She was shocked!

It has been very cold here in Buenos Aires the last couple of days. I mean 8degree to 9degrees. Brrrr! So you get to bundle up and drink lots of warm to hot beverages to stay warm. Then there are the fashionable shoes and boots with the sweater, jackets and scarves ( I love so love them!). But most of all the one item that is dominating the news is the farmers strike -3rd time already and so far no agreements in sight. It is a very long and tedious story and sad to say both sides are holding out as long as they can. One party has gotten almost petty to a ridiculous extent, but hey, I do not run the government here so I just sit back and see what transpires. It is sad really how it is dividing the people of Argentina..but on a lighter note, I am in the city and follows the news via the radio.
Funny, how that sounds coming from me, I do not speak the much castellano! But one we go..
So a day or so ago, I was in need of a "white out" aka liquid eraser or a tape like function of such an item. So I am familiar that on this street I live on, has book supply store a block or so away. SO all bundled up and with good walking shoes, I grabbed my keys, some money and my sunglasses - always have sunglasses - I do not recommend wrinkles to anyone. So I got there - they just opened and only one guy buying something while he talks with his wife over the radio-phone (so irritating and loud beeping sound!!) so I said , Perdon - as I tried to walk side ways past him on the aisle. I was assisted by a nice young lady and I told her what I was needing and she gave me that and then went to get an added item on my list - carbonica, I got 2 of those and then I found the tape version of my white out - I got that too, just in case the unknown brand of liquid white out does not work out for me. So I said that was all and I thanked her. I paid and she gave me the receipt and my loot in a bag. I also said - as a habit - que tengas un buen dia - as I turned around and started to walk away - SHE WAS SHOCKED!! - She went to the 2 other girls in the back (having mate) and said - that I said - have a nice day and that she never heard that before. I smiled as I slipped my sunglasses back on and pulled the door on my way out. I smiled some more because I knew she knew that my american-accented castellano gave me away but it was very good to know she first heard the phrase from me.
That made me feel good, and I never thought a cold day like that day would give me something warm and fuzzy to think about. :-)
My "R" would be smiling if he was reading this. I am learning and so far so good.
I miss my "R".
Ciao.

I beg to differ - Part II

So here I am again, tackling a huge topic. Do not get me wrong here by thinking all I am putting on my blog are negative comments because I am not. Read previous posts and I have highlighted positive attributes of Buenos Aires in particular and Argentina as a country in general. But there are still posters and thread contributors in various websites based in Argentina that are sooo in the dark when it comes to what their "paisanos" think and do to this country of theirs.

Oh pulleezze...do not start rolling your eyes and shaking your head thinking - "oh well, here we go again with nother pessimist from a first world country!" Well bud, you got that right but not all of it entirely- so read on...

First of all, for those who have read my previous postings, my "R" is a porteno (local of Buenos Aires) and he means the world to me. I have set foot and have established myself here solely because of him, just him. The country, the city and its eccentricities are are incidentals and unavoidable really. Now that was said...let me tell you what I have seen just this morning on our way to the city.

a) a man who thought the whole country was/is a big ashtray. Flicking his cigarette butt out a moving vehicle - come on!! What is up with that? Is that the meaning of freedom? Doing whatever you feel like it at anytime you feel like doing it - even if it equates to littering. No wonder the dirt and trash are everywhere - think ashtray. Next thing you know he would be spitting out his window as I drive by. Now that is purely gross. Yuck, is right!

b) drifters - people who drive on the white broken lines and swings to the left and cruises to the right and then repeats first part as he pleasures. I mean - has this guy ever used his signal light? It is that control on your steering wheel that indicates direction (lateral) that you will be taking, to warn us idiots of what the heck you could possibly be thinking. Oh well, if you say that you do not even know what you are thinking - we all ready know that; just turn that blinker on once in awhile just to see if it is working, ok? Please? Humor us. Thanks. See how easy that was?

c) Children not on car seats - need I explain this? Children loose inside car, car crashes, child gets thrown out window - you know the rest...

d) Mate while driving - I thought the safety billboard sign says - DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE - I think Mate counts as a drink ( I know so does coke - but there is no gourd passing involved with sipping coke) and have seen some horrible driving outthere involving mate - I mean it is so darn scary that I give out this nervous gaffe.

e) Texters - ay hell-ooo! I mean you can not even do one thing good with two hands (driving) let alone text and drive. Some people really think they can multi-task (in theory they could) but in reality, this is "attempting murder" by texting and "pseudo-driving" at the same time.

f) Cell phone - I know we have covered this in the past - but people should not be on the phone when driving it makes for a deadly mix. Deadly, irresponsible and a total lack of respect of the friver for the safety of their passengers. Drivers may not value his/her life but the last time I checked I have people who love me and are hoping that I make it for yet another day. And next time someone answers their phone while they are driving and causes the accident it could kill YOUR loved one - ever think of that? You know what I mean?

So far that was only yesterday and the thought stopped on my head as we passed by a nasty accident getting into the city this morning. Would not care to speculate what happened or who could have been at fault but it looked bad and admirably enough drivers were pretty good as they passed the accidents. Even giving way to the ambulances and first responders to the accident, that I would commend the people of Buenos Aires.

I am amazed by this city and some very selected people and a small suburb in particular but a city girl that I am I think I look forward to a quiet night under the stars a few nights a week and then when I long for a the noise and zany feel of the city - I will be in the city to get my neon fix.

There, and Ciao.

The Unexpected Joy of Cooking

I have always loved cooking. My first love is baking. I remember as a little girl listening to my grandmother (paternal) talk about what she was planning to bake for us, she lived with us after my grandfather passed away. I would get all excited about the search of ingredients, the tools and gadgets she would use, the sifting, grating and beating of ingredients and most of all the smell of the whole house while she is baking engulfs us all with her special ingredient - love. She baked and cooked better than my mother ever did, and we all knew that - even my mother knew it, but never said a word about it. The best part of all was the great memories of taste and savory treats she would make. It always brings a smile to my heart when I think of the time she took to teach me how to make things and I think that was when I first fell in love with cooking.
I remember the foot stool I would stand on as I would mutteringly do the dishes and cleaning of pots and pans and tins. But the licking of the beaters dripping with chocolate and batter - yum!
And all the best times of my life revolved around the kitchen - in one way or another. I remember baking my first official boyfriend a cake - a resounding success that even his mother loved it. And she too was a great baker. My boyfriend thought I did not know how to cook anything and I did surprise him - in a very good way. We are still friends - tells you alot about what a good pastry or dish can do to eternal friendships.
Now, I do not bake that often but would love to take it up again. I can remember the first time I coherently said I was going to give up cooking and baking - when I moved to a condo with electric stove. Baking and cooking on an electric stove is almost akin to the kiss of death. I swore off cooking in general and baking in particular at that time. And now, lo and behold - I have 2 gas ranges. I would love to practice my baking and culinary skills again before I show them to my "R". I have mounds of recipes that I brought with me to Buenos Aires. I would love to tap into that well of a great feeling of joy everytime I cooked.
Someday soon, I hope to make it an everyday part of my life, be it cooking for me or a group of friends. I know my taste and cooking will be different than that of my BsAs friends but I too am willing to learn how food is prepared here traditionally or untraditionally. I for one love hot and spicy food and that is somehow not too popular in BsAs but there are other international dishes I can prepare that would be a good halfway between both worlds. I like the sound of that.
As I sit here and type this I think I will brush off some of those dust on those recipe pages and start thinking about what good stuff to cook, cannot wait to get this house smelling like warmth and love all over.
I will share what new recipes I have concocted. That would be great sharing my true food finds with you. Ciao.

Back to the City

After a few days spent outside of the city of Buenos Aires, where the sky is clear and your surroundings are green (0ccasional trash, given) with distinctive chirping of the birds, I am ready for some roaring of the bus, honking and people bustling about the streets of BsAs.

I guess I am odd in that sense, I like the quietness (minus the airplane and distant PanAmericana traffice noise) but I am also part citygirl. I am a people person more than anything. The country is too quiet sometimes. And there is such a thing - yes!

For a few more days I will be able to enjoy the sounds, sights and smell of the city; it always keeps everything in perspective for me. Others might not understand what the need for such a dual environment, but I guess I appreciate each one more with the presence of the other in my life.

In a few days, my e-bijou will re-open in BsAs and I hope you come and check me out. I can share what I enjoy in the country as maybe you share what I might have missed out in the city.

I beg to differ - Part I

I like the people in BsAs (Buenos Aires), I think I have said that numerous times on this blog. I have grown to like the places in BsAs as well. I am learning my way around the labyrinth of one- way streets, intersections, dead end streets and streets changing names past a major intersection and I like the charm of it all.

The person that I care so deeply about is a porteno, and I am here because of him. No other reason but him, not the tango, not the real estate, not the empanada, not the shopping, not the Patagonia, not the beef, not the wine or anything like that, I am here because of my porteno.

We have an established and blended family life together, and our integrated family spans continents and homes. My coming here was a well-contemplated move on my part. My "R" is here and thus so I should be, he knows my being here is a big sacrfice for me and his telling me that he knows that fact makes me love him even more. I am under no grand illusion that my displacing my life to Argentina will be easy, nor was it a great stroke of luck because for one I am struggling with the castellano part, but that does not deter me from having the best time of my life here in Buenos Aires. I am willing to learn and learn fast on how to make myself happy in a totally new environment for me, I do all these because of love.

What I cannot stand are those irritating, garapinadad blogs glorifying Buenos Aires when we know that there are "stuff" that requires us to take off our rose colored glasses and see a spade and call it a spade. People in blogs who talk about what magnificent it all is and all that - pulleezzz - I have seen the good and appreciate them because I have seen the bad as well. Please people who blog about Buenos Aires and just paint this fantabulous picture - DO NOT INSULT my intelligence by telling me that all is well in paradise, it is not! You know you are telling the untruth if you tell me otherwise, let me say inflation at 25%, the chaotic fast and hellish drivers of PanAmericana, bellowing blasck smoke from buses,etc. I see poor people begging, I see bad drivers, I see hungry kids eating out of garbage cans at night when they collect los cartones on my street - there is nothing romantic about that, now is there - SO I BEG TO DIFFER when bloggers blog and sugar coated the BsAs that is not; do not get me wrong - I love my house here, I love every second I am with my "R" here, trust me no amount of money can replace those precious moments but please do not tell me that all is well her in BsAs otherwise we would not hear people crabbing about how it is so bad in here politics,government, food prices sky-rocketing because I too have travelled to several places and even to my own 3rd world homeland and have seen poverty, hunger and pain - I call it like I see it. Do not take those observations from me because they are part of my experience and in a way it endears those people to me, knowing I am in love with a porteno, an Argentinian and I love him because of what he is and not mainly who he is - he is a self made man and that alone has no color, creed or religion and obviously no nationality that dictates what he should be, he defines himself and does not let his origin define him. I love that about him.

And God forbid you make a comment in one of these blogs and say something slighty negative and WHAM! - they give you the - you do not like it here - "you go home" one-liners. I mean geez - what is with the not being able to take a negative but accurate observation comment huh? Is that now against the law? Or it that the infamous ego we so rampantly hear about?

I am a blogger and I like to look at things in BsAs and comment on them. You do not like it - well, tough! And for those who do not like what I say (just like what I am doing to those blog that I BEG TO DIFFER with) they too should write their own blog and rag about me. I am not solely dedicated to saying negative things about BsAs but should I see something positive in the next day or so I will surely let you know! Deal? Deal!