i heart julieta

Last night I emerged from a divine mid-afternoon power nap, a week of semi-sick doldrums and insuportable cramps just in time to catch a cab over to Estadio Pepsi Music on Libertador and catch a glimpse of the beautiful, Mexican singer Julieta Venegas in concert in Buenos Aires. The concert, put simply, kicked ass. It wasn't as sweaty as Shakira at the giant Velez football stadium, it was less rowdy than the Beastie Boys down the street, and there were far fewer psychedelic trip outs than Creamfields on the Costanera. The concert hall turned out to be much smaller than expected giving it the kind of intimate feel that those lucky enough to catch her at the Majestic Ventura Theater just a few short months ago must have had. I think Paul enjoyed it too as Julieta dropped some Mexican-isms talking about amores gachos and singing a song about immigrating to the US of A from her querido México de que nunca me olvido. She was beautiful, sweet, hot hands on the accordion, and a general encantadora.

Her music is probably my favorite of all the Latin Music that I try to sing along to in the shower. She sings lovely lyrics with sweet, catchy melodies. Before we went to the concert I read another BA blogger's post about how music in Latin America in general has much more to do with lyrics than anyone else and at concerts you can easily find 80,000 people singing along word for word with their favorite artists. This was certainly true last night and Julieta seemed genuinely touched when the small crowd took over singing duties for her. I tried my best as a gringa to keep up. I recommend her music to anyone taking small, tentative steps into the world of music in Spanish. Her spins on the iPod have gotten me through many a difficult bus ride through Buenos Aires. Enjoy the video and here are the lyrics to my favorite song:

limón y sal

Tengo que confesar que a veces
no me gusta tu forma de ser
luego te me desapareces y no entiendo muy bien por qué
no dices nada romántico cuando llega el atardecer
te pones de un humor extraño con cada luna llena al mes.

Pero a a todo lo demás le gana lo bueno que me das
sólo tenerte cerca siento que vuelvo a empezar.

Yo te quiero con limón y sal, yo te quiero tal y como estás,
no hace falta cambiarte nada,
yo te quiero si vienes o si vas,
si subes y bajas y
no estás seguro de lo que sientes.

Tengo que confesarte ahora
nunca creí en la felicidad
a veces algo se le parece, pero
es pura casualidad.

Luego me vengo a encontrar con tus ojos y me dan algo más
solo tenerte cerca siento
que vuelvo a empezar.

Yo te quiero con limón y sal, yo te quiero tal y como estás,
no hace falta cambiarte nada,
yo te quiero si vienes o si vas,
si subes y bajas y
no estás seguro de lo que sientes.

Solo tenerte cerca
siento que vuelvo a empezar...

la tontita

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...