More or Hands

view from my hotel

my lunch from the other day - who knew I could cook?

Asado, pollo y chorizo, ay de mi!

On Friday, my film class had the opportunity to visit BA’s film archive and museum. In reality, only 3 of the 10 or so people in my class managed to not forget and actually make it there. It ended up being nice though because instead of taking the subway and an extra bus to get there, we could just pile into my professor’s car and drive. Once we arrived to archives/his office, I got a distinct take-your-daughter-to-work-day feeling. My two friends and I tottered after him and asked all the appropriate questions. We met his awkward, yet likable office friends. (Similar to some nerdy friends of my father).

All in all, it was awesome because we got the opportunity to handle and preserve genuine Argentine films from the 20’s. The reel we worked with was made from Kodak film that boasted only one color at a time. As we spun the film through the homemade viewing machine, it displayed a rainbow of images. We stopped and peered through a small looking glass to examine the images more closely. It was awesome! I felt so important and so nervous that I was going to sneeze all over the one and only copy of an impeccable historical film. I wasn’t even feeling sneezy, but I was sure I was going to mess things up somehow.

Everything made its way safely back into its case, though. =]

Using a different (and automatic) machine, we got to view the original film of the trailer of the initial Star Wars movie from the 70’s. It was incredible to have witnessed something so raw. I’m sure many a Star Wars fans would have killed for the opportunity.

After finishing up at workshop and archives, we visited the what is completed of the new museum. It cost one peso to enter (about 25¢USD). The one floor, 3 room museum was disappointing in my opinion not in content, but in the quantity of displays. I think this is partly because I’m used to huge and well-organized museums, but also because I had just come from the overstocked archives. There is plenty of material that would make fascinating displays, but is not visible to the public.

And, of course, by that time we were starving, we went out for a pizza before our professor dropped us off near our houses. Wow, it really was take-your-daughter-to-work-day.

At volleyball, my coach has decided to run practices in English when there are only a few people there. Una problema, she can’t really speak English. I actually put us on similar levels in our corresponding languages. As much as she can’t speak English, I can’t speak Spanish.

One time after I hit a ball in practice, she gasped and exclaimed, “I love your... style!” It was a pretty decent hit, but I wouldn’t have declared love for it.

In fact, she was talking about my “fancy braid” hairstyle that I had sported that evening. She immediately stopped practice, came over, and touched my hair gently. She was in awe of one of the most common hairstyles on college campuses across the US. Go, USA.

At our next game, she asked my friend and I to put one in her hair and secure it tightly, just in case she had a “hot night”. In this instance, I did not ask her to elaborate. She did, however, beam when she checked herself out in a compact.

Volei is now over because we lost in the playoffs (though it was a super close match!). I hadn’t known that it was the playoffs until after the fact. Maybe I should learn that word in Spanish. Anyway, we still have practice. I’m not sure why, but maybe I missed that, too.

My friend, who knew little more than “hola” before coming to Argentina was responding to a waiter the other day when she said, “entiendo más o manos”. I cracked up immediately because without knowing she had just coined one of my new favorite phrases. What she was trying to say was “entiendo más o menos” which means, I understand more or less. By mistaking one letter in the entire phrase, she changed the meaning to “more or hands”.

This phrase is so wonderfully meaningless and funny that I’ve been trying to work it into everyday speech.

Cooking class:

At my cooking class last weekend, I had the opportunity to make wonderful Argentine dishes in a professional kitchen under the direction of a cut-throat chef. She was fabulous because although she was speaking pure Spanish, I could understand exactly what she wanted me to do. This happens with only some people I’ve met in this country. They can not know one word of English and I understand them 99% better than others. I guess some people enunciate and know what to stress for me to comprehend.

First, we made empanadas saltena, as in not dessert empanadas. They were delicious because we could add as much spice as we wanted to. We made them spicey!

Then, we made humita, a dish from northern AR that is similar to corn pudding, but more runny and with my veggies.

Moving onto postres, we created a merengue covered dulce de leche layer cake that resulted in fabulousness and turkey-delight-type filled dumplings which we subsequently deep fried, only to then dunk them in a simple syrup and sprinkles. In a word, heart attack. In another work, bliss.

We also grilled a huge hunk of steak that we covered in homemade chimichurri (a delicious oil and red wine vinegar sauce) to be the entre to our sweet potato pure. Mind you, these batatas are white with purple skin and are best served up with some caramelized sugar with milk mixed in. Also bliss.

All in all, even split between the four in my group, I ended up coming home with 4 huge containers of leftovers after devouring all I could there. It was a fabulous experience and one of my favorite activities in Argentina so far!

Best part? I just realized that I’ve already blogged about this experience, but I’m leaving this in here anyway because it was that good.

This weekend, I went to Tigre, an awesome delta just outside of BA. IES offers a special weekend trip to explore the town, the market, a local museum, and to be pampered at a fabulous resort in the middle of nowhere.

We arrived by van to a square full of vendors selling great goods for very reasonable prices. I did not hold back on shopping there. I got many holiday presents and gifts for me, too!

The museum was hosting an outdoor concert featuring a ~30 piece German band. Unfortunately, my group was not very interested in checking out the gorgeous artwork in the museum, so I was hurried through and back out of the door only having the chance to snap a few pictures of the gorgeous building and artwork.

Next, we took a boat through the channels of muddy water past the coast guard stations, past the shores scattered with weekend get-aways for the wealthy in BA, and past a lot of empty shoreline, too. Finally, after about an hour and a half of sailing, we docked at our resort to find the tranquility of nature surrounding us. It was spectacular to not hear any car horns, ambul-i (the plural of ambulance), or people shouting in the streets. The resort is connected by a series of balconies that allow passers-by to navigate with ease the jungle that surrounds the bungalows and main dining area. There also happens to a beautiful pool and wrap around deck available. Naturally, we all picked a reclining beach chair and read until dinner at 9:30. It was asado, naturally. Argentines take beef very seriously and at an asado, or barbeque, they serve it up in many different ways. There is one round of veggies, but at least 4 of meat, so you need to have the right mindset going in.

The next morning, I found myself awakened from a food coma and remembered that I had spent the evening chatting on the deck by the pool with other people on the trip. The best part was that everyone recognized how privileged we were to be there, in that beautiful place. The staff of the hotel were so kind and the atmosphere was something that I wish could be replicated for all of the kind people in the world.

It was a lazy and fabulous weekend. I sat by the pool (which was freezing cold) and read my book in the hot sun. I wasn’t worried about my homework or any other more significant issue. I was just in the moment.

Later that day, we set off in another boat to be taken directly back to BA via La Rio de la Plata (that vastly wide river). It was so special to be able to see the skyline of the city with the sun setting behind it (the river is on the eastern side). Truly beautiful.

The only unfortunate thing was that I didn’t care to complete any homework after that relaxing weekend and now I’m very much behind in 2 of my classes. =[

There are worse things.