Long afternoon…and evening…in San Telmo

Taking advantage of another nice spring day, I walked to the Feria de San Telmo to do a little souvenir shopping before going to the Museo Etnográfico to watch a Nigerian documentary, Suffering and Smiling.  It was about the musician, Fela Kuti, and was an eye-opening documentary that featured Fela’s son and daughter and their efforts to keep his political activism alive through music.

trees in the plaza of the Museo Etnográfico

After the film, Ana and I meandered through the crowds of the feria.

folklore band

capoeira

samba dancers with the batucada

batucada

 
We met up with Flor and Bruno, and being about merienda (mid-day snack) time, we popped into Bar El Federal, a typical quaint, old San Telmo bar with antiques scattered around the restaurant and large, rustic tables and exposed brick walls.

Bar El Federal

 

















the butcher even used the old meat carver to shave off strips of jamón crudo (like prosciutto)

antique cash register

antique pasta maker

Flor with the leftovers of her panqueque con dulce de leche...or dulce de leche con panqueque

They specialize in sandwiches, so I went with a turkey sandwich with red peppers and hard boiled egg on homemade bread, and the reputation was well-deserved!  We hung around long enough for Meri, Javi and Meri’s friend who was visiting from the south of Argentina to join us and ended up staying through another round of food and drink…a perfect way to enjoy the end of a relaxing Sunday afternoon.

Symphonic orchestra on the widest avenue

After going for a run (actively combating the effects of Argentine food), Eli and I walked to the Obelisco for a symphonic orchestra concert of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra conducted by a renowned Argentine, Daniel Barenboim.  It was the most highly attended show that I had been to at the Obelisco.  There were 8,000 chairs set up, which had to have been filled hours before the 3:00 pm show.  We arrived 10 minutes early and there were people standing blocks behind the last row of chairs – reportedly 40,000 people attended the concert.  It was a fascinating sight to watch the entire Avenida 9 de Julio (the world’s largest avenue) fall completely silent – people even shushed those around – when the composer took the stage.

the crowd

 

Eli and I treated ourselves to some pan relleno (filled bread) for lunch

we met up with Marcela and filled our craving for helado

crema de café and pistachio helados

While walking through San Telmo, we stumbled upon a crew filming a U.S. commercial for Kleenex...oh, outsourcing!

i didn't even notice the NYC taxi until my friends pointed it out

 





why paint new white crosswalk lines when you can lay down temporary pieces of white material? poor Argentina! (as if NYC has perfectly white crosswalks!)

 






















We wandered to watch the Catalanes playing fútbol at an athletic club under the freeway in San Telmo.

old Coca Cola signs in the athletic club

 

Afterward, we enjoyed some empanadas at the tercer tiempo (third period…known as the eating period) at the Casal de Catalunya with the opposing team.

Bretagne Celtic music in Buenos Aires

My grandpa passed away at 12:00 pm.  The week leading up to it was very difficult to be far away from the family.  I felt so fortunate, however, to be able to spend a great deal of time with Grandpa Pete when I was home in July.  He was a man of strong integrity and thoughtful advice who touched MANY lives.  He was the director of the co-op where he and my grandma have been living for 7 years and still a very active board member of many packaging engineering societies and university departments.  Grandpa Pete will be missed!

I am so grateful for such fantastic friends here in Buenos Aires!  Flor, Meri and I went for coffee at an Indian coffeehouse in the afternoon and later in the evening, a group of us went to see War Zao at a pub in the Paseo de la Plaza.  It’s a Celtic band from the Bretagne region of France (where Flor is from).  We learned very quickly that expectations should be set low for a Celtic band outside of Ireland performing in Latin America.  I was anticipating more of the happy, knee-slapping pub songs of Ireland or the smooth sounds of Riverdance, and when the singer took the tambourine instead of the mic and the bagpiper was on a flute, the sound was okay, but unfortunately, that only occurred for a small number of songs.  We chalked it up to an “experience.”

Cine catalán

Lourdes had organized a ciclo de cine catalán at the Casal de Catalunya to expose films produced by Catalanes.  The first movie was a short, La ruta natural, an artistic and thoughtful film about a man with amnesia and what he can learn from his past.  The full-length film, Tres días con la familia, was an interesting portrayal of the Catalán bourgeoisie class – a family that had come together for the funeral of the grandfather.  (It was interesting timing for me to watch, as my own grandpa was in his last days.)  The film focused more on the division of the family, though.

dinner in San Telmo after the movie

Movie theaters…U.S. model but Argentine fashion

My friend, Ana, and I went to see Food, Inc. at the Green Film Fest at one of the main cinemas here.  Needing my ritual snack to make sure I stayed awake, I stopped in kioskos in search of some small dulce de leche candies, but discovered that the only options were large bon bons.  So, I resorted to M&Ms.  By purchasing them at a kiosko, applying my U.S. logic, I thought that they would be cheaper (still not cheap, though, at $13 pesos = more than $4 USD), but I realized that they were $1 peso less at the movie theater!  Then, Ana and I stood in line for popcorn that lasted significantly longer than it should have, considering there were only 3 people in front of us.  (Another symptom of Argentine inefficiencies.)  You could choose between sweet or salty popcorn, though!  When I asked Ana if she wanted butter on it, she said she had never heard of putting butter on popcorn…something I’ll have to introduce her to.

Pre-feriado Sunday night

After a delectable eggplant and bolognese lasagna that Flor made for a small group of us, I celebrated the pre-holiday of the Day of the Liberator, Jose de San Martín, at a salsa club, Sudaca, for the birthday of one of the guys from Couchsurfing.  The salsa scene was a bit difficult to tap into – there were many good dancers, but they appeared to only dance with the people that they knew.  I was able to get some dances in, though.  All boliches (dance clubs) have special events on these pre-holiday-Monday Sunday nights (which seem to occur frequently).  This one had some pretty commendable salsa and reggaetón dance teams perform.  But then, after huge build up and complete clearing of the dance floor, a solo male dancer came out.  Expectations had been elevated so high, and I was ready for an incredible display of talent…but the disappointment could not have been greater.  The tango music started and he began an improvisational modern solo…that lasted nearly 10 minutes.  I found it rather inappropriate for multiple reasons: 1) The length was about three times as long as the other presentations (which were significantly more entertaining); 2) It didn’t feel like the place to be listening to tango music (in fact, the club was kind of the antithesis to a milonga crowd); 3) Even if it were in a contemporary dance show, he was not a skilled dancer.  After bringing the mood down, followed by half an hour of reggaetón music, I got in one last salsa and headed home.

Asado…yet another!

We went to a friend of Lourdes and Lluis for an asado.  The nights were still a bit chilly, particularly in the PH-style house with rooms around a center patio with a two-story high ceiling.  There wasn’t too much relief from the cold, but the food and company were fantastic! 

Meri doubtful of Javi turning so porteño that he learns to like fernet

José - Marcela - Elisenda

Lluis and his captive audience

me and the roommates

the arm gesture that looks like one of the African dance moves that I do, but it's to show enthusiasm

we migrated to a house party nearby on a rooftop where we danced just to keep warm