Tango

So Argentina is famosa for its tango scene, and my new apartment mate (who's like 50 something but she's not a host mom just an apartment mate..) is really into the whole tango scene so she took me to one of the milongas two weeks ago (a milonga is a dance studio/club where you take classes and then practice dancing, with hundreds of people). Ever since then, I have been going to the milonga in Palermo Viejo (called La Viruta) every Wed. from 8pm until whenever, usually midnight or whatnot. It starts with las clases de rock, which is just swing dance, and then at 9:30pm (claims the schedule but that really means 10pm here in Argentina), you could the slow, smooth rhythm of tango.

Tango is fun and surprisingly not impossible. It actually doesn't require me to think that much because I just follow whatever the guy is doing and once you get the basic steps, it's just all variations from then on. I like La Viruta because the people here are friendly, the drinks there are cheap, and there is this crazy, loud and abruptly shouting head-instructor who's just funny to watch and speaks incomprehensible Spanish. And strange, random things always happen when I go there. Like for example, the first time I went there, I was able to get my friends and me some nice table up front by smiling a lot and speaking English to the waiter (the poor thing was so confused on what I wanted ...) It was all swell until the instructors started doing a show for the students, and the crazy, loud and abruptly shouting head-instructor out of the blues just came up to me and sat on my lap. I screamed because he's like heavy as heck and without saying sorry or anything, he just got up and left. And then today, I went there myself because all my friends bailed due to sickness (yeah right) and I was seating at a table by myself during break time. Then this mid-aged man just came over to my table, asked for the menu, said that he couldn't read it because the prints were too small, which I believed him, and then read the whole menu to him. THEN his wife/girlfriend came over and put her arms over me - I am just assuming she's very friendly. Upon hearing from her husband/boyfriend that I read the menu to him, she was delighted and asked me to read it to her as well. So she pulled me into her embrace as I was struggling with pronounciation, corrected my pronunciation as we went, and was so happy with the fact that I got through the menu. She thought it was especially cute when I told her the prices as well. And yes, she hugged me the entire time. And no, I had no idea who they were.

Argentine work ethics

I have conflicting feelings about the work ethics of Argentines. On one hand, I do think they work very hard, until 6pm or 7pm daily (albeit that they do start at 10am or 10:30am). Many people hold multiple jobs (albeit it is not because they are naturally enthusastic about working but because they receive low wages.).On the other hand, I am constantly frustrated with the lack of efficiency in this country.

For example, after the departure of my former boss, who is currently on vacation, I have been under the direction of her protoge. While I am not longer required to do hours of intensive research, I am now assigned to mindless photocopying jobs. Of course, I do not do the photocopies myself (since self-serve is kind of unheard of here...), I take them to a store downstairs, hand them whatever I need, and wait around until or come back when they are done. I am not sure if it the problem with their machines or something, but gosh darn it, each photocopying takes like foreveeeeeer. While I do not mind the wait since I just chat with the owner (and hence, free Spanish practice time) , but it should not take you half an hour to make a 20 page photocopying job. And today, when I went in today, for yet another exciting photocopying job, I was told that I need to come back 2 and half hours later for a 25 page photocopying job! The reason? It was 3:30pm and it was lunch time... and yes, lunch does take 2 hours, even if it lunch on a job....

Updates on Marchas

So the marches that I am witnessing right now are those in support of the government and of Cristina. They believe the increased taxaton on the farmers are good for the poor and eliminate the bourgeois class. Until 5pm, they marched toward the Plaza de Congreso, which is to the right side of my office. It was a bit calmer for 20 minutes as they were all congregated at that Plaza. Now there is a new stream of protestors marching toward Plaza de Mayo, which is to the left of my office. It is loud as heck.

When I get back home, I will be able to witness a another group´s protest, which is located in Palermo. These protestors are against the government and against the tax increase. They are the wealthy/middle class land owners.

Everything is shut down on Avenida de Mayo (the street on which my office is located), the main street of Buenos Aires, where all the government buildings are and which connects the two big plazas. There were over 300,000 people marching by 5pm as noted by the newspaper La Nacion. There are drums, hundreds and thousands of drums, shouts, rifle shots, fireworks, songs, music, chants, claps, horns, and people´s scream.

I am literally deaf by this point, but this type of thing bound to happen twice a month here, especially under the current hostile government-people relation. So far, no one died because of direct violence from the protests, but it is getting louder everyday down here.

More marchas

It is freaking bananas today. Protest marches from noon all the way to eight tonight...ahhhhhh...a protest march en Plaza de Mayo and Plaza de Congreso, and another counter-protest march in Palermo..and another one for something somewhere else. I have been working under all these nosie for an hour now since I am work right on the central street between the two plazas, and my head is dying... please halt until I go back home and then keep on marching, yeah?

Independence Day = NO WORK!

Today my friend from Spain named Nerea and I went to La Plata, which is a quintessential Argentine town that is very representative of what the province of Buenos Aires (not the capital federal BsAs - kind of like NYC and New York State with NYC being capital federal BsAs) ..anyways, it was very lovely and nice since we passed the desolate neighborhoods into the heart of La Plata. There I ate a HUGE sandwich, a cafe with milk, and 2 baskets of desserts for 16 pesos (5 dollars). We sauntered towards the Paseo de Bosques, which is a HUGE park, and went to the Natural Science Museum. And right before the ticket box for the museum, there it says in HUGE letters "Nationals: 4 pesos; Latin Americans: 7 pesos; foreigners (that being everyone outside of Latin American): 12 pesos." And of course, I look Chinese and speak horrible Spanish, definitely cannot pass for a national or a Latin American. This ridiculous and blatant public discrimination just got me off the wall when I tried to go in as a student (student tickets are free). According to ticket booth guy, I am not a national, not a Latin American, not a student from Argentina, and therefore need to pay 12 pesos. Of course, all of those facts are true but why does any of them matter when determining ticket prices for museum entrance (except for the third fact about being a student here or in the States)??? I don't even know where I got the energy or the Spanish to argue, but I pretty much just went off on the poor guy, asking him what's the difference between a Latin American or a foreigner/etc?

After a long line accumulated behind me, I got the national price to go in.

After La Plata, my American friends from work and I went down to a Korean restaurant and just ate the best Korean BBQ EVER!!! My stomach is very happy for this different taste of food other than steak, pasta and empanadas. It was a fantastic 42 pesos per person, which is like 15 dollars.

And then we fit NINE people in a 5 person car. It was great and nauseating.