Buenos Aires - the land of Evita and tango

In my last week before starting work at my host institution in Sao Paulo I decided to visit Argentina. Summer, who was traveling with me in Sao Paulo was going there for a conference with some of her colleagues, so I was able to see them a bit and then also tour on my own while they were working:) It was during Brazilian Carnaval so it was vacation time in much of South America, but there were only isolated carnival celebrations in Buenos Aires. But that was fine since I had already been in Rio last year. I still had one week to explore the neighborhoods of the city, try their wonderful cuisine and see some tango performances. The official tango dinner shows were extremely expensive, so I didn't go to one of those. But they did have tango in the streets in certain neighborhoods and during the evenings in my hotel. I have defintitely fallen in love with the style of tango music and dance; it's so beautiful! Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of this, I didn't have my camera at that time, but you can imagine. Buenos Aires is gorgeous. It's the South America we imagine, bright sunny days, lots of cafes, beautiful people (maybe some former Nazis too) and passion in every way. Passion for love, for life, and for politics. I visited the Eva Peron museum and cemetery and both were very moving. I wish we could be that enthusiastic for a leader once again. I guess Obama comes fairly close, although maybe close in excitement, but I'm not so sure about the drama and worshipping. When you see the images from Evita's funeral, all the people that attended, it is quite incredible.

I didn't expect so many parks and green spaces, my photos look like I was in Spain, Italy or France at times. One of the major architects who helped design Buenos Aires was French, which also makes sense because there are many wide, open boulevards too. I was surpised, however, by the garbage on the streets. It wasn't so much pieces of paper or trash by themselves, but bags and bags of garbage piled together as if waiting to be collected. Except they were on very prominent street corners and it stunk! This along with the dog poop and uneven sidewalks truly made this city European with a Latin American twist:) But I still loved it! Especially the media lunas (half moon croissants) you could have in the mornings. They were like croissant from Paris but with sugar on top - yum! Here is sampling of photos from my time there. Viva Argentina!



Having lunch with Maristela (Manaus) and Summer)



Beautiful obeslico, views from my hotel, Hotel Republica - excellent!





Gorgeous Casa Rosada





Parks downtown Buenos Aires





Sadly, a pile of trash outside another nice park - what is this???



Famous Cafe Tortoni (like Cafe de l'Opera in Paris)



With Eugenia from Uruguay at Cafe Tortoni



Rose and flower gardens in Palermo, Buenos Aires











Japanese Gardens










Recoleta church & cemetery and Eva Peron's grave







Fantastic cafes of Buenos Aires day and night

In San Telmo


In Recoleta





Don't cry for me, Argentina; I hope to be back soon!

Movin' on up, to the east side...

...to a delux apartment in the sky-ay-ay. Wow, what a surprise, I'm quoting 70s tv shows:) But this time, it may be appropriate, we'll see. I did just find an apt and it's on the 22nd floor! So, I guess I am moving on up after all!!:) From 500,000 inhabitants last year to about 20 million this year! So far, I have only been in Sao Paulo one week, but I like it a lot. You can find everything here - from food, to clothes, to coffee shops and bookstores, I think it's going to be a lot of fun.

Views from my balcony






My memories of my first week here are going to be watching many episodes of Law and Order on tv in the hotel, going to shopping malls nearby, and looking for an apt. I was so tired, I didn't feel like doing much more than that. Our hotel was in Morumbi, close to the consulate because we had one day of orientation there. But the neighborhood I was looking for an apt in, near my school, was across town. Summer( the other returning fellow living in Manaus) came with me to look for apts, and by the time we took a cab there and looked around for a while, we were ready to come back and crash at the end of the day. So, having Starbucks and shopping across the street from the hotel was actually a really comforting thing to do in the evenings.

We did go out on Tuesday with some Embassy staff after our orientation to a magnificent bar on top of Hotel Unique (voted best hotel bar of Sao Paulo). The hotel is shaped like half a watermelon and on top is a bar with a pool and outdoor tables, and incredible views of Sao Paulo. We had champagne and sushi, which is not my average Tuesday evening to say the least! I think the Embassy employees forgot that we were teachers and not wealthy diplomats:) But it was a lot of fun and I'm sure I will go back there. Below are a few photos from that day with the other fellows.

At the Consulate


Sky Bar at Hotel Unique with the other fellows




On our second to last day, Summer and I went to Shopping Cidade Jardins. This was close to our hotel but just off the highway and virtually impossible to access without a car or taxi. It is located right next to a large favela (slum) and almost seems to be rubbing the favela's nose in it because this was not an ordinary shopping center. It was gorgeous with lots of trees and very, very high end shopping. Even the movie theater had options for different kinds of olive oils you could add to your popcorn! On the rooftop there was also an outdoor garden and restaurant. It was such a peaceful, relaxing break from the city, albeit a rather unreal experience given the realities of most of Sao Paulo. But I am very glad to have seen it, even if I did feel a tad unsophisticated there. Most of the shoppers resembled the wealthy, older French women you can see on the Riviera in Cannes or Nice - lots of gold jewelry, large sunglasses and heavy perfume:) They had an upscale Johnny Rockets restaurant in the mall where we ate, and I had a hamburger with Roquefort cheese - actually, it was maybe the best I have ever had! Here are a few images from inside and out of the shopping center.







Getting the apt this time was still an ordeal, although a bit better than last year because I already had a CPF (social security number). However, my residence card was from Londrina so they needed me to give them one extra month's rent to be returned to me when I can provide the protocol number for my new card in Sao Paulo. Who knows when that will be!? And I was obligated to wait for someone at my new school, Alumni to write the realtor a check because I don't have a bank account yet in Brazil. But other than that, things went fairly smoothly. It's actually a furnished "flat" as they call them, long stay rooms located in hotels, mainly. To get an actual apt in Sao Paulo, they require a lease of 30 months and a guartantee signed by someone who lives in the actual city of Sao Paulo. Since this would be too complicated for my situation, a flat seemed to make the most sense. I am near my school and Ave. Paulista, the main street in my neighborhood, so that should be good. So that's all for now, but I'm sure there will be more stories once I actually move in:)



Signing the apt lease