Lists

Things I am FUCKING obsessed with in Argentina:

Heaven Ice Cream treats.

Holy fuck. By far the most delicious dessert/snack/meal ever created by man.

http://www.nestle.com.ar/productos/nestle-frigor-heavenuniksuperddl.html

Inti Zen teas.

When I caught a really bad cold, I stayed in bed all day watching Lost, and for every episode I had a cup of tea. I think I watched an entire season that day. Favorites include Don Juan, infused with dulce de leche and red fruits, Patagonia Bee, with vanilla, cocao, and honey, and Inca Rose, earl grey with rose petals.

http://www.intizen.com.ar/

DULCE DE LECHE.

THIS SHOULD BE NUMBER ONE. But I forgot it, because it is so basic. Best in/on/served with anything. Or nothing. Just take a spoon to the tub.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dulce_de_leche

Malbec.

I haven't really bought that much wine here, but when I've had it, it's usually malbec. It's kind of the national wine type here. You can't go wrong even with the cheapest malbec (around maybe 8 pesos)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malbec

Morita empanadas.

Cheap. Easy. Delicious. Favorites include Queso al verdeo y Caprese

http://www.empanadasmorita.com/index.php

Subte Linea D.

Ah, the sweet smell of excrement and old lady perfume. I live 2 blocks from the Facultad de Medicina stop and my school is less than a ten minute's walk from the Olleros stop. The D line (or green, if you like) runs along cordoba, santa fe, y cabildo, 3 major streets that will get you pretty much any where you want to go (cool neighborhoods like Palermo or right by the obelisco). As buses have always kinda freaked me out because of their requisite for common sense (something I obviously severely lack), I tend to avoid taking them (not to mention their completely unpredictable schedules or requisite for monedas, another thing I often lack possession of). OK, so the Subte is kind of notorious for breaking down all the time (again, bienvenidos a argentina, my friend) but it's insanely cheap (1,10 viaje) and the people watching is priceless. Plus, acquiring the ability to balance without holding on to anything WHILE reading hispanic literature and knowing which sides open at which stops and when (ie when I can lean on the doors) have been very rewarding, satisfying experiences.

http://www.subte.com.ar/contenido/home.asp

BLOGS.

For some reason, this city is a bloggers fucking paradise. I talked a bit about this earlier, but fer rillz, if there is anything cultural you're into, you can find like 8 blogs about that scene in BsAs. I also can't give enough praise to What's Up Buenos Aires (wooba as I like to affectionately like to think of it). It's just an incredible resource. I'm also a huge fan of El Reverso for alternative cinema. Though I have yet to get off my lazy ass and go to one of the numerous listings on the site…

http://whatsupbuenosaires.com/wuba2/

http://www.elreverso.com.ar/index.php

Exchange rate!

Unlike the USD/CAD rate that loves to tease me and then turn around and anally rape me (it's a fickle motherfucker), the USD/ARS exchange rate is something that will honor and cherish me for eternity.

http://www.exchange-rates.org/rate/USD/ARS

 
 

Things I still fucking HATE and other irreconcilable differences

Misogyny.

I have never felt so objectified in my entire life. It is impossible to walk down the street without at least one creepy old guy per block invading your personal space with his groping eyes and filthy compliments. The worst ones will walk AT you. The image of the female body as a sex object is ubiquitous. Even at lingerie stores for women. Which perhaps says something about the way women perceive themselves? I was talking about this with my mom the other day, and I found myself saying that walking down the street holding hands with a guy felt empowering. How fucking backwards is that? But it was true. I felt like I could look up from the ground, free of worry or fear that I might accidentally make eye contact with a sleaze. For the first time in a long time, I actually felt at ease walking down the streets. It was disgusting.

Concrete.

Where I live, there is very little green space. In this city, there is very little green space. It's a port city on a brown, ugly river. There is no coast. I've never seen sunset because it happens behind buildings.

School.

The public university here doesn't have the best reputation (I'd liken it to the Subte of education… when it's up and running, it's fine, albeit a bit underfunded, but this is a rarity) but the private university I go to in the more affluent barrio of Belgrano is pretty fucking bad too. Sure, the building is nice, but:

1. There is no wifi, despite all the signs around the school advertising this very service. Sencillamente, no hay.
   
2. It's overrun with dumb americans. These americans are in Buenos Aires to speak as little spanish as possible and party at boliches every night. The classes for international students (the majority of whom are the very americans I loathe) are taught as if they were in the special education curriculum. The classes with argentines, however, are insanely difficult as the prof and the students speak their slurred castellano at lightening speed and when I made the mistake once of telling a prof that I was from the US she proceeded to inform me that she had no intention of speaking english and that if I don't understand her, tough shit, she's not holding my privileged little american hand. At that moment I converted: Vive Quebec! Yo soy canadiense! Odio a los americanos también! George Washington? Quién? American cheese? Qué?
   
3. Sociology doesn't exist at the school, and the classes that have the word sociologia or sociedad in them are as banal as possible. I mean, sociologia systematica? No, gracias. So I have to take a retarded mix of weird classes and therefore every administrator thinks I'm fucking nuts. Abogacia? Ciencias de la comunicación? Y relaciones internacionales? Qué estudiás, loca?
   

Heep-Hope!

My (admittedly very overdue) initial observations of the hip hop scene in BA:

The most striking and most interesting thing about the local scene is that it's a package deal. By that I mean that other elements of the culture, DJs, graffiti, and breakdance, are an integral part of any event that advertises itself as a hip hop event. In the states, breakdance feels dated and is generally left to professional dancers and graffiti seems to have evolved into its own community of taggers and doesn't necessarily identify itself specifically with hip hop culture anymore. Or maybe I just have a skewed view of things. Here, however, many MCs themselves break and encourage listeners to support street art. It seems so old school! It hasn’t been corrupted by the 'bling era' of hip hop we are currently living in up north. Why is that?

One important point to note is that, quite simply, South America does not have the wealth that North America does, and it has ten times the poverty (probably underestimating). The people who rap here are don't have aspirations of making it big and buying a Benz and sippin on Cristal at Diddy's white party (we can probably thank the language barrier for that). That shit just doesn't happen here. Based on what I've seen so far, many MCs are from less privileged barrios and rap about oppression and other socio-political issues (thank you, Che?).

More specifically, according to my research, hip hop started to catch on in South America in the 80s when Michael Jackson and his crazy moves became an international pop sensation, and dance movies like Flashdance started gaining popularity. Luckily for sudamericanos (and me) hip hop came in to South America during its Golden Age, a time that many current alternative artists try to hark back to. (Many performers at Rock the Bells are guilty of going on long rants about hip hop history and the importance of returning hip hop to its roots) Basically, the hip hop scene here is about twenty years behind that of the US, and I love it. It still feels new and slightly underground--not mainstream and completely devoid of substance.

This influence is very, very potent.

At a popular hip hop night I recently attended, the dj, DJ Stuart (INCREDIBLE), spun classic artists like A Tribe Called Quest, Cypress Hill, and MOP and some older top 40 faves (So hot in herre!) while everyone crowded around a circle of break dancers battling (this later turned into a bit of a show put on by a local dance crew). Sunday night at the First Argentine hip hop festival, there were two canvases of graffiti art placed next to the stage, but, unlike many shows at home, the house played... Sublime? Not complaining, but, I mean, really? As for the show itself, I got there a bit late, just as this dance crew was coming on and people seemed pretty into it. Break isn't really my thing, but when one of them put a box covered in aluminum foil over their head and jumped on top of their human pyramid to become a giant robot when Intergalactic came on, I had a good laugh.

Then local artist and success story Mustafa Yoda came on. From what I understood, he spat some killer metaphors (one of my favorites being bebes nacen borrachos) and did a pretty damn good job of getting the crowd into it.

But THEN, this chick came on, and the place went NUTS. The girl killed it. Her name is Alika, and she is beautiful, intelligent, and pretty much everything I want to be.

So, there you have it. I'm really looking forward to finding more things to enjoy in the city, as it's still a kind of up and down experience for me. Forthcoming: recap of trips to Uruguay and Iguazu Falls (this weekend!), volunteer experience with street kids, and... other stuff!