LA REEEDDD!! April 29, 2008

boy was I happy until moments ago.

besides being freezing, today had been great with the Internet being installed at home(woohoo!), my finally getting around to buy a copy of newspaper(I haven’t been in contact with the rest of the world for the past….god knows what) and learning all (great) new vocabulary from the story about the incest/dungeon story in Austria such as “escalofriante”- spine-chilling, espeluznante- hair-raising, etc etc…..

I had been craving apple pie with crumbs since I watched My Bluberry Nights last night, so I went to a bakery on the way home and bought a piece of strusser which costed me 6 whole freaking pesos.

I got home, and unsuspectingly and oh so casually took a bit of that strusser….two bites later, I felt a weird taste/texture and realized I was chewing on a piece of thin wire. now, normally people discard what’s left.

Now, consider me who only a few days ago decided to finish empanada de humita which was CLEARLY stale with its sour taste and smell but I went ahead because I had bought it earlier that day. (and consequently suffered 3 days of pain) you can judge all you want because I judge myself too. it’s necessary.

ok, so usually even if the food is disgusting(in terms of taste) if I had paid for it, I eat it. That’s the policy. Since I’ve started travelling I’ve eaten everything everywhere in every condition thinking that what doesn’t kill me would make me stronger(and it has).

don’t eat meat off a streetvendor? psh, I’ve gotten a hamburger from a cart, cooked in dark right before I hopped on a LOCAL bus before it embarked on a 8 hr ride. I’ve never had a case of TD even in India where it’s really common. Was I extra careful? no, I was too lazy to get my bottled water so I just washed fruits by the faucet and I was FINE. 

and since the strusser was pretty good, I decided to finish it off, forget about the wire mishap, then I felt another strange texture. This time I didn’t see anything of different color at first, but as I removed the crumbs, I realized it was a piece of nail. (and yes finally I’ve stopped eating) POR QUE people POR QUEE?????

ugh.

oh and just to make it clear, the bakery wasn’t in my “hood” (because I know some of you will say that’s what I get for living in the “hood”) but it was in the ever-so-posh Recoleta. I’m contemplating whether I should go back there to yell at them and get my money back or just let it go. Normally I would’ve done the former but since I’m in such a good mood today, no se. 

but YAY FOR INTERNET AT HOME! WOOF!

Yum Yum April 28, 2008

 

One from Feria de San Telmo yesterday and another a block away from my flat on the way from bus stop.

and yes,

My hood looks delicious.

Internet installation at home tomorrow, Feria de libros on Wed, International Worker’s Day on Thurs!!!! now who’s the excited monkey.

Volver April 25, 2008

Unos de mis amigos me han pregustado cuando yo “volvere.”

Ahora no se. La situacion en los EEUU esta muy complicado ahora por mi y honestamente no queiro ponerme en esa situacion.

 

pero, un dia, tal vez yo voy a ver a mis amigo.

 

tal vez.

 

With that out of the way, 

now the blog for general population(meaning my other 3 friends):

am I the only person in Buenos Aires who is not crazy about Tango? I really don’t see what the fuss is about. Then again, the only dance I’ve ever been in love with is Flamenco(I’m actually still looking to take lessons here)

 

I spent yesterday(I missed my classes all week except for one!!! UGH) walking down the streets of microcentro. Stopped by Plaza de Mayo to watch Madres de desparecidos march(I’ll cover that in detail later) and then went to finally see Darjeeling Limited(shush, at 5 pesos per show, you would watch an American movie at a theatre while you are away too), almost cried my eyes out as it reminded me of my time in India(ugh, te amo!!) then 

 

I went to Confiteria Ideal to watch ordinary people dance and the ballroom was quite a magnificent sight to behold. I ended up calling it a night at mere 2 am while the old ladies and gentlemen in their 60s-70s danced on until 4, 5, who knows. I’m sorry but I’ve “retired” myself from “partying” when I hit 20 and I’m not ashamed to admit it! but DAMN YOU OLD PEOPLE WHO DANCE FOREVER while I’m half-dying!

a bit bitter?

nunca.

just jealous of your energy. 

People kept on asking me to dance since I was wearing my heels ( on top of that, they had placed me at a front table at the end of the hall when I told them I wouldn’t be dancing) but people, you got to understand, I like looking like a hefer on BOGO sale  fierce (in my insanely short “dress” and 4 inch heels) for no special occassion. I like caking my face with 4980980 layers of make up when I go grocery shopping on a Sunday afternoon. it just depends on my mood.

I’ve been here almost 3 weeks and I never run out things to do.(now only if I had the energy to match the energy of the city….) I’m going north to Tigre tomorrow to spend a day riding bicycle(woooo~) and kayaking for the first time in my life. Then on Sunday I’m trying to figure out whether I want to stay here for another San Telmo day or go over to Colonia de Sacramento in Uruguay. Not sure yet. 

 

I have only 5 more weeks here in Buenos Aires before I head down to Bariloche and honestly, I don’t think I’ll finish all the “things-to-do” in the remaining period of time. I’m thinking of coming back to Buenos Aires after I finish my gig in Santiago, Chile. (Teatro Colon open up again, geez) 

 

you know what I like about BsAs compared to its conqustador-cousin Spain? While they do stare, at least they say something or are somewhat discrete about ogling. In Spain, the staring was so intense that I wanted to sink into walls. ugh. People wouldn’t be discrete about it either, they would turn their body 180 degrees AWAY from their companion(who tipped them off) to stare. Worst part? and NOT EVEN SAY A WORD.

 

In one restaurant in Madrid, this old guy slipped me a napkin as I was sitting at a bar(probably shoving down some tortilla) with my friend, which had a doodling of my profile. of course, without saying a word, he disappeared. 

and just to make it clear, it isn’t like I usually holler something loudly in English unlike some other ungodly American travellers. ugh. Now, I’m not saying this to be vain, but because how uncomfortable it makes me feel. Like everyone else, I’m insecure about the way I look and all the intense staring makes me feel like a monkey in a showcase. Portenos have been nice enough to start up a chat with me regardless of what their intentions are. (to be clear, I usually don’t look so cheap like I did yesterday haha.)

 

Be nice to me people, por favor. I need your love. 

 

oh and to all the shallow bitches(aka my kind of people)-pardon my language-who have been asking: yes I’ve definitely seen some hot guys but Turkey still holds the crown for most hot men per square mile(at least for me).

Actually in Turkey everyone was beautiful. 

FACT.

Smoke-Gone, Project-On April 22, 2008

Yesterday was gorgeous with all the smoke clearing up(albeit leaving behind traffic pollution but I can live with that) and I finally got around seeing San Telmo at its best, Feria de San Telmo(on my THIRD Sunday in BsAs geez) It was amazing with all these breathtaking antiques-Even vintage seltzer bottles for 10 pesos!!(I’ve wanted one ever since I started obsessing over the movie Cabaret), street performances, works of artistas plasticos, and beautiful people to feast my eyes on…it was a madhouse! I didn’t buy anything because my luggage is about to explode on its own(why did I leave no space when I was packing??) and I plan on shipping my suitcase once I start travelling in a few months…but who knows, maybe I’ll end up shipping on a container full of nothing at the end of my stay in BsAs. 

So what happened with the weekend getaway to Montevideo? well the ship couldn’t leave the harbor(and now they no longer run overnight) but being “stuck” in BsAs for the weekend isn’t too bad if you live in San Telmo, which is the place to be on the weekends. I basically spent my whole weekend, just wandering around my neighborhood,  checking out galleries, eating random street food, and editing clips I’d shot(and consequently missing my 9 am class this morning)  It’s my first movie ever and first time actually playing around with editing…It consists of 2 songs and I’m not sure if I want to split them or leave it as one(about 3:50 long) I’ll have some time to think as I can’t compress it until my parents send me my harddrive sometime this week. I’m also doing another one, about 2 mins about the smoke in BsAs. haha.

I love living here. so much inspiration. now, if I could only find a consulting job that would pay me in British Pounds…hmm..

oh and change of contents & schedule of updates once I get Internet at home: It will now cover a broad array of my “interests” including music, movies, art, travel, lifestyle, what not, instead of just my gibberish about how exhausted I am from travelling 1980980 hrs or dancing like a monkey at a concert because there’s so much going on that I want to share. 

now, if only that this damn parilla would open and serve me some cows….mmm

Smoky Smoky April 18, 2008

Last Thursday night while I was living in Retiro, I smelled smoke in my room, freaked out(quite rightfully so for someone living in a student apartment building) then wondered around like a monkey in panic, sniffing around to see where the smell was coming from.

 

nowhere.

 

Being old and tired, I decided to call it a day and went to bed while trying to devise a flawless escape plan from what’s equivalent of NY’s 10-story-building to no avail. Next day at school, I found out that people living in Recoleta, Palermo and another neighborhood smelled the same. strange strange.

 

Yesterday, around 4 a.m., I woke up from my sleep half-choking because the building was reeking of smoke. I panicked, ran out of my apartment(quite rightfully so for anyone who lives on the border of San Telmo and La Boca) and the whole building was strangely tranquil. Being old and tired, I decided to call it a day and went to bed (see the pattern here?) only to find myself unable to go back to sleep because I couldn’t breathe so well. So it turns out, the whole city is smoky,   so much for not smoking, huh.

 

I’ve been filming quite a bit and hopefully I’ll have internet at home by the end of next week which would mean that I’ll be (hopefully) updating a lot more often especially when my new harddrive arrives(my old one DIED and gone are my memories of past….4 years or so)  

 

for this weekend, I’m heading east to Montevideo, Uruguay where it will hopefully be clean and sunny. ugh. it’s just getting worse here. Besides that, BsAs is still working its charm on me.

Viva La BsAs April 7, 2008

Llegue ayer y me encanta aqui jajaja.

 

omg I’m on the move AND online via laptop April 4, 2008

since when does a moving bus have full wifi signal????I’m on my way to Philadelphia for my last minute packing-I told my family I would be coming back either Monday or Tuesday…so much for that-and First Friday in old city and I have the luxury of browsing useless websites on my (very abused) macbook pro while the bus is passing through New Jersey. oh my. U.S.A.! U.S.A.!  Sao Paulo first tomorrow then Buenos Aires! jet-setter? who? i hate airplanes/airports. gahhh