Babes, knockers and yarn in Colonia
I realize that probably every expat in Argentina has written about going to Colonia, so this post might be a bit boring for people who read those blogs. So I’ll write about it, but talk about random things that I enjoyed.
So, what is there in Colonia: knitted sweater sales on every corner, a hot man, and ballin’ architecture.
I don’t know if knitting has a bigger presence in Colonia or the Seven Sister schools, but I bet it’s close. I found at least 3 shops and one stand selling hand made knitted sweaters. Why is this at all exciting or interesting? It isn’t really, but I bought a sweater and a scarf from the most adorable little old lady.
I also saw the hottest man on the planet. He was and here’s proof:
We had about 3 hours to kill before heading off to the ferry (we had been at the project director’s hostel) so we hung out by the water. And then we saw HotMan fishing. First, we noticed his lovely green swim trunks. Then we began discussing whether he was attractive or not (we couldn’t tell, he was too far away) until one of my friends took a picture and we zoomed in. All in all, I spent about 2 hours of my life straight out staring at the hottest man on the planet. I guess that makes me a creepster, but it doesn’t bother me.
The architecture is pretty awesome, too. A gate and a door knocker really grabbed my attention:
So that’s my Colonia experience. I didn’t really do much more than buy sweaters, oogle men and take artsy photos, but I had a fantastic time.
Lists inspired by Sei Shonagon I
So I feel a bit like bootlegging Sei Shonagon today by creating lists. Enjoy!
Things that make me feel relaxed and satisfied:
-The way people say “dale” with a long “a”
-Free ginger lemonade from Natural Deli
Things that make me feel nervously excited:
-Finding kittens in unusual places
-Waiting for a friend to arrive and he or she is a few minutes late
-Movie previews
Things that make me feel mildly regretful:
-The thought of sleeping in my bed as I’m heading out to a club
-Not getting a MovieStar card on the Dia de la Recarga
Mild annoyances that ruin certain moments:
-Getting on a packed bus when there’s another, nearly empty one behind, then watching as that bus passes mine
-Waiting in line at the bank to break $100 while everyone ahead of me is performing long, complicated transactions
- Trying to catch the 130 bus- running and just missing it
Things that cause a brief moment of panic:
-When I hide credit cards/money, can’t find them, and think they’ve been stolen
-Hearing a noise that could be my host mom while washing my clothes in the sink (something I’m not supposed to do)
-Someone walking behind me on a nearly empty street, but it turns out to be a woman
Palermo Tuesday
So now that USAL classes are over, my Tuesdays are as open as my relationship with my wife (Arrested Development, I miss you!). So I’ve decided to spend them in a new and exciting neighborhood. This week, I chose Palermo, basically because my host mom laughed at me when I said I didn’t know where Plaza Serrano was and because I wanted to shop.
Destination: Plaza Serrano (Serrano and Honduras)
Mode of Transportation: 110 Bus
I walked down Honduras towards Serrano. Basically the starting price for any item of clothing at any of the stores is $300 pesos. I stopped in La Merceria (Armenia and Honduras) because I had only ever seen it at night, when it was closed. It. Was. Amazing. The clothes are cute, the bags are gaudy and expensive, but the accessories are incredible. Anyone remember the movie Brick? A film noir set in a high school? In the last scene, Laura is wearing this feather hair clip:
And I bought one exactly like it. Now, I realize a hair clip is not worth talking about for 1/3 of my post, but I have been looking for one for a very long time. I ended up buying that and a headband for 88 pesos. And that was on a 20% off sale! You all should go there anyway, because it is really beautiful.
I headed down Honduras until I reached Plaza Serrano, then walked up Borges where I found another amazing store: Palito Bombon Vestite (Borges 1710). Like many of the stores in Palermo, it seemed to be a sort of cooperative, with clothing from many different designers. A lot of the clothing looks very retro or has interesting prints (starfish, koi).
It was broiling outside, so I decided to find a cafe. Finis Terra Bar de Arte (Honduras 5200) mysteriously dragged me in. I ordered a peach shake and a medialuna, neither of which was very good. However, the atmosphere is gorgeous. The walls of one room are painted with a jungle scene. Sunlight filters through from all the open windows. It is very relaxed, but still beautiful.
I walked around for a bit more and then went home.
Next week’s adventure: Caballito?
The Best Bank Ad EVER
This is a real ad for a bank- the Banco Hipotecario. Good thing I don’t live here, because if I did, I would give them all my money.
Iguazu!
Last week I went to Iguazu with my friend Carolina and her sister, Silvina.
Hostel Inn
We stayed at the Hostel Inn, a fun, very youthful place. Basically everyone there was from England, Ireland or France. Poor Carolina and her sister Silvina were a few of the only Spanish speakers there (although we did run into a few VERY Argentine men….chamucherros!).
We spent a lot of time just hanging out by the pool. I felt like a total nerd, because I was reading a book about economics. Carolina and her sister got a lot of sun, while I decided to stay as white as possible, applying 50 SPF every 2 hours.
On the first day, we headed to the falls at the wee hours of the morning. Now, I’ve been to Cumberland Falls in Kentucky. One waterfall. This was like Cumberland Falls on steroids. Or times a million.
We took a boat and went under the falls. Got soaked, of course, and then I ended up changing in front of a bunch of German tourists.
My favorite part was the Garganta del Diablo- a giant waterfall. I don’t even know how to describe it….so much mist, birds flying around. Incredibly beautiful.
On the second day, we went to the mines of Wanda. Not very much to see, but still gorgeous. Our tour guide told us about the different types of formations.
The trip was ballin’. You all should go. Two days is more than enough time to explore everything.
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.
