January 3rd, Buenos Aires
Today we went to see Recoleta, a very upscale part of the city, which is famous for housing the mausoleum where Evita was buried. We went to the cemetary and took photos like good little tourists and we checked that off the list. We tried to visit an art museum nearby, but it was closed. Then we wandered around in the neighborhood and got lost among the expensive shops and hotels where the people with money mingle. We had lunch and then spent time at a cafe to do some people watching as we sat outside drinking cafe con leche. We are constantly trying to figure out how we might be able to get visas or some sort of temporary residency to live and work here. It is incredibly tempting. Everyone has a dog, they live at such a wonderful pace (the siesta during the hottest part of the day is genius), they speak with an intonation and melody similar to the Italian cadence. There is a real feeling of community and importance of family here. The people are so friendly and willing to help or answer questions. We poke our heads into the real estate shops and our jaws drop as we see how affordable homes and flats are in the city. We are excited to see the wine country in Mendoza and the coast at Plata Del Mar. Uruguay is just an hour-long ferry ride away and there are three places that we hope to explore there. I am beginning to think that one could travel non-stop throughout South America for a year and still not see all there is to see. For now we are enjoying Bs As. It is so much like home in San Francisco that I sometimes forget that I am on a different continent, that is, until I try to speak. Even the hot (C for Caliente) and cold (F for Frio) on the faucets are in Spanish. I am not sure why I expected South Americans to speak English, but they surely do not. They assume that you speak Spanish and when you tell them that you don´t speak Spanish very well they say that they don´t speak English very well. End of story. It´s interesting to me, because even in remote places in SE Asia, they at least try to speak English...maybe because they know it is good for tourism or business. Some say that there is a self-depricating nature about Argentines (this is the plastic surgery capital of the world and the people are physically beautiful), but I think that their refusal to learn English is part of a pride and preservation of their culture. Anyway, the language makes it challenging, but we are easily able to take buses and trains to get from place to place (which builds confidence)...and each day we get to practice our Castellanos (who knew that they have a different name for the Spanish language?), so it is starting to come back to us. New Year´s Eve was a bit lackluster. We had dinner at a really nice local restaurant, but there was not much going on in the city because people everywhere were in mourning for the 175 people who died in a nightclub inferno the night before. We read that it is customary for people to shred all their papers and records from the year prior and throw them out of the window at midnight to signify the year´s end. We didn´t see this take place, because we weren´t in a residential area at midnight, but the next day we walked around town and saw bits of paper littering the sidewalks and streets. A big thanks to Steve for helping us set up this blog. We love having an on-line diary in addition to the diaries we are keeping the old-fashioned way. More to come...
posted by The Blaus @ 9:30 PM
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