Gay Day!

Random, slightly refreshing and definitely interesting…


Saturday night I found myself at the Buenos Aires Gay Pride parade. United with thousands of other observers – some of them wearing rather interesting costumes – my lady friends and I watched the magic rainbow floats drift by. It was more or less a walking boliche (night club) and we were swept up in the dancing mass of people marching through the streets.

While I don’t really have strong opinions on the issue, I truly enjoy and find the few gay friends I have to be completely amazing humans. As an event, it was more than interesting. And the general ambiance: loud music, fun costumes and moving hips, made it a riot to participate.

Following the theme of the night, I went to my friend’s house for dinner, drank an unacceptable amount of beer and headed off to a gay club with a few fabulous gay fellows.

Hannah and I were two of maybe 5 girls in Glam – a gay bar packed full of gorgeous dancing men. It was super fun: we danced for hours without anyone caring and I was able to walk through the room without being groped nor propositioned. And there was even TP in the women’s bathroom. Like I said, kind of refreshing. Maybe I’ll become a regular. And I’ll definitely be hanging out with those crazy boys again. No one appreciates my glittery pinstripe pants like they do.

My daily commute.

Every day, on my way to work, I cross though Plaza de Mayo. It’s the center of the city: and home to some spectacular architecture. The Casa Rosada, Argentina's equivalent to the White House, sits in the center of the plaza, surrounded by gardens and picketers.

Daily commutes are pretty routine, and the grand majority of mornings I walk bleary-eyed to work without noticing anything extraordinary about my surroundings. However, on occasion I look up and am stunned by the splendor of the skyline: towering skyscrapers and adorned palaces.

Sometimes, I’m also accosted by demonstrations: one day people were wearing posters showing a photo of Obama with a drawn-on Hitler mustache, decorated with acid raindrops. I took one of their flyers in an attempt to understand the movement against “financial fascism” but I couldn’t figure out exactly why they had chosen that particular image. I’m thinking mostly shock value.

A couple weeks ago a beautiful commemorative piece of art appeared: a big metal frame with dangling white crosses covered in flowers. It was a tribute to the lives lost in the Guerra de las Islas Malvinas. An absolutely moving piece.



There are days I miss commuting to work in my car. Yet other days I definitely appreciate the reality of walking to work: feeling, seeing, smelling and experiencing my routine in a way I just never did as a comfy cozy American.

Other things I do when I'm sick.

While sick I decided to be productive. Besides, a new apartment just begs for a little decorating. Presenting my art:

I'm sick and making lists.

Things I miss about the United States

1. My family and friends: people who’ve known me for years.
2. What I consider to be "normal" hours for living, working
   and playing.
3. Reliability: a plan is a plan and it happens on time.
4. Dating as something to be taken seriously.
5. Salad dressing, Mexican food and big cups of coffee.
6. Clean streets, clean cities, clean people: cleanliness.
7. Owning a car and not being required to use public transportation.
8. Wearing high heels and having flat surfaces to walk on.
9. How polite and professional people tend to be.
10. Financial stability and a reliable currency: making dollars.

Things I heart about Argentina

1. How easy it is to make amazing friends here.
2. Independence and solitude: my life is so very mine.
3. An interesting job that challenges me personally and professionally.
4. Discovering the world in Spanish – little accomplishments happen every day. Like a remix of my worldview.
   
5. Sitting and talking over coffee for two hours without glancing at my watch.
6. That no one cares if you’re late… in fact it’s odd if you’re on time. Especially for work.
   
7. The incredible sweets: facturas and dulce de leche? Mmmm…
8. Walking everywhere and truly experiencing the weather.
   
9. The up-front, frank Argentine way of relating to the world.
10. That people want to chat with me because I’m unique here and I talk funny.

New Chapter: Ridiculoso!

I feel like since arriving in Buenos Aires I’ve lived four or five distinct chapters. Every few months I end up with a new group of friends, a crazy new project, a big move or a romantic disaster. Once again, this month I’ve managed to tip my little world upside down and I’m embarking on yet another new chapter.

This time the setting is the new and upgraded apartment in Barrio Norte/Recoleta. It’s a busy spot in the city – faulting the trees that populated my street in Caballito – but it’s incredibly convenient. I can hop on a bus or the subway and be to work in 30 minutes. Phenomenal!

The apartment also comes complete with a set of four solid walls, my own little bathroom, lots of great storage, a terrace, a black cat named Bruja and a fabulous new roommate named Ali (featured below). I’ve ended my permanent camping situation and I’m more or less in love (it even has a microwave!).


Along with a new location, I’ve begun making lots of effort to replace my girlfriends who mercilessly left me here a few months ago. As a result I’ve discovered some new and amazing ladies for adventure hunting. I’m also seeing an Argentine who is about the sweetest human being on the planet and is keeping a smile on my face. We’ll just have to see how that goes before I tell you more stories about him.

And the big announcement:

I’ve decided to change the name of my blog to “Ridiculoso.”
This is a word that I invented.

The real translation for “that’s completely ridiculous” is “es completemente ridiculo!” but I always want to add an extra syllable to “ridiculo” and thus this has become my signature error. As an invented word, it just works… and I think with all the ups, downs and craziness of the last year it’s an appropriate title for my self-musings!

An Expensive Accent

My last a post was about how lovely life can be... but today I’m going to post a rant about this stinkin’ country and how everyone is always trying to rip off foreigners. Really! Taking advantage is an Argentine specialty.

I am moving soon, so I need to arrange for a little moving truck to come get my bed and my small collection of possessions and take them to the new apartment. So I called a moving company close to my house to ask about prices. They quoted me $400 pesos for the move – which I knew was ridiculous. I asked the lady on the phone, “What exactly does that price include?” and she was like, “Oh, don’t worry! Everything! We’ll send three people and move everything.” What? Three people to move a bed? $400 pesos for an hour or two of work? You have to be kidding me. She refused to give me an explanation of the the pricing breakdown – no, that was just the price.

So I asked my male Argentine co-worker to call. For him, the price was $40 pesos an hour for the truck, $18 pesos an hour for workers to help move (he was able to request just one) and $3 pesos for a flight of stairs. Yup, grand total will be under $150 pesos.

Sorry, but that just makes me mad. So I’ve got an accent. That doesn’t mean that a) I’m rich, nor b) I’m an idiot. I can communicate perfectly fine in Spanish: I understood everything said to me on the phone, and that stupid woman understood everything I said, even if it included a couple grammatical errors. I’ve been here long enough that this treatment is simply infuriating, for crying out loud!

It’s a well-known fact the Argentines love to “aprovechar” or take advantage of us foreigners. What makes me mad is that I’m not running around with dollars: I’m as poor as any of them are. Apparently I've just got an expensive accent.

Oh, yeah, THIS is why I'm here.

Yesterday I felt like I was on vacation. One of those magic, happy little moments when contentment was tangible, sitting in my stomach like a piece of delicious chocolate cake. This city wears me out sometimes, and it’s so gratifying to have a joyful expat experience and remember why I’m here: it’s all about discovering new experiences.

First of all, I found an apartment! What an incredible relief. After running all over the city and responding to a hundred ads, I found a spot that’s going to be a definite upgrade. It’s very centrally located, so I’ll cut way down on my commute to work and the travel time to go out with friends. I’m closer to everything that I like to do here in Buenos Aires. It’s with just one roommate instead of two and the department is much bigger. It’s located on a busy street, but it’s an internal apartment, so it’s quiet and mellow. I have a giant room with my own bathroom and big sliding glass doors that open onto a quaint little terrace (I’ve got a vision of myself laying out in the sun and finally getting a tan, haha!). I’ll be making the move over the next two weeks. It will be nice to change location – there’s always a sense of a little fresh start and a new chapter with a move.

I also joined the couchsurfing network, which is a cool program including an active social group here in Buenos Aires. We did an empanada event yesterday and I learned how to make the most signature of all Argentine foods. I’m still not a pro at folding the little edges of the empanadas, but I’m going to have to practice and aim for perfection, jaja! I also met people from all over the world: the US, England, Australia, Argentina (of course) and enjoyed chatting away and making new friends.

Then to celebrate the new apartment, I went out with a good friend, Greg, who is in town right now visiting. We had a delicious steak dinner and went out dancing afterward at Kika. Love that club. I have to say my favorite part is that they’ve got a well-ventilated dance floor so you don’t sweat to death and suffocate. It was a blast!

Yes, my Saturday was a vacation. Quite lovely. Tonight I’m going to go and learn how to play “Truco” the Argentine card game based on lying and tricking your opponents. Should be a good time, and I love cards.

Cheers to a new chapter, new friends and the magic Argentina can offer on a sunny day.