Uruguay for a day

Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires.

A small sliver of the skyline that is Buenos Aires.

I took a boat across the Rio de la Plata, that is as 

wide as an ocean, to Colonia in Uruguay.

An hour by catamaran.

My tourist visa was about to expire in two 

days. Hard to believe i have been in 

Argentina for 3 months already.

Road toll to date....

Some art work just down the road from my place,

11 de noviembre, Belgrano.

One pair of black Warehouse sneakers.

 Two taxis roaring around the corners

 at night without their lights on.

Three pairs of socks.

A large green and white bus that whizzed 20 centimeters past my heel as I tiredly looked the wrong way.

At least half a dozen kamikaze motorbike guys, some with their helmets perched on the back of their heads, talking on cell phones and smoking cigarettes.

A couple of people on pushbikes hurtling down pedestrian walkways yelling 'guadar, guardar' (watch out)

One police car hurtling through the pedestrian 'go' signal.

All this in the space of three months. I have, hopefully, now developed a good set of antennas to help me navigate the crazy streets of Capital Federal!

I do, however, kinda like the element of thrill 

seeking and lawlessness of this place.

Fingers crossed. Radar on.

El perro en al subte...

The dog on the subway.

Picture of Olleros estacion 

It was early, more than I liked, when I picked up the Subway(Subte) from my home station Olleros in Belgrano. 12 stops until Catedral, the end stop at Plaza de Mayo, where I would get off/out. At 7.30am it the carriages were already full and it would be 20-25 minutes standing swaying with the crowd, until the destination.

I looked down and along the aisle. I saw two brown eyes staring at me. A dog. El perro. I wondered what station he had got on at.

The crush of legs being too much for him, the dog moved to the reasonably clear space smack bang in the middle between the doors.

After a good scratch and chew on its fleas, the brown dog with a white blaze down its nose curled up in a ball and went to sleep.

Most of the commuters eyed the dog nonchalantly, and new arrivals into our carriage politely stepped over or around the dog.

For several stations it snoozed, switching positions from the curled up ball, to spread out on its side, then head on its paws.

The man beside me in a red jacket took a photo and emailed it to a friend. Another man eating chocolate with a rustling wrapper wagged a no finger at the now eager and watching dog.

I wondered if it did the journey often. Would it get lost and not find its way home.

El perro got off at Tribunales. Maybe seeking justice. Animal rights.

some Alice handywork@ eloise cartoneras

Barrio La Boca

Buenos Aires

La Tortuga Gigante(The giant tortoise)

Delirios Liricos (Delirious lyrics)

A photo of some books i painted one Wednesday, the trick is to paint fast and colourful.

I took too long the first time i went, speed is the M.O.

Now i can whip out 20 coloured covers on an average afternoon.

Meet a group of people from Venezuela three weeks ago, they popped in to check out the cooperativa and exchange contact details, ideas and notes with them. They gave me a couple of their magazines, La Mancha. Their cooperativa is more slick in production. They stayed for a few hours and drank Mate and painted covers. It's a great place to hangout and improve my Spanish. I really love hopping on bus #152 and heading off for and afternoon of painting and hanging out with the regular crew.

a poem from Jane

I saw the seat

Where we sat, we two

To catch a breath or few

After therapy

The sun still shone on the seat

Where we discussed the hue

Of the deco house across the rue

Brown!

I saw now that the seat agreed

Allowing the sun to paint it silvery grey

Smirking at the house, as if to say

Glad I'm not you!

Do you remember, Seat

When we discussed what the cartoneros do?

Ramshackle houses of orange and blue

Chemo purple and red

The seat reminded me

We'd made origami flowers

To while away the hours

At Oncology

You must remember us, Seat

Miss Alice and Miss Jane

(We'd left our parasols at home - again)

Ladies!

The world paused at the seat

In our sunfrocks, that of my mother

Hers, going back another

Worlds apart

Now side by side

Residing

I walked past the seat

It would have been weird

If I had stopped and stared

Move on, Sister!

Piso 2, Teodoro Garcia, Belgrano.

The elevator going to the second floor where i live in the neighbourhood of Belgrano.
I'm sitting in a cafe with wi-fi frantically belting out some posts and emails before they turn of the urgs....not sure if sometimes that happens because i've been here too long and am not spending enough money...?!
I have set myself an aggressive budget (as one of my students called it), $50 pesos per day. To put that in perspective, one cafe con leche can cost anywhere between $9 pesos up to $18pesos, depending on the establishment and the area.
I ordered a coffee and 3 media lunas an hour ago...about $26 pesos....time maybe running out.....
Have been to Uruguay and back and can now flash another 90 day visa in my passport. One hour by boat to Colonia, across the Rio de la Plata. Amazing. More about that later. And loads of pictures. Am still busy exploring the city, it could take a lifetime and, as Sandra put it, it is a bottomless cup.

Feliz Primavera.....Happy Spring

This morning(manana), Saturday(Sabado), i walk(yo caminar) one block(uno cuadra) from home(mi casa) to a cafe in the sun(el sol). Yesterday(ayer) the temperature reached 22 degrees. I'm sure it will be the same today(hoy).

My Friday(Viernes) midday student(estudante) cancelled in the morning, so i had the whole afternoon(tarde) free(libre) to bask in the warmth and loiter(haraganear) around the streets(calle).

It was too nice a day(un muy bien dia) to take the subway(subte), so i flagged down the number 28 bus(el collectivo) to San Telmo, intent on wandering around the Market (Mercardo) and buying my veggies(comprar verduras) for the week(el semana).

Yo voy. I go.

The basil was irresistable(irresistible), the eggplant(berenjena) divine(divino), tomatoes(tomate) shiny in full red(rojo) voluptuousness, onions(zebolla), garlic(ajo), ginger; the subterranean necessities, luscious green(verde) of asparagus(esparragos), a tight purple head of cabbage(repollo), juicy orange carrots(zanahoria) and some clusters of oriental bok choy. All carefully picked from their beds by Gustavo. The vegetable man(el hombre verduras) of the colourful stall. We swapped names(nombres), shook hands and kissed(beso) cheeks. In remedial and gestural Spanish he asked that i return(volver). Si, Si, but of course! Those brown eyed(ojo marron) men and cheeky charm.

I wandered(vagar..emos?) around the vintage and antique clothing section of the market and fortunatley for my budget, only had enough pesos on me to visit Diego at the Bakery (Panaderia) for my pan negra(brown bread) and some heavenly alfajores(biscuits filled with dulce de leche, a sort of gooey caramel that does wonders for the thighs and cholesterol level).

Like Bonaparte's Waterloo....alfajores will be my downfall(ruina/perdicion).

My arms(brazos) starting to get heavy with bags, and ten pesos in my purse, i pay a quick visit(visitar rapido) to the little(pequeno) pizza place(alliteration...) i frequented when i lived in this neighbourhood(vive en el barrio), ordering two(dos) of their tasty(sabroso) empanadas. Spinach and cheese(espinaca y queso), corn and onion(maiz y zebolla). mmmm(mmmm).

I head down the road to catch bus 152 home, a full stomach and sweet smelling goodies, i can't help the smile on my face(sonrisa en mi cara).

With clean clothes(con ropa lavando) for the working week(semana trabajo) waiting to be picked up, vegetables and treats in my hands, the sun and a warm cosy wind(el viento calor). Perfecto!

I can't wait for all the Jacaranda trees(arboles) to explode(estallar) into violet and lavender blossoms(florecer) that i can sit under(debajo) and read(leer). Muy bien.

ps...and if you found this hard to read, i took me a long time to write.!.checking spelling of words etc. a good exercise in memory. I'm finding the spanish grammar hard to remember...andar, ando, andare, anduve, andado....and thats only some of the conjugations of the irregular verb 'to walk/move/go'...so much to learn and so few synapses left....xxx