Almost bitter cold, smoke inhalation...is the city cranky, too?
Buenos Aires truly is a strange city, and Argentina an unpredictable country. You never know what's waiting for you around the corner.
Last week, I started the week in shorts and a tank top, as I had heard that the temperature was going to be dropping later in the week. In the states, we learn not to believe the weatherman, as he can be so completely right or wrong--it's like a big guess! We use the word "prediction" accurately. Well, I tried not to believe the prediction but just in case I figured I should get some good usage out of my shorts and skirts. We're talking it was super warm, people. But come friday, there I was in my little skirt because I saw sun out that morning, and boy was I wrong. I went home from school that day so flipping cold! The next day it was even worse. In the space of two days, the temperature dropped 20 degrees C (read that as it dropped from the 80's, 90's to 50's, 60's). I would like to say that I am in the land of extremes, but I have a feeling that that wouldn't be entirely accurate.
This week I have been overjoyed to find that the temperature has found a happy middle ground, with the sun reappearing and lifting the temperatures, but with a bit of a chilly edge. Just the way fall should be! However, the week also brought with it another other little gift from our friends the farmers. (Um, are we having some issues with Argentinean farmers??? I think so!) The city is currently filled with smoke. I'm talking about not being able to get the smoke out of my nose. When I go from room to room, the smell of smoke intensifies and weakens, and when I step out the door I am greeted with haze. The farmers around BA are currently setting fire to their crops (I know there's a term for this, but it's not exactly a regular topic conversation, so it's escaping me). I know that it's usually considered to be a purposeful farming technique for the soils or some such, but it is literally choking the city right now! There are some 300 of these fires going on around the city at this very moment and all of the 13+ million people that live in this city. That is 13 times the population of the greater Seattle area, breathing in a sheize-load of smoke! Not healthy, and so unhealthy that the government is advising people to not exercise outside. It's crazy! There have been car accidents caused from the lack of visibility, roads have been closed (including the Panamerican), the port was closed, even one of the subway lines was closed (I found out much to my dismay as I attempted to change lines earlier this afternoon). Here's a picture I took this morning:
I hope you can see...that's me taking a picture of the sun, which you can hardly see, but which didn't give off a glare because there's a bunch of smoke blocking it!!!
If you want to see the news story, here's a link: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/04/18/argentina.fires/index.html
Fun tidbit, the story has a picture of my neighborhood. :)
So there's that, there's a little bit of choking in the smoke.
Today also marked the end of my Spanish classes, and I have officially reached "el nivel AVANZADO"!!! That's right, baby, I am advanced! I spent officially 160 hours in this particular Spanish school, which if I do say so myself, is a lot of Spanish classes! I had four Spanish teachers (all women) and fed them cookies and scones during my tenure as their student. Not only did they encourage my ever-imperfect yet ever-improving Spanish, they gave me good traveling tips, movie tips, shared their insights and life stories...
As for Buenos Aires? I am looking forward to getting out of this city. It's a rare and beautiful city, edgy, polluted with passionate people, macho men who I've mentally slapped the hell out of, almost entirely functional public transportation (though the colectivos are super tricky), a European-seeming city with all of the problems of South America mixed in, a lovely amount of parks though a lack of nature, a place that is wonderful for walking and wandering, but a place where you feel as though you might drown in people...I will always appreciate the time I spent here, though I think it will do me a world of good to leave and see some nature, some beach, some mountains, and perhaps a little less contaminated air (said the girl who sits typing with a headache resulting from all the smoke). I leave on Monday to go to Mar del Plata, the weekend/summer beach destionation for all of the portenos. A place that will be less populated at the moment where I can finally do a bit more reflecting and relaxing. Alone! -ish, anyway. :) Mar del Plata, here I come!
Last week, I started the week in shorts and a tank top, as I had heard that the temperature was going to be dropping later in the week. In the states, we learn not to believe the weatherman, as he can be so completely right or wrong--it's like a big guess! We use the word "prediction" accurately. Well, I tried not to believe the prediction but just in case I figured I should get some good usage out of my shorts and skirts. We're talking it was super warm, people. But come friday, there I was in my little skirt because I saw sun out that morning, and boy was I wrong. I went home from school that day so flipping cold! The next day it was even worse. In the space of two days, the temperature dropped 20 degrees C (read that as it dropped from the 80's, 90's to 50's, 60's). I would like to say that I am in the land of extremes, but I have a feeling that that wouldn't be entirely accurate.
This week I have been overjoyed to find that the temperature has found a happy middle ground, with the sun reappearing and lifting the temperatures, but with a bit of a chilly edge. Just the way fall should be! However, the week also brought with it another other little gift from our friends the farmers. (Um, are we having some issues with Argentinean farmers??? I think so!) The city is currently filled with smoke. I'm talking about not being able to get the smoke out of my nose. When I go from room to room, the smell of smoke intensifies and weakens, and when I step out the door I am greeted with haze. The farmers around BA are currently setting fire to their crops (I know there's a term for this, but it's not exactly a regular topic conversation, so it's escaping me). I know that it's usually considered to be a purposeful farming technique for the soils or some such, but it is literally choking the city right now! There are some 300 of these fires going on around the city at this very moment and all of the 13+ million people that live in this city. That is 13 times the population of the greater Seattle area, breathing in a sheize-load of smoke! Not healthy, and so unhealthy that the government is advising people to not exercise outside. It's crazy! There have been car accidents caused from the lack of visibility, roads have been closed (including the Panamerican), the port was closed, even one of the subway lines was closed (I found out much to my dismay as I attempted to change lines earlier this afternoon). Here's a picture I took this morning:
I hope you can see...that's me taking a picture of the sun, which you can hardly see, but which didn't give off a glare because there's a bunch of smoke blocking it!!!If you want to see the news story, here's a link: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/04/18/argentina.fires/index.html
Fun tidbit, the story has a picture of my neighborhood. :)
So there's that, there's a little bit of choking in the smoke.
Today also marked the end of my Spanish classes, and I have officially reached "el nivel AVANZADO"!!! That's right, baby, I am advanced! I spent officially 160 hours in this particular Spanish school, which if I do say so myself, is a lot of Spanish classes! I had four Spanish teachers (all women) and fed them cookies and scones during my tenure as their student. Not only did they encourage my ever-imperfect yet ever-improving Spanish, they gave me good traveling tips, movie tips, shared their insights and life stories...
- First there was Gisela, a very passionate Argentinean woman who talks about pushing people around in the subway, calling her best friends bitches and assholes (ojo--it all depends on the tone of voice!) and believes (as do I) that swear words are fantastic for emphasizing a point, and adds to the beauty and creativity of language. Gisela, who slouches in her chair during class, who smiles a her big, evil smile that means she's about to give you a hefty amount of homework or make you push yourself a bit harder than you might like, who gave me her grandmother's secret alfajor recipe and gave me constant encouragement in my baking endeavors and commiserated on the subject of people taking advantage. A dear woman.
- Next there was Andrea, a girl just a few years older than me who, it wouldn't take a genius to figure out, also teaches children. She's super friendly and enunciates and speaks slowly enough for all to hear. A person who shares my passion for word games and even owns the Spanish version of Boggle and complimented me on my tricksy moves in playing a "guess this word" game. Andrea who I thought was Mormon for the first few weeks of my classes (though eventually came to find out is not, though she certainly fooled me, she just has that attitude!) Poor Andrea who was subjected to my crying spell in class one day when I was tired, cranky, and in the process of correcting the written part of my Spanish test (I hate correcting/editing my writing, and it gets about 10 times worse in Spanish!) and thought I was crying because of something she said rather than because if I feel the tears a-coming, they can't be stopped! The same girl who asked over and over again, "Me entiendes?" "Sabes lo que quiero decir?" and checking in again and again and again about whether I understand her while not realizing that I can't possibly understand all of the nuances of a foreign language in an instant and that after a concept is introduced, a person needs to be able to see this concept in action in order to understand it more fully. (Sigh!) That really was a good test of my patience, let me tell you. She also kept me up to date on Argentinean news and goings on, starting with the agricultural strike, until I was inspired enough to start reading the news on my own!
- Next was Lucia, a depressed sort of teacher that gave my poor friend Alethea an endless amount of grief for coming to class late. A smile on her face wasn't a regular occurrence, and although she called us her favorite students, it wasn't easy to believe. And although she complained about money issues, she took a three and a half week vacation to Brazil with her husband. Maybe it's my filter at thinking that any kind of Brazilian vacation is just cool, but 3.5 weeks of vacation? Not such a hardship.
- Finally, we have my favorite, Teresa, a sisterly type of gal from Seville. She's very straight-forward, matter of fact and I loved her teaching style the best. She would just pick apart my sentences, shake her head whenever I made a clearly obvious mistake (that still doesn't remain quite as clear in my mind as it does in hers), steal my pens and paper to write--I have never met someone who loves to use pens and markers I think in my entire life!--and is of a similarly liberal world view, though we did get into an interesting conversation when we read the article about the pregnant man and our particular views on that subject (she thinks that if she/he really wants to be identified as a man, and feels that they're a man, then they shouldn't be having a baby, while I maintain that if they want their own, biological child--a desire held by probably 99.99% of this world--and their wife is unable to have their baby, and they actually still have their original reproductive organs, why not? It's the rest of society that is going to inflict their personal views of wrongdoing on that poor child...they obviously have parents that want them, and if these people are good, loving, caring parents, why should the rest of the world judge them?!). Teresa who shared with me her own life story of moving from Spain, to Germany, to taking a two or three month trip to BA and ended up moving here and getting married. Then we broached the subject of children and she let me in on her little secret that she's just gotten pregnant, though not on purpose, but she's now getting ready to welcome a child into this world! She also informed me where I could buy yarn and a crochet hook so I can keep myself busy during the upcoming bus rides...I think Teresa is an amazing person, an opinion compounded yesterday during a discussion she shared her goal of always bringing into her life those things that make her happy and leaving those things that do not. But always taking the road to happiness, a pursuit I find to be quite noble. Tough, but the best thing I think a person can possibly do in this world. True and pure happiness.
(Teresa and I holding the undeniable proof that I have advanced Spanish skillz)
As for Buenos Aires? I am looking forward to getting out of this city. It's a rare and beautiful city, edgy, polluted with passionate people, macho men who I've mentally slapped the hell out of, almost entirely functional public transportation (though the colectivos are super tricky), a European-seeming city with all of the problems of South America mixed in, a lovely amount of parks though a lack of nature, a place that is wonderful for walking and wandering, but a place where you feel as though you might drown in people...I will always appreciate the time I spent here, though I think it will do me a world of good to leave and see some nature, some beach, some mountains, and perhaps a little less contaminated air (said the girl who sits typing with a headache resulting from all the smoke). I leave on Monday to go to Mar del Plata, the weekend/summer beach destionation for all of the portenos. A place that will be less populated at the moment where I can finally do a bit more reflecting and relaxing. Alone! -ish, anyway. :) Mar del Plata, here I come!
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