Brett's Southern Crossing

On my last day of class last month I was lucky enough to witness a tradition I had heard of for new University graduates (my classes are run through a well known University here).  Most of the Argentine students are off in January and February, but a few were still working and apparently had finished their final exams that Friday afternoon.

In Argentina it’s customary to “celebrate” completion of final exams by a friend or relative by mercilessly pelting them with food.  I only saw the end of this ritual, and my video isn’t very good.  It’s a shame, I can imagine this would be great to watch start to finish!  In the brief time I was there I saw them hit with raw eggs, flour, a jar of honey, shaving foam, feathers, and who knows what else:

And a few closeup photos for detail:

One of the world’s great bookstores is in downtown Buenos Aires.  There are half a dozen El Ateneo locations in the city, but the most well-known is the one at the intersection of Avenida Sante Fe and Avenida Cabildo.  The owners bought a historic theater called the Grand Splendid, restored it, and turned it into the largest bookstore in the city.

You can read books in cushy chair in the opera boxes and visit the cafe located behind the curtain on the stage.  The ceiling is somewhat domed and painted by an Italian artist.  To be perfectly honest, although it’s probably the largest bookstore in the city they could do better…the first two floors are books, the third floor is CDs and DVDs and the fourth floor is empty and closed.  Lets fill this place to the top with books, ok?

If you like the look of this place, I found an article about some other amazing bookstores.  I only wish I had time this summer to see the one in Maastricht!

In the last week we’ve had a lot of rain in Buenos Aires.  I enjoy watching from my balcony for some reason when it’s really pouring.  There aren’t storm drains here, instead the streets have a notch cut in them about a foot from the curb.  The notch is about 3 inches wide and deep and allows small amounts of water to be carried away.  I’m not sure where it eventually drains…there must be storm drains somewhere.

A few days ago it was coming down hard, and the streets were totally flooded.  It’s fun to watch the rivers of water and a few poor people dashing along trying to get out of the rain.  Someone who lives just a couple of blocks from meet took this video:

A collectivo (bus) like you see in the video tried to detour down my street, but was too large to make a turn from Huergo onto Avenida Chenaut.  He ended up wedged in so that parked cars were pinning him in front, on the side and in back.  That provided a half hour of entertainment as they tried to find a way to direct him back out!

Here’s a map showing where I live and where the video was shot.  If you’re interested, you can zoom out 5-6 levels to see where my neighborhood is in Buenos Aires.  Downtown is the eastern part of the city near the water.

View Larger Map

I thought I’d share a few interesting things I learned about Argentina since I’ve been here:

• The president of Argentina, Cristina F’ernandez Kirchner, thinks eating Pork can be better than taking Viagra, saying that after a meal of pork “things went very well that weekend, so it could well be true.”

• The national sport of Argentina is Pato…described as a combination between polo and basketball.  The game is played on horseback and the object is to put the ball (pato) through a metal hoop at the opposing side of the field.  However originally the game was played using a live duck instead of a ball!  Pato is the spanish word for duck.  In the early days it was a dangerous sport due to the likelihood of a knife fight breaking out.  I’m looking forward to seeing a match once the season starts later this year!

• The Jorge Newbery Airport, Buenos Aires’s airport for domestic flights, is built on land that was reclaimed from the Río de la Plata.  The river was filled with rubble from the wreckage of London after bombing during WWII (it was carried as ballast in freighters).

• Argentina is the 5th largest wine producer in the world, but consumes 90% of its production domestically.  The average Argentine drinks 12 gallons of wine per year!  The beer selection here is really small, so it makes sense to take advantage of so many great choices of wine.

• Up to 60% of Argentine’s are at least partially of Italian descent, though as you would expect Spanish ancestry is most common.

I planned to learn a lot more about Buenos Aires and Argentina before I left, but moving always takes way more time than you expect.  So I’m going there knowing embarrassingly little about the history, culture, and political situation.

But here’s what I do know, and am looking forward to:

• A multicultural and somewhat European society.  Buenos Aires has had tons of immigration from Spain, Italy, the UK, and even eastern Europe.
• Lots of good food and wine.  Argentina is known for its beef and asado (barbeque), for its pizza and pasta (I’ve read 60% of Argentines are part italian), and for producing excellent wine.
• An active and sporty society.  Futbol, rugby, polo, and other sports are popular.  The Tigre river on the north side of the city has lots of rowing clubs too, so I’d like to continue to row from time to time.
• Natural beauty…the ocean on the east coast, the Andes to the west, Patagonia and Antarctic regions in the south, the famous Iguazu Falls at the northern border, the pampas (plains) where cattle and wine are produced, and who kn0ws what else!
• Buenos Aires is known as a party town…with dinner not eaten till 9-10pm and lasting past midnight, plus music and dancing through the night.  How do these people get to work??