Chapter 9: Back to BA

So we made it back to our friend's house in Buenos Aires just one day before Christmas Eve and were able to get some money to buy a duck for Christmas dinner which we shared with Mike and Eliza, our friends here.

Courtney and Mike in front of Chrismas Dinner, Buenos Aires, AR

Shortly after we arrived, Andrew and Vicky showed up to go traveling with Mike and Eliza. After New Years Celebrations and Chris's Birthday Brunch all four of them headed off to the North and left us alone in the apartment for 6 weeks to walk the dogs and care for the apartment.

Chris in front of his birthday cupcakes, courtesy of Eliza. Buenos Aires, AR

Left to Right, Mike, Eliza, Andrew and Vickey leaving for their own adventure, Buenos Aires, AR

What is life like in BA? Do we get to call ourselves ex-pats or tourists? Well, life is surprisingly domestic. To keep within our food budget, we visit El Galpon - sort of like a farmer's market - twice a week for groceries. We've also discovered a similar cooperative just blocks from the house where we got a better idea of the organization of these healthy food markets. Rather than being organized around a central theme like organic or local, these markets support small farm movements in several fertile areas, thereby embodying the various ethics held by tomato farmers in Mendoza, Mate growers in Misiones, and of course local guertas - small plots producing the closest thing to organic available.

The bounty of El Galpón all for about $10 US, Buenos Aires, AR

Our day to day is spent rather calmly. We did the research and math about how long it takes to find a job, what the pay is, and how much we already have filling our days. After a few weeks of trying, we decided to call off the job search. Chris tends to stay below deck, stretching his fingers and retraining his hands to hold the violin with more precision while Courtney sunbathes on the terrace, attempting the unthinkable - she is reading, and finishing, Gravity's Rainbow.

Our Corner street art at Ravignani and Cabrera, Buenos Aires, AR

One good reason for our domestic lifestyle is our primary function here in Buenos Aires: to care for the dogs that Mike and Eliza had to leave behind. They have a dog walker but, like everyone else in Buenos Aires, he left for vacation. So our days are fairly organized around feeding, walking and exercising the pups - who have a lot of energy but need to stay in kennels every time you leave the house (lest they poop and pee and hyperventilate until you return. Strangely they seem to do just fine in the kennels in comparison). Needless to say, a long stay away from the house is hard for them.

Our charges: Inga and Emmy Lou. Plaza Mafalda, Buenos Aires, AR

When we leave the house, we study the Castellano language in the context of political questions surrounding guerillas, transportation, raw food, and worker cooperatives (having accidentally found a Spanish Teacher who loves all the same things we do). At night we attend free tango classes and various performances that the city government puts on in the plazas around the city.

Tango Aéreo in Parque Centenario, Buenos Aires, AR

We've also toured the city a little and now that Courtney is back on a bike, it's even easier to get around to see new things (naturally it has been raining ever since). We've thoroughly explored Palermo (the enormous neighborhood we live in) although there's probably many more secrets out there to see. Palermo spans across the northern part of the city along the river with the exception of Barrio Norte to the south and Belgrano to the north (neither of which are nearly the length of Palermo). It includes Palermo Soho, Palermo Viejo and Palermo Hollywood (we live in Hollywood). It's chalk full of cafes, plazas and parks. In fact a good third of the barrio is the Bosques de Palermo a park along the riverfront. We don't have money for cafes but it's quite nice to walk the dogs past all the people sitting outside them on the sidewalk under the shade of the trees drinking coffee, tea, wine, enjoying themselves. There's also Cementerio La Chacarita which is much lest touristy but equally as stunning as La Recoleta.

Family and geese under the Puente Blanco in El Rosedal - the Rose Gardens of the Bosques del Palermo. Buenos Aires, BA

We've been down south to San Telmo to see the flee market and the colonial architecture, and north to Barrio Norte to see the Cementerio La Recoleta where Eva Perón (Evita) was buried but we were turned away because of our bikes so we went to Floralis Genérica instead. We've been in the Microcentro to find camping equipment, see the masses, and view the famous Plaza de Mayo (the historical local for many a riot and revolution) and far North to Belgrano to see Barrio Chino (China Town) where they sell all the Asian and North American delicacies that are hard to come by in Buenos Aires (not without a decently sized price tag, however). Tomorrow with our Spanish teacher we're going to La Boca to talk to one of many worker-owned collectives in Buenos Aires and hopefully see some Tango.

Floralis Genérica at Plaza Naciones Unidas. Buenos Aires, AR