Triangle pose and Chai Latte

The past 24 hours have been one of the unplanned adventures in life that end up being more fun than anything you could plan for. We went over to Claudia's house to hang out with the crew, but the boys left to drink and go celebrate a birthday. Earlier in the day Katherine had gotten stuff to make brownies (none of us have done much cooking or baking while here), and they probably would have turned out great except for that we didn't use the right kind of chocolate. It doesnt surprise me that bakers chocolate was hard to find here as everything seems to be super-sugary by our standards. We ended up with a chocolate mousse/cake/blob that looked less then apetizing but it tasted good and we enjoyed it nonetheless. We had a great time goofing around drinking water from wine glasses fancily (clear wine...0% alcohol, 100 proof you dont need to be drunk to have fun!)

sidenote: I just looked up what I heard my host sister (age 6) chanting about her grandfather- el esta cagandoooo (shitting). Bienvenidos a la casa Bacci

So anyways, I felt great last night and decided that today would be a great day to adventure by myself to the Bikram studio in Palermo. I woke up at about 945, packed my shoulder bag with a change of clothes, water, bananas, deoderant and travel shampoo and was off by 10:30. I stopped at an atm, hid enough money in my shoe that I'd be able to make it home if I got robbed in BA and trudged off hapily listening to Billy Joel (it's amazing how much better your parents music taste gets as you grow up). The bus terminal was an absolutely overwhelming place the first time I stepped foot in it. This time I almost auto-piloted it to the PLAZA busses and asked for an ida y vuelta ticket to Buenos Aires. Luckily for me, I was there at the time the double decker bus was about to depart which means a quicker (if a bit more stuffy) journey with no stops. There aren't really bus "stops" per se...they basically let you off whenever you wait at the door, so I got off near the 9 de Julio where there's a big washington monument-esque statue. There's 5 main subway lines in BA that are all color coordinated so I found my way to Linea D (green) and paid for 2 tickets again (saves alot of time). I got off at the Bulnes stop which is in a very nice (if a bit touristy/americanized) part of Palermo. I was so early that I took my time walking through the city passed apartments that all had beautiful plants on the balcony, men walking about 5 dogs at once, signs for cirque de soliel coming on May 25th, and a very diverse crowd of people.

I made it to the park across from the bikram studio at about 12:30 and the class didn't start till 1:30 (13:30...) I had built in plenty of extra time because I was almost sure I'd get lost but amazingly I didn't, so I found a nice tree, popped out a banana, bottle of water and my travel journal and wrote down some random thoughts. Around 1 I headed across the street to the brightly purple painted studio (it's funny how subtle changes can make something so american seem more argentine), buzzed in (most stores here have locked doors so they can just let in people who look to be legitimate customers), and spoke with the lady at the counter. After seeing how easy it was to come on my own, I bought a 4 class pass for 200 pesos (thank you bikram "McYoga" Choudrouy for taking more than your share of my money in whatever currency it happens to be in at the moment) and was good to go. The classes expire in 30 days, and when I looked down and the expiration date said may 27th it really sunk in how long I've been here. I'm rapidly approaching the half way mark...crazy!

It was one of those beautifully gorgeous bikram classes that was not too crowded but just crowded enough and so hot that you begin the purification process (read:sweating), before your even done with the first breathing exercise. Maybe it was something about my day of chiseling away at my fear of solitude and cities but I was able to really sink into the back bending postures even further than I could during my 30 day challenge. Our class was taught (in a combination of english and spanish, though it was technically supposed to be all in english, by the amazingly inspirational studio owner originally from Texas. I chatted with him alot last time I came and he let me put a pin in their world map- Bikram yoga Char-ville...consider yourself repped in Ar-gen-tina. He really pushed me "Come on ms. study abroad...sit in the chair, not the barstool like you've done for the last month" and with his help I almost completely locked my leg out in standing bow pulling pose. OK...sorry for the yoga details for those of you who don't care, but this blog is turning into more of a diary of sorts for me to look back on and it's the details that count. After showering, water chugging and some brief spanish chatting I was ready to head back.

I OF COURSE had to stop into starbucks since it was on my way back. My 'alto latte chai con leche descremada' tall chai latte with skim milk cost me $10.50 pesos...so also fairly similar to what it would have been in the states. The menu overall looked pretty similar to the ones were used to with the added but not at all surprising "mate" and "dulce de leche" frapuccino's. There even seemed to be the same variety of people as American starbucks'- thin chattering schoolgirls with big sunglasses and nonfat specific orders, businessmen with strong coffees and slices of cheesecake, and mothers taking their daughters out on afterschool dates. I got back on the Subway..."Subte", and had to switch to the blue line to make it back to Retiro where I wanted to catch the bus. The system is really logical and laid out well...they even have the walls of all the different lines with color coded beautiful tile murals so people who were either illiterate or foreign could find their way by color. Something unique to these subways...I'm not sure if it's Argentine, South American, or maybe just city life in general that I haven't experienced, is that there are ALWAYS people (usually kids) trying to sell you things on the subway. From tissues, to flashlights to greeting cards, calenders or any trinket you can imagine they will just walk by and put them on your lap then come back in a minute and either take the item back up or take your money if you show an interest in the item. Getting on the bus was no problem as I had already bought my ticket, but I always prefer getting on at the first stop (Retiro), rather than one of the later ones even though it might be a bit of a quicker ride, to make sure I get a seat. They DONT stop selling tickets as far as I can tell, and I couldn't stand the thought of standing up for an hour on a bus after pushing myself in Bikram.

So I got back to the house eventually after a slow walk back from the bus station at about 6. That's a 7 hour round trip for yoga and starbucks...but I imagine I could probably make it in 6 if I wanted to. I loved every second of the adventure. I'll pay for it all a bit tonight because I've got to prepare a summary of an article to present for my gender studies class and watch a film/ do reading for a class on indigenous rights. But I am full of soup and caracol (Eli and the kids were impressed that I actually liked it...it's an argentine delicacy that's part of the cow bone that not many of the yanqui kids will touch)and planning on making some instant coffee in a few minutes so I should be set for the night.

Love and miss you all! Feel free to email me any time (kpdoyle@wm.edu) or pass my email along to friends with a particular interest in Argentina, spanish, or bikram yoga :-)
Kathleen

Corazon de vagabundo, voy buscando mi libertad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5Y6uFjEYBM

Rafaella Carra...latin lady gaga of the 70's?...some of her music was banned for a long time because of vulgarity. You would NOT believe how much the inseperable trio of me, michelle and david (argendoug...haha) laughed at this song Friday night.

Argentina for me has been a great mood polarizer. When I'm in a great mood it's exhillarating, exciting and fills me with an energy and confidence previously unparalleled in any of my experience. When I am in a bad mood it makes me feel insignificant and isolated; when you're in a foreign country nothing is easy, that is the reality. As I am already an intensely volatile person this change is especially drastic.

It's a SHAME I can't find my camera chord...it's another casualty of our messy loft. it will turn up eventually but don't worry, I have plenty of pictures. Overall, this was a great weekend. I woke up Friday morning absolutely missing home and unexplicably nostalgic. David pried me out of the house and we tromped around the city, got ice cream, went shopping (new summertime dress :-), and went back to his apartment where he cooked some AMAZING pasta and we sipped mate, talked about ex's and the complexity of Argentine politics. He made a very good point that we live in a microcosm of Argentina that is the well educated, hyper peronist left wing. Later that night my host mom claimed that the flu doesn't exist and is a product of capitalism...point taken

I think this experience is just what I need to live in the moment. Take each moment for what it is and just that. We are all doing some changing, thinking and growing here (waistline included), but I lately I believe that you get what and who you need when you need it. If you take the time every second to focus on self betterment progress is inevitable. In 5 years from now, who knows if I will be a counselor, yoga teacher, professional tie dyer, or converse saleswoman...but I do know I will look back on these little moments with gusto knowing that I did everything I can to become who I am.

I just realized I never posted this...

THINGS I have accidentally learned while studying abroad--

.how to light a gas stove (you would not believe how much Michelle and I struggled with this at first...to the extent that the kids danced around laughing at us)
. Argentine traffic 'patterns'- most streets are one way which means that we can go against the childhood propaganda that we must look both ways before crossing the road
. How to ask for directions when I'm lost in spanish (a skill tough enough for the stubborn to master in any language)
. That working with ceramics will naturally take off nail polish if it's the right texture. The "right" texture for taking off nailpolish is also the wrong texture for replicating a yoga series.
.Si no vas a tomar la mate...no te calentes la baza (If you're not going to drink the mate...don't heat up the tea pot). This is their saying for 'don't be a tease' hahaha.
.How to pretend that you understand what's going on when you have no idea, (ah! en serio? no lo sabia! Oh...really?? I didn't know that!) We joke with our host mom now about how we fooled her into thinking we understood alot more than we did the first few weeks here
.Sometimes it's just easier to say you're from Canada. The united states is controversial and ethnocentric at times, if there's a moment I feel I might poorly represent us, I'll just play the Canada card.
. Be weary of reporters who ask questions that try to illicit negative responses. We were interviewed about our trip to the Argentine equivalent of concentration camps and the reporter was trying to create a story based on our negative perceptions of the US or Argentina. Let me know if you can read spanish and would like to see the article.
. In a house with no dryers...you will not be aware of how much weight you are gaining!!!!!! I am not looking forward to facing the reality of bikram mirrors
. How to subract 12 from an assortment of numbers rapidly. thank you military time.
* NEVER fall for puppies as tourist traps...I will never be over making fun of Michelle for making us stop and take pictures with these st. bernards in bariloche...they charged us 30 pesos each for copies of the pictures...

bariloCHEbbb

It has been FOREVER since I blogged and it's one of those things (like cleaning our disaster of a loft...) that piles up and seems overwhelming if it's neglected for long enough. Maybe a blog entry and uploading pictures will somehow jumpstart my productivity today so that I can do other productive things.

Literally 24 hours before we left for Bariloche (a town on the northern part of the Rio negro province in Patagonia) we had no idea what our travel plans were. We started tossing around ideas at least a month ago, but between varying budgets, awkward and immature group tension, a general lack of organizational skills and a skewed perception of ARGENTIME nothing got past the planning stage till two days before we went. We had Thursday and Friday off as part of Semana Santa- their version of an easter break which to me seems more like thanksgiving because its fall and they have their spring break, like us, during second semester. Purchasing so late meant that a travel agency was our best option and it was a little more expensive than we would have liked. In total the package which included the 44 hour bus trip, 3 nights in a hotel, an excursion and dinner every night cost us 940 pesos each which is around $300. We left sunny La plata at around 330 Wednesday and got to the bus terminal in Buenos Aires with plenty of time to spare before our departure at 720.
The terminal was PACKED and it was a bit of a stressful nightmare finding and boarding our bus...I really would think the terminal would be better laid out considering that B.A is a tourist packed area but I can't imagine travelling from there without at least a rudimentary knowledge of spanish.

We ended up with first class tickets on the bus ride there which made ALL the difference when compared to the return trip. We had blankets, pillows, good dinners with wine, an option for champagne and coffee later, movies (Adam Sandler's Bed time stories is terrible), and plentyyyy of food (mostly bread, South Beach isn't big in Argentina...). We arrived to Bariloche well rested and ready to explore. After checking into the hotel we headed out to a boat tour of the lake that drove us around and stopped several places so we can take pictures. Bariloche itsself is BREATHTAKINGLY beautiful- it's old fashioned wooden architecture is complimented by a backdrop of snow capped mountains atop a crystal lake. They are also famous, deservedly, for their decadent CHOCOLATE and we toured a factory and of course bought some while they were there.

Unfortunately for me, my stomache issues (who knows, and no...NOT code for hangover, I think I had a legitimate parasite or something)came back so I ate about 1/4 of the chocolate the rest of the group did there. I was pretty miserable for the greater part of the trip because of my stomache but managed to get out and see enough things that definitely made it worthwhile. The coolest thing we did was take a ski lift up to the top of an extremely steep mountain- the view was incredible. We left sunday at 11 and got back to la plata around 2 the next day. I will spare you the ugly details of that trip but it involved very little sleep and our bus driver getting lost.
I ended up missing my first class at the university Monday because of the delay but it all worked out because I just went to the later session at 5. It's an introductory art course where we have shorter sessions of specific types of art. There was definitely a moment yesterday as I was sitting in the fine arts school where I wondered what possible decisions I made along the course of my life that led to me sitting in a ceramics studio in a basement in La Plata Argentina. It's very random how things work out sometimes.

Random Funny Quote:

In our indigenous rights class while talking about stereotypes of americans after our teacher posed the question of why people from the US have weight problems.
"Creo que tiene que ver con comer demasiado preservativos" (I think it has to do with eating too many PRESERVATIVES (was my intention, but preservativos actually means condoms...well done)
"ah y eso es porque te duele el estomago" (oh...that's why your stomache hurts)