Argentine Machismo
Over the course of my 2.5 months here, I have encountered a bit of machismo. Usually, it comes from Pedro and his brother making fun of women rugby players (Olivia and I tried to tell them they were being sexist, but they went off into man world and didn’t pay attention) or women that are unable to fix things (Pedro’s response to my drunken toilet story). But there are a few words and terms ingrained in Argentine vocabulary that horrify me, like esposas (wives) for handcuffs and “mi mujer está roto” (my woman is broken) when she’s on her period.
Those are the only vocab words I could think of at the moment. Have you heard any other machista vocab, Buenos Aires readers?
Weekends rock
Friday
Fondue at the program director’s house- cheese for lunch, then dulce de leche and chocolate for dessert. The program director is the most ballin’ man on the planet and has the cutest boyfriend of all time who cooks all the meals.
Somewhere/ Nowhere - exposition of the work of Felix Gonzales Torres
Hurried from fondue heaven to guided tour at the MALBA. On it’s own, FGT’s work is unintelligible. A room full of candy in shiny wrappers? It does mean something profound, believe me. Also, all of his work can be taken or eaten. Two exhibits had candy. Another had posters that we could take home. My favorite piece of all was “(Perfect lovers)”. The work features two clocks that started running at the same time. They stay synchronized until eventually battery duration makes one run slower than the other. Another piece was the “Go-Go Dancing Platform” where every day a man in a go go dancer’s outfit comes and dances for a bit at random hours. We didn’t get to see him, and I really wanted to camp out until he came….
Gallery Nights
At the end of every months, the city hosts Gallery Nights in the galleries of Retiro and Recoleta. I went with my buddy Francisco, and we walked around for about an hour, trying to find the free champagne. The art was pretty decent, too. Afterwards, we went to his house and I persuaded his mom to show me embarrassing pictures of him as a child.
Saturday
Went to the Jardin Botanico with Estelle. We sat on a bench under a tree. After sitting for a few minutes, we heard a mewing up in the tree- it was a little kitten! We (and a few Argentines) tried to get it to come down, but it was 1. too nervous or 2. liked having us climb up on benches and almost die trying to get it down. Beautiful day. The most perfect spring day I have ever experienced.
At night, Estelle, Sophie and I went to Carolina’s house to celebrate her new apartment. We talked about everything- boys, sex, bad words. Then, while using the bathroom, I broke the thing that connects the handle to the flushing mechanism. By this time, Caro and I were wicked drunk, and decided that we wanted to fix the toilet with a stapler and tape. Obviously didn’t work, but we had a lot of drunken fun anyway. She also showed us the Flogger Dance. (Floggers, or Foto Loggers, are a tribe (tribu) of kids that make up the Buenos Aires scene.) Then I showed the Argentines how to juke Chicago style. My, I miss the juking chains of highschool…. At about 5 am we all stumbled home, dreading the inevitable hangovers.
Sunday
Spent a hangover/rainy/fat day at Carolina’s. Both of us had headaches, so we spent 5 hours watching television and eating a mountain of food. Carolina is a great friend and a lot of fun to be around, even when we’re just being stupid and hanging out.
Scary Movies and Argentine Theaters
Last night I went to see the Spanish horror film [REC]. I won’t reveal plot details, but it was so scary that I spent the entire time (or last 15 minutes of the movie) hiding on Pedro’s shoulder, gaging the scariness of the film by how much he jumped. Afterwards, I came to the conclusion that I should not be allowed to see scary movies in theaters. Too much trouble for everyone involved.
Movie theaters are very well organized, unusual for a country where disorganization rules. When you buy tickets, you also choose the exact seat where you will be sitting. Buying tickets early has benefits.
An average Argentine male
The typical Porteno captured on screen by Burger King.
Milonga Madness
Alessandra, one of my best friends, and her family are touring Argentina, and made a stop in Buenos Aires. I’ve showed them my favorite things: El Cuartito, the Jardin Botanico, and the Ataneo. In return, they brought me to a place I never would have found on my own: La Confiteria Ideal. As a cafe, La Confiteria is sub-par. However, every Saturday afternoon from 2-8, the run-down cafe becomes a milonga. Many older couples, some with experience, others not, dance tango for hours on end. In theory, you can just watch. In reality, you have to dance.
I was forced to dance by an 80 year old named Alberto.
I guess that’s not really fair. He didn’t hold a gun to my head and make me choose between death or dancing. But I just couldn’t bear to disappoint an old man. Anyway, I protested fiercely: “I don’t dance tango. My feet are made of wood. I just arrived in Argentina. I don’t have the right shoes.” No excuse worked. He promised to dance simply and I agreed.
So we danced…and it wasn’t horrible. I let him push and pull me around, concentrating on moving my feet in the right direction. Sometimes I got nervous, but when I relaxed I moved around a lot more easily. All in all, I think I even enjoyed it a little bit.
But my partner Alberto really made the dance interesting. He told me all about foreign girls he taught to dance, even showed me a postcard that one of them sent from France. He kept on saying that he was a widower, but assured me that he wasn’t a sinverguenza (shameless person) and that he thought of me as a daughter.
Anyway, even if you don’t tango at all, you should all go just to talk to good ol’ Albert.
Let’s talk about NOVIOS
One of the greatest problems facing an exchange student in Buenos Aires are relationships. Basically, what are the dating norms? So I asked my Argentine friends Carolina and Euge to explain everything to me (correct me if I’m wrong, chicas….).
There are varying degrees of relationships, depending on committment and interest from “Huesito,” the most casual, to “novios,” the most serious.
“Huesito”- roughly translated into booty call. Basically if you’re lonely, and feel like getting laid, you call your “huesito.” The relationship revolves around sex, nothing more. It is not exclusive.
“Hooking up” or “Seeing someone”- A sexual relationship, but your friends and family know you’re together and there is a degree of emotional attachment. Sometimes these relationships end in ambiguity, with one party severing all connections, and the other left wondering. Can be exclusive or not, depending on agreements between those involved.
“Ser novios”- dating. Very serious. Comes after months of seeing each other. Exclusive. Emotional and sexual relationship. Apparently the step before engagement.
If any readers know anything else about dating norms, please comment.
