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 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??

Final part of a three-part series about what I’ve been up to and what I plan to do next year.  Part 1 was about my time in Australia.  Part 2 was about my time in South America.

I’m back!  It’s been a busy couple of weeks.

So here’s my plan for next year.  After my trips to South America I decided it was about time to finally learn Spanish.  So I’m planning to move in January to Buenos Aires.  I’d like to spend 4-5 months learning in a full-time school, and there are lots of them available.  Most are private schools, but I’m most interested in the Espanol para Extranjeros (Spanish for Foreigners) program at the Universidad de Buenos Aires.  (I also need to learn how to type accented letters!)

The UBA program only accepts in-person registrations so I’m going to have to just show up and see if there’s any space left.  Another odd thing about the university program is that it has 4 month-long courses, but they’re run in January, February, June, and July.  So there’s a weird gap there.  After the first two months I’ll have to decide if I want to travel and return, switch to a private school, or something else I haven’t considered yet.

After that I’m going to backpack through South America for as long as my money and interest last.  I’m guessing I’ll return by the holidays and spend Thanksgiving and Christmas in Ann Arbor.  And finally, I’d like to then look for work in Australia…what an end to a great plan!

Of course everyone is welcome to visit me.  Family, friend, acquaintance, whatever.  Just figure out a way to get to where I am and I’ll show you around.  I have a few suggestions on how to afford a trip too, so keep your eyes out here for that.