Do Something!

I like having a maid.

Norma comes on Wednesday and cleans, changes the sheets and gives me fresh towels. I have her trained now not to move things. I'm very happy coming home to a very clean apartment once a week. I could get spoiled!

I left her a big chocolate bar that I bought on the Buquebus. I had some extra Uruguayan pesos since I left a day earlier than planned. I needed some for the taxi and in case there was a departure tax. Well, I didn't really, because they accepted Argentine pesos (the taxi driver in Colonia just changed his meter over and it registered in Argentine pesos), but the point is I had some pesos I had to spend because I didn't know if I could use them here.

I went to the duty free shop in the Buquebus terminal, but their computer was down and they couldn't sell anything. So I had to go to the duty free shop on the boat. It was all the way down on the bottom floor. I was in first class which was on the upper deck (it was a 3 hour trip and I decided to go in style). I went down to the lower floor, below the economy section, to the duty free shop. The boat was rocking back and forth and people kept bumping into each other. It was crowded and I didn't want to spend too much time there. I bought what I thought would use up my Uruguayan pesos - they had these giant bars of Lindt Swiss chocolate and they were 3 for the price of 2. Turned out the total was almost excactly the amount that I had in Uruguayan pesos. I got 5 pesos change, which is worth nothing.

I felt a bit plump when I got back from Uruguay after eating so much meat (and bread) and very few vegetables or fruit. I ate some of one of the bars of chocolate It is dark chocolate with almonds. I was going to bring one bar to each of my classes, but instead I brought one to Hernan when I went to visit him on Saturday and decided to leave the other one for Norma. She left me a little thank you on a post it on my nice clean kitchen counter. It is really nice having a maid.

My Italian class was moved to another room for some reason. This means I got to sit next to a new person today.

When I went to the regular room there was an English class inside already in session. There were notes on the door that the room had changed. I went to the new room and Hanna was already there. She pointed to the seat next to her and told me to sit there. As people trickled in, they looked around for a place to sit, as this room was much smaller than the other.

Two girls who were usually at the other end of the other room and I never saw because we sat in a U-shape and we were all on the same side of the U, sat down to my left. Hanna was on my right.

Hanna was really kind of jumpy today. I don't know what was up with her. I found out she is from Peru. She must have told me that before, but today I finally got it. It doesn't mean anything other than the fact that I am missing a lot in my interactions with people. She also had a little pink in her bleached blond hair today. She is quite a character. She always wears black with silver jewelry. She has a cell phone that is pink with jewels on it, and she has two buttons on her bag that say "no flogger" and "no emo". She is not a flogger or an emo, I guess maybe people might confuse her for one (though I think emos always have dyed black hair).

Blas of course asked me what I did on the weekend. I hate this question. To me it implies that you are supposed to do something, especially on the weekend. Even when I am in San Francisco, weekends are times for me to decompress. I need that time on the weekend. Here, I also really like to just stay in on Sunday. Many of the shops are closed and there is not a lot to do, so why go out? I get pleasure from staying home, cooking and just relaxing.

Well, today Blas went around and asked everybody what they did on the weekend. Since we haven't learned the past tense yet (I already learned it in Italian 2) it was a challenge for people to answer.

The new girls next to me wanted to talk to me but Blas kept stopping us. At one point he said, "Reeshard, ascoltiamo" when I was answering a question the girl had just asked me. I don't know her name because Blas never calls on her. I wish he didn't call on me.

After class I decided I wanted to eat out and I wanted something different. I passed by the Korean restaurant but knew it would be too early to go there. Sure enough, when I passed by, I could see the guy mopping the floor. They were still setting up for lunch.

I decided to walk to Santa Fe a few blocks from my apartment to a restaurant called Cocina & Cia. It is a middle eastern restaurant. They have Jewish and Arab food. They have a lunch buffet, all you can eat, for $10.

It wasn't crowded when I got there and I went up and helped myself to the buffet. They had a pretty big selection of food with a mix of Jewish, Arab and Argentine things. It was quite a varied buffet. Many of the things I ate tasted the same. There was not a whole lot of flavor to things. Also, many of the hot dishes had this white sauce on them. I think it might have been a bechemel sauce. But it was just this white stuff that covered everything and had no flavor.

I did like the more traditional Middle Eastern stuff though. They had good humus and tabouli. I had gone up twice and was planning on visiting the desert table when I noticed they had a grill in the back that people were going to and getting meat at. I thought maybe they had brisket and schwarma.

I went back and saw it was a regular parilla. I think. I still don't know the names of the cuts of meat you get at a parilla. I pointed to a piece of meat and asked the guy what it was, and I forget what he told me, but I got a little piece anyway. I got some more humus and tabouli and went to explore this piece of meat. It could have been pork. It could have been beef. It had a nice crispy skin and the meat was very tender.

I was stuffed when I left there. And tired. I came home to my clean apartment and took a nap.

That was a very full day for me. And it only takes me up to 3 p.m. Come to think of it, I do a lot every day!

Becoming a Bum

My mini-vacation to Uruguay was good for me. I thought it would in some way break the monotony of my new temporary life here and revive my love for Buenos Aires. Well, it worked...sort of. What I discovered I really love is having an apartment and not staying in a hotel. So in that respect, I am really happy to be home!

This morning I had an appointment with my soap star chiropractor who was looking a little less babelicious today because he was badly in need of a shave. Argentine men do not shave every day. In fact, stubble is more the norm than the exception, it seems. That along with messy hair makes it look like everyone just rolled out of bed - after being there for 3 days. There is something attractive about it, but Hugo, my chiropractor, who normally had a 1-2 day stubble, today looked like he hadn't shaved for a week. It was too much. It was hiding his beautiful sweet face.

Other than that, the visit was good. This was the 4th visit in my intensive treatment and my neck feels much better though at times it still stiffens up. I am now going to see him every two weeks.

On the way home I stopped in a sweet little cafe and did some catch up on my Italian homework. I had a coffee and some of the best medialunas I've had here. This place, which is on the corner of Pacheco de Melo and maybe Laprida, was very nice. Big windows to people watch, quiet, nice music playing, and good medialunas. It is a candidate on my list of potential cafes to make my hangout.

I have decided that I am trying to do too much here. I'm stuck with the bed I have made and will have to continue with Arabic twice a week and Italian every Wednesday. I also want to continue with my private tango lessons with Marcelo, and my one language exchange (and others if they materialize). But that is enough. I was not feeling good about the group tango classes and kind of dreaded them. I thought it would get better if I continued going back, and in some ways they did, but the feeling of dread never faded.

Yesterday sitting outside reading a newspaper and today sitting in this nice cafe doing Italian homework, felt right. If I had to go back to either one of those cafes tomorrow I would not feel the dread I felt when I pushed myself to go to tango class.

All of this could change. Like John McCain, I have a different strategy every week. But this week, my strategy is bumming as much as I can. I've been doing a lot of that. But from now on, instead of doing it in front of the TV, I am going to bring something to read or study, like Arabic or Italian, and find a place to park myself and just hang out. This was originally on my list of accomplishments before all of the medical stuff got in the way.

Speaking of medical stuff, I went to the German Hospital today to find out about health insurance. I spoke to a woman named Milagro (Miracle). She was an insurance sales person. At first she told me I qualified for a youth package. I thought, people in Buenos Aires must live a very long time if I am considered "youth". It turned out she heard I was 38 instead of 48. She then told me about the packages they have for seniors (just kidding).

I could get a very comprehensive insurance plan that would give me full coverage, including dental, chiropractor and massage for a little over one hundred dollars per month. I could get a cheaper plan than that as well and am not sure what the difference is. I think there was a copay of 5 pesos for some things (less than 2 dollars).

Milagro had a stern, businesslike way about her, as she encouraged me to take the comprehensive plan, and then switch to the cheaper plan during the time that I am back in the states. I think her reasoning was that if I closed the plan and then had some problem like a spike in my blood sugar, I would not be able to get any coverage when I return.

I could not see any sense in paying for insurance when I am out of the country, since I have my own plan in the states.

So, I have decided to just wait until next year. But in the meantime, I am going to continue to investigate the plans and the types of coverage I am able to get.

I thought I would use some of my free time seeing specialists and trying to find a solution to the meniere's, but since I was not really sure exactly what Milagro told me, I think it might be better if I wait until I can see doctors who speak my language before doing anything radical.

Also, since I am planning on changing neighborhoods for next year, I think it would also be good to see what hospitals are convenient to my new apartment.

I'm going to look at an apartment this Thursday in Palermo. I think it is in the generic Palermo. It is not too far from here, but it is a little far from the subte. It looks like I could take a bus from there to travel, but I have not been on a bus yet and don't want to start using them because of the issue of change.

Yesterday the subte was free because there was no change. I read in the newspaper at the chiropractor's office today that a train line also offered free passage today because there was no change. The article summarized the problem and said there was no solution. Hello??? Tokens!!!??? It is really ridiculous that they can not figure out a solution to a problem that many other countries around the world have solved.

Because of the shortage of change, and the need for change for the bus (at least the subte you can buy a card that has a certain number of trips on it), there is a black market for change. People will charge 10 pesos and give 9 pesos worth of change. Sometimes they charge more. So, my number 1 priority for an apartment for next year is that I must be able to walk or take the subte to get around. No busses for me!

And so, as the rain falls and this day winds to an end, I am worn out from my day of doing a whole lot of nothing. I actually did a lot - chiropractor, cafe, Milagro, cooked, watched TV, studied Italian, studied Spanish (on TV), made dinner, watched the news, watched part of an Italian movie with Spanish subtitles and caught up on my e-mails.

Tomorrow I have no idea what we will be doing in my Italian class. I am totally expecting Blas to ask me questions about what I have been up to. I need to learn how to say "bumming" in Italian.

I Like Spring

I've really been enjoying the weather we're having, as well as seeing the city begin to bloom. The past few days have been warm and wet. It was hot on Saturday and then it rained Saturday evening. It rained yesterday morning and then the sun came out. And today it rained this morning and since noon has just been overcast. All of this combined with a very quiet city due to the long weekend. I'm hearing lots of birds singing and it's really nice.


After fooling around on the computer and doing some more editing, I decided to go out for a walk. I wanted to explore this little neighborhood I passed through on the night that I had a vertigo attack in Palermo and had to walk home. It is on the south side of Santa Fe and in the direction of Palermo. I don't really know that neighborhood and am not even sure what it is called, but it seemed nice when I passed through it before.

It was a lovely day for a walk. The air felt clean and fresh and the city was very peaceful. There was very little traffic other than on the main avenues and not many people were out. I found a nice little street, I think it is called Charcas, that is divided with a median strip planted with trees. There was very little traffic on this street (maybe none?) and it was nice street to walk down. I found a cafe that had tables outside, bought a newspaper and sat down for a coffee and a piece of lemon pie.

I didn't have my reading glasses, so I was really only able to read the headlines and parts of the articles before my eyes started getting tired. As I was leaving, I folded up my newspaper with the intention of taking it home with me and trying to read it later. A woman inside the coffee shop was watching me and said something to her husband. He came out and spoke to me and I didn't understand what he said, but he was pointing to my newspaper. He was either asking if I was done with the newspaper or if I was taking it with me. I said, "si", not really sure what I was answering yes to. I then held out the paper to him and he took it.

It was an odd intereaction and afterwards I thought that maybe I was turning Japanese. I often heard that Japanese will answer "yes" to a question but not mean yes. They are instead saying that yes, they heard the question. I don't know if this is true, but it seemed true in my case. Why did I say yes when I had no idea what this guy was asking?

I am sitting in my bedroom with the window open a crack. I can hear some little chirp chirp chirp (lots of them) and above them there is the sound of this most incredible bird that I have been hearing a lot of around town lately. It has this ongoing song that is almost like an ice cream truck. It is very musical and very loud and goes on and on.

I'm really taking it easy these days. Marcelo, my tango teacher is in Brazil until the 20th. When he comes back I'll start taking lessons with him again. I may or may not go back to the tango school. It's been kind of nice really limiting the things I try to do. I'm looking for some more conversation exchange partners and looking around with some possible volunteer opportunities. I don't really know what I want to do with my time here other than go to school. It might be nice just to keep things very simple and enjoy the city a little.

Random Ramblings

It rained this morning and then the sun came out. I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to take a walk, being a long weekend and figuring that people had already made rainy day plans.

The streets were pretty empty as I made my way to the Recoleta Fair, but unfortunately, the fair was also pretty empty of vendors. Some were beginning to set up, but it looked like most had given up with the rain earlier and were not going to show up.

I decided to take a walk to Palermo Chico, a very ritzy, tranquil little neighborhood not too far from the Recoleta. It is an area where some rich Buenos Aires families had large homes built, but then after the 1929 stock market crash found it impossible to maintain them - so many were sold off as embassies. One very large, lavish home is the Museum of Decorative Arts.

I found a quiet little tree-shaded plaza and sat down to take a rest in the shade as it had gotten warm. I looked up at the huge mansion across the street from where I was sitting and saw this old 70's era car. When I looked closer, I could see the word "Falcon" on the side. Was this one of the notorious green Ford Falcons that was used during the dictatorship by the paramilitary forces who rounded up people to be tortured and disappeared? If so, what was it doing in this very exclusive neighborhood of Buenos Aires? Who was it that lived behind the well-guarded walls of that giagantic home?

I started thinking that the dictatorship was a kind of class warfare as it was waged on the poor, middle classes and intellectuals who all believed in social justice and a more equitable distribution of the wealth. This was called communism at the time and was seen as a threat to the survival of the way of life for the elite, who the military defend.

Then I started thinking about how the Bush/Cheyney coup of 2000 has resulted in much the same kind of class warfare as what took place here. There have not been massive roundups of dissidents, mostly because there has not been much dissidence. But still, what Bush/Cheyney and company have done is to set themselves up for a pretty comfortable retirement while the rest of us wonder if we'll be able to afford aspirin for the headaches coming out way. This Wall Street bailout seems to be the final looting before they are booted out of Washington.

As I walked around this quiet, tree-lined neighborhood with remnants of past economic collapse now serving as embassies, I began to wonder what the purpose of an embassy was. Here are people who travel in elite circles, live in deluxe accommodations and are in some way supposed to represent the country that they hail from. As a US citizen I was not even allowed to take a photo of the US Embassy, how is it that the man inside that house could in any way represent me? No, Ambassadors represent the elites of their countries and are sent to other countries to ensure that trading and dealings between those elites run smoothly - all over cocktails and lavish dinners.

It is a corrupt system and it seems like a good thing that it is all falling apart, though the ones who will be hurt the most will be the ones in the middle. Poor people know how to surive already on very little. Their lives are difficult and while they might become more difficult, they will be able to continue to get by. But the middle class does not know what it is like to be dirt poor, and many, unfortunately, are going to find this to be their new reality. As I watched on CNN about another large factory closing in Ohio (a cookie company), and workers showing up to find out about this with no notice given, I was reminded of what happened here in Argentina. People took to the streets, they banged pots and made noise, and eventually took over the factories and began to run them themselves.

Why are Americans so accepting of these closings as the final word? Why are they not being more militant and demanding that their jobs stay in their communities? It seems that Argentine anger and action is a much better solution than the American tears and resignation.

Argentina will begin charging $130 for visas for Americans beginning in January. This is a reciprocal fee and is based on the fact that Argentines have to pay $135 for an American visa (I think Brits, Australians and some other nationalities will also have to pay this).

Some expats here are whining about this saying it will make life more difficult for them. Welcome to Argentina! I feel guilty buying a bottle of water at school because I know most of my classmates can not afford that luxury. It is nearly impossible for an Argentine to get an American visa even if they have the money to pay for one. It is only fair that this visa that is so easy for us to get and so easy to renew, should cost something. Yeah it is inconvenient, but it hardly offsets the inequality in the system which allows us to travel so freely around the world and restricts people from other countries from entering our country even for a short visit.

When I moved to San Francisco from Japan a former student in Japan wanted to visit his girlfriend who was studying in SF. He applied for a visa and was denied! They said he was an overstay risk because his girlfriend was in San Francisco and not Japan.

I think Argentines should charge Americans the equivalent of what the $135 we charge them would be based on their annual income. I'm sure it is more of an inconvenience for them than it is for most Americans who are able to travel here.

And finally, I am thinking about trying a different neighborhood next year when I return. The Recoleta is nice but it is pretty busy. Palermo Hollywood, where I was with Hernan yesterday was very nice and quiet and had interesting local places to hang out. I also liked the apartment, which had a balcony and a terrace. Of course,, moving further out is more inconvenient and would mean I'd have to take the subte or collectivos more, adding more hassle and perhaps offsetting any tranquility I might get from my more residential surroundings. Anyway, I am looking online now for apartments and hope to check out some neighborhoods while I am here that I might try for next time.

A Nice Spring Day

I'm going to stop talking about the meclizine and vertigo unless something changes. This will be my last report that taking meclizine on a regular basis seems to be enabling me to lead a fairly normal life.

I had my Arabic class this morning and it was pretty much more of the same. An interesting thing has been happening in the class though. We have a book that we bought, that I got a CD for and we listened to the CD the first few classes and did a little in the book. Also on the first day of class Ybti gave us 7 pages that she had photocopied from a different book. We did a few pages from that book every class.

I noticed that this other book, which itself was a photocopy and is completely scripted in Arabic, including the directions, was floating from one student to another. Someone had it, and they photocopied it and then they gave their photocopy to someone else and they photocopied it and on it went. I kind of ignored this because it didn't affect me other than to wonder why I was being left out of this pirating ring.

Today it mattered.

Ybti told us to turn to page 12, but it ended up being page 12 in the book that everyone else had a copy of except me! I don't understand why we have a book that we are not using and we are using a book that I didn't have.

Romina, the nice girl who started the class a few weeks late and is more lost than me, offered to lend me her copy and I could copy it. In the meantime, I looked over the shoulder of Claudia Duffy - the Irish Argentine girl who was sitting to my right.

The lesson sucked. I really cannot be any more blunt than that. It was total confusion and not clear at all. We were all helping each other, and poor Nicolas was totally lost. Ybti lost her patience with him and kept telling him not to get lost. He gets lost easily because he is soooo focused on the most minute details and gets easily distracted by things that are not really important. At one point Ybti was trying to explain something to him and he didn't understand it and was asking a million questions and finally she just said, "let's leave this" and moved on. She was losing her patience with him.

Maybe it was the heat.

It was very warm this morning. I'd guess maybe in the 80's though I don't know for sure.

After I left school and went to drop off the copy of Romina's book to get copied, and we all got a copy of page 13 which was missing from the first copy of the copy and therefore missing from everyone's book, I checked my phone and had a text from Hernan.

When I got home we spoke and he invited me to visit him in Palermo Hollywood where he is dog sitting.

I found this advertisement on some expat site, I don't even remember now, from an American couple who were looking for someone to dog sit for them and stay in their apartment in Palermo. I thought this was perfect for Hernan so I forwarded him the e-mail and he got the job! He is not getting paid, he just has a free place to stay and is able to rent out his apartment in San Telmo.

He told me the dog was very old and sick. But actually the dog was very sweet. His name is Toby or something like that.

We went for a walk with the dog through Palermo Hollywood, which I don't know very well. It was very neighborhoody and very nice actually. Today the entire city is pretty quiet because it's a long weekend, but PH (I'm going to abbreviate it from now on) was particularly quiet. There were lots of people sitting in outdoor restaurants and cafes that we passed, but very little traffic and hardly anyone walking on the sidewalks.

We walked to a little park and sat for a bit with the dog and then went to a restaurant and had a late lunch.

The restaurant was called Oui Oui and is on Nicaragua and I don't remember what street. When we turned on to the street there was a big old building on the other side of the street that went for about a half a block. The building was abandoned and being gutted and you could feel this chill and maybe just my imagination, but a very heavy presence from the building. It was kind of eery for me. I didn't say anything to Hernan.

We first chose seats outside at the restaurant and Hernan tied the dog's leash to his chair. I got a wonderful salad with watercress, humus and brie. Hernan had a smoked salmon sandwich.

As we were sitting waiting for our food, we smelled an intensely insulting stench of dog poo. We thought it was Toby, but when we looked down at him under the table, he was also sniffing the air with a look of disgust. Hernan started waving his hand in front of his nose and saying "oh, what is that smell?!!!" and soon, people at the other tables outside also started doing the same. Some of them got up and moved inside. When the waiter came out, Hernan asked him what the smell was and everyone else who was still seated outside was murmuring "what is that smell?, where could it be coming from? What do they have inside there?" I thought it was very funny, because really, it wasn't THAT bad, but it was a pretty strong dog smell. People were checking their shoes and everything.

The waiter said it was coming from the building next door where they owners had some big dogs. Hernan said he could not sit outside and eat, so we moved to a cute little table right inside where we could watch the dog from the window.

Lunch was really great and it was so nice to be in a place where there were different choices on the menu. I loved my salad, and the brie came on fresh, warm, homemade bread and was melting. The hummus was not what I am used to, but it was wonderful.

It started to rain while we were there, but had slowed down by the time we left. It was still drizzling though, but it just made the air and the streets feel fresh and clean.

After we got back to the apartment where Hernan is dog sitting, a friend of his came by with a package of sandwiches from the bakery. It was mate time. Hernan didn't have any mate though, and his friend only wanted water. I got to observe, and partake peripherally in the "merienda" the custom of visiting a friend in the late afternoon for mate or coffee and pastries.

His friend (I forget his name) is a psychologist and was a very nice guy. He engaged me in conversation a little and he and Hernan sat and caught up while I tried to follow. I love having the opportunity to see people interact with each other in Argentine Spanish. I liked Hernan's friend, as I have liked all of his friends that I have met.

After his friend left, I walked Hernan out and I caught a cab back. The city is deserted and it is so lovely. The streets were damp from the rain, the air was wet and warm and there was hardly any traffic on the streets, though there were still plenty of people out enjoying the tranquility of the late, warm, wet afternoon.

I went to the Disco and it was also deserted. I had a leisurely time wandering about. I bought some arugula and watercress and pears and blue cheese all to make a salad, along with some other things. There was no line for the checkout and no one heading at me with shopping carts.

It is now raining. There was some thunder earlier and I can still hear it in the distance. It is very quiet except for the sound of the rain. It's been a nice return to Buenos Aires after my little trip "abroad".

More Bang for Your Buck!

The Argentine peso closed today at 3.27 to the dollar. It was hovering around 3.03 for most of my stay until this week. I just don't get it. The US is in crisis, and the rest of the world pays. I guess I should have taken some economics classes instead of all of those art history classes in college!

Today I got back to my routine, more or less. I went to the gym in the morning, came home for lunch and then spent the afternoon on the computer, first watching the Daily Show and reading the news and then working on my new book. We got the good news recently the book I co-authored with two wonderful people I know in Arizona was accepted for publication by Michigan Press. We had hoped that Alta, the company that publishes all of our other books (my one and their many) would publish this one too, but Alta seems to be having some problems due to the budget crises in schools around the country. We shopped the book around and after some bumpy reviews and our responses, we finally got a yes from Michigan. I'm excited because I really like this book and think it will be a nice addition and a nice change to what is already out there.

My task was to edit the manuscript and get it to be under 200 pages double-spaced. I procrastinated and then had my bouts of illness which made it impossible to work. Finally today I could think of no more excuses and got to work. It ended up being a fun task and I am not completely finished but it looks like the manuscript is going to be well under 200 pages, which will give us a lot of flexibility in terms of what we want to add. We, of course, want the book to be affordable, so maybe less will be better.

Finally at 5, I started my walk to school. I discovered that my cell phone mysteriously lost all of the credits I had. My cell phone is the kind where you buy a card and rub off the silver to get a number which you then enter and get a certain number of credits. I had bought a card for 50 pesos and already had some credits on the phone but when I went to Uruguay I didn't charge the phone and when I came back I had to revive it (it was dead). Somehow in that process, I lost all of the credits.

I need a moviestar phone card to add more credit to the phone, but for some reason, Moviestar is difficult to find. I went to one kiosk and they sent me to a locutorio across the street (locutorio is like an internet cafe). I asked if they had moviestar cards and got a complicated answer that I didn't understand. I interpreted it as a "no" and went to the next kiosk. I was told "no me quedo", which I interpreted as a no. And so I went, from one to another until finally I asked at a kiosk, they sent me to the locutorio in the same space but further back, and voila! I got a card for 20 pesos.

There was a lot of traffic filling the streets as I made my way to school. It was not moving. People were obviously irritated as there was a lot of honking. But the sidewalks were unusually uncrowded. It's a long weekend, so it seemed like some people had already packed up and left town and others were trying to get out.

I got to school at 5:30 and got a bottle of water and sat in the bar and reviwed my Arabic so I wouldn't be totally lost in class. It didn't help. The class was more of the same. Ybtsi, had a book that she passed around and students took turns reading from it. She bounced around from the days of the week, time, at the airport, random vocabulary, pronouns, you name it, she covered it. It was a mess. The interesting thing is that the book she passes around actually has a method if she would just follow it. There were a bunch of words that started with the letter "d", like doodi, doodad, doodadi (I'm just making those up). The point was to help us to begin to read words with this letter plus different vowel combinations. But for some reason Ybtsi didn't see that.

Fortunately, Romena, a very nice young woman who entered our Saturday class two weeks late, came to tonight's class. She saved me from being the only one who was lost.

I really don't know what to do about this Friday night class. I guess it does help me a little, but I feel like I am getting in the way of everyone else's learning. If I weren't there, the other advanced students would be able to do more. The class is not geared to my needs. But I also don't want to give up. I want to try to make this work in spite of the ineffective teaching. I feel I can learn something from the experience, even if I don't learn Arabic. We'll see.

It was a nice walk home. Traffic had died down and the sidewalks were not terribly crowded. I'm guessing tomorrow's class is going to be a little smaller because it is a long weekend and apparently people leave town.

I'm still taking meclizine which is keeping me from getting dizzy, but the pressure in my ear was really strong tonight. I felt like my head was going to burst. I'm going to call an acupuncturist and see if that might help me. I kind of got tired of having those seeds in my ear and want to see if perhaps something that isn't so visible might work.

I'm going to get an early night's sleep so I'll be rested and alert for tomorrow's Arabic class.

Home

I'm back in Buenos Aires, and it does feel a bit like home. I came home to a clean apartment, went to my neighborhood Disco, answered two questions (consumidor final and Disco Club) and made a salt-free, healthy dinner of stuffed zucchini. I watched Patito Feo, got caught up on the Daily Show episodes I missed, uploaded some photos to my photo blog and am now writing this entry before I go to bed.

It was a good little trip for me if only to realize two things. 1) I can lead a fairly normal life if I take meclizine regularly. 2) Buenos Aires has become my comfort zone.

I would like to go back to Montevideo some day but before I go, I would do some homework - finding out a little bit more about what to see and do and trying to line up some human contacts so that I can get beyond a surface view of the city. I actually think it would be a nice place to get to know. Having spent 10 years in a smaller city that lives in the shadow of a giant (Philadelphia), I know the charms of a small city versus the glitz and glamor (and the hustle and bustle) of a major metropolis. Montevideo reminded me a little of Philadelphia in its smaller size, living in the shadow of Buenos Aires, and even with the chivito, which reminded me of a Philly cheesesteak in a ramped up kind of way. Next year I am thinking I might go to a different part of Uruguay for my visa reneweal visit, or else I will just do a day trip to Colonia and have that be it. A lot depends on how all of the world's economies are doing by then.

The crisis on Wall Street is affecting everyone. I don't know if Americans at home get the global nature of this crisis. Brazilians have seen a sharp devaluation of their currency in the past month and a half, and in Argentina, the dollar rose sharply, making the Argentine peso worth even less. On my way home from the Buquebus terminal, I asked my taxi driver how this would affect Argentines, and he told me it already is. Prices are rising and people are having a hard time getting credit. They are unable to travel and it is becoming more difficult for people to afford daily living expenses. This is a global crisis that was brought on by a bunch of irresponsible crooks. Everyone is going to suffer, except perhaps, those who created the crisis in the first place.

And then Sarah Palin and John McCain got mean. Wow, I can't believe how desperate they have become. Sarah Palin accuses Obama of hiding something when she herself won't speak to the press and McCain won't release his medical records. Who is Sarah Palin anyway?

So, now I am all caught up with all of the bs of the presidential race and things seem to be more or less normal in Buenos Aires. There was another strike by agricultural workers this week that ended yesterday. Today there were some major protests, but they had all calmed down by the time I got back. The sidewalks are still torn up and they have wooden crates covering the parts that are exposed dirt.

Yep, it's good to be back home!

Meat and Mate

There don't seem to be dogs here in Montevideo, or at least, not the large groups of dogs that are so commonly seen in Buenos Aires. Well, to be honest, I have not seen one dog, but I am sure they exist. Why is that important? No dogshit on the sidewalk. But I did see a pile of something on the sidewalk yesterday. Apparently someone had emptied out their mate and there was a pile of green yerba mate on the sidewalk. So much nicer than dogshit, eh?

Like in Colonia, everyone seems to walk around with a mate here. It is kind of nice. I remember thinking in Buenos Aires how nice it is that people DON'T walk around with their Starbucks or Peet's coffee in a paper cup, even though in preparation for the impending arrival of Starbucks in Buenos Aires, several coffee companies have started promoting coffee to go. Still, it doesn't seem to have taken off. But here, the mate is nice change from people walking around with paper cups. The mates themselves are very nice works of art, everyone has a mate that has been hand made by some artisan, and they look so cool whether people are walking or sitting on a bench in the park sipping them, with steam coming from the mate packed with yerba. I bought a nice mate yesterday across the street from my hotel, but I don't think I will be walking through the streets of San Fransicso with it.

There isn't a whole lot to do here, other than walk around and watch people. I've walked down to the Cuidad Viejo twice and that is enough. Lonely Planet does not really provide a lot of information on things to do in Montevideo and without any kind of personal contact, I am very limited to a surface introduction to this city. I am sure it is interesting and fascinating and if I had friends here who could show me around, or if I were studying Spanish and learning about the city, I do believe I would like it a lot. There are many similarities to Buenos Aires, but it is less crowded, seems less polluted and it is smaller, and of course, it has that time warp feel to it. It is definitely worth a visit, but I would recommend that anyone who comes here prepare well beforehand in order to take full advantage of whatever it has to offer.

Today I walked to an old market near the tip of the old town. It was a beautiful old market with wrought iron work in the ceiling. The market itself consists of about 20 different parrillas all grilling the same meats. I didn't really see what the difference was other that the set up. I chose a place where I could sit in front of the parilla and watch the guys grilling the meat.

I had a chorizo and a piece of lechon, which is suckling pig. I don't know what suckling pig is, but it was really good and a nice change from beef. The chorizo was salty and I wanted it to be split open and grilled more, but ate it anyway. But the lechon was really good. Very nicely spiced and with lots of crispy skin and juicy and sweet meat. There was something attached to it that seemed to be a different part of the pig, like a gizzard (I don't think pigs have gizzards) or something like that (I hate to think of what it could have been). I ate it and could tell it had a different flavor, like liver, and then washed it down with my coke, trying not to think about the possibilities of what it could have been.

That was it. I walked back to my hotel, had an ice cream and took a nap.

Since I am not really finding a whole lot to do here, and since it still seems to be winter, I have changed by buquebus ticket to return to Buenos Aires tomorrow instead of Friday. I am still not sure if the hotel will charge me for tomorrow night. I booked through hotels dot com and e-mailed them to see if I could change the reservation. When I asked this morning at the desk, they told me that is what I had to do. But I don't care. The hotel is only $50 per night and if I stayed an extra day I'd spend more money, so by leaving early, I will be saving money even if I lose out on the 50 bucks.

I thought it would be good to get back to Buenos Aires on Thursday and have a full day to take care of things like getting new seeds in my ear, mailing my absentee ballot and having time to rest up before my Arabic pronunciation class on Friday night. I think I am also going to go to the German Hospital and see about health insurance so that I can see a doctor about the meniere's and perhaps visit some specialists. I am afraid that they may deny me because of pre-existing conditions, but it is worth a shot. Since I have some free time and the German Hospital is only two blocks from my apartment, it would be good if I could take care of this while I am here.

It will be nice to be back in "my apartment" and able to cook and shop in familiar places. Returning to Buenos Aires will be like returning home in a way. Uruguay was nice, but I'll be happy to be back in my over-sized bed and navigating the crowded, broken, dirty sidewalks of Buenos Aires again.

Montevideo

I feel like I am in a time warp. Montevideo immediately struck me with its preponderance of 60's mod architecture. Sure there is lots of other stuff - the big ornate neoclassiscal stuff that dominates Buenos Aires as well as some other generic type architecture, but when you see this 60's mod stuff, it is very apparent. I think it many places it has been replaced with something new. I like that it is still here. It reminds me of my youth and going to the 5 and 10 to buy Christmas presents.

I have noticed some other differences between Montevideo and Buenos Aires. These are first impressions based on a quick walk from my hotel to the old city and may or may not be true.

1. Fewer people smoke. This is a nice change. I didn't notice it until I saw some people standing outside of a building smoking. Then I realized I didn't have the people walking in front of me blowing their second hand smoke my way. I guess people don't walk and smoke as much as they do in Buenos Aires.

2. People are fatter. I have seen some rather large people, like really unhealthily obese. I wonder if it has anything to do with these chivitos, which seem to be everywhere. I had my one chivito experience in Colonia and I think that was enough. Chivitos are steak with a fried egg and any or all of the following - cheese, french fries, potato salad, bacon, ham - in addition to being an artery clogging mess, no wonder people are heavy.

3. The cartoneros ride horses. Again, I don't know if this is true, but I saw three different cartoners with horses and carts.

4. Pedestrians have the right of way. Again, I might be misreading this, but it does seem to me that cars actually stop when a pedestrian is in the walkway.

So far I like Montevideo. It is colder here than in Buenos Aires and seems a little more down at heel, if that is even possible. I think the 60's architecture is proof that since that time there has been very little in terms of Uruguayan prosperity. In a way, economic downturns are a good thing. It means that architectural styles that have gone out of vogue but not yet become fashionable again have a chance at surviving. I don't think this funky architecture is on any preservationists list yet, but I hope that some day it will be. Seeing so much of it here makes me realize that it took, as ugly as it can sometimes be, is worth preserving.

The bus trip was very nice coming here. A very smooth ride on a very comfortable bus. I slept part of the way since I was drugged up and spent the rest of the time watching out the window as Uruguayan farmland rushed by. Lots of happy cows and horses as well as come pretty rustic living conditions.

My hotel is nice - nothing fancy, also very mod and kind of 1960's chic - wood paneling and all that. My room is quiet thanks to double paned windows which I opened when I went out to let in some fresh air.

I don't know what I will do here for the next two days, but it seems like a nice place to hang out and I am hoping I will find some interesting treasures hidden in this little time capsule of a city.

TA

Colonia smells like grilled meat. There is smoke everywhere from the many parillas. My clothes, my hair, my skin, smell like smoke. It´s kind of nice, especially at night when it´s chilly. It makes me think of warm fires and hot chocolate. But it also makes me want to eat, even if I'm not hungry. It's like the smell of cinnabuns in the airport.

I'm doing well here on my new plan of just keeping myself medicated. I wasn't sure how it would be this morning as I went out to explore. There were times when I felt like I could be on the verge of an attack, but then reassured myself that the medicine would work, and it did.

Colonia is a sweet little town. It is lovely today with very few tourists. I imagine it might not be as charming on the weekend with thousands of Argentines tramping all over the place, but who knows. I am also glad I did not come last winter. There is not much to see, and once I did a walk around, I was really happy to have a room to be able to return to for a nap.

It is located right on the Rio Plata, or perhaps it is the Rio Uruguay. I think it is one of those bodies of water that has two names depending on whose shores it is lapping up against - like the Sea of Japan/Sea of China.

Uruguayans seem pretty much indistinguishable from Argentines in appearance, except that most of them seem to carry mates around with them. They walk with their mate in one hand and a thermos under their arm. If there are two people, one carries the mate and the other carries the thermos. It´s kind of cool looking - especially the mates that they have, which are gourds covered in formed leather with a metal stand. I picked up a gourd mate in the supermarket that has drawings on it, just as a little souvenier, but I will keep my eye out for one of the more fancy ones. Perhaps in Montevideo.

The other thing which seems to be different is a little espression they use here "ta". Thanks to Lonely Planet, I was prepped for it. It is short for esta, as in esta bien (it's ok). I just had a chorpan and there was a rather large guy sitting on a bench outside of the little shop where I ate. As people walked by and said hello, he said, "ta bien" in response. Here in my hotel, I just heard the clerk finish a conversation with "ta". It's kind of cute, but I don't think I'll be here long enough to adopt it.

Turns out I was kind of ripped off last night for my chivito. I paid $20 US for a chivito, fries, salad and water. Today I had lunch in a sort of homey little restaurant - a nice piece of grilled beef, salad and water and paid $6 US! Quite a difference! I was not prepared because I didn't know the exchange rates, so when I saw the prices on the menu in Uruguayan pesos, I had no idea how much that was. I paid in Argentine pesos, and that was when I discovered how expensive it was. Oh well, live and learn. Anyone who visits Uruguay, avoid the little restaurant at the end of the main drag right on the river.

After lunch today I stopped and had a yummy ice cream on a quiet little cobblestone street. I had dulce de leche al piu and chocolate al piu. I didn't know what this "piu" was and was prepared to ask the server, until I looked up and saw that it was the name of the restaurant! It was REALLY good and I may go back for more. After that I took a nap and had a hard time waking up. I just went out and bought some water and am going to go up on the terrace to watch the sun set.

My hotel is nice, but I think I got one of the worse rooms. My room is in the very front of the building on the street. Even though the little alley it is on is quiet, I can still hear noise from the main street, which includes motorcycles and buses. Not heavy traffic compared to Buenos Aires, but it is noisy. I explored the hotel earlier and saw that there are some rooms that have really nice views of the river. I guess when making a reservation, you have to be very specific about what you want. Also, I got in late last night (turns out I lost an hour) and maybe all of the other rooms were taken.

Tomorrow I am leaving on a 10:30 bus to Montevideo. It should take me about 3 hours to get there. The nice man in the bus station noticed that my watch had the wrong time and informed me of the time change. Good thing, or I would have missed my bus tomorrow.

Ta!