La Bomba De Tiempo!

Thanks to a recommendation from our travel friend Aparna, we headed down to a place called the Konex on Monday night for a fantastic adventure in Argentine improvisational percussion.  The place- some sort of abandoned warehouse/outdoor space right in the middle of a city block- was packed.  We waited in a line that stretched around the block for 45 minutes or so before getting in.  The group of percussionists (Spanish readers can learn more at www.labombadetiempo.com), including a few other instruments and vocals are lead by a sort of conductor in an organic exploration of improv and rhythm.  Something like that anyway.  I just enjoyed getting my groove on.   It was so packed, though, it was tough to really let loose.  But then, just being part of a living, breathing, swaying group of young people in skirts and shorts and flip-flops was pretty cool.  

Oh, and it was also comforting to know there was a crazy ginormous scrap metal fly keeping an eye on the festivities at all times:

Anyway - pretty freakin awesome.  A must-see in BA if you go - they play every Monday (lunes).  Back with more later.  

xoxo

K and D

Un Dia en Buenos Aires

Okay - so this is really a recap of a couple days in Buenos Aires.  It's more romantic if I pretend like we do all this stuff in one day (and not what we actually do, which is sleep for half of it and then get our rears in gear).  Well, it was back to the San Telmo market on Sunday.  We wandered through the market stalls and enjoyed tango music and some dancing.  This group, Orkesta Tipica, caught our ears/eyes.  Lovely and passionate.  We even picked up the CD.  Then we grabbed a couple HOT leather jackets (Happy birthday to me!), split a delicious calzone (there goes the vow I made in Peru to never again eat street food... oops) and watched two awesome septuagenarians get their tango on while one of their buddies played some pretty sick guitar.  Mmmm...

Then it was off on a "Cultour" of Buenos Aires.  A couple local university students studying social communication and national history and economics gave us a very unique kind of tour.  It wasn't a typical tour showing off the architecture and culture of BA (which are amazing), but rather a walking tour of major political sites that offered frank discussion of the recent history of economics and government that has shaped Argentina today.  Coming off my "Shock Doctrine" high, it was great to see the places where the recent and not-so-recent history was made.  Our guides were knowledgeable and fun and I recommend the experience to anyone who visits (Thanks for the suggestion, Cecilia!)

Below is a picture a David and me with one of our hosts at the CGT (labor union) center in BA.  We are showing our proud support of our "companeros" in the unions, groups which have had a very turbulent history in Argentina.  Also at the CGT - a small museum dedicated to the beloved Eva Peron.  Did you know it was in large part because of her work that women in Argentina got the right to vote in 1951?   Her foundation, which she created, also funded the training of 6000 nurses!  Even Evita knew how important nurses are to creating a healthier society!  Pro-woman and pro-nurse - I love her, too.   Woohoo!

Below that, just for kicks, is a pic of our guides from the inside of a REALLY old subway car.  According to them, it's from the very early 1900s and is one of the oldest in the world.  You actually had to pry the doors open with your hands to get out...

Well - that's all for now.  I'm nursing a bit of a cold so it's off to bed with me.  More updates to follow!  Looking forward to seeing you all stateside soon!

xoxo

K and D

Felices Fiestas

Happy Chanukah (or "Januka" in Castellano) from Buenos Aires and belated Merry Christmas, too.  We'll light the eighth candle for the eighth day this evening.  It's been bittersweet to spend the holidays in Argentina.  On one hand, we miss our friends and family - and on the other, we are really enjoying our extended family of fellow travelers, expats and Argentines... We are back in Buenos Aires until we head home after New Year's.  We're gonna dig in and see what BA has to offer over the next week.  I'll report back when I see something that makes me think of you. ;-)  

In the meantime - have a safe and happy holiday.  Here's to a better, more peaceful and more prosperous 2009!

xoxo

K and D 

El Vino

We began our tour through the vineyards of Mendoza around noon on a Wednesday.  Being the guidebook and map freak that I am, I planned the exact bus route, exact bike rental place and exact vineyards to visit (yes, that's right: wine tasting on bicycles).  Of course, we ended up on a different bus, at a different bike rental place and only visited three of the seven or so wineries on the list.  It went like this:  Picked up by different bus, driver promises to drop us off at requested bike rental place in Maipu (wine country) and proceeds to pass said bike rental place and drop us off at his buddy's shop: Mr. Hugo's Bike Rentals.  Turns out Mr. Hugo and his wife run a great rental business of beat up mountain bikes out of their little refuge, complete with cold drinks and lots of hammocks for the drunken riders in the afternoon.  So we got our bikes, map and waters and headed out.  First off: Bodega La Rural, where we sort of participated in a tour of old winemaking techniques from the 16th and 17th century - when the Spanish brought over grapes and techniques for use during Catholic mass (check out the cow skin "juicer" below)- before tasting a little Malbec and heading out.  

Then we were off on a sweaty ride through beautiful vineyards and streets without signs to Tempos Alba - a lovely vineyard you can see in the photo at the top.  That's my glass of rosado and Dave's flight of reds.  We ended up spending most of the afternoon here when we were joined by some new friends: Cecilia and Brad from Sweden/US and Erik and Camilla from Sweden.  We meandered down a lovely path to the final stop before closing: Tomasso.  

We were treated to an excellent tasting and, at closing, took a couple bottles and plastic cups out to the vineyard and sat on the wet grass, savoring the wine and a few laughs.  Since wine is best when shared, right?

So thanks new friends, Mr. Hugo and Maipu for a perfect end to a perfect day.

xoxo

K & D

Los Cranky

So 3 weeks together is a long time.  Just us.  We're bound to get cranky, right?  Especially after 13 hours on a "first class" bus ride to Mendoza... complete with inedible food (seriously, worse than hospital food) and uncomfortable sweaty sleeping compartment.   

Ah well - the countryside (paisaje) is beautiful and we're happy to be here, enjoying the delicious wine and easy city walks.  Making lots of headway in The Shock Doctrine (K) and The Road (D).  Good books, good wine, good spouse - now that's nothing to be cranky about, right?  Right.  We are on VACATION, after all!!  So we're gonna turn those frowns upside down and have a better report tomorrow!  Love to all and a BIG happy birthday to Dad/Benny!!!  

xoxo 

K and D

La lluvia...

It's really comin' down right now.  Thunder, lightning, buckets of rain... So much for market day - it's a lazy Sunday in La Casa Shamash.  Complete with leftover pizza for breakfast and a bad Danny Devito movie.   It's beautiful outside our apartment, though (those are my feet on our balcony above).  The air is sticky warm, the sky is grey and the streets are shining.  The thunder is ALMOST as cool as the thunder in a Texas summer storm, but not quite.

We are off to Mendoza, wine country at the base of the Andes, tonight.  By bus.  As in, 13 hours on the bus.  We'll see how our respective back injuries fare - but we're up for the adventure!  We'll have Christmas and Chanukah in the Andes.  Pretty cool, but lonely too.  We'll miss you guys!

Will send an update soon.  We are going to try a bike ride wine-tasting tour - hmmm...

xoxo

K and D

La chica con el sombrero rosa

That's me - the girl in the pink hat.  Dave and I were never far apart thanks to my glaringly tourist-y pink hat that happens to be oh-so-cute.  This lovely number kept my cabeza free from mosquito bites while we toured what has to be the most beautiful place I have had a chance to visit on this great planet.  Over two days, we wandered around both the Argentina and Brazil sides of Iguazu Falls (or Iguassu in Brazil) - a national park in both countries.  I had serious doubts at first that what I was seeing was even real.  There are about 270 waterfalls in this park and thousands of cubic meters per second of water plunge down as much as 80 meters!!!   To top it all off - the place is set amidst a vast expanse of rainforest.  We saw all kinds of beautiful animals and plants.  The park was teeming with life.  The hardest photo subjects were the butterflies, which were abundant and covered with the most diverse and beautiful markings I have ever seen.  We saw all kinds of birds and rodent-like furry things... altogether a great trip.

Well - that's it from us today.  See?  I told you we'd do something more fun this time around.  A BIG thanks goes out to Joseph and Michaeljoon for INSISTING we go to Iguazu no matter what.  It was 100% worth it.  So now - we recommend you visit, too.  

xoxo

K and D

P.S. A parting gift - a pic from the Brazilian side (of the two of us, take by new friend Aparna) and a couple of Dave's (aka the photographer's) best shots...

Caminando...

We are walking.  A lot.  BA is a big ol' city with a lot of sidewalk to cover.  We're hoofing it b/c if we were in the metro, we would miss such wonderful things as the giant freaky pair of eyes someone hung on their balcony (above).  And that would suck!  Anyway, we're enjoying the city but find we are spending more time napping, walking around and drinking copious amounts of cerveza.  

This particular bottle induced a 3 hour nap starting at about 8PM.  We got up at 11 and headed to a tapas bar, Olivas y Lustres, down the street.  The place was hoppin and we enjoyed an epicurean journey through very artistic (if sometimes flavorless) renditions of Spanish and Latin American favorites.  Mmmm..

Sort of a boring entry, I know.  I promise to do better.  Starting tomorrow, we are going to start behaving like real tourists and actually go SEE something!

xoxo 

K and D

Estamos Aqui!

We arrived in Buenos Aires at 11PM on Saturday night, also known as dinner time here.  Thanks to my rusty Spanish and Dave's chutzpah, we have obtained food, shelter and metro access.  Our WiFi connection remained evasive, however.  After a nerve-wracking call to tech support in Spanish (I have a hard enough time with tech support in ENGLISH), we now also have internet!  I feel a renewed sense of energy and excitement knowing I can check facebook at any time.  Phew!!  That was a close one.  If I can get online, I can do anything.

We are off to work out and enjoy the sunny summer Buenos Aires day!  Missing all of you, but having a great time.

Will send an update soon.  The pic is of me in the marketplace at San Telmo.  Every Sunday there is a huge "feria" there, with drum circles (my fave!), tchotskies (Dave's fave!) and much more.  

xoxo

K n D