International Buenos Aires

This past weekend, I came to see different examples of how Buenos Aires has developed into a very cosmopolitan and international city.  On Friday, I first visited the Japanese Garden, located in Palermo, which features a pond and many plants native to Japan.  The Japanese embassy in BA donated the garden to the city in the 1960's to thank Argentina for their acceptance and treatment of Japanese immigrants to the city.  Through the years, the Japanese authorities and the city of Buenos Aires have collaborated to expand and beautify the garden.  It remains a testament to the wonderful relations the two countries maintain. 

Following the garden, I walked to the annual International Book Fair, which features many cool interactive activities as well as, obviously, many book stations.  Some stalls simply feature general novels, some translated into Spanish, while others had themes.  For example, the fair features a stall with books pertaining to Islam and the Arab culture, written in Arabic.  Then one section hosted stalls according to their Argentine region.  In addition to novels, I found religious books, cook books, coffee table books....  It was very overwhelming-certainly bigger than my annual elementary school book fair- I didn't really know what I was looking for so in the end, I bought a book about Argentine fables and a novel in Spanish. 

I ate Shabbat lunch at my friend Martin's house.  I definitely enjoyed myself- good food, good people.  I think the meal soured when the conversation turned to his sister's clothing business.  They talked finances pertaining to the stores.  I remained bored hearing about Finance- didn't matter the language.

Saturday night, I met up with some ppl in Plaza Serrano, a trendy area full of bars in Palermo SoHo.  When out on any given night of the week, you truly see the extreme diversity that exists within the city.  Aside from the foreigners, which include Koreans, Chinese, Peruvians, Bolivians... who live here, students from all over the world come to study.  At 1 place, we met up with other students from Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, and Argentina.  It was definitely interesting to talk to the Venezuelan about US public opinion in his country.  We Americans certainly don't have the best reputation in Venezuela these days. 

Regarding going out, I find it amazing that people can function (or at least survive) the next day on a consistent basis.  After Shabbat ended, I just sat in my apartment for 5 hours, waiting to go out, when I could have gone 2-3 hours earlier.  Instead, my night began at 12:30, and I came back to my apartment close to 7 am.  I certainly don't plan to continue this trend back at home, and I don't do it that often here, but how do people always do it? Although I had a great Sunday, I felt lethargic all day. 

Speaking of which, I went to the San Telmo fair, held every Sunday.  It features antiques, art, scarves and sweaters, music, and other handicrafts, spanning 20 blocks.  As you walk through, you find different musicians at street corners, as well as dancers performing the classic Tango.  San Telmo is a very historic district and you feel it as you walk through its cobblestone streets. 

On my way back home, I stopped in Once to try the kosher pizza.  It was quite underwhelming (the cheese sucks here) and the amount of screaming and obnoxious little kids didn't improve the experience. 

Last night, I went with Jonah to see an Argentine movie (Un cuento chino- a Chinese story)) about a guy who takes in a Chinese migrant who is looking for his uncle in the meantime.  Pretty decent movie, though it was pretty hilarious in the opening scene, when a cow fell from the sky onto a boat in the middle of the lake, sinking it.  That was right after we saw that the movie was based on a true story.  You eventually found out how the cow came crashing down from the sky, but it was quite strange nonetheless. 

I definitely felt at home on Thursday when the guy at the ice cream store knew what size I wanted without asking- it's my neighborhood ice cream store.  It might be a bad sign though of how much ice cream I have consumed in the last 2 months. 

Examenes parciales esta semana- Midterms this week. 

Ariel