Connection

Today, I drove to work in the rain and parked near a low curb, up against the hill. Schenley hill rising slick and green against the gray sky. Trees like sodden torches, leaves carpeting the grass. Stone steps. Marble hallway. Offices quiet and overheated. Pittsburgh has terrible weather, but I can’t help loving it, all the same…

…

So my boss is in Rwanda today for a Connectivity Conference.

I can’t find a link for that conference, but here’s one for a similar conference in March 2007… http://www.ustda.gov/news/pressreleases/2007/SubSaharanAfrica/SSAICTConfOpening_031907.pdf

It’s a conference about the internet in Sub-Saharan Africa, about how to bring developing African states into the 21st century as far as internet access is concerned. CMU was the most wired university in the U.S. before such things were popular, and it’s working hard to maintain that reputation, which is why (I’m sure) we’re there.

But it got me thinking: Today I was on the phone to the following places: Ohio, Chicago, Boston, China. Yesterday, Argentina and California. A couple weeks ago, a friend in Quatar. New York, Atlanta, Minnesota … And let’s not even talk about my IM destinations!

(Incidentally, for a really useful VOIP program, go here: http://www.jajah.com — good quality sound, extraordinarily low prices (.031 cents/minute to China this evening, 150 free minutes per month between Jajah members – and membership is free…)

I remember a fall morning, perhaps six months ago. I’m at the office at my internship in Argentina (their fall, spring here in Pennsylvania…). It’s early in the morning, white light coming through the windows. The office ceiling must’ve been 15 feet up, wooden floors, low desks, rolley chairs. I was in the office making coffee with Gustavo, and we were chatting in Spanish, shooting the breeze. He makes amazing coffee – something magical. I swear, if I could import people, he’d be the first. Knows his way around a coffee machine better than anyone I’ve ever met … Anyway, he was telling me that Argentines are much more family oriented than US citizens – that they live in one city, that they stay close to their families, that they don’t feel the same need to travel, that they don’t tend to go away.

I remember that when I first went to Buenos Aires, I somehow thought the city was all there was – as though you could have 11 million people living in a Manhattan environment – but then I started getting to know Argentines, started going into the neighborhoods. Went for a walk with Martín the one day, and it was like walking through a small town – wide, empty streets, low houses … and then driving out of the city, a thousand houses, a hundred neighborhoods. You can leave home and never be more than half an hour from your parents’.

I took umbrage at Gustavo’s generalization, at the time- but then I realized; we (in the US) are mostly descended from wanderers, nomads, people who leave for a new place and never return. Connectivity, culturally and perhaps even genetically (can i say this and stay politically correct? probably not. Is it late, and is it my blog, so will i? yes ;) – so perhaps even genetically, we’re predisposed to have more interest in travel.

Also, we have more large cities. Over 1/4 of Argentina’s population lives in what might as well be their only city.

So I’ve got these phone calls going. I’m texting all over the world right this minute. I was in California over the weekend. … How do we keep connectivity in a world like this?

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I suppose I’m still trying to get a handle on why so much technology in the U.S., specifically, and why we seem to depend on it so much more than anyone else. Here’s a thought; we have the same need for connection, but we all have itchy feet. …

… I miss Buenos Aires!!!! ….

From Fodor’s

Spring in Buenos Aires is a Culture Vulture’s Delight

Buenos Aires’ non-stop artistic calendar keeps the city’s culture vultures busy and content, and now that spring has arrived in the southern hemisphere, the city is absolutely teeming with cultural offerings for visitors and locals alike.

The city is celebrating Art Week this week with an array of activities, culminating on Saturday, October 6 with the extraordinary La Noche de los Museos, when more than 100 public and private galleries and museums open their doors to the public for a free night of museum madness. Porteños love the nightlife, so expect the museums to be jam-packed until the wee hours; more than 300,000 people participated last year, and more are expected this year. The party will end with a midnight concert headlined by Grammy-nominated Argentine/Alaskan musician Kevin Johansen + The Nada.

Buenos Aires’ premiere design fair opened its doors last week and will run through November 25. Casa FOA gives top Argentine and international decorators, architects and interior designers a place to show off their latest creations and spaces. This year, the exhibition is taking place in a former train station in the hip Palermo neighborhood.

Renowned Argentine silversmith Marcelo Toledo has created a jewelry exhibition inspired entirely by Argentina’s legendary former first lady, Eva Peron. The Evita: Figure, Woman, Myth collection of broaches, earrings, necklaces and more will be on display until the end of October at the Evita Museum in Palermo. The collection will tour the United States and Europe next year.

For documentary film buffs, the 9th Annual National Video and Film Documentary Festival will take place from October 6-13. Dozens of Argentine and Latin American documentaries will make their world premiere at the festival, with screenings throughout the week in the neighborhood of San Telmo.

For a one-of-a-kind experience, be sure to visit the first-ever exhibition of Argentine Arte Villero (Shantytown Art) at the Boquitas Pintadas pop-hotel from October 26 to November 24. The show will feature paintings, sculptures, music and videos imagined by young artists from the scores of shantytowns, known as villas, that line the urban belt of Buenos Aires. It’s sure to be an eye-opening experience for all.

—Brian Byrnes

11:30pm, Feb. 25, 2007. (i.e. much later the same day)

To bed at 6am. The first alarm (being an analog clock) went off early.

The second, I never heard, although I found my phone under my covers during the mad scramble to get ready that followed. Was out the door by 9:10 (about an hour after I was supposed to *meet* people) and at the bus station (Retiro) by 9:30. Huzzah for taxis. And really cool friends who have pesos when I can’t get my online banking to cooperate. (Muchas Muchas Muchas gracias a Rodrigo : ) :/ )

We went to Parque de la Costa, which reminded me a huge amount of Kennywood, actually. Even though it’s on the outskirts of Bs.As., it’s smaller than Kennywood, and keeps to the small-town feel. Only … it must’ve been over 100 degrees Farenheit today in the sun (*edit* it was at least 40C, or 104F, as reported by various Argentines…), and then there’s the effects of the lower ozone here in South America (this is documented, i’m not just making it up, and yes, you can *tell*…) – it was hot, and very quiet. They had water misting stations up all over the place, just to stand in and stand in, even in the ride (“juego”) lines. Juego means game, but also ride (apparently). We rode … one water ride (a “Pittsburgh Plunge” clone), two roller coasters – one an upside-down roller coaster (my first!) and one a very twisty, grandiose number that was one of those where the seats hang down from the roller coaster. Also a couple of smaller rides (including a bumper-cars-in-the-water piece that i’m *sure* would never make in the states due to the number of unprotected outboard motors in rubber rafts in a small area in the hands of inexperienced personel etc…)… and then it was 8pm. (ye gods, the long lines), and we caught the train home. I’m beat, and haven’t slept nearly at all since friday morning.

I did want to add that the previous post (this morning) was heated, but is essentially what i meant to say; i felt, for the first time (for whatever reason) that the U.S. has a good sense of where diversity is going, and what it can look like, where the rest of the world may not (yet). This, if I may say so, seems a place we (USCitizens) could make a difference for the better; we’re not just *in* the debate… we’re leading the debate as it stands, for now. (it seems to me) …. So yes, there is racism (job discrimination, education discrimination, etc) in the US, but … on the other hand, we’re actively stirring the pot, allowing and encouraging dialog, etc etc. We’re doing a lot wrong, but (it seems to me), we’re doing a lot right as well.

ok, enough (unasked for) patriotism for one evening. Chau everyone.

Oh! Also, I have an address, so if you’ll send me a letter (and not unless!!) please send me an email and i’ll go ahead and email it back to you.
Also, I thought this blog entry on sex toy vs. gun sales in Alabama was very interesting and that the author made some good points : )

View from my roof; Buenos Aires from above

So there are 18 floors in my building, and we’re about as tall as it gets. As you’ll see, there are a couple buildings our size or a bit taller, but no 70-story-type buildings.

The pool. I swim about every other day.

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In green, the street I live on (Colonel Diaz). You can *just* see the trees marking the crossstreet, Santa Fe. The streets here have old trees overhanging them, giving this wonderful green/white effect from above.

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To the left of the pool. I’m rather fond of the drawings on the lower level (to the right, in this photo)

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I rather like this picture. The street (green trees) is Beruti. The mall is at the extreme bottom left of the picture, the “shopping” at Alto Palermo.

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More of the mall :)

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Some of the taller buildings in the neighborhood (this is exactly opposite the first view of the pool)

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And finally…

Here’s more to the left (between the ‘artwork’ photo and the last).

Here’s a closeup:

Notice the hills on the horizon (blue/gray above the sea)… That’s Uruguay.

~**~

You know, I was thinking that one could sketch a life in the places one’s seen, but never been to. For me:

• March 2000: Morocco (from the Rock of Gibralter, Spain)
• (until 2002 or so) Canada, Niagra falls
• October 2003:Russia
• November 2003: Singapore
• November 2003: Madagascar

… You?

A couple of thoughts:

1) Eggs are not liquid. That’s right, they look like a liquid, but then they’re bad and you go to pour them down the drain and it turns out they’re actually a solid in disguise, and you have to spend lots of time running hot water and hoping you won’t cook the whites in the drain…

2) I am not 19 any more. SHOCK!!! No, really; went out last night (this is a story…).

• Went to my Pasantia/internship, got back around 4.
• Did some yoga and went swimming (on my roof; I’ll get the pictures up soon, i promise!).
• Went shopping (a highly functional black skirt, and a lacy green shirt, for the fashion-conscious amongst you)
• 10:45pm, Paseo del Sol for beers and olives/cheese/pepperoni/chips with some friends and my host brother, who’s leaving this afternoon to go backpacking in Patagonia for 2 weeks.
• 1am: VIP/non-extranjero section of Club Mumm with three Argentine girls who were wonderfully sweet and got me in for free; and some poor escort Argentine male who had an ear infection and whose girlfriend wasn’t along… On the way in, a guy in a muscle shirt doing a slow-style hip-hop exhibition all alone on the floor, looking like he ought to be in Cirque du Soleil. Lights in cubist forms, purple/orange/black, latticing over his body.
  • Incidentally, argentine girls all seem to color-coordinate and i can’t figure out how the heck they do it. These three were all dressed the same, in jeans, white shirt, and jewelry… although one had a bubble watch and a sporty sense to her and reminded me a great deal of KJ, a marine who used to live in the house in PGH a while back…
• 2:30am, out on the floor at Club Mumm - it’s a hip-hop club and people are dancing like they mean it. Music loud and the lights are edgy, mobile. An Argentine falls in love with me and then moves on.
• 3am: a Very Tall Uruguayan kisses me on the way out of the club.
• 3:15amish: taxi back to the apartment. I’m still in shock about the kiss. Charlene (my new roomie, 19, blond, American/Miami) and a guy from Chile are just going out. I change and go out with them.
• 4am: after getting taken for a spin by the taxi driver, we wind up at club Nice, a techno/trance place in viejo Palermo. Beats on the floor, the whole place smelling of cigarettes and weed; a lot of hippies, a lot of people who think they can dance. An Argentine who looks exactly like my friend Dan Swanton falls in love with me. His friends try to set us up and ask if he can kiss me. I say I just want to dance.
  • The lighting’s all wrong at this place; strobe lighting and moving greens/blues switching to house lights – yellow, static, like being at a beer swilling house party in Oakland somewhere. When the DJ keeps his hands off the lights and his mind on the music it’s much better. Music loud and stacatto, the stage all fog and lights, people in costume (a girl with horns, another with a long dangling tail, etc) prancing around. None of them can dance.
• 4:30, backbend into space, hands, elbows, rings sparkling in black/white/blue strobe light. I love trance, even mediocre trance. It’s like dancing inside the music, instead of just to it. Someone offers me a ‘j. A black Argentine (!!) with an Afro asks my name. A passing German (?) tells me I’m beautiful. A passing Argentine feels me up. Someone steps on my foot. This club is full of extranjeros, and it shows; the crowd is on average a lot taller than the club in the VIP section at Mumm. I’d just been getting used to feeling taller, too…
• 5am, Charlene and the Chilean (whose name i’ll remember eventually) get wierded out/sick of the scene, and we head out, get in a taxi, go back to the apartment.
• 5:30am: i check my email (yeah, i’m a CMU student, sue me) and go to bed.
• 8:30am: Charlene gets up and goes to drop her laundry off and go to class…. Like I said; I’m not 19 any more. It’s not that i’m hung over, even (drank nothing at club Nice, and half a beer at club Mumm) just that … how to say it; sleep is higher on my priority list than it used to be.

2am and work tomorrow

… J (my host brother) is terribly, terribly hot when he speaks English. It’s almost irritating (!)

…

…

I told him he has a “buen accento” and left it at that…

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… also i have a date tomorrow (with a redheaded Argentine), so wish me luck!!!

La Boca – this post primarily for Nathaniel M.

First, please see below to the 14th for a (backdated) post regarding a horseriding adventure…

Second: Yesterday (Sat, 20th), I was at La Boca with some friends. La Boca is a district/neighborhood of the city that I think would probably be a lot better without the heavy tourist influx. But then, we were part of the influx, so it’s hard to say for sure ;) Went with four brazilians and a guy from switzerland.

This part of town felt less polluted to me. We walked down from the bus stop at Constitution (about 30 minutes). Entered through this plaza/park on top of a hill. There was a nice view of this lovely old church…

Joao, Alex, Niara, Laerte, Natti, Rodrigo (me taking the picture). Church in the backround to the left…

Then we walked down and into the town. Lovely details everywhere…

flower detail on a gate

~**~

Lamp shadows (later in the day)

We went to Estacion La Boca, which is the old train station. As Laerte said this guy said (so i’m not actually sure), the old train station was moved/removed in order to build … the stadium? I think. In any case:

Me at Estacion La Boca

More of Estacion La Boca. Note the stadium top and right …

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So La Boca is best known (i believe?) for Boca Juniors, a futbol/soccer team. Here’s me at the stadium (gotta have some human interest, right?! ;)

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The museum…

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We had lunch in this open air feria/market later. I walked around through some of the Ateliers and saw some cool paintings. Liked this one especially:

The artist signs him/herself JANI

And … heading home:

Hopefully i’ll have more thoughts next time, and not just pictures ;)

La Estancia (backdated post)

Hi everyone,

As this is feeling a bit like a journal to me, i’ve changed the timestamp here so everything will be in chronological order. These pictures are from the 14th, sunday.

We went to an Estancia, an old horse ranch/farm about 2 hours out of the city. It was like getting out of a smoggy greenhouse or something, to be out in the fresh air. We rode horses, we had lunch with wine and some simply incredible barbequeued steak (i now have a completely new and unfair definition of “good” steak), swam in the pool and suntanned a bit, headed back…

Signature image for today: glasses before eating:

… This (if i may be self-indulgent for just a second) reminded me a great deal of my time in Tanzania. This picture isn’t much good (a bit dark), but here’s what it’s like ‘roughing it’ British style on the Tanzanian Selous (October/November 2003):

… and here (below) is what it’s like ‘roughing it’ Spanish/Argentine style on the Pampas:

Muy parecidas (similar), no? Europeans certainly know how to live…

Speaking of Europeans, there were some Irish people (60’s up) who were doing a golf tour and had driven up from Buenos Aires to ride’n'dine. We chatted for a bit, and then they asked me where I was from. I said “from the United States” and they said “wow, we never would’ve guessed!” … I’ve been getting that a lot. People here are genuinely (and un-maliciously) surprised when you’re a decent human being and from the United States.

… this strikes me as a very very sad state of affairs.

In any case, here are a few more pictures.
Heading out of town, a stadium (don’t know which – Nathaniel?):

~**~

Here’s the entrance to the Estancia – we were way out in the country. All the way out, we kept play the “this looks like…” game (“whoah, this is totally kansas!” “no, man, it just has to be Ohio. Ohio with more grass…” “Australia! Have any of you…” and so on). Here’s the entrance, so you can judge for yourself:

… note the horses at left.

The Irish group heading out riding:

~**~

so about MY riding experience:

So I went out with the group, riding across fields and whatnot. The Horse (hereafter known as DEVIL) had his own idea about what we’d be doing; riding with his nose up the tail of the front horses. I said no. DEVIL said yes, and so we had a rather protracted (if unwordy) fight about the whole thing. Three fields and two fences later, one of the gauchos, noticing said squabble, said that if i wanted to let him run, i could do it, just take him around the field and have him run…

The around the field bit went great. If you like holding the reins for a forced and highly protested march while dodging stirrup-high bushes.
It was the coming-back bit that really got the adrenaline going. It was like putting a brick on the gas. The reins (brakes) were useless. Whoah apparently doesn’t translate into spanish, either. or back. We were leaping/dodging bushes at breakneck speed. Lost my stirrups about three leaps in and had a choice between trying to stop or hanging on.

We made it back in one piece, but that was the last exciting thing (and hopefully, DEVIL) tried the afternoon.

Also all afternoon non-riders were complementing me on my horse’s good behavior. (what?!)

…

… did i mention they don’t use helmets in argentina?

ok, on with the rest of the tour

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The Estancia itself (Sarah at left):

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And finally, people at lunch:

… you can imagine the pieces matching ;)

So then we went swimming. And i slept about 10 hours that night, got up for work the next morning…

A few pictures

A ‘typical’ cafe on a ‘typical’ street.

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This is from 12/31/2006: Yours truly in front of the Casa Rosada – it’s like the White House. The president isn’t in residence at the moment, because of the construction, but it’s still cool. Also, this is the Plaza del Mayo, for those interested in such things :) C took the picture. This was a crazy day, because i got sunstroke. Went home, went to bed, woke up, did the New Years Eve thing (talked with family/friends that were over), went back to bed and slept for the next 18 hours…

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Jan 5, 2007 – tour of the Plaza del Mayo with people from the language school. I didn’t get sunstroke this tour (largely because, for once, there were clouds), and i learned a lot about the history of the place

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January 5, 2007 – an early (7pm) dinner with the Brazilians after the Plaza del Mayo tour

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I took this on the 11th while walking home from Yoga. Thought it was a pretty neat shot :)

Thursday, Jan 11 2007

Vocab: subte (m.) – subway (said soup-tay)

Interesting today:

• A woman on the street asked me for the time, and a man on the subte asked me for directions. I think i’m starting to look a bit like native. … maybe it’s the skirts (?!?!)
• On the subte, there was this shouting match – some guy handing out leaflets and another guy, arguing. I caught about 1 word in ten and had pretty much no idea waht was going on. However, at one point, the guy with the leaflets (taller, with reddish hair – the other guy looked much more of a mexican descent), turned his back, stuck his fingers in his ears, and started singing. However, where an American would just go “lalala, i can’t HEAR you…” this guy starts this melodic, operatic sounding melody. Lovely, and totally (from my point) unexpected. Then he turned around and kept shouting. … it’s the little things.
• I managed my first bilingual pun (whoever i was talking to about this, leave me a comment, i can’t remember). I was sitting with J and C watching TV. I had the remote, which they here call a control for short – and i totally didn’t want to watch what they wanted to watch (“bewitched” – some cheesy sitcom with a buxom women in a godmother costume and a ditzy blond-ponytailed 16 year old asking for help with the cooking or some such thing ….) and i’m going “no, no, yo tengo el control, yo tengo el control!” and it struck me that it’s funny in both Spanish and English, on a whole bunch of levels. (it also means “control” in spanish, just like in english, and then in the US there’s that whole women-should-never-have-the-remote thing…)

I think that’s it for Thursday. Stay warm everyone, and keep reading :) Send emails, too!