So after a brief hiatus, here is all the news fit to print here from Buenos Aires.- It's cold here! Damn cold. It was 2 degrees here in the Capital on Monday and Tuesday last week and Argentines are dropping like flies. Every day the papers report people all over the country dying of cold for various reasons: lack of housing, carbon monoxide poisoning, heart failure, etc. The French woman who keeps coming to my Spanish class at the UBA contagious with fever and flu has made me sick for the second time this season so I am making a point of eating lots of soup and keeping our heaters rocking until this too passes.
- Today is election day here in Buenos Aires and around 2.5 million porteños will vote today to elect a new mayor. All pre-election polls are showing incumbent Telerman with his unfortunate bald head being ousted in favor of Macri, but only the next few days will tell as the quilombo which is the Argentine electoral process unfolds. In the meantime the election has provided political posters like the one pictured here with counter-political messages like topu, garca, and pontete pelo puto. Poor, bald Telerman seems to be taking the biggest swings.
- Last night the lovely Ana Paula, Paul's "work wife" threw a lovely party in honor of Paul leaving his job (take that however you wish). We spent a lovely evening in a beautiful area of Belgrano complete with designer stores, modern apartments, clean streets, wide green spaces, and general loveliness. Despite having no business in such a classy part of town, we had a great time nibbling cheese, empanadas, and cake washing it down with a selection of fine Argentine wines. Good times and giggles were shared by all and I think it's fair to say that part of Paul misses the 'Office Space' world. So far he's a total failure as a house-husband but hopefully even the monkey can learn eventually.
- I had a brand new 'Lost In Translation' moment that brought me to new heights of tonta last night. I was having a hard time keeping up, totally congested with a head full of snot and rapid fire Spanish conversation. Usually it's not a problem but combine fatigue, decongestants, and crankiness and you end up where I was - thoroughly lost. I finally tried to jump into the conversation with an easy topic: an Argentine friend inquired as to what, exactly, was a twinkie. I explained that they are sponge cake, cream filled, but totally disgusting because of the preservativos that they contain. Total silence. It was about 5 seconds before I realized I had committed a rookie mistake in a public setting. DOH! In Spanish preservatives are conservantes while preservativo is the Spanish word for condom. Lots of laughter (mostly from Paul) and one Scottish-level red face later, I tried to change the subject. Serious ego damage alert. Chalk it up to swollen glands.
- The longer I stay, the more homesick I get. I just heard that my dad had a nasty tumble down a flight of stairs. When I called home my sister, mum, and dad were hanging out together trying to make the best of it. I thought about Santa Barbara, how the summer must be closing in, about surfing, about going for walks with my sisters. The cold, dark, gray city makes me miss home. I think it might almost be time.
- A dear friend of mine is pregnant! Congratulations to Carla, her entire family, and her brand new bean! I need to start knitting again.
- That's all for now. I have sickness ADD and can't finish sentences, am way behind on my emails, and have procrastinated all weekend a simple work assignment. I can't wait until I can smell and taste again. Gagh! I am considering taking out a hit on the French woman in my class...
3 comments:
Foot in mouth disease is a character trait of the Nisbets, REGARDLESS of language barriers. Next time we chat, I'll tell you about my comments at the bachelorette party...
Don't miss home too much...a) Lynn is a traveling vagabond right now, and pretty much gone for a solid month, then come July, pretty much living at the hospital for a solid month b)Gray May has transitioned into June Gloom, so its cold, and foggy c)there are no waves, so there's no surfing to be had for anyone north of Ventura, and south of Inspiration Point d) Mary and Rog are coming soon! They pay for everything...it will be AWESOME
I miss you tons though...WAH!
I was going to post something of the porteño elections, mostly on the theme of 'forced democracy' as voting in Argentina is an obligation, not a right. Porteños line up on Sundays to vote OR get fined!
At first I thought this was a great idea for the States - vote or pay - but now think differently... what good is 'democracy' when its forced upon us as the States forces its 'failed democracy' - in the words of Noam Chomsky - upon other lesser nations (Afghanistan or Iraq), with less than 50% of eligible voter turn out at the polls in the US?
goyo -
it's an intersting debate - one in which i often partake with my argentine students. i agree that the idea behind democracy is choice. can we thereby FORCE people to vote? should we? i still say yes.
why? the argentines can vote en blanco. they can go to the polling place and leave their ballot blank if they wish. THIS to me seems reasonable. this way, the only people not actively participating in democracy and exercising their rights as citizens are the true anachists for whom retirement benefits, socialized heathcare, and other state-run benefits don't apply anyway...
the easy observation is how DIFFERENT American elections would be if the under-represented minorities were pushed to the polling places by obligation, even to vote for no one. at least those voices are heard.
anyway. the debate continues...
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