Platensita

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Fotos: Bahia Blanca

a rarity in the land of beef

argentine women love their shoes

Friday was the big party for my host grandma. 70! During the day, I chilled in my other host grandma's apartment (where I was staying with my fam). My host dad and mom were running around shopping and cooking for the big night. They sent my host grannie, sister and me a little afternoon snack:

our "light" snack of facturas

Around 9pm, we headed over to the hall for the fiesta, where my host dad had been cooking up a storm.

asado, claro!

The guests started showing up around 10:15pm and we started eating at 10:30pm. It was a feast - wine, salads, chorizo, empanadas, steak, veggies, ice cream and, of course, birthday cake! When the clock struck midnight, my host mom realized that it was officially my birthday so everyone (30 people) sang me "Feliz Cumpleanos" and bestowed me with kisses. Very nice.

The dinner lasted until 3am (both grannies were still up, enjoying themselves immensely), at which point, my host siblings and cousins wanted to take me out to a club. I was a little tired, but, alas, who could turn down such an offer?? So off we went, dancing until 7am. A very Argentine birthday!

El Tren de La Noche y Mi Primero Encuentro con Bahia Blanca

This past weekend, my family invited me along on a trip to Bahia Blanca, my host parents' home city, for the 70th birthday of my host grandma. Most of their family lives there. We traveled by train (not recommended for tourists!). If my gym is on the "ghetto" side, then the train was Ghetto, with a captial G!

The train took about 14 hours from Buenos Aires to Bahia Blanca. Going, we went on a local, so very slow, and somehow, the ride was bumpy. How? I don't know. Coming back, we went on an express and it took 16 hours. The train hit a woman, seriously. She ended up being ok, only a broken ankle, but it added some hours to our journey. Interesting experience!

Thursday, my family took me around to meet the family (taking mate at each stop) and on a city tour (not too much to see, not a recommended tourist stop). The port is the second largest in Argentina, but no beaches, only factories - mostly for petrochemicals.

after the "protest" with biosfera, i felt a bit Erin-Brockovich-esque taking these photos

Then they took me to the nicer neighborhood and I saw some gorgeous houses - the nicest that I have seen in Argentina. They reminded a bit of Westchester...

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

I joined a gym!

Yep! I joined a gym! It's close to my house, only 10 blocks so I can ride my bicycle there. It is on the "ghetto" side, but they have some machines and weights.

When you join a gym in Argentina, they make you complete a set of exercises to evaluate your current fitness level. So, that's what I did yesterday. Not bad at all.

Side note on greetings: whenever you enter a room and see people for the first time, it is part of Argentine culture to greet with a kiss on the right cheek (yes, men also). Hilariously, people do this at the gym, too! Whenever someone entered the gym, they walked around the two rooms kissing everyone else on the cheek. It didn't matter if a person was dripping in sweat (not too many people were) or on a machine. Gotta love those friendly Argentines!

Mi Proyecto: Calentador Solar de Agua

Yesterday was my first official day of work with Biosfera (minus the "protest"). First thing in the morning, I had a meeting with Horacio, the president and my supervisor, to discuss ideas. I expressed my interest in sustainable technology and told him about my project in India (rain-water harvesting system). He was thrilled! He threw out the idea of making a solar water heater (SWH) for a community center in an area of the city without sufficient services. I actually visited the exact community center that he was speaking about with FSD during orientation (we made bread). In addition, he wants me to make a second SWH on the roof of our building to act as a model for future projects. Furthermore, he wants me to write a pamphlet/manual (in Spanish, of course).

I am ecstatic about the project! It is exactly the kind of project that I wanted. What's more exciting is that I get to organize the project completely by myself. I have never worked completely independently before on a large project so I am excited about the challenge.

4 months, 2 SWHs, 1 Spanish pamphlet, a barrel of enthusiasm - totally doable!

Feria de Plaza Italia y Perritos!

Sunday, I went to the Feria in Plaza Italia with another FSD intern. It is supposedly the best feria in the city so, obviously, we had to check it out pronto.

There were all of the typical stands of mate cups, jewelry, and leather products as well as some live folk music and dancing.

what a sweet couple! they were dancing in their own world

My program director had told me that people sell puppies and kittens at the feria, so my friend and I went on the hunt for puppies! We didn't have to go too far...

line of people selling puppies and kittens
(same thing on the other side of the sidewalk)

i'm in love!

what a face!
(sorry, no pictures of kittens, they just don't do it for me)

I was very tempted to play with all of the puppies, but then my friend and I started thinking about where the puppies come from. One lady had a sign saying that her puppy had gotten its shots and vaccinations. Only 1 out of maybe 25! There are no animal shelters in Argentina - they simply do not exist. That leaves two options for the puppies: from a breeder or from the street.

In La Plata, there are muchissimo stray dogs. You will find a stray dog on almost every street in the city. On my street, there are 3 or 4 stray dogs that I see everyday. One of the dogs seems to live on the street, but I have seen him run into my neighbor's house. Some of the poorer families adopt dogs right off the street without taking them to a vet. Here's a picture of a dog (stray? owned? I don't know) in my neighborhood: