Argentinisms II / Porteñisms (particularities of speech in Bs As)

re – the Porteñan way of saying “very”. Since the word starts with “r” it comes out as a double r, giving it even more emphasis as a modifier.

buena onda – literally means “good wave,” but it's used to describe a person as cool. It's often used in combination with the previous, as in “re buena onda.”

Mira vos! – while this would be literally translated as “look at you!” it seems to be used more as though they are saying “huh, how interesting.” An American friend here who is more of an expert in these things tells me it’s like saying “look at you sharing all your knowledge and insights!"

bárbaro! - I always thought this meant "barbaric," and I'm pretty sure I've heard it used that way, but I most often hear it used to mean "how terrific."

side note: If you're noticing a theme in these phrases, it is no coincidence. Porteños are experts at talking effusively about just about everything. Consistent with their reputation for passion, they (esp the women) can make an apple sound like the best thing they've ever tasted, any mountain sound like Everest, a small gesture sound like an incredible sacrifice.

more to come....

That's a lot of water

For a 3-day weekend excursion I traveled to Iguazu Falls with Gretchen, the Georgetown student that works at the lab, Laura, my Peace Corps friend who is living with me this month, and Alexandra, Laura’s new friend she met at her Spanish school. We left Friday after work and went directly to the Retiro, bus station, and even though there was a protest going on downtown (pretty standard), we managed to get there with plenty of time to spare before the bus left. Bus travel here is a much more comfortable experience than anywhere else in the world I’ve been, including any bus in the US. It’s a good thing considering that the trip was 16 hours! On the way there our seats were “cama ejecutivo,” meaning that the row only includes three seats and they recline as far as airline first class seats. It also means that we got a three course dinner with wine and champagne, as well as breakfast in the morning. And since we rode the bus overnight, we saved money on hostel costs! Our entertainment included a terrible Argentine pirate comedy, the movie 27 Dresses, and 50 First Dates, as well as some videos exalting the agricultural and industrial glories of Argentina.

The last four hours of the trip along the border with Paraguay we had daylight, and quickly noticed that our surroundings were much more tropical than the temperate climate where we started. The trees were all green and the dirt a rusty red. The forecast for the weekend was cloudless and 77 degrees F, so I was pretty excited to be wearing t-shirts and flip-flops. Most of the other passengers had debarked at larger towns on the way, and by the time we arrived the other group of American girls were announcing the items they planned to take into the “jungle.”

Arriving in the quiet town of ~30,000 inhabitants at the crossroads of Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina, we took a taxi to the hostel which has the biggest swimming pool in town. After lunch and a short discussion about our plan for seeing the falls the next day, we ventured back into town and treated ourselves to ice cream (dulce de leche and chocolate amargo, of course). We also picked up some sunscreen and snacks since we heard that food at the falls would be expensive.

After walking back from town, we chilled at the pool drinking our complimentary caipariñas. That night there was an asado (BBQ) at the hostel with a Brazilian “show” where women in sparkly thongs and headdresses (sorry, I didn't flatter them with) entertained primarily the male guests. We chatted with some young Dubliners who seemed about as embarrassed by the whole thing as we were. Planning for the long day ahead, we turned in just as the flip-cup game was getting started by the young flirty travelers at the hostel.

The Iguazu River forms the border with Brazil, so the falls can be seen from either the Brazilian or Argentine side. As the river hits Isla San Martin, it forms a wall of dramatic falls on both sides. Having turned down the pricey tour complete with a speedboat ride directly into the falls, we decided to take a self-conducted tour of the park, unsure of how much we would be able to see or how quickly we’d run through it all. We arrived at the entrance to the park at about 9 am to pay our 40 peso entrance fee. We got a map and walked toward the train headed toward La Garganta del Diablo (the throat of the devil) where we listened in on a tour being given to a group of about 25 Colombian and Mexican tourists. The number of organized tour groups and variety of was impressive. As was the organization and overall infrastructure of the park. After the train ride, we walked a few hundred meters on a steel walk-way over the calm water that would fall into the throat.

Standing 30 meters above the bottom of the garganta we looked across the abyss at the Brazilian structures that were barely noticeable over the enormity of the falls.

The falls were nothing short of phenomenal. From the garganta, we turned down the chance to float down the river toward the rest of the falls, and stopped at every point on the upper views, lower views, and crossed to the island to see the falls from that side. Having been blown away by every version we encountered, we agreed that the last view was our favorite, confirming that we planned the day just perfectly. Having brought all the food we needed for the day had given us the chance to stop and eat en route rather than going back to the food stands. Of all the 500 reported species of animals in the park, we saw very few. The coatis, raccoon-sized animals that have become friendly with tourists that will share sandwiches and momentarily forget the backpack at their feet, were reminiscent of the baboons at the Cape of Good Hope, but much less threatening.

Maybe the organization and the infrastructure of the experience would have seemed natural to most foreigners familiar with national parks in the US, but having experienced national parks in other developing countries, Laura and I were blown away by this place. While the in-park train was slightly reminiscent of an amusement park, it was overall minimalist and devoid of gimmicks while being accessible to people with small children and older people.

After getting back and cleaning up, we went into town for dinner, starting with a street stand owned by a Brazilian family selling plates of delicious picadas: olives, salami, and cheese. Once again we turned in early.

Today we got up in time to pack up and eat breakfast before checking out. Gretchen and I visited the Casa de Botellas Plasticas across the street from the hostel. While it seemed to just be a gimmick, the man running the show and his son had a well-delivered environmental message. He travels around the area with his contraptions sharing his technique with the locals (who are bound to be strapped for resources in this part of the country), encouraging them to be more creative in finding economical ways of re-using the waste they generate.

Around 3 pm, we loaded the bus back to Bs As, this time in "super cama," less than $2 more than the seats that we had on the way to the falls, but the seats reclined completely into a bed. Laura and I took the opportunity to do some yoga stretches to really prepare us for the long trip ahead.

Mate

Very few of the indigenous traditions seem to have withstood the urbanization and westernization of Buenos Aires. Walking around the city, I see only Western clothing (in contrast to Santa Cruz where traditional dress was common among the poorer citizens), few people or businesses take siesta any more, and the staple foods are pizza, pasta, and hamburgers. However, there is one tradition that seems to have remained--mate. It's a hot drink made of yerba mate (photo of the tree on the left) consumed from an apparatus consisting of a gourd-like cup called mate and a metal straw called a bombillo. Dried loose leaves from an indigenous tree sold in many varieties in every store are poured into the mate cup. Then hot water is poured over the leaves and the infused liquid is sucked up through the straw that contains a filter preventing the leaves from entering. Customarily, one person drains the liquid, and the cup is refilled with hot water using the same leaves and passed to the next drinker. At every work meeting there is a cup of mate being passed around. Drinking mate seems to transcend ages and social classes. On weekend afternoons in the park, you'll see couples or families with their thermos of hot water and mate, passing around the cup. Mate cocido is sold in tea bags for those who don't have their apparatus handy.

Argentinisms

I've been gathering some Spanish words and phrases that amuse me when they turn up frequently here in everyday speech.

obvio--technically, it's any different from the English word "obviously" but whereas in English it could come out sounding like "duh, of course, that's obvious, idiot" it comes across here as a reassuring "sure, sure"

lógico--also just like the English word "logical" but it's used much more frequently here, and most often said twice in succession "lógico, lógico." People use it as though saying, "Okay, I follow you."

Que sé yo?--(where yo is pronounced as a mix between "jo" and "sho") directly translated as "What do I know?" yet instead of portraying lack of confidence or clueless-ness, it's used in conversation as a filler when someone is making a proposal or is speculating about something that is uncertain. For instance "Maybe instead of asthma being caused by eosinophils, maybe, que sé yo, their presence is the result of something else which also causes asthma."

Así que...--an over-used connector used to mean anything from "...so..." to "...and that's why...." To explain why you can't make it to dinner you might say: "We went out late last night así que I'm tired since work starts early así que I need a nap así que I'm not sure I'll make it to dinner tonight así que you all should go without me"

more to come as they are uncovered....

No, I don't have a boyfriend

One of the few things here that is consistent with other places I've traveled is that people are insistent that I should have a boyfriend. No, not at home, but here. I'm not just talking about guys trying out new pick-up lines; I'm talking about non-single people at work, Zina (the host mother), and the couple who I'm renting from. The truth is that Buenos Aires seems like any big city, where everyone goes about their business in a hurry, and there's very little opportunity to meet anyone. Plus, everyone I have met, both men and women, is paired off with someone. I guess that's why it's strange to them that I don't have a boyfriend.

Interestingly, it is not uncommon for couples here to skip marriage even when they decide to have children. The significant transition in relationships seems to occur when young people move out of their parents house to live with their partner, which often doesn't occur until they're over 25 years old, and rarely does anyone live on their own in between. No wonder young couples spend so much time making out in public--they don't have anywhere private to go!

I am a terrible mouse mother

I arrived today to see that two of my pups are dead and the rest are looking weak and dehydrated. When I tried to feed them it was as though they forgot how to suckle. I was feeling very discouraged all morning, then Leandro, the vet who takes care of all the mice came in the afternoon and I explained how things were going. One of the ones that died had been one of the bigger, stronger ones, so we decided to look inside the abdomen for clues. We found air in the stomach and intestines and a very full bladder. Then we looked more closely at the living pups and could see a large transparent part through their pink skin where the bladder should be. Leandro said that the mother is supposed to help them void their bladders, but for some reason she must not be doing it. So, we gently squeezed out their urine, and suddenly they were much more eager to eat!

One thing I love is to watch the surrogate mother gather them back up into her nest. I take them out of the cage multiple times per day and return them colder and wetter (a lot of the milk doesn't make it into the mouth), and she gathers them in her mouth, takes them back to the nest and licks them off like nothing ever happened. And she does this again and again all day long. When I leave her alone for a few minutes, she just sits on them to keep them warm, and they probably suckle at her milkless nipples. She's tireless.

They're still looking pretty bad (especially when compared to the maternally reared mice of the same age), so I'm feeling weary about the project. I tried not to get worked up about dying mice, especially since I kill them happily in my kitchen--but this represents failed parenting. Maybe it was overly ambitious to think I could mother 16 pups at once; better to start with 5 and see how that goes. There's just not enough time this summer for me to raise them 5 at a time.

Settling in

Carolina, the woman renting the apartment with the awesome view, had to do some repairs on the apartment and told me she would need a week. Since I absolutely had to move on Monday and didn't want to move back to the hostel for a couple days before moving to an apartment, I settled for a slightly smaller, less central place. But it's mine!! And I love the young couple who rented it to me. Federico spent 30 minutes reading over the contract with me to make sure I understood everything (it was in Spanish). I spent Monday evening preparing my nest--unpacking bags, putting groceries in the cabinets and refrigerator, moving around the furniture, and looking around the neighborhood for the closest washing service, restaurant, etc.

The past two days, I have removed two litters of mouse pups to a surrogate mother who has adopted the pups as her own (she keeps them warm and cleans them) but since her mammary glands have been removed, she cannot nurse. So, these 16 little guys (by little I mean 2-3 grams each) are relying entirely on me for their daily calories and nutrients. They only eat about 0.6 g of milk/day, but they can't take it all at once. I spent most of my day in the mouse room feeding them with a pipette, running out every 30 minutes to warm the formula. They're all pink and hairless, and they get cold if they're out of the cage for too long. As I sat and watched "Sex in the City" I last night at the movie theater, caught myself thinking about them and hoping that they had gotten enough food during the day to last through the night. I woke up at 5 am having dreamt about them and wondering if it was time to feed them. I can't get into the lab until 9 am, so I eventually got back to sleep. This mothering is stressful!

The theater for Sex in the City was almost full, and fortunately they just put subtitles on English-language movies here rather than dubbing it in Spanish (except for kids' movies). The assigned seats in the theater through me for a loop.