Maybe it’s in the color.
I’ve been in Argentina for less than three weeks and I already swell with pride when the Albiceleste (that’s their soccer team’s nickname) score, but, when I think back, it took less than three days for my blood to run Carolina blue. It’s something about that hue. Watching World Cup games in San Martin Plaza is synonymous watching Carolina football games at Kenan, minus the bow ties, cowboy boots and alcohol. As I’m consumed in a sea of Carolina/Argentine blue hats and scarves and jerseys and flags. The minute the speakers blare GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLLL, that sky blue sea begins jumping up and down in unison. It was déjà vu—I was back in the Dean Dome.
As I sit here and watch and scream and shout as the U.S. tries to stay alive for the next round, I realize why there’s so much pride in being part of something. People who share your pride reinforce it. When Argentina plays, it’s not just the eleven on the field. It’s forty million who watch wide-eyed from every square in every city. Businesses close down, everyone leaves work early and horns blare in the streets. It’s the ‘team effort’ incarnate.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
sparkly sneakers DO have traction!
This past weekend I, along with 8 other girls and John went to Mendoza, Argentina's wine country. We left for Mendoza on an overnight bus with my bag full of warm comfy clothes, gloves, and of course my sparkly nine west sneakers (the only tennis shoes I had).
The overnight bus was close to luxurious. Who would have known buses were made like that? The seats were synonymous to first-class plane seats with recliners and plush leather armrests. They even gave us dinner and breakfast (all of which contained meat, even the desert--welcome to Argentina).
After getting a whole five minutes to settle in our hostel, we were off to our half day wine tour. We rented bikes from a place that advertised free wine (so why not right?) and rode from winery to winery to become connoisseurs of wine-- or just to drink it. The first place we peddled to was a wine museum that had posters of the different types of grapes, old wine making machinery, and barrels and barrels of wine. It was funny to see how even hundreds of years later our wine making process has not really changed, minus the unhygienic foot crushing of grapes. After tasting their wonderful malbec (a type of wine made from malbec grapes that are in Argentina) we were off to our next excursion.
The next place was possibly my favorite. It was a chocolate, liquor, and marmalade store. A mere 15 pesos bought us a taste of their wonderful freshly made balsamic and olive oil, three desert liquors, and marmalades. I felt pretty daring trying the chocolate mint and hazelnut liquors but I still did not have it in me to try the Abstince (alcohol banned in the US for making people hallucinate) that the other girls shooted.
Too many shots later we all found ourselves a little wobbly on our bikes but my sparkly sneakers proved strong enough to aid in my biking despite the teasing they received from the others (in the US we could have gotten dui's...or perhaps bui's?). Our next journey was to a beer garden. Although it was a long bike ride, the amazing pizza and beer at this place made the soreness of our butts worth it. The 'beer garden' was a small hut with weird artwork and random cushions for seating. There was nobody there but the man who owned the garden. We ordered the best pizzas I have ever tasted along with light, dark, and red beers. We learned that 3 small pizzas was not enough between 9 starving people, but because it literally took the man 30 minutes to make each pizza (I don't think he was used to serving more than 2 people...ever) so we decided to go the last winery of the night, Trapiche.
Trapiche was the prettiest winery we had seen yet. It was once an important center for wine in Argentina and was later abandoned. Recently the Trapiche family bought the vineyard and transformed it into one of the most famous in Mendoza. There we saw how wine was stored and aged in barrels. The lady who showed us how to taste wine analyzed the color and stuck her ENTIRE nose in the glass to smell it. She tried to get us to smell the hint of vanilla and chocolate and even though I pretended to agree I really smelt nothing but grapy wine.
The next day we took a bus out to the Andes mountains for tracking, repelling, and hot springs. In North Carolina I am used to hiking on dirt trails that do not really require hard core equipment, so naturally I once again thought my sparkly sneakers would suffice because they did perfectly the day before. However, when we got out there, I realized that 'tracking' was not anything like I thought it was. We basically climbed an entire mountain, and while everybody made fun of the shoes, somehow I fell a lot less than the people around me. The way down was a different story, and while they faltered a little, making me slip down some of the slopes, they helped me make it down the mountain...so HA.
After the tracking I did the most daring thing I have ever done (not that thats really saying much...I am such a darpoke), I went repelling. Basically repelling is being attached to a harness and repelling down a huge stone mountain. It was the scariest thing I have ever done, but was such a rush. And yet again, the sneakers sparkled in the sunlight on the tall mountain, and helped me make it down safely, while still being cute.
Overall this weekend made me realize a couple of things:
1. riding a bike while drinking wine is not easy
2. random huts in the middle of nowhere have the best beer
3. take real tennis shoes when going out of the country
4. nine west is pretty reliable
The overnight bus was close to luxurious. Who would have known buses were made like that? The seats were synonymous to first-class plane seats with recliners and plush leather armrests. They even gave us dinner and breakfast (all of which contained meat, even the desert--welcome to Argentina).
After getting a whole five minutes to settle in our hostel, we were off to our half day wine tour. We rented bikes from a place that advertised free wine (so why not right?) and rode from winery to winery to become connoisseurs of wine-- or just to drink it. The first place we peddled to was a wine museum that had posters of the different types of grapes, old wine making machinery, and barrels and barrels of wine. It was funny to see how even hundreds of years later our wine making process has not really changed, minus the unhygienic foot crushing of grapes. After tasting their wonderful malbec (a type of wine made from malbec grapes that are in Argentina) we were off to our next excursion.
The next place was possibly my favorite. It was a chocolate, liquor, and marmalade store. A mere 15 pesos bought us a taste of their wonderful freshly made balsamic and olive oil, three desert liquors, and marmalades. I felt pretty daring trying the chocolate mint and hazelnut liquors but I still did not have it in me to try the Abstince (alcohol banned in the US for making people hallucinate) that the other girls shooted.
Too many shots later we all found ourselves a little wobbly on our bikes but my sparkly sneakers proved strong enough to aid in my biking despite the teasing they received from the others (in the US we could have gotten dui's...or perhaps bui's?). Our next journey was to a beer garden. Although it was a long bike ride, the amazing pizza and beer at this place made the soreness of our butts worth it. The 'beer garden' was a small hut with weird artwork and random cushions for seating. There was nobody there but the man who owned the garden. We ordered the best pizzas I have ever tasted along with light, dark, and red beers. We learned that 3 small pizzas was not enough between 9 starving people, but because it literally took the man 30 minutes to make each pizza (I don't think he was used to serving more than 2 people...ever) so we decided to go the last winery of the night, Trapiche.
Trapiche was the prettiest winery we had seen yet. It was once an important center for wine in Argentina and was later abandoned. Recently the Trapiche family bought the vineyard and transformed it into one of the most famous in Mendoza. There we saw how wine was stored and aged in barrels. The lady who showed us how to taste wine analyzed the color and stuck her ENTIRE nose in the glass to smell it. She tried to get us to smell the hint of vanilla and chocolate and even though I pretended to agree I really smelt nothing but grapy wine.
The next day we took a bus out to the Andes mountains for tracking, repelling, and hot springs. In North Carolina I am used to hiking on dirt trails that do not really require hard core equipment, so naturally I once again thought my sparkly sneakers would suffice because they did perfectly the day before. However, when we got out there, I realized that 'tracking' was not anything like I thought it was. We basically climbed an entire mountain, and while everybody made fun of the shoes, somehow I fell a lot less than the people around me. The way down was a different story, and while they faltered a little, making me slip down some of the slopes, they helped me make it down the mountain...so HA.
After the tracking I did the most daring thing I have ever done (not that thats really saying much...I am such a darpoke), I went repelling. Basically repelling is being attached to a harness and repelling down a huge stone mountain. It was the scariest thing I have ever done, but was such a rush. And yet again, the sneakers sparkled in the sunlight on the tall mountain, and helped me make it down safely, while still being cute.
Overall this weekend made me realize a couple of things:
1. riding a bike while drinking wine is not easy
2. random huts in the middle of nowhere have the best beer
3. take real tennis shoes when going out of the country
4. nine west is pretty reliable
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
What I like about you
So usually I attempt to convey some realization I have had while here in BA but today there are a few simple things I would like to list for you. My favorite and least favorite things about Buenos Aires (in no particular order)
TOP TEN FAVS
1. the amazing style
2. bread and cheese being acceptable for every meal
3. getting my laundry washed, dried, and folded for 10 pesos
4. kissing cheeks and saying chau (makes me feel so euro)
5. the hot caffeine: matte, tea, coffee
6. how people mistaken me for a portena (until i open my mouth)
7. vino + sprite = best invention ever
8. the clubs being open till 5 am
9. markets
10. sock and underwear venders all over the streets
TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT BA
1. the dog poop on the street's invisibility
2. the lack of salad dressing
3. never knowing which side the subte is going to open on
4. being called 'giovani' at bars while jaymee is 'jimmy'
5. no hot sauce...or flavor
6. the 3 shades yellower my teeth have become
7. people stealing wine when it is clearly labeled JPSK
8. bed bugs
9. the fact that clubs are open till 5 am
10. the lack of response to 'hola senor' at 3 am
there might be a continuation later...
TOP TEN FAVS
1. the amazing style
2. bread and cheese being acceptable for every meal
3. getting my laundry washed, dried, and folded for 10 pesos
4. kissing cheeks and saying chau (makes me feel so euro)
5. the hot caffeine: matte, tea, coffee
6. how people mistaken me for a portena (until i open my mouth)
7. vino + sprite = best invention ever
8. the clubs being open till 5 am
9. markets
10. sock and underwear venders all over the streets
TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT BA
1. the dog poop on the street's invisibility
2. the lack of salad dressing
3. never knowing which side the subte is going to open on
4. being called 'giovani' at bars while jaymee is 'jimmy'
5. no hot sauce...or flavor
6. the 3 shades yellower my teeth have become
7. people stealing wine when it is clearly labeled JPSK
8. bed bugs
9. the fact that clubs are open till 5 am
10. the lack of response to 'hola senor' at 3 am
there might be a continuation later...
Monday, June 14, 2010
"You cannot be lonely if you like the person you are alone with"
I am not one to 'need space' or really even need my 'alone time'. I enjoy being with people all the time as long as its people that I can tolerate (and that can tolerate me). In fact, at school I feel like I am hardly alone. If I go to my room my suiteies (yes shelly and kirstie) are almost always there to keep me company even if its just them yelping on the other side of our shared bathroom. When I am walking to class, I almost always walk with somebody, see people I know, or talk on the phone. When I grab dinner often times than not Vickram is sure to join me, and when I am finally ready to sleep I have the company of my amazing ex roomie kelly mitch, unless she is at the library till 4 am (yes that happens quite often actually).
When I first decided to come to BA I decided it would be something I wanted to do alone, but thankfully my soon to be roomie Jaymee decided to accompany me, and now, I would not have had it any other way because she makes it so that I am never lonely. We travel together, eat together, and because of my new found bed bugs (not even joking) we even sleep together. But now Jaymee and I have different internships and I have to find my way to work, try to muster up enough spanish to find my way again after I get lost, and even speak to my boss by myself, and you know what? I don't hate it.
Right now I am sitting in a tiny cafe off of Independencia Avienda. The quaint cafe is a perfect shelter from the freezing rain and an even more perfect excuse to eat yet another cheese and bread (plus tomato...yeah I'm healthy) concoction called a tostada as I sip on my 3rd cup of coffee of the day. Maybe its the fact that I actually enjoyed my day at my internship researching different international companies in Argentina, or maybe its the vintage black and white photography and free wifi. But whatever it may be, and although I do not know a whole lot about that self reflection stuff, a moment alone isn't so bad after all.
When I first decided to come to BA I decided it would be something I wanted to do alone, but thankfully my soon to be roomie Jaymee decided to accompany me, and now, I would not have had it any other way because she makes it so that I am never lonely. We travel together, eat together, and because of my new found bed bugs (not even joking) we even sleep together. But now Jaymee and I have different internships and I have to find my way to work, try to muster up enough spanish to find my way again after I get lost, and even speak to my boss by myself, and you know what? I don't hate it.
Right now I am sitting in a tiny cafe off of Independencia Avienda. The quaint cafe is a perfect shelter from the freezing rain and an even more perfect excuse to eat yet another cheese and bread (plus tomato...yeah I'm healthy) concoction called a tostada as I sip on my 3rd cup of coffee of the day. Maybe its the fact that I actually enjoyed my day at my internship researching different international companies in Argentina, or maybe its the vintage black and white photography and free wifi. But whatever it may be, and although I do not know a whole lot about that self reflection stuff, a moment alone isn't so bad after all.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
South Beach Dieters...go elsewhere
As anybody who eats out with me knows, I love trying new foods (ha). My favorite food in any country involves cheese and bread in some form. In America, grilled cheeses, pokie sticks, cheese quesadillas (qudoba in particular) and I here I have added a new favorite...cheese and onion empanadas.
My mom and my sister will yell at me and say I am unhealthy but here I really cant help it. Apparently they have the best steak you can eat but I still can't get myself to try that stuff. They eat a lot of ham but ham always makes me think of those watery slices of ham that people used to get in their lunchables. I do enjoy the chicken somewhat, but there is nothing beating a cheese empanada from a cafe down the street called Romario's where I pay a whopping $1 for my favorite food. But mind you, it is IMPOSSIBLE to get away from carbs here. Breakfast consists of only medialunas (croissants) and there is lots of good pizza (carb), and great sandwiches (carbs)
Jaymee and I decided we really needed some veggies and even though there is not a wide selection of salad dressings we finally ordered a grande supreme salad at this really nice steak house (because I do not know all of the foods in spanish yet it looked good enough on the menu). When our grande supreme salad arrived, it had everything we had been craving: lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, oh yeah and rice and potatoes.
We finally concluded, no matter what we do we cannot get away from the carbs because our new favorite dish is from a takeout chinese place named 'wok' full of carby goodness and msg. My tongue is happy but it cannot speak for the rest of my body. So if you are planning on any low-carb diets, I suggest you bring some peanut butter along.
My mom and my sister will yell at me and say I am unhealthy but here I really cant help it. Apparently they have the best steak you can eat but I still can't get myself to try that stuff. They eat a lot of ham but ham always makes me think of those watery slices of ham that people used to get in their lunchables. I do enjoy the chicken somewhat, but there is nothing beating a cheese empanada from a cafe down the street called Romario's where I pay a whopping $1 for my favorite food. But mind you, it is IMPOSSIBLE to get away from carbs here. Breakfast consists of only medialunas (croissants) and there is lots of good pizza (carb), and great sandwiches (carbs)
Jaymee and I decided we really needed some veggies and even though there is not a wide selection of salad dressings we finally ordered a grande supreme salad at this really nice steak house (because I do not know all of the foods in spanish yet it looked good enough on the menu). When our grande supreme salad arrived, it had everything we had been craving: lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, oh yeah and rice and potatoes.
We finally concluded, no matter what we do we cannot get away from the carbs because our new favorite dish is from a takeout chinese place named 'wok' full of carby goodness and msg. My tongue is happy but it cannot speak for the rest of my body. So if you are planning on any low-carb diets, I suggest you bring some peanut butter along.
Friday, June 11, 2010
me llamo shiwani, y me gusta tenis
Have you ever walked into an interview and off the bat known it was going badly? Sometimes its the questions the interviewer asks, or sometimes its just a vibe you get from the person sitting across the table from you, but in my case, I just had no idea what the hell my interviewer was saying. For twenty minutes, my interviewer from Bairexports in Buenos Aires, Argentina spoke to me in the fastest most complicated spanish I have ever heard (and by complicated I mean anything more than me llamo). I came to Argentina thinking my spanish was pretty decent. In high school I made alright grades, and in college I made an A- without doing much work so how hard could it really be right? Wrong. I literally think I understood every 17th word Diego was saying to me. I attempted to piece them together as I nodded my head and said 'si'.
I never really understood what people meant when they said they froze when taking a test, or dancing on stage, but I for sure get it now. Diego asked me my interests and I just froze. U would think after years of writing in diarios about my interests in every spanish class since my freshmen year of high school, I would have a pretty good idea what to spit out. But instead I totally blanked and decided it would be a good idea to talk about tennis. If you know me at all, you know that I have not picked up a racket in 2 years and sucked even when I played every day. Maybe its because I had just read about the French Open, or maybe its because I know how to say tennis, team, and game in spanish, but there I was, rambling about being a tennis pro to my internship coordinator.
I actually think after I stick everything into google translate, it will be a pretty interesting internship. My job is to research differnet companies in Buenos Aires and the goods that they produce. Eventually I will attend company meetings and propose an exporting project plan (or at least I hope thats what he said). The work hours are not too bad and I don't even have to wake up early or dress professionally. The two greatest challenges are: 1. getting there by myself (I won most likely to get lost in a room with one door at the Sangam picnic) and 2. saying more than just 'si'
They say when you go abroad people get to know you for who you really are, removed from the environment that usually defines you. According to Diego I am a pro tennis player who speaks fluent spanish...glad BA is getting to know the real Shiwani Kumar
I never really understood what people meant when they said they froze when taking a test, or dancing on stage, but I for sure get it now. Diego asked me my interests and I just froze. U would think after years of writing in diarios about my interests in every spanish class since my freshmen year of high school, I would have a pretty good idea what to spit out. But instead I totally blanked and decided it would be a good idea to talk about tennis. If you know me at all, you know that I have not picked up a racket in 2 years and sucked even when I played every day. Maybe its because I had just read about the French Open, or maybe its because I know how to say tennis, team, and game in spanish, but there I was, rambling about being a tennis pro to my internship coordinator.
I actually think after I stick everything into google translate, it will be a pretty interesting internship. My job is to research differnet companies in Buenos Aires and the goods that they produce. Eventually I will attend company meetings and propose an exporting project plan (or at least I hope thats what he said). The work hours are not too bad and I don't even have to wake up early or dress professionally. The two greatest challenges are: 1. getting there by myself (I won most likely to get lost in a room with one door at the Sangam picnic) and 2. saying more than just 'si'
They say when you go abroad people get to know you for who you really are, removed from the environment that usually defines you. According to Diego I am a pro tennis player who speaks fluent spanish...glad BA is getting to know the real Shiwani Kumar
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save."
In most places you can distinguish a tourist from a resident by the cameras in their hand, peace sign pictures, sky gazing, and fanny packs (unless u r SJP I really hope not), but here in Buenos Aires, you can tell if somebody is a tourist if they go to a cafe and ask for cafe con leche para llevar (to go).
Yup thats right, nowhere in BA will you see a resident holding a coffee in his hand. In the US we are constantly on the go, we are always running to get to something else and sometimes we forget to enjoy the present moment. Here, no matter what they are doing, people will stop at a cafe and sit for at least half an hour to enjoy their espresso or late. I can't even remember the last time I drank my starbucks drink at starbucks...can you?
One of my favorite things about this city is the fact that despite its 14 million population, big businesses, and amazing shopping, there hardly seems to be a sense of urgency. People wake up at a decent hour, enjoy their coffee, casually walk to work, wait patiently for the next bus, and stroll into work around 11 am. When you go out to eat, the waiter never says ' can I get you folks anything else' or ' ready for your check?' Each meal literally takes hours and there is no grabbing a quick bite, because really whats the use? Sometimes I get impatient waiting for my bill and then I realize, what am I rushing for?
Being here, feels like being on a constant vacation (granted I have not really started my internship yet) but I can bet that there are fewer heart attacks, anxiety attacks, and lower stress levels. We are constantly trying to get somewhere in life back home, but here people are just as successful and waste less paper by using mugs instead of to-go cups. Now, that is paradise.
Yup thats right, nowhere in BA will you see a resident holding a coffee in his hand. In the US we are constantly on the go, we are always running to get to something else and sometimes we forget to enjoy the present moment. Here, no matter what they are doing, people will stop at a cafe and sit for at least half an hour to enjoy their espresso or late. I can't even remember the last time I drank my starbucks drink at starbucks...can you?
One of my favorite things about this city is the fact that despite its 14 million population, big businesses, and amazing shopping, there hardly seems to be a sense of urgency. People wake up at a decent hour, enjoy their coffee, casually walk to work, wait patiently for the next bus, and stroll into work around 11 am. When you go out to eat, the waiter never says ' can I get you folks anything else' or ' ready for your check?' Each meal literally takes hours and there is no grabbing a quick bite, because really whats the use? Sometimes I get impatient waiting for my bill and then I realize, what am I rushing for?
Being here, feels like being on a constant vacation (granted I have not really started my internship yet) but I can bet that there are fewer heart attacks, anxiety attacks, and lower stress levels. We are constantly trying to get somewhere in life back home, but here people are just as successful and waste less paper by using mugs instead of to-go cups. Now, that is paradise.
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