Feeling Comfortable with Porteños

This Saturday I accompanied Dave and the rest of his band to play in a high school outside of Buenos Aires. Two of the band members are graduating from this public school. We traveled for 30 min by bus and an hour more by car to arrive at the school. The landscape changed and the buildings grew smaller and less maintained. The school was bustling for a Saturday as students were all showing off there end of year projects.

If you want to take someone who is regularly talkative and make them reclusive. Take them to a high school where people speak a foreign language. High school dynamics are strange enough without an awkward, unidentified language barrier.  I walked outside the school and contemplated that I was alone on a island of English, with no means of escape. This was not the reality but at that point it felt that way.
 I find it entertaining that I recall all conversations in English. I can't remember the Spanish that was used, only the message. In this way, all my memories are dubbed over, the mouth movements don't even match.

FML Aside: One of the final year projects was a VFFS (Vertical Fill, Form and Seal) machine which is a machine that seals objects into plastic bags. I completed a year long project directly related to this in university, with 5 other engineering students. Our results were fairly inconsistent and certainly not useful. We spent $600 to purchase a sealer that did one small task of a VFFS. Two or three high school students were actually able to build a functioning machine of their own.

The concert started 50 minutes after it's commencement was announced. I felt like a nervous parent and was pacing around with a camera to boot. The band, 'Flashbax', did covers of 4 Oasis songs and 'Twist and Shout' for the encore. The boys were ecstatic and happy went to show was over. We packed up the gear and carried to the the public bus. Over an hour later, the bus stopped, cleared off and we walked the rest of the way home.

I have wondered about my relationship with Susana, who owns the house I live in. We have been able to communicate reasonably well, much better as of late. I have done small things like pay early and without her asking, kept clean and brought flowers to the house (she said I should flowers to a girl instead of the table). She introduces me to the frequent visitors of the house in the same manner. This is by commenting on well I speak Spanish for such a short period of time. She goes on at such a length that I say little to the visitors, except to give them a kiss on the cheek.

We all sat out late last night, drank beer and ate empanadas. Mostly to celebrate the success and stories of the young rock stars in the house.
 I was gratified when Susana said she was going to take me to the La Boca. La Boca is a working class area where tourists are told not to go. Susana says she is going to take me there because she wants me to see it and it would not be safe otherwise. So we were going to on Monday, but unfortunately I'll be too hungover on  so we arranged for Wednesday. Which incidentally es mi cumpleanos. Now that the cat is out of the bag, there will apparently be a party with a cake and beer.

Tonight, I'm headed to some sort of bubble party that runs from 1:00 until 6:00 a.m. I haven't been out in over a week and I'm looking forward to it, a change to my current old man existence. Why this needs to happen on a Sunday I have no idea.
I've booked a ferry to Uruguay for next Sunday. I'm going direct to the capital Montevideo and will be in the country in the country for around 2 weeks, hopefully surfing for a least 1 week. After I take the long bus over to Pucon. It sounds like Jackson will be all but done with boating by the time I get there.

My First Entry (in Spanish)

Dije que yo voy a escribir una entrada en Espanol. Es bien para practica mi gramatica y para una vez tengo  tiempo por pensar.
En la escuela, aprendo me presentacion en la primera semena. Tengo ganas de escribir aqui porque es facil de leer y entender.
Me llamo Dave Casson. Soy Canadiense, de Kingston pero viajo a America del Sur desde hace 6 meses.
Tengo 23 anos y soy ingeniero. No tengo hijos y yo tengo quatros hermanas.
¿Claro? Me presentacion es simple.

En Buenos Aires, mi vida es simple tambien. Buenos Aires tiene uno costo de vida bajo que Kingston.  Hay mucha contaminacion pero mi barrio es limpio y tranquilo.   Montreal tiene un ritmo de vida mas tranquilo que BA. Me gusta mucho esta cuidad.
Me aloje en los alberques para un semana, que son barato pero los viajeros no hablan espanol. Ahora me alojo en una casa.
Tengo la mismas rutina todos los dias, mas o menos. Me levanto a las 7 y media a la manana. Para el desayuno, tomo una cortado (cafe con un poco de leche) y como cereal. Viajo al escuela en subte para 45 minutos. En la subte aqui, hay mucha gentes y hace calor.
A las 9, la clase de espanol empieza. Ahora, 3 otros estudiantes estan en la clase. Una mujer de Estados Unidos y dos Alemans. Nosotros hablomas y practicimos por 4 horas. Despues la clase, vuelvo a mi barrio en subte, voy a gimnasio y compro comida por la cena. Yo ceno 3 horas temprano de los ortos, a las 19:00.
Hice excursiones a los barrios de Buenos Aires. En Palermo, vi uno partido de Polo y en Recoleta fui al museo. Quando yo salgo Argentina, en dos semenas, tengo ganas de voy al Chile, o quiza Uruguay.
Me gusta le encontrar mis amigos, Jackson y Alex.

In English:
I said I will write an entry in Spanish. It's good to practice my grammar and for once I will have time to think.
In my first week of school, I learned to introduce myself. I'd like to write it  because it is easy to read and understand.
My name is Dave Casson. I am Canadian, from Kingston but I'm travelling in South America for 6 months.
I'm 23 years old and am an engineer. I have no children but have 4 sisters.
Understand? My introduction is simple.

In Buenos Aires, my life is simple as well. Buenos Aires is cheaper than Kingston. There is a a lot of pollution but my neighborhood clean and safe.  The pace of everyday life is slower in Montreal than in Buenos Aires. I really like this city.
I was staying in hostels for my first week, which are cheap but the travelers do not speak Spanish. Now I am staying in a house.
I have the same routine everyday, more or less. I wake up at 7:30 in the morning. For breakfast, I drink a cortado (coffee with a little milk) and eat cereal. I travel to school by subway for 45 minutes. In the subway here, it is hot and there are many people.
At 9:00, the Spanish class begins. Now, there are 3 people in my class. One lady from the United States and 2 Germans. We talk and practice for 4 hours. After the class, I return to my neighborhood by subway, I go to the gym and buy food for dinner. I eat 3 hours earlier than the others, at 7:00 p.m.
I have had excursions to the neighborhoods of Buenos Aires. In Palmero, I saw a Polo game and in Recoleta I went to the museum.
When I leave Argentina I would like to go to Chile, or maybe Uruguay. I would like to meet my friends, Jackson and Alex.

So in the end, it's a pretty simple entry. I think it represents the status of my Spanish at this point. Today at one point, I was talking about the cost of apartments in English. Briefly I was thinking in Spanish and translated my thoughts word by word so I could say it in English. Que loco. I take it as a good sign.

La Fin de Semana

It has been a weekend of integration for me. Certainly a weekend in a homestay as opposed to in a hostel.

On Saturday, I was solo for the better part of the day and night. I traveled to Recoleta which is the posh neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The richest of Buenos Aires left San Telmo when yellow fever hit in 1871 and moved across the city to get away. The cemetery of Recoleta is the most famous attraction. It is ornate and famous for containing generations of graves of the social elite and Evita Peron. It is said that it is cheaper to live your whole life lavishly then to be buried in the cemetery of Recoleta. It was raining the whole day, so on the way I stopped for cortado y medialunas (coffee with a little milk and croissants). I visited the Museo de Bellas Artes which contained Van Gogh, Monet and a unique section on Pop art.  Jane, if you're reading this, I was wishing you were there.
I arrived back home in time for my dinner, which is generally a 3 hours before the rest of my household begins to eat. The house was full was the extended family of Susana. I stayed and socialized after I ate.
The topics we were discussing were truely beyond what I can communicate in Spanish. They varied from Argentina's standing as one of the premier countries in the world; at the very least that Argentina was the Europe of South America. On this topic, I was frequently turned to for validation.
At one point the issue of aboriginal relations in Canada was brought up. I had no chance to express my self properly here so I simply stated that I couldn't describe it in Spanish.
In order to escape and rest, I went to the cinema. While in line, it was evident that I was soldero and 40 years younger than those couples around me. After 20 minutes of contemplating and quantifying how lame I was, we entered the the theatre. I was hoping to see a movie in Spanish. What I realized just before the lights went down, is that I was going to see a Belgium film with Spanish subtitles. I almost walked out in the first 5 minutes. The movie was very good though and I was able to understand everything (though the language sounded awful, like constant yelling).
Learning Spanish is certainly a type of education I have not experienced in some time. It is so gradual and without landmarks. It is not a concept to be learned or understood.  It does not even feel like a skill which can be practiced. I have to trust that exposure will help.

I haven't mentioned that I've befriended a 17 year old porteno (of Buenos Aires, commonly used term) who is my neighbour. I am able to communicate with him much better than most. Admittedly, he draws me into conversation and I sometimes communicate through him. He is a huge Oasis fan and is enamored with the story that I saw them in Capetown.
Today, I went with this porteno (of course I didn't catch his name and it is far to late to ask) to his band practice. We went to a soundstage and I listened to the 5 of them play Oasis and other English music. I was impressed and they were welcoming.

*** The picture above shows the Subway cars I commute in everyday. On this oldest lines, the interior is all wood and the doors operate manually.

I returned home to study, mainly verbs and conjugations. After an hour of Facebook conversations, the porteno returned with several of his friends. We went to the roof to drink beer and smoke cigarettes. Two portenas spoke English and the conversation that followed was a mix. It was nice to be able to ask questions about the language, normally when I am confused or don't know the word it is a dead end. At one point, I was speaking Spanish and the portena was speaking English. I didn't notice until someone made fun of it.
Now, on Sunday night, the porteno is sitting on the couch beside me talking on the phone. I am tired and content. I will write a post in Spanish very soon.

 

Mi Neuvo Casa

I have just finished eating lunch with a doctoral engineering student who lives in my house. My mind is so swimming with Spanish that I am translating all simple sentences that I write. This student is from Ecuador and speaks only spanish. I have been coaxing her to speak with me, though I usually have to ask her to repeat everything. The matriarch of the house is Susana and she speaks only Spanish as well. They have both offered, in English, that they don't speak very well. It is a surprisingly nice to hear. A reminder to me that we all struggle with new languages and that any effort is appreciated.
 I met with Susana two days ago to see the house, chat and negotiate a price. I was able to reduce the cost from $340 to $320 to $300 which I think we are both happy with. The apartment is 40 minutes by subway from my school in San Telmo.. The majority of the trip is done on an older subway line, with all wood interior to the cars and manual doors.
Today I will go to a gym close to my house and work out in walking shoes. Then head to a cinema for either an English movie with subtitles or an Argentinian film  'El Secreto de Sus Ojos' The Secret of Their Eyes which is nominated for an oscar.
I am amazed by the ups and downs of this trip. Today I am in a virtually identical situation to yesterday, yet today I am elated and yesterday I truly felt awful. Such has been my first week in Buenos Aires. I move from great enthusiasm to near despair from day to day. Yesterday in particular I had to remind myself of the first week in Botswana, with no real kitchen, uncertain living conditions and a huge cultural divide. I have more than I need here and have many options for the future. There is nothing concrete to be concerned about, only temporary feelings of loneliness and the language barrier which is breaking down each day.
So life will continue normally for the next few weeks as I go to school.
A few stories of note:

A Syrian friend of mine from class was entrapped last night by two prostitutes. He was coerced into a bar and was able to leave only after 'buying' drinks for everyone involved, which took all the money he had. He is gay, seems streetwise and was very unhappy about what transpired. The only aggression I have seen by people on the street is from two guys, on individual occassions, were passing out cards. As soon as I accepted a card, which I think was for a strip club or brothel, they each harassed me to come to the club. I am careful what flyers I accept now.
The subways run well and are similar in feel to Montreal. There are street children who sit on floors, very dirty and often without shoes. There are vendors who hand out merchandise (keychains, stickers, pirated movies) to half a car, returning shortly after to collect whatever people to not pay for. It is fun and effective way to sell.
I ran into a friend of mine from McGill while in the bathroom of a concert. We confused everyone around with our English yelling and big man hug. Truly unbelievable.

*Note about the picture* There is a strong police presence around Argentina. I include this picture only because I got in some trouble for taking it, making it more bad ass.

Horseracing and Polo Day

I had hit a bit of a low patch on Friday afternoon. I had just finished switched hostels and had walked through busy crowds and a small protest with my pack on. The afternoon heat and smog took its toll. I had bought a cheap cell phone with my minimal Spanish. It was successful but the salesperson was visibly frustrated with me. The cellphone was not working. On top of that I was very tired and my search for a homestay was going nowhere.This is one of the typical lows of traveling, at least for me. It's rough but it's temporary. The highs that follow more than make up for it.

Those highs have been the events of this weekend so far.  Friday night in Palermo was excellent. With new friends, American, German and Mexican, we started off with a pisco sours (pisco, egg whites and lime) and a variety of meals.

Saturday I returned to an area of Palermo for a Polo game. In the time before the game, we went to watch horse races and went an expansive park with a colorful flower garden. There were many people out running and rollerblading as the weather was clear and so seemed the air. I finally took out my camera and we went a bit nutty with flower and other posed photos. It was a perfect day and as I've been told, an excellent season to be in the park. There were many different demographics including the affectionate couples which typically pepper the landscape.

Upon returning to the polo field, we lined up for tickets. A larger gentleman, who spoke Spanish but appeared German, approached me directly and gave me a free ticket. Shortly after that, a father approached my friends and offered them excellent tickets,  for which they gave him 100 pesos ($28). We were separated but I don't mind sitting by myself. It wasn't until I walked around midway through the game that I realized what a high class affair the polo game was. There was a Mercedes Benz dealership on sight, along with champagne lounges and designer polo apparel. Most impressive and memorable was the people who attended. They were beautiful people and were immaculately dressed. It was enough to make you want to climb the social ladder. In a way, my friends did. Their seats were some of the best in the stadium. They said the other spectators in their area were very well put together and it was a subdued environment. No one spoke during play and only moved during breaks.

We ate dinner and returned home by subway, which is dirty but runs well. It was an uplifting day.
Today with these same friends, I plan on going to a famous and massive market in San Telmo, then going to a soccer game in La Boca, a rougher area of the city.

 

Tercero Dias

I've have been punished all day today for not having a good sleep last night. After joining yet another French crew en la barrio Palermo. The evening went long and I did not sleep much. The Spanish classes are still going well and we are covering some basic travel communication skills. There are many travellers around the busy hostel. The common story is European people who have come through after traveling through Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Chile. Some of these people have done a huge amount of travel literally all over the world.  The only people I have met who are learning Spanish are older, however many young people are bi/trilingual.

I want very much to go to a home stay, but it has not worked out so far. Unfortunately tomorrow I am moving to a new hostel. My booking is finished at Sandanzas and they are full tomorrow night. It has been a very friendly but cramped hostel. I feels very busy right now and I feel very tired.

There were more protests in the Plaza de Mayo today. My professor says it is a part of life here, 'Siempre'. The was a strike in the subte which I think is over. I passed by a small protest as I was having lunch, walking through the streets with drums and flags. I have seen riot police more than once in the evening, though I'm not sure why.
I got lost walking from the school to the hostel. People were friendly with directions and I feel better oriented with San Telmo. Unfortunately the streets are barely marked and I (+85L) will be in a new neighbourhood tomorrow. I think I will pack up now and take my bag to school. The camping gear feels so ridiculous and bulky to have with me now. I will need to do put all of it to good use in a month or so.

*Note about the picture: This is the only picture I've taken so far. It is certainly nothing special, however San Telmo is a grid of many streets such as this.

La primera noche

I safely arrived in Buenos Aires and had someone waiting at the airport with my name on a card.  It was a expensive relief and I tried out my spanish with my driver Pepe. We had a confusing but pleasant interaction on the way into the downtown.
On the way into Buenos Aires, there was a sea of dirty, apartment buildings. As the highway continued so did the buildings and the occasional soccer field. I arrived in the barrio de San Telmo which has some of the oldest architecture in the city. It looks and feels like a slightly delapated European city. The intricacy and style of the buildings is beautiful. The people look European and there is some diversity. There are many people I would consider gringos though I know I appear different than they do.
At the Sandanzas hostel, everyone was speaking French. My french help up well for brief conversations and an explanation of what everyone was doing. I find it difficult and unpleasant to switch between French and Spanish (and English). I truely do not want to speak any more French, my mind becomes muddled and my internal dialogue is confused on what language to get by in.
We all were drinking beer from litre bottles and despite my lack of sleep the previous night, I joined the French crew for the night. There was an 37 year old irishmen who came as well; we have been English crutches for one another. We took a bus for around 15 min, then got off and walked in circles. The picture which is in the heading of my blog....we walked across that exact spot twice. The concert was a Brazilian drum group and they were excellent. I had some of the most carefree dancing I have had in a long time. The crowd was young, attractive and lively.
I attended my first Spanish class today. I love it but it's tiring. I am able to speak and understand much more Spanish than I would have thought. I have received many compliments on my Spanish based on the short time I have been speaking it.  So I take this a positive sign, moreover that Michel Thomas audiotapes taught me some basics effectively.
I need to get to a homestay and turn the English and French parts of my brain off. I think if I can spend the whole day in Spanish it will be much, much better than attending classes and falling back to English.

Buenos Aires feels safe, is very unique and large. The next month will be great. After a nap and homework,  I'll get out exploring again.
Hasta luego!

Pre-departure

The transitional period between final preparation and leaving is limbo. It is the feeling that my house is an airport terminal and I am simply passing the time.
I have decided on my school, the Instituto de Espanol Rayuela and I will be living in downtown Buenos Aires for 1 month before heading to Pucon, Chile. This school set me up with a home stay with a 28 old music student named Mariana, which I have declined due to location and cost. I haven't found a suitable home stay yet (they range from $300-570 USD per month). There is huge amount of options for accomodation and I still have a full 72 hours before I leave.

Despite efforts I've made to cut costs, I am not doing this trip cheaply in the beginning. The budget for the trip is roughly $25 per day for 170 days. Living in Buenos Aires blows this budget right open, but I am happy to do it. The city seems massive, safe and metropolitan.

I was steadily accumulating gear but luckily lost momentum over the last few days. I have everything I need to camp, hike and cook. I have decided to buy a leather jacket and dancing shoes when I am down there (No joke, don't laugh).
The pack is almost overflowing at 85 L. Thanks to Dave De Lugt for lending his pack to me. Your couch rent for this spring is paid brother!

So quickly my tentative plan:
Nov 9th - Early December: Downtown Buenos Aires
Early-Mid December: Travel to Chile
Mid-December to Early January: Kayak
January/Feb: Head to Patagonia, Hike, head north to Peru
Feb-April: Move through Peru and Ecuador, Surf, Head back north.

At this stage, I'm past most nervousness and simply feeling ready to go. I'm more excited to get a grasp on Spanish than anything else. I expect Buenos Aires to be overwhelming and the rest of the trip to be beautiful. I will write more when I arrive.