I’m not really going to update this blog anymore. I’ve been writing a fashion blog recently…it has a bit to do with Argentina:

Providence Armoire

Notice:
The man with the glasses, engaged in a business negotiation. Speaking in English, accented Spanish. = evil foreign capitalist
The boy, young and blond= innocent, unexploited country

Look at how they spell cognac! So cute!

The duck looks a bit demented….

Mate and bombillas…

As if a *paf* could kill a rat!

Skirt, Las Pepas

Flashy, but 100% cotton and really light

Skirt, La Coquette

A bit pricey, but it has a neat rising back. Works well with a black shirt and leggings.

Shirt, adorhada guillermina

A ridiculous pattern. I bought it to wear with black jeans (still to hot to wear those) and to piss off my ex-boyfriend, who hates mint green.

Shoes, Lady Comfort

These are fall shoes, and weren’t on sale, but all my other closed toe flats have been destroyed by BA sidewalks.

Shirt, Lupe

Comfortable, light. I bought this a size up because it looks better loose.

Jeans, Wanama

So you know those really odd shades of skinny jeans that Argentine girls with mullets wear? I bought a pair in an inoffensive color (though I was tempted by mint green).

Now, I spent a lot of money on these clothes. But most cheap Argentine clothes are made out of polyester and viscosa, a rather shady sounding fabric. So I’ve started spending more to get something that’s well made. At the very least, whenever someone in the USA compliments me, I can say “Why, this old thing? I bought it in Argentina!”

LIFE, or Luchemos para una Infancia Feliz y con Esperanza (we fight for a childhood with happiness and hope), was started after the 2001 crash. The poor were hit the hardest, and the children of the poor were hit worst of all.

We do a bunch of activities with the kids- school support, soccer, cooking classes, and birthday parties. If you want to learn more about the activities, please go to the website: http://www.lifeargentina.org/

The staff are really awesome and the kids are very welcoming. There is no maximum or minimum time comittment. If you are in BA, I suggest you check it out.

My first experience with Kentucky Pizza was at 4 in the morning. I had just left a bar with a few friends and we were ready to eat something substantial. And, by jove, we found it. The fugazetta pizza (onions and mozzarella) is fantastic. Imagine stuffing half a pound of mozzarella into a crust the size of your hand, and then sprinkling onions on it. Then, because there isn’t enough space, all the cheese melts out. It’s fantastic and cures hangovers. And is open all night. Find it at the corner of Santa Fe and Godoy Cruz.

The zoo is impressive, mainly for it’s architecture and quantity of animals (though I think this is also a negative since many of the animals don’t have enough space). A lot of the buildings are very old and beautiful, from around the beginning of the century. My favorite is the elephant’s area which has a shed decorated with carved Indian figures. The condor’s area was also impressive- a gigantic wrought iron cage two stories high.

And the animals. There were merecats, a white tiger, lions, sea lions, monkeys of all types, fish of Argentina, polar bears, parakeets, bison, parrots, lemurs, owls, water buffalo, etc.

One of my favorite scenes was with the white tiger. It tentatively went into the pool in its cage and began swimming. It fiddled around in the water until it found a plastic barrel that it started to chew.

There are wild rabbit/gazelle/horse creatures and large swimming rats that walk around freely throughout the zoo. You can even feed them!

It was overwhelming. I bought a passport to see special exhibits, but it isn’t necessary.

At Viniterra with Sophia

The casks of Weinert….small men go through those doors to clean!

Buddies under the grape vines!

Sophia and I are planning on going back for Vendimia, the wine festival!

]]> http://cbab.wordpress.com/2009/01/18/oh-shit-i-went-to-mendoza/feed/ 3 cdenton mendoza-079 mendoza-0621 mendoza-082 http://cbab.wordpress.com/2009/01/18/resolutions/ http://cbab.wordpress.com/2009/01/18/resolutions/#comments Sun, 18 Jan 2009 19:04:16 +0000 cdenton http://cbab.wordpress.com/?p=137 ]]> My first semester in Buenos Aires was acceptable. I learned Spanish, made friends with cool people, saw some sights, drank wine. However, I felt like I wasn’t doing it right- there’s so much I haven’t seen, so many people I haven’t met, so many foods I haven’t eaten. So I have another semester to make things right or at least better. Which leads me to my resolutions:

-Blog at least once a week

-Go out to a club at least once a week

-Exercise 2-3 times a week and try spinning

-Learn slackline

-Set aside one day for exploring the city

-Make more friends (especially in classes)

-Continue volunteering

Attainable? Maybe. I am lucky to have a semester to do it over!

For lunch, Pedro and I went to Garbis (Scalabrini Ortiz and Cervino), an Armenian restaurant. I chose the restaurant because the buffet is free on your birthday. The food there is pretty decent- lots of eggplant and olives- but I wouldn’t go there if it wasn’t my birthday.

Afterward, we waddled to the Jardin Botanico to meet up with Estelle, Olivia, Hannah and Steven. We weren’t just meeting up to hang out- we were going to feed the cats. I bought a bag of cat food and we visited three out of the five cat colonies in the park. (A word of advice: when feeding the cats, give each a separate pile of food. If you just deposit the food in one big pile, the cats will fight each other.)

After we had fed the hungry cats, we chilled out on the grass and drank some mate. The red flower you see attached to my dress is a birthday present from Estelle. It worked well with my blue dress.

Then, a group of volunteers from the Jardin Botanico set up a table right across from us and began a puppet show. At one point, they asked “Is it anyone’s birthday today?” and all of my friends started shouting and pointing at me. The puppets then began singing “Feliz cumpleanos” and at the end of the song, said “Happy birthday, young boy.” All of us were really confused until a group of about 12 children celebrating a birthday came over to watch the show. Oops!

I went back to Pedro’s and he made me waffles. At around 10, Francisco, Carolina, Lita, and Estelle came over for drinks. We ordered drinks (I love delivery!!) and celebrated. Turning 21 is rather anti-climactic in Buenos Aires, since I’ve been able to purchase and drink alcohol for the past few months. Nevertheless, I will always remember Quilmes Stout as my first “legal” drink.

After we were all a little bit tipsy, I Skyped my parents in the USA. They sung me happy birthday and then I invited my friends to talk to them. Francisco kept doing silly things, and my dad jokingly warned him: “Hey, mister, I can be in Argentina in 12 hours! Watch it!”

All in all, one of the best birthdays of all time!