un tarde feliz navidad...

a late merry christmas.

Merry Xmas mi amigos! We've had

 a blistering one here.

 Monday 24th the temperatures on

the streets reached a 

meltingly high 48 degrees.

I now know how a biscuit feels.

Still, that didn't deter me 

from cookingup a cous cous 

and hummus storm to

take to Ingrid's place

 (one of my students)

Everyone hits the family

 homes the night 

before to wait for Papa Noel, 

the prezzies,the food, the drinks.

 And when midnight

comes they all let off fireworks

 and party bomb things that explode with corazons y estrellas. Hearts and stars.

Even the dog looked alarmed.

I had a great night with all the family and extended family, cousins, aunts and uncles,

 grand parents and kids. About 18 of us, so for me, it was just like the McKenzie family

 get togethers, noisy and lots of mischief going on. Ate until i couldn't say no, practiced

 my habla Castellano and they practiced their habla Ingles, and have got coffee dates

 planed with Ingrid's mother and mad aunty. 

Christmas day, i loitered on the streets with el florista at the flower stall before

 having a big dinner and more wine and alfajores for my second night of Christmas.

Hope you all had a gorgeous Christmas, and i wished you were all here.

 and i mean ALL!

 mucho grande besos y abrazos xoxoxox 

alicia en el pais maraviloso

Eloisa Cartoneras, La Boca. Bs AS

Two book loving dogs wait hopefully.

This is the front door of

 the Elosia Cartoneras.

They have recently been

awarded a prestigious \prize from

The Netherlands, with a

lovely cash injection in

Euros. Two of the group

flew to pick it up from

their Queen.

It was awarded for their

community work and commitment to

enviromental recycling and sustainability.

As well as their great books!

I worked on the stall they had near Plaza de Mayo, December 7th. We were selling books as well as assisting people painting the cardboard covers for their free (sponsored by the government) books of Poesia y Politica....Poetry and Politics, an anthology. It was mad, hot and fabulous. It was a date that celebrated 30 years of democratic voting and highlighting Argentinian production and manufacturing.

A mind blowing day where thousands of people came out to march down the streets with their flags and banners and drums, and i was standing in the thick of it.  

Sends goosebumps down my spine just rethinking of it.

People from all types of unions and organisations and other things i don't know because my Spanish isn't fluent enough. How many times can i mention that i love the way they march, protest and celebrate their right to gather, to oppose, to remember. Sigh. Suspiro. Marvellous.

Fountain by the ecological reserve

This fountain, and i have forgotten the

 name of i tand of the female 

sculptor is totally amazing.

i will find out and re-edit

 this post.

I went on a big walking adventure

 with this fountain being the

 first sight on the days outing.

It was quite controversial in

 its time, a) because

a female had sculpted it

 in the early 1900's

b) because it features nymphs 

and the patriarchs

were suspicious of her

 sexual predilictions.

as a consequence it,

 in its history, has been moved

three times.

Situated beside one of the

 entrances to the 

Costanera Reserva Ecologia Sur, this could be its final resting place. for now.

una otra profesora ingles

Another teacher of English.

This is Susana, we met

one afternoon in the foyer

of a company where we

both have students.

This is her teaching me

the swear words and

phrases in Spanish.

We have a lot of fun

hanging out in the city

when we don't have classes.

My summer wardrobe has

improved considerably thanks

to her and her visible and vocal  horror at seeing some of the clothing and shoe combinations i've been using.

el loro....the parrot

This bird speaks better spanish

than me! No, not quite true,

I am improving and can start

to construct basic

sentences, but whether

i've picked the right

form of the verb is

another story.

This is the third time

i've meet this guy. He likes

 women. His owner lives

near the Eloisa Cartoneras

where i go every Wednesday.

I had the camera with me last

Wednesday and got several

pics. This is one of him looking

down at me wanting to bite the

camera lense. He is so cool, he hangs out on the bars of the window and laughs and chatters away to us inside painting the covers of books. We are preparing for a Fiesta in the streets this Saturday. Lots of music, dancing, food and drink and book making workshops with our group, street art exhibitions. I'm so looking forward to having a let your (now longer) hair down day with all the people i've met in this neighbourhood.

Julio Riccardo Viera

Introducing el florista.

I found him on Avenida

Federico Lacroze.

Belgrano.

Trust me to find the

crazy hippy florist.

This was his idea.The 

bike around Palermo 

lakes with me and

the ukulele in that

little pod for KIDS

on the back.

It was a hilarious 

if not slightly nerve wracking

bicicleta aventura. The traffic here is not for the timid, and i did protest that i could easily get run over because i wouldn't be seen. At one stage i had a green bus breathing down the back of my neck. I preferred the previous day when he doubled me with a cushion on the back.

.All he can say in English is 'come on' and 'i love you'. It makes for interesting conversations.

However, we do manage to make ourselves understood with a combination of mine, theatrics and the Spanish-English dictionary. He is funny...I think!

I am profesora ingles(english teacher) he is el florista (the florist).

 

 

Puente de la Mujer

Puente de la Mujer,

or the bridge of the woman.

Dock area

Buenos Aires.

I went for a big walk a couple

of weekends ago, around the

ecological reserve just a hop

skip and a jump away from

the city centre. And walked

through the dock area on

my way back. This bridge is

quite an engineering feat,

and it pivots on a central

anchor point to allow tall boat

access into the dock.

According to the blurb beside

the bridge it is a stylised

form of a Tango dancer.

While you won't see that from the image i have taken, you will be able to find other images on the net that show the tourist type photo. i'm trying to keep up the delusion that i am not a tourist....an adventurer.!

el hombres lunes clase

quatro bueno  hombres,

lunes tardes

Introducing from left to

right....Guillermo, Maxi,

Javier and Mariano.

Classes with these guys

are EASY!

Sadly we have finished

 for the year, but i

have so enjoyed my

time with these guys,

and laugh, it's been FUN.

Wish you could have met them. I have told them if they are ever in NZ, mi casa es su casa, and that if i can't fit them in, my mates will take the overflow. So don't say i didn't warn you.