens from the street, roasting huge portions of meat on skewers. Because of the abundance of steak and meat, it is very easy to get a good portioned meal for very cheap. A three course steak meal in Buenos Aires costs a little over $20.

Also, Buenos Aires is popular in it’s hamburgesas completa. These massive burgers are topped with cheese, lettuce, tomato, plenty of pickles, ham, and a fried egg. They make a mess, but the combination of meats and flavors is extraordinary!

Eating is not a problem in Buenos Aires, but there are days when I long for a peanut butter sandwich or an American burger! For now, I will munch on alfahores and empanadas while I can!

Getting Around -Transportation Culture

In a city, there are many things to do, many places to see and be. Of course, modes of transportation are important. In Buenos Aires, where all the barrios, or neighborhoods, are so close, it is easy to walk around the city. Every morning on my commute to school I tread across uneven cobblestone paths. The sidewalks are marked with different tiles which change patterns with every block. I pass underneath the beautiful architecture of the city, inspired by Italian culture. I see faces of all the city people, they brush shoulders with me on their way to lunch. The students and workers who take lunch break in the park enjoy the afternoon sun on the grass. The kids play futbol on any stretch of space they can find. Crossing the street, I have to dodge the fast moving taxis and Peugots who run the road.

Taking a taxi is an adventure in itself. There are no rules of the road, no signs, no lines, no speed limits, nothing is off limits. It is easy to get from one side of the city to the other in a taxi in less than 15 minutes. The taxis are decorated with rosaries and pictures of saints, but it is not prayers the drivers recite to one another when they whiz through the streets. Some taxis decorate their cars with stereos, making sure to play American pop music when the students take a ride. The taxis share the road with the few cars on the street, including the most popular, Peugeots.

Very few people own cars in the city, however, the people who do own vehicles, drive them to the very last mile. The antique cars that we would display in car shows are being driven through the streets of Buenos Aires. Most people do not see the need for cars, unless they have a house in campo, or the country, in which they need transportation out of the city. However, most people get by with use of scooters.

Motorcars are the most effective modes of transportation in the city. The majority of scooter riders are the messengers of stores like, ice cream parlors, movie rental stores and empanada restaurants. In Buenos Aires, you can have anything delivered to your door. Scooters have no reservations when on the road. The navigate through the streets with their helmets resting on their foreheads. They buzz past traffic, weaving in and out of the lines of taxis. They skip lights and travel on the sidewalks amongst the pedestrians. The scooters rev their loud motors waiting for the lights to change. Here, the lights are different in that they change from red, to yellow, to green, back again to yellow then red. So, when crossing the street, a yellow light does not necessarily mean the light is going to turn red and it is safe to cross, sometimes the light turns green!

The kings of the road and most popular mode of travel are the colectivos, or city buses. There are hundreds of different buses that roam all over the city. They are each very unique in color and its design. They are decorated with bold green, red and blue paints that is stylistic to Buenos Aires, known as filefeado. Inside, the windows are lined with fringe. There are few seats, so most people are subject to stand. At night, some of the buses are illuminated with blue lights running down the aisles and through the ceilings, it makes the buses look more like a night club than a city bus.

My favorite way to get around the city is underground. The five lines of the subte cover most of the city’s expanse. I usually take the green line which follows straight through the city from one end, the Plaza Mayo, right through my neighborhood to Belgrano on the other side of the city. The subtes are cheap to ride too. For only $1,10 you can ride the subtes all day long, changing lines and directions. Subtes fill up during rush hour times, making them more of cattle cars than subte cars. The subte system was designed by the British, so some of the stops are on the opposite side of the car. It is important to pay attention to which doors are going to open so you do not miss your stop!

I have found that exploring the city is easy with all the ways I can get around. And, it makes for an interesting adventure discovering all of these methods of transportation.

Viva Argentina

After spending much time in the city, one thing I have noticed as a great difference between Buenos Aires and home in Boston is the national pride they display. Of course with the World Cup Soccer Championships ending right when I landed in the city there were flags and banners lining the streets. But, beyond the national colors I have noticed that the people take pride in their country. They love to talk to the students about their history and culture.

Today, I went to an Argentina and Spain futbol game at the River Plate Stadium with over 60,000 other fans who were chanting for Argentina. It was here where I noticed that their heart and soul is truly in their country. Of course, the portenos will always cheer for Argentina, but, the past the face paint and tall blue striped hats, you could see the real pain in their faces when forward Lionel Messi missed a goal, or goal keeper Sergio Romero almost let one in. The stadium itself was filled to the top with these exuberant fans for just a practice match. People took up seats on top of fences, on the stairwells and in the pathways just to get a view. The fans had cheers and songs that everyone in the stadium sang to. The people at the stadium, of all ages, embraced each other with each goal. The pride that was sweeping through the stadium was overwhelming. Both kids and adults alike were wearing their favorite team jersey filling the stadium of sky blue.

There was no music to get the crowd excited because the crowd was it’s own music. There was no halftime show or cheerleaders because the distraction would have been too much to take away from the game. However, at the end of the match, the sky was filled with fireworks of blue and white congratulating the Argentina National team.

The people in the stadium came together not as a crowd, but as a family, all for the same team. They were a unit. Of course, the natives have an easy time weeding out the foreign students from the crowd, despite our attempts to blend in with Argentina jerseys. They love to talk and to ask questions.

Apart from the stadium, national pride runs through the streets. The streets are named after presidents, political leaders and influential men of Argentine history. Each intersection is marked with grand statues and art hundreds of feet in the air. Some, are gifts from Spain, England and the United States; but most are monuments of famous Argentines who still hold the hearts of the portenos.

Everywhere you walk the flags wave proudly, the people hold their heads high when walking past their favorite monuments on the streets named after their ancestors. The people of South America live off of it, they embrace it because it is their history.