Blogs from Buenos Aires, Argentina, South America - page 390

I know I've been slippin on updating this thing, but honestly I've been really busy!! What I thought was busy in Richmond is nothing compared to here (except of course during exams). I get up early and go all day. It's great, but I'm not accustomed to it at all so it is taking some time to adjust. I guess it's been a week since my last entry so I have a lot to update on. (That's my punishment for putting it off so long). Class has been pretty typical, all in Spanish and lots of workbook exercises. I don't feel like I'm learning much though. It is difficult to understand a foreign concept in a foreign language. Not only do you have to struggle with understanding the grammar rules she's explaining, but you have to ... read more

We head back to Buenos Aires for three more days of exploration, sorry not to have scored more vino tinto. We are limited to what we can carry and the vagaries of the credit card system. Another reason to return in the near future. After an easy morning by the pool at the Nuevo Hotel San Francisco, we take two taxis to the Mendoza airport for our return to Newberry Aeroparque. The taxis will carry four passengers (barely - they are what we would call compacts from Chevrolet and Peugeot ), but not luggage. But at $4 to $6 for almost any trip, it's affordable. Thursday night we head back to the Recoleta for dinner. Our first stop is really a bar and it is packed to overflowing and rumbling with music to compliment the meet ... read more

We are soon to leave the comforts - and discomforts of the big city. Kieran summed up getting around pretty well today: walking in Buenos Aires involves constant dodging of other pedestians and avoidence of stepping on to the road (The footpaths are all about three foot wide and the traffic is constant, fast and arrogant, if traffic can be arrogant) dodging too of dog poo, lots of, dodging of the eternal ´rain´that falls from the air conditioning units that are attached to all the buildings overhead. What else. Dodging the heat and humidity too, I guess but no complaint there really. Aside from this, the infrastructure itself is going to the pack. The countrys dire finacial situation means that there are crumbling and pot holed footpaths throughout the city and half finished repair jobs that ... read more

Hi, I just stopped into an internet cafe to write a cheesy one month anniversary email, since I arrived on Jan 15. and also they have air-conditioning. This weather is something, let me tell you. It was not so hot when I got here, then it got unbearable with the humidity, then went down, and now it's climbing again. My lady Rosa tells me that the temp. will raise one degree each day for several days. Today was the first time a droplet of sweat actually rolled down my forehead on the way to school. Girls don't sweat!! I'm just getting over being sick since Sunday. I told my mom that it was from eating so much dead carcass in one week. Who knows. This weeks activities, you ask? Well since I went out both nights ... read more

"In line with your salza stories apparently the tango singer Carlos Gardel (1890-1935) is still worshipped like a god. Every year thousands make a pilgrimage to his grave, climb up to the life-sized statue, and place a lit cigarette between its fingers. You know what to do billy and dont forget to post up the photo... that is if you can take on the Wogeo TM challenge" So as I mentioned, I completed the Wogeo Challenge TM in my final weekend. Straight from a night on the beers, without sleep, and with the greatly appreciated help of my lovely assistant Rachel, I made my way to Chacaritas Cemetery. On arrival, w realised that it´s one big-arsed cemetery, and we had no idea where Carlos Gardel had made his permanent home. So I asked a gardener at ... read more

Nous avons passé près d’une semaine dans la capitale argentine sans nous ennuyer cinq minutes, et nous sommes repartis presque un peu frustrés de ne pouvoir en profiter plus, c’est sur nous reviendrons… Buenos Aires est une ville riche culturellement, beaucoup plus que Santiago, dans laquelle on sent surtout l’influence européenne. Grandes avenues, immeubles haussmaniens, parcs joliment aménagés et beaucoup de monuments. Deux influences surtout sont sensibles dans l’architecture comme dans la vie de tous les jours : la France et l’Italie ont le plus marqué cette jolie ville. Le Teatro Colon a des airs de l’opéra Garnier, et c’est normal, construit au début du XIX siècle il essaye d’imiter au maximum les ‘grands’ d’Europe. La salle est très impressionnante, et l’on n’est pas étonné d’apprendre qu’elle figure parmi les cinq ‘meilleures’ du monde. La Casa ... read more