Breathing In Buenos Aires

The Lennertz Chronicles Part 3: A day at the estancia with the...

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 20:06:50 -0400

The Lennertz Chronicles Part 3: A day at the estancia with the gauchos

The Lennertz Chronicles 2: Colonia, Uruguay

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 09:02:40 -0400

The Lennertz Chronicles 2: Colonia, Uruguay

The Lennertz Chronicles Part 1: La Boca & Recoleta

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 16:10:00 -0400

The Lennertz Chronicles Part 1: La Boca & Recoleta

Easter weekend in Mendoza! We spent a day biking through the...

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 14:46:16 -0400

Easter weekend in Mendoza! We spent a day biking through the vineyards in Maipu Valley (and by “biking”…I mean I was ridden around on a tandem bike all day) tasting fantastic wines and olives oils! The next day we drove out into the Andes for a day of zip-lining and white water rafting…followed by más vino, por supuesto.

Since I broke my camera and then had it stolen (RIP Canon, hello...

Tue, 29 May 2012 20:18:36 -0400

Since I broke my camera and then had it stolen (RIP Canon, hello Kodak disposable…) looks like there’ll be no new photos coming out of this trip. So, as I’ve missed posting 2 months worth of photos, it’s time to update! Backtracking to mid-March, I present my hike in the Chilean Andes! Thanks to our insane swiss tour guide, our anticipated stroll up the mountain turned into a treacherous 10 hour hike. But the views of the mountains and the glacier at the top made it more than worth it - and luckily we had time for a nap at the top before running down the mountain towards our tour van and homemade Chilean empanadas!

My strange new home.

Tue, 22 May 2012 22:24:00 -0400

I am clearly awful at blogging. There’s so much I want to talk about, but I am absolutely terrible at putting my thoughts down on paper - or on this blog, as it would be. But as I haven’t updated in almost two months, and most of my posts have been solely photos, I can put this off no longer! I’ve got to start somewhere. So I’m going to start with a short list. This list will be called:

Things About Buenos Aires That I Find Extremely Strange.

The food. In Buenos Aires, you’ve got five food staples - empanadas, carne carne carne, italian pizza & pasta, anything with ham and cheese, or anything filled with dulce de leche. None of which you will ever find spicy. And all of which you will find locals covering with mayonnaise. I’m all about the dulce and empys (I’ve developed a serious addiction), but can’t quite wrap my head around why mayo is the condiment of choice.
For the amount of carb and meat intake, almost everyone is Buenos Aires is extremely skinny. People, male and female, are noticeably obsessed with being skinny. My host mom asks me every day if I’ve gained weight and how my clothes are fitting, and never fails to point out someone on TV that isn’t super flaca. I’ve noticed in a lot of clothing stores that the clothes aren’t tagged with sizes - they come in one size only, and that size is usually small. The idea of being fat seems so out of the question that the word for fat, gordo, is used as a friendly or romantic nickname like buddy or baby. I don’t know how everyone stays this skinny in a city so in love with mayo and dulce de leche. It might have to do something with mate….
MATE. Mate is a special kind of herbal tea that has its own subculture in Argentina. It’s a tea that has to be drinken (drank? drunken?) from a particular type of cup, a “yerba” gourd, with a silver straw. People drink it all day e’rday (it’s filled with caffeine and suppresses appetite, necessary things for a fast-paced city that likes to stay skinny), so they bring with them everywhere their gourd, straw, thermos of hot water, and bag of mate leaves. No such thing as a “mate to-go.” Mate is also meant to be shared with friends - I’ve seen a bus driver pass his mate gourd to the driver of the bus in the next lane at a stop light.
Ah, the buses, or “colectivos” as they’re called here. This city has the most extensive network of public buses, and the city relies heavily on these buses to get around. However, it’s nearly impossible to get a bus pass, so I’ve had to rely on using coins, or monedas, to pay what seems to be a subjective bus fare - sometimes I pay a peso twenty, sometimes a peso ten, or sometimes just one peso - usually with a wink. About three of the same bus line will come at once, then not another for 45 minutes. I think they just like to drive around in groups so the drivers can chat. A lot of bus drivers decorate the front window of their bus - about half the time with pictures and the names of their kids, and the other half with the playboy bunny logo and purple velvet curtains. Who knows.
Argentina loves its holidays. At least twice a month there’s nationwide bank holidays - and on principle, if there is a holiday on a Tuesday or Thursday, the Argentines will take off the Monday preceding or the Friday following for a full four-day weekend. Holidays are incredibly fun - until you need to take cash out of the ATM, and there’s no cash to be had after the banks have been closed for days.
There are two types of weather - beautiful, or storm of the century. There is no such thing as a light drizzle. When it rains, it POURS. The streets immediately flood, there’s thunder and lightning - and if your lucky your midafternoon hurricane will include balls of hail. But just as abruptly as it starts, its ends. The sun comes back out, its beautiful again, and you instantly forget you were cursing the city just 5 minutes before.
Never will I understand porteña shoe-wear. Hot pink platform velvet birkenstocks, what?

Reading back over this list, I realize I sound a bit cynical, but I don’t mean to be. No matter how strange or even frustrating certain things may be, it’s all these eccentricities that make Buenos Aires such a interesting city, with a very unique culture and insight. And it’s for these eccentricities that I’ve absolutely fallen in love with it!

"Not all those who wander are lost."

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 16:11:22 -0400

“Not all those who wander are lost.”

- J. R. R. Tolkien

Exploring and paddle boating in Bosques de Palermo,...

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 11:17:47 -0400

Exploring and paddle boating in Bosques de Palermo, a massive park just a few blocks from my house.

A few pictures from our beach weekend in Punta del Este,...

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:37:00 -0400

A few pictures from our beach weekend in Punta del Este, Uruguay. Yes, that is a huge hand statue.

Our visit to La Boca - barrio of the Boca Juniors soccer team...

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 17:34:00 -0500

Our visit to La Boca - barrio of the Boca Juniors soccer team and the most vibrantly painted houses in the city!

We spent the afternoon laying in a park with live music outside...

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 17:33:00 -0500

We spent the afternoon laying in a park with live music outside of the Recoleta Cemetery, next to a couple with a litter of dachshund puppies!

Our trip to a ranch, estancia, outside of BA.

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 13:58:54 -0500

Our trip to a ranch, estancia, outside of BA.

No matter where in the world I am, I am always waiting on Cynthia.

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 19:55:00 -0500

The past two days have been super hectic with the beginning of orientation - taking tours to learn about the history of the city, mastering the colectivo and navigating the streets (without getting our stuff stolen), and getting to know all of the so-far INCREDIBLE people in the program. One of the students turns 21 today so us Americans must band together and celebrate his American legality - since I’m pretty sure that in Argentina, if you can order a drink, you are old enough to drink, hence the big 21st celebration here is nil. We’re going to see some live music in the heart of downtown Buenos Aires. I’m supposed to meet up with Cynthia, my good friend from Penn State, before we go out - but true to her Brazilian nature, her sense of timeliness is…nonexistent. So, just updating quickly while I wait! In the next few days we’ll be visiting an estancia, eating our first big asada, and visiting the Boca stadium. More to come pronto!

The new digs!

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 14:33:31 -0500

The new digs!

¡HE LLEGADO! I arrived this morning and, after pure airport...

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 17:37:04 -0500

¡HE LLEGADO!

I arrived this morning and, after pure airport chaos and a consequent three hour nap in my hotel room, set out to explore my new neighborhood: Recoleta. I had a late lunch of empanadas de pollo, and bought myself a dulce de leche pastry and a mini bottle of vino tinto for my night-in with Charlie’s Angels dubbed in Spanish. I also bought flowers to bring to my host mother Susana (who speaks about as much English as I speak Spanish….not much). Almost every other store front is a bakery or a pizzeria - this is my kinda place! I also learned the vitally important lesson that “empuje” means push and “tire” means pull….after an embarrassing trial-and-error with many a door.

I’m getting up early tomorrow to move into Susana’s, and my new, home. Could not be more thrilled!

Books purchased! Nos vemos en un mes, Buenos Aires.

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:54:05 -0500

Books purchased! Nos vemos en un mes, Buenos Aires.

"One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things."

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 21:38:46 -0500

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”

- Henry Miller