If you want validation of this fact, just ask any of the many USD students who studied or travelled in South America during intersession. They will probably tell you that their experience at times pushed them to the edge of their comfort zone and in the end opened them up to a different culture, a bigger world. This world, which we have always known about but have never been fully aware of from the comfort of our homes, is full of wonder.

There are people to meet, so different from ourselves yet still possessing innate similarities that make it easy to find connections anywhere in the world. There are wonderful foods — dozens of fruits that the US does not import, Argentine steak, Peruvian Alpaca, empanadas — My mouth waters at the memory.

There is also an incredible amount of beauty to be found. For this, look to the natural wonders such as the exotic trees, majestic mountains, and mind-boggling waterfalls. Beauty is not limited to nature but can also be found in the architecture, art museums, street concerts, jazz bars, zoos, markets and public parks just waiting to be discovered. With wonders like this, it is hard not to let go a little bit to become more a part of this world. If USD wants to raise global citizens, South American travel should continue to be encouraged.

In order to have the best, most eye-opening experiences possible while traveling, it is recommended that all travelers keep in mind a few pieces of well-tested advice:

-Stay in hostels in Buenos Aires. If you do your research, hostels can be the perfect way to sleep comfortably in South America on a budget. Hostelbookers.com or Hostelworld.com are great resources. It is possible to see user reviews and ratings on everything from fun level to cleanliness to staff helpfulness. Hostels are categorized by area, rating, price, and more. Essentially, you can find the perfect fit for you before you even enter a city. If you are a little more willing to fly by the seat of your pants, you can always ask the locals for recommendations on where to stay in their city.

Why would you want to stay in a hostel instead of the more luxurious and private hotel? Besides being cheaper in most, if not all, cases, hostels are a great place to meet friends. You might find someone cooking in the kitchen that would be willing to make dinner with you the next night, or perhaps you’ll meet a new travel companion while waiting in line to use the computer. Bigger hostels known for a more exciting atmosphere tend to be great for meeting fellow travelers, whereas the small hostel model often lends itself to meeting more locals or befriending a hostel’s owners.

-Don’t forget your first aid kit. You never know when you’ll stumble over a curb coming out of a club at 6 a.m. or when the water might drastically disagree with your digestive system. Navigating a foreign medical system can be difficult, so as a traveler it is nice to be prepared to handle minor medical issues independently. If all else fails, many pharmacists are able to help get the right medicine without a doctor’s visit.

-Most importantly, keep an open mind. You never know who you might meet or what you might eat if you are willing to give a new experience a chance. If you follow the “I’ll try anything once” rule, you might find your new favorite food, or you might taste something gross. Is that a risk you’re willing to take? If you’re friendly and genuine with the people sitting across from you at the breakfast table at your hostel, you might get offered a position at their non-profit organization building schools in Nicaragua, or you might just have a pleasant breakfast. If you are respectful and interested in the cultures of the places you visit, you might learn new words and ideas, make transnational human connections or at least be a good example of Americans abroad.

If you’re feeling inspired to explore the Spanish-speaking world straight away, check out the Outdoor Adventures trip to Costa Rica this Spring Break. It will be a trip full of unforgettable adventures and one of a kind exploration. If you’re looking for a longer trip, head over to the Study Abroad office where they will happily help you plan a semester, summer or intersession of learning and exploring in South America.

______________________________________
SOURCE:
“Travel smart in South America”
By Kristiana Lehn
USD Vista
Feb 3, 2012
http://www.theusdvista.com
http://www.theusdvista.com/mobile/arts-culture/travel-smart-in-south-america-1.2762670

Spain’s Charles I was spurred by the vast Inca wealth to seek further riches in South America. He also wanted to block any effort by Portugal to expand its foothold in Brazil. Accordingly, he commissioned Mendoza to mount an expedition to explore and settle the Río de la Plata, a vast estuary in southern South America that had been sighted back in 1516.

Monument to Pedro de Mendoza, Parque Lezama
neighborhood of San Telmo, Buenos Aires

Mendoza set out in August 1535 in command of 800 to 1700 men (accounts vary) in around a dozen ships. The expedition — the largest sent from Spain to the Americas to date — was ill fated, however. A fierce storm blew the ships off course, and after regrouping Mendoza decided that one of his lieutenants was a rebel and had him executed.

Troubles continued after the founding of Buenos Aires. At first the Spaniards received gifts of food from the indigenous locals but soon after fighting broke out between the two groups. That conflict cut off the chief source of food, and the Spaniards began to starve. Mendoza sent a lieutenant upriver in search of a friendlier site. He founded Asunción, now the capital of Paraguay.

Mendoza himself headed back to Spain in 1537. He was seriously ill — perhaps from syphilis — and died on the return trip. His settlement continued to struggle, and in 1541 the remaining colonists abandoned it, heading for Asunción. Not until 1580, when Juan de Garay returned to the scene, was a permanent Spanish presence established at Buenos Aires.

More about the History of Buenos Aires
________________________________
SOURCE:
“Buenos Aires founded”
Thursday, February 2nd
http://blog.oup.com
http://blog.oup.com/2012/02/buenos-aires-founded/

The writer is Trebor Healey. He’s a novelist (“Through It Came Bright Colors”). He’s a poet (Sweet Son of Pan”). He writes short stories (“A Perfect Scar and Other Stories”). Trebor has also worked with a non-profit organization that advocates for economic justice. Clearly, he is on a profound spiritual search.

I asked Trebor what motivates him.

“You wake up one day and you’re still only speaking your native tongue and still living in the state where you were born,” he replied. “You wonder where the time has gone and think of all the things you haven’t done, and how it’s all slipping away rather quickly, and you can’t talk yourself out of adventure.”

This isn’t the era of Ernest Hemingway or F. Scott Fitzgerald, although both famed authors made surreptitious and highly publicized appearances in the Woody Allen movie “Paris at Midnight.” Do they, as well as newcomer Trebor, represent a never ending search for adventure and meaning by creative literati?

Trebor is seated in the livingroom of the home I share with Mark Thompson in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles. It’s a chilly early winter evening. A fire burns gently in the grate. Trebor is animated. When his probing eyes come to rest and fix decidedly on yours, heavy energy is generated in the room. Although he consciously assumes a mantle of relaxation (an easygoing pose), he’s thinking, thinking, thinking. There comes a moment when an attempt to complete a sentence in conversation seems anticlimactic. The restless scene has shifted. The moment has pushed forward and vanished.

“There have been a lot of dark times,” Trebor says. “I’m a restless soul I suppose. A year ago I felt at the end of my rope in every way. I always wanted to be a novelist in a service-oriented profession, and that’s where I ended up. The problem is what to do once you get there. Many people do more of the same. I know a guru who says ‘the world’s on fire, grab a bucket.’ I actually want something else beyond it.

“I think we are growth-oriented, we just keep opening up. Often we get lost. We get depressed and discouraged. Or I do anyway. How I put a positive spin on depression is by seeing it as a sort of gauntlet. Ultimately, I think it’s a kind of spiritual challenge. To me, it’s always been Rilke’s call: ‘You must change your life — go and do the heartwork.’ Or like a shaman I know always says: ‘It’s about getting the energy moving again.’”

What makes Trebor’s energy move?

“There’s a public and a personal side to it. When people get together with a common goal to improve their lives and communities, it’s the power of organizing. Leaders develop. People become positive and empowered. I like community organizing and coalition building and a policy goal. For example, increasing the wages of the lowest paid workers, many in hotels and restaurants. Or bringing grocery stores to ‘food deserts’ — under-served areas where there are fewer choices for healthy shopping and more fast food.”

Is there a more personal side to making Trebor’s energy move? What about Buenos Aires?

“I found a walking café book culture. As a writer, spending so much time in isolation, I value the public street and café life. I found a wonderful man in Buenos Aires. He’s a dancer, and more than anything, a kind of clown, always laughing, game for just about anything. I realized when I met him he was different. I rolled my eyes in jadedness. I tried to forget him. But he kept saying and doing things like an unfolding flower.”

Chatting with Trebor was somehow like a reunion of writers. I’ve been one all my life. In middle school. High school. College. Working in communications. Writing books and articles and reviews. A task and vocation that never ended. Did Trebor have a similar background and experience?

“Since I was a kid. Always I loved books. A writer is a person touched in their deepest core by words. I seek silence and slow thoughtful conversation and consideration of a topic. All those things are under assault right now. I’m trying to help people understand the nature and naturalness of sexuality, the natural beauty of it. I don’t have an ultimate goal per se. I think what is important is the journey and to keep writing.”
________________________________________
SOURCE:
“A Gay Author’s Spiritual Journey”
Rev. Malcolm Boyd
Writer-in-residence, Epis
http://www.huffingtonpost.com
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-malcolm-boyd/gay-author-spiritual-journey_b_1184771.html

Fillings vary from province to province based on the meats and produce that were historically available and include chorizo and cheese; beef with paprika, onion, eggs, and olives; and sweet corn. In Buenos Aires, you can find many more varieties at restaurants, which designate each pastry’s filling with a different pattern baked into the dough.

Recipe

To make the traditional beef filling, melt 1 tablespoon of butter with 2 tablespoons of corn oil and sauté 1 large onion until transparent. Add 1 pound of ground beef, 2 tablespoons of raisins, 1 tablespoon ground hot and sweet paprika, 1 tablespoon ground red dry spicy peppers, 1 tablespoon cumin, and salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Sauté until the meat is cooked and then put the mix in the refrigerator overnight, or for at least 1 hour. Just before cooking, add 2 cups of chopped hard-boiled eggs and ½ cup of chopped green olives.

Make the crust by mixing 4 ounces of butter or lard and 1 2/3 cups of flour in a bowl. Add a brine solution (1 cup of water with salt) until the dough can be easily formed into a ball. Let the dough rest about for 30 minutes and then roll sections into balls the size of half an egg. Roll the dough out into circular shapes about an 1/8-inch thick.

Spoon the filling onto ½ of the rolled out dough and use a drop of water to fold the ends of the dough together, making a crescent shape. Press the edges with the tip of a fork or twirl the dough by hand to seal it. Place on a nonstick baking pan and bake at 350 degrees, until the crust turns light brown. You can also fry the empanadas in sunflower oil and then sprinkle with sugar.

______________________________________________
SOURCE:
“8 Foreign Dishes to Master Abroad”
Jan 30, 2012
http://www.thedailymeal.com
http://www.thedailymeal.com/8-foreign-dishes-master-abroad

Tango, Buenos Aires

The tango is a gorgeous symbol of Argentina and the passion of its people. The dance has become almost a cliché, but still to see it in motion surrounded by the brightly-painted pastel buildings of the La Boca district of Buenos Aires is a truly unique and beautiful experience.

While seeing the passionate dance done by veteran Argentine dancers is awe-inspiring, to truly appreciate the difficulty of tango you may want to try it yourself. A fun and more authentic way to catch the first few movements of this fluid dance is to go to a tango club. If you hit one of these on the right night you will be able to get a short lesson, which will be followed by free dance time. If you are not an experienced tango dancer this is probably just a good time to observe real Porteños (people from Buenos Aires) in the throes of a dance just between two people and not for an audience. However, if you would like to learn more of the dance and get a little time to practice there are also full classes available all over the city.

Just to observe the dance at its highest and most entertaining level one can’t miss the opportunity to see a live tango show in Buenos Aires. These shows range from glitzy stage performances with props and a story-line to more simple dances in restaurant basements. One of the longest running and best shows is at the Buenos Aires institution Café Tortoni. Here you can catch a tango show with an old world ambiance in the dimly lit brick basement after a meal at the classic eatery.

Penguins, Punta Tombo

Somewhere around the middle of September every year a small desolate strip of rocky terrain along the south-east coast of Argentina turns into one of the world’s most amazing breeding grounds. It starts with the arrival about 400,000 Magellanic penguins at Punta Tombo Wildlife Reserve and ends when the waddling tuxedo-clad creatures return to the sea to feed for the next four months.

Punta Tombo, being the world largest Magellanic penguin colony, was designated as a fauna reserve by the province of Chubut in 1979 and this puts restrictions on where the visitor can travel. These restrictions should be strictly observed as they are there to protect the penguins, and the visitors, as the penguins are notoriously protective of their young. Despite the restrictions this amazing reserve will give you a once in a lifetime chance to not only see thousands of the adorable water-birds, but to actually get very close to them as they waddle right across the path on their way down to the sea.

The thin peninsula is also home to a variety of other wildlife, from the llama-like guanaco to the cormorant. In fact the entire area is full of interesting wildlife including Right and Orca whales as well as sea lions and dolphins. This makes a visit to Punta Tombo not only unforgettable, but also possibly part of a larger Argentine safari.

Going to see the world’s largest Magellanic penguin colony is surprisingly easy as Punta Tombo lies only 110 km from the city of Trelew and only 180 km from the major beach town of Puerto Madryn. This means that it is easy to book a tour from the town. If you would like to see the penguins on your own schedule and have your own transport you can follow the paved Route 3 south from Puerto Madryn until Trelew where you change onto the small provincial Route 1. This is the unpaved section that brings you to the reserve, which can be impassable in bad weather – so check ahead of time.

Hill of Seven Colours

The Cerro de Siete Colores (Hill of Seven Colours) in the small town of Purmamarca is one of the most spectacular examples of the amazing geological sites along the Quebrada de Humahuaca (Humahuaca Canyon). This canyon, which follows the Rio Grande, is characterized by the mineral-rich hillsides that have made it an other-worldly landscape splashed with bright earth hues – ranging from deep reds to greens and even bright oranges. The drive along Route 9 through the quebrada between the towns of Purmamarca and Humahuaca is surrounded by some of the area’s most impressive beauty. The trip isn’t a hard one to make, either, as there are frequent buses coming from the provincial capital, Jujuy. However, a nice alternative to allow for photo stops is renting a car in Jujuy.

Although it is the natural beauty that draws most of the visitors to the area it is of cultural interest as well. There is a strong influence from the many indigenous people that have called the region home for thousands of years. The cultural traditions of these people have been well-preserved and are very visible in the markets and adobe-style houses of the region. There are even white adobe churches more commonly associated with the highlands of Bolivia and Peru.

Gauchos

A dusty path in the blazing sun in the mountains of central Argentina – and around a bend comes the first of an extended line of horses. They plod along, some stopping to eat the grass at the side of the road. The last three horses to come around the bend are carrying three sun-soaked men wearing large round hats with folded edges, their baggy pants straddling the saddle. They shout at the horses and keep them moving down the trail toward the river. These are gauchos, Argentina’s answer to North America’s cowboys.

Examples of this fascinating culture can be found throughout the country in nearly any rural area, but one town is especially known for its gauchos. San Antonio de Areco sits in the rolling pampas about 113 km north west of Buenos Aires. One of the main reasons for its distinction as the gaucho capital of Argentina is the fact that one of the country’s most famous gaucho tales, Don Segundo Sombra, was set in the town and the author, Ricardo Güraldes, called the town his home. There is also a annual festival, the día de la tradición, which celebrates all the parts of the gaucho lifestyle which are enjoyed by Argentine people to this day. Although San Antonio de Areco may be the recognized gaucho culture centre of Argentina, examples of it can be found in every part of Argentine life.

One of the most important influences that gauchos have had on Argentina is the effect they have had on Argentine cooking and diet. Barbecued meat isn’t only a major part of the average Argentinean’s diet but the barbecue, or asado, is an important part of the social fabric for most people. Gaucho parties and ranch tours in Buenos Aires.

Perito Moreno Glacier

One of Argentina’s single most incredible natural wonders is is Perito Moreno Glacier, in the southern Patagonian province of Santa Cruz. The sight of this craggy ice wall rising 74 metres out of the water of Lake Argentino is truly awe-inspiring. This huge wall only shows about one-seventh of the actual height of the glacier as the rest is below the waterline.

This wall is the front line of one of the world’s few advancing glaciers and is followed by the massive ice flow that stretches 30 km back to the enormous South Patagonian Ice Field. The whole glacier covers an area of over 257 square km. With such a mass of advancing ice it is not rare to see huge chunks of ice (some the size of houses) begin to crack off the mass, sending booming gunshot sounds across the lake, followed by an eruption of water as the chunk splashes down.

Perito Moreno Glacier is only one of 48 glaciers that flow from the South Patagonian Ice Field, but it is definitely the most easily accessible. Countless buses run daily from the nearby tourist centre of El Calafate. These take you to the Los Glaciares National Park with a stop at a boat dock, where you have the opportunity to take a short boat trip to see the glacier from the water level. From there you will be dropped at the main visitor centre where you can set out on the winding series of boardwalks and staircases that allow you to see the glacier from many angles.

Los Glaciares National Park was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1981 and remains one of Argentina’s most important and impressive natural wonders. For the closest possible look at the glacier ice walks are offered, which take you on a short guided tour around one portion of the glacier.

El Chalten

The rugged and jagged peaks of the Fitz Roy range surround the small town of El Chalten Argentina and make the developing tourist town an amazing place for Argentina’s outdoorsy visitors. The sight of the Torre and Fitz Roy peaks rising sharply above the surrounding hills can be seen from many places in the town. These two peaks, some of the most impressive and recognizable in Argentina, are accessible by beautiful day hikes that start at the outskirts of the town.

The town itself holds its own charms, as it has only begun becoming a tourist draw. You can still make your way around town without having the gorgeous mountain surroundings obscured by rows of tourist shops, high-rise hotels and exhaust-belching tour buses. There are definitely enough amenities for any independent traveller to be very comfortable, although at this point they are all in their early stages of development. Still, the parks administration office in the town has helpful information and can give you simple maps.

In addition to the two major mountains of the area there are countless other day hikes, multi-day camping excursions or full rock climbs you can embark on using the small town as your base.

Lake District

One of Argentina’s biggest draws for its own people is the stunning lake district. This area, stretching along the western border with Chile, boasts some pristine mountain wilderness and incredible, clear lakes.

Many of Argentina’s own tourists flock to Bariloche around holiday times for its ski slopes, lake side scenery, and European chocolate all within a well-established tourism infrastructure. Bariloche is also the best place to get all the information and gear needed to start out into the back-country of Nahuel Haupi National Park, which encompasses much of the lake district. The park is home to day hikes and multi-day trips that can take hikers to remote lakes, mountains or some of the parks snow-capped volcanoes.

For those looking for a spot in the lake district that doesn’t require days of hiking – but still isn’t a tourism Mecca – there are still plenty of options. The quaint towns of San Martín de los Andes, El Bolsón and Villa la Angostura all offer different options. From the upscale lakeside beauty and European-inspired architecture of San Martín to the fun and whacky hippie market of El Bolsón there are so many options of things to do and see in this highlight of Argentina.

The Friendliest People on Earth

Although it is the bounty of natural and cultural sites that will attract you to this diverse and beautiful land, it will be the endless kindness of the people that will make you want to stay forever.

Whether you are looking confused on a busy street corner in Buenos Aires or fumbling through a Spanish sentence in a small town market, the people of Argentina are incredibly patient and friendly and you will be amazed at how far they will go out of their way to help. Not only will the locals’ helpful nature be a big aid when you are lost or puzzled, but the passion of the Argentine people is what makes them even more alluring. This passion comes through in every facet of life – boisterous dinners starting just before midnight, the love of dance, food, wine, and most of all fútbol (football, soccer).

Whatever it is that brings you to Argentina there will be many, many reasons that you will want to stay. To any visitor who spends some time it becomes obvious that Argentina is so much more than its obvious, world-class sites it is about the amazing experiences to be had and the incredible people that you will encounter along the way. It is this mix of sites, experiences, people, and of course the food and drink that make Argentina one of the world’s most amazing places to visit. Once you spend a little time you will realize that no amount of time will ever feel like enough.
__________________________________________
SOURCE:
“8 Reasons to Stop Putting Off That Argentina Trip”
By Brendan Nogue
January 4th, 2010
http://www.bootsnall.com
http://www.bootsnall.com/articles/10-01/8-reasons-to-stop-putting-off-that-argentina-trip.html

Waiting at the gate to board the flight to Buenos Aires, an awful sense of disquiet creeps upon me. I’m making a huge mistake. I’m flying to Argentina for a week, on my own, to learn to dance the Argentine tango. What the hell am I doing? I don’t speak a word of Spanish. I haven’t danced a choreographed step since 1982, when I tapped non-rhythmically along to The Red, Red Robin in a community centre. The only things I know about Argentina are that it’s very far away, we went to war with them once, and years ago I saw a film where their king appeared to be Jimmy Nail. And, worst of all, the Argentine tango (I’ve checked with YouTube) is a complex dance, built on instinct, litheness and a non-coy Latin American attitude to sensual proximity to strangers. I, on the other hand, am fully British in my dispensation of body contact. Grab me without permission and I go rigid and show fangs, like a tomcat being forced into a pet carrier.

As my flight is called, the terror of a week at the Tango Escuela de Carlos Copello begins to take hold. Copello is a born-and-bred tanguero. His website is full of shots of women chucking their ankles over his shoulders and dancing with their bodies wrapped round his, their faces tucked intimately into his neck or gazing deeply into his eyes. “I feel a bit like crying,” I confess pathetically to the Argentinian businessman stuck beside me and my anxieties for 13 long-haul hours.

“Oh, don’t worry,” he says, unfazed. “Everyone cries in Argentina. You’ll fit in well. We’re very dramatic people.”

As it turns out, I do fit in rather well. Buenos Aires is beautiful, hot and glamorous, and the malbec is plentiful enough to make me feel roughly similar. I arrive at dawn on a bright November morning and jump into a dirt-cheap yellow cab that sneaks me into the well-heeled Recoleta district, to Algodon Mansions, which is going to be my home for the week and which slightly ruins any future trips to Argentina – the suites are enormous, with showers that fit at least a dozen people (I estimate; I couldn’t get a crowd large enough to test this) and attended to by 24-hour butlers. There is also a balcony full of flora and fauna on which my own chorus of birds gathers to chirp each morning while I eat pain au chocolat, the back of my hand resting on my forehead like a 1930s movie starlet as I wonder at what time it is polite to crack into the Algodon Estates pinot noir.

Grace Dent is put through her tango paces in Buenos Aires: ‘Grab me
without permission and I go rigid and show fangs, like a cat in a pet carrier.’
Photograph: Alejandro Kirchuk for the Guardian

November and December are good months to be in Buenos Aires. The weather is warm, not yet searing, and the polo season is in full swing, as the pilgrimage of ruddy-cheeked, expat Prince Harry-alikes bumbling through the airport will denote. Do spend a Saturday afternoon at the Campo Argentine del Polo watching men on horses being macho, then carry on to after-parties in Palermo Hollywood with the great and good of Argentina’s equestrian-obsessed party rabble. If you’ve read Jilly Cooper, you’ll know what goes on.

Take a tolerant credit card and flat shoes for shopping in Patio Bullrich and Arandú (think Ibiza Town married with Knightsbridge) and pack clothes made of stretchable fabrics because you’ll consume too many steaks, brioche-based pies and cocktails. Do pack bug repellant: the mosquitos are silent, invisible, industrious buggers who adore sweet British skin. And definitely, definitely try to learn tango.

I say the latter part with hindsight. On day one of lessons with Carlos Copello, stood in a dance studio, watching the Argentinians pass round a cup of mate (the never-ending communal equivalent of tea), wearing my stupid tango shoes – too low to be glamorous, too high to be practical, so truly useless – I want to run away. Carlos seems to sense I’m going to be trouble from the moment he explains that tango is a dance where the man leads, the man makes all the decisions and that – unless you want to be seen as either insane or a sex-crazed harpy – a woman never suggests a dance and monitors her eye contact with men.

“Pghhhgh,” I say, a sound of feminist dissent I find is usually understood in all languages.

We begin with “the basic step”, the one that carries two people round a dancefloor clockwise. Facing Carlos, my role goes: left foot forward, right sweeps to the side, two quick steps back, leaving left crossing right, right foot back, left sweeps across and both feet together. Repeat. It takes me two hours of stepping on Carlos’s shoes and being moaned at to master this. Two of the most excruciating hours of my life. I can do the feet. I can even do “ochos”, the twirly-feet steps that abbreviate the basic step. What I can’t do is let Carlos lead while I wrap around him, pulling a distant, yet vaguely lustful expression. He seems furious at even the slightest hint of authority in my body language. “Tranquilo,” he says, 275 times in the first lesson. I’m supposed to be looking into his eyes, or have my head tucked sensuously into his neck. To me, this feels wrong. In Britain, the only time someone touches you so tenderly, they’re either your official “other half”, someone you’re about to get off with, or you’re being sexually molested. So how come everyone else at tango school just gets on with it? I can’t unlearn decades of social conditioning overnight, but I had better bloody well try if I don’t want to be the pale English wallflower with the cat’s bum mouth for the next seven days.

Days pass, as do my jet lag and my feeling of pointless anxiety. I’m paired with Carlos’s son, Maxi, a strapping, 6ft 2in twentysomething with large, hazel eyes and broad shoulders. He begins lessons with long periods of making me gaze into his eyes and hum along to the music, so we are “sensing the rhythms in each other’s bodies”. Oddly enough, dancing with someone so gorgeous and whom I have no aversion to whisking me around the floor like a compliant rag doll makes things much jollier. A small flash of tanguero spirit takes hold – the music, the flamboyance, the leg kicks, the ability to grab a stranger and dance for four minutes emitting the vibes that you’re wildly in love, then turn on a heel and walk off. Suddenly, it all begins to make more sense. If you let go, float above your British worry and shame, and begin dancing round and round the floor, tango will grip you like a fever.

By day three, the tutors roar with glee as I dance rather proficiently, pulling the trademark Argentinian face of aloof, undying love. I take group lessons, solo lessons and technical classes that explain precisely what muscle should be working where and when. By day five, I think nothing of venturing out into the rush hour traffic to dance with Carlos for a photoshoot. I don’t care, and the passersby don’t, either. Everyone is quite dramatic in Argentina – my travel companion on the flight out was right.

I miss Buenos Aires desperately. My tango shoes sit expectantly under my bed in wintery east London. I’m still 99% stiffly British, but now with a tiny touch of tanguero madness lying dormant in my soul.
________________________________________
SOURCE:
“Grace Dent learns to tango in Argentina”
By Grace Dent
guardian.co.uk
Friday 27 January 2012
http://www.guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2012/jan/27/argentina-tango-lessons-grace-dent?newsfeed=true

• Grace Dent travelled with Latin American specialists Dehouche on their Tango Experience. Seven nights at Algodon Mansion, including five private lessons at Tango Escuela Carlos Copello, three group classes and a Rojo Tango show Buenos Aires, starts from £3,200pp, including return flights with British Airways.

• WIN: Belly-dancing lessons in Morocco. For full details of the holiday on offer, plus how to enter the competition and full terms and conditions, go to weekend travel competition

For the Sandymount girl who left Ireland just weeks after her graduation in 1995, putting down roots in a foreign city was nothing new. While studying German and philosophy at UCD, a green card lottery win saw her move to San Francisco. She describes herself as the last of a generation of “presumptive emigrants”.

While the job scene in Ireland had started to pick up, she says that, for her, emigration was “just a sort of well-beaten path. I was sort of raised in the culture of that.”

Though always interested in fashion and design, in San Francisco Kennedy got sucked into the tech boom and spent the next 10 years working in Silicon Valley. Working for companies including Knight Ridder, the then parent company of newspapers such as the San Jose Mercury News and the Miami Herald , helping to bring the titles into the digital age, Kennedy describes the culture in the Bay area at the time as “wild”.

“I was there through a period when investment was coming in all over the place,” she recalls. “There was a frenzy of investing in companies that people didn’t really understand. The more of a fresh pup you were, the more money they were going to give you to develop new products.”

But by around 2001, the tech crash brought such giddiness to a halt. While her job was unaffected, she says social life in the Valley took a noticeable dip.

“People had crazy party budgets and would rent out nightclubs. There was always stuff going on. Then, all of a sudden, people were more conservative and were cutting back,” she recalls.

She decided to take four months off to travel around Central America. The trip was, for Kennedy, a breather to decide how to act on a persistent niggle to follow a more creative path. “I was looking at the future and thinking ‘is this really what I want to be putting all my energy into?’ I just felt I had a more creative calling that wasn’t being addressed.”

Helping out at a friend’s art gallery on her return to San Francisco enabled her to get a feel for what it might be like to work in a more creative field. Going back to study interior architecture and working part-time in a high-end Palo Alto furniture store while continuing to juggle some tech consultancy work solidified her decision to switch tack.

Over time, the store, from which she sold $250,000 worth of desks and chairs to Facebook – “they were hiring like crazy” – provided a platform from which to build her own client base. In 2005, Susan Kennedy Design was born.

But, by the end of 2006, “an itch and a curiosity” about New York City got the better of her and she moved east. The move proved to be “almost as much a culture shock as moving from Ireland to San Francisco,” she says.

“I found it a very different culture and a little shocking, to be honest. It’s a much more intense city and a much more money-driven city.”

She spent three years in New York, working on design projects including the revamp of trendy Tribeca apartments, Upper West Side brownstones, and – far removed from diddly-eye – a fit-out of the stylish Lower East Side Irish pub, Donnybrook Bar.

However, with the economy taking a knock in 2009, forcing clients to put projects on hold, Kennedy took the opportunity to travel to South America. The decision proved fateful.

“From the moment I got to Buenos Aires, I fell in love with the city,” she says of the Argentinian capital. Drawn in by its architecture, parks, tree-lined streets and the energy and friendliness of the porteños, she says: “I liked it so much, I just stayed.”

She built up her business by networking with everyone from the local hairdresser to the Peruvian restaurateur on her street, as well as mining the ex-pat scene. Her most high-profile assignment so far has been the design of a stylish boutique hotel that opened in December. She met her Argentinian partner while working on the project, and the couple have joined forces to launch their own furniture brand, Red Fox, this month.

Argentina is currently enjoying a boom, and Kennedy knows many in her field who have travelled there and found work – though there are some cultural foibles to be grappled with. “A lot of business is done by personal connection. People will give work to an unqualified cousin faster than they will to a qualified person they don’t know,” she says.

And in an economy that has known many booms and busts, there can be a more short-term view of business relationships too.

“I think here it’s a little more hand to mouth. It’s ‘how can I get as much as possible from this transaction right now?’”

Another hazard is fluctuating inflation rates, which can cause the cost of materials to rise by 20 per cent in a matter of months. And high levies on imported goods, put in place to protect Argentinian jobs, mean that “an Italian fabric might be twice as expensive here as it is in New York”.

That said, Kennedy loves her new home and says graduates now facing emigration should not be daunted.

“Think of it as putting hairs on your chest,” she says. “That experience of living in a different country and dealing with new challenges and people – you will be the stronger for it.

“And Irish people, I’ve found, are made welcome everywhere.”
_________________________________________
SOURCE:
“Interior designer feels right at home in Buenos Aires”
The Irish Times
Friday, January 27, 2012
http://www.irishtimes.com
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2012/0127/1224310800246.html

Today, thankfully, an invasion of a much more positive sort is taking place. A flurry of boutique hotel openings, a roaring wine trade and the shifting global focus towards South America as a whole are all factors inciting British travellers to make their next stop Argentina.

Walking through the streets of capital city Buenos Aires does feel strangely familiar: patisseries piled high with creamy cakes, cafes on street corners – it’s all very European and distinctly Italian.

The ornate architecture, spanning colonial, art deco and neo-gothic styles, could easily have been lifted from Paris, Barcelona or Rome, and is a reminder of the city’s decadent past.

A fine example of turn-of-the-century grandeur is the recently- restored Teatro Colon – which, according to the late Luciano Pavarotti, was one of the best opera houses in the world.

Golden-framed balconies draped with thick velvet curtains, and magnificent chandeliers hanging in marble-pillared halls are riches very much at odds with the economic turmoil that plagued Argentina in the late Nineties. That period of hyperinflation is now over, however, and the country is developing at a rapid rate.

From the French-style service in restaurants, to the dusty antique shops of San Telmo selling treasures once imported from overseas, European sentiment can be felt throughout the city.

It’s not by coincidence.

The arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the 15th and 16th centuries had a dramatic impact on all of South America, but it was the influx of immigrants from Genoa in the late 19th and early 20th century that has really shaped the cultural landscape of Buenos Aires.

The famous Caminito, a street museum filled with brightly painted houses, souvenir stores and steak restaurants, is a recreation of their dockside dwellings and is now one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city.

Entertainment takes place every day; tango dancers in red dresses split dangerously high up the thigh cling to their partners in a passionate embrace, while gauchos (Argentine cowboys) in culotte-style trousers perform traditional dances involving furious Cossack-like squats.

The Caminito can be found in La Boca, which is also home to the most famous football stadium, Bombonera, where sporting deity Maradona once played for Boca Juniors.

I’m told devotees have even set up a Church of Maradona, where it’s possible to get married. To seal the agreement, bride and groom must simulate the ‘hand of God’.

Despite my efforts, sadly I never found the church. Portenos (residents of Buenos Aires) have a reputation for being cold and arrogant, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, the only frosty reception I encountered in Argentina is when I left the city and headed south to the ice fields of Patagonia.

When I first arrived, after a three-hour flight from Buenos Aires, I was relieved to find the area’s trademark gusty winds remarkably sedate. With its beautiful but unforgiving windswept plains bathed in an icy glow, it feels like one of the last unsullied corners of the earth, where nature still has the upper hand over man.

It was already 9.30pm, but the sun was still a good 90-degree angle from the ground.

DURING the summer months of November to February, the days are long with temperatures of up to 24 degrees centigrade – ideal conditions for trekking.

I made my way to Los Glaciares National Park, home to the Perito Moreno, one of earth’s few ‘advancing glaciers’.

This astounding 5km mass of ice tumbling down into the Lago Argentino creaks and lurches forward at a rate of about two metres a day. At sunset, the 60-metre high icy mound is cloaked in orange; by sunrise it shimmers in pink; and as the day takes hold, deep blue beams of light appear to pierce this fairytale creation that could pass itself off as a majestic wedding cake.

Getting up close – either by boat, trekking with an organised tour, or by foot on one of the viewing platforms – affords an even greater sensory experience.

Sight is one thing, but it’s the sound that really brings Perito Moreno to life. Sucking, popping, croaking and crunching – the ice is in constant flux. At any given moment, blocks fall away to create icebergs in the creamy, silver lake.

At the north side of the park, a three-hour bus journey from Calafate along the impressively photogenic Route 40, lies El Chalten. This small town is the stepping off point for some of the area’s best trekking routes.

I set off on a walk that should take eight hours, but two hours in and I’d barely covered any ground.

Every second step is a photo opportunity. Rivers, frozen in time, cascade through mountain ranges; gnarled tree trunks and branches, burned silver by the wind, cover the forest floor like victims on a battlefield. The final stretch of my steep climb to the Lago de los Tres, nestled below the jagged peaks of Mount Fitz Roy, was tough, arduous and at times – with gale force winds whipping against my face – almost death defying.

But all the pain, anguish and buckled joints are worth the final reward.

Crossing one last peak, I found myself at the base of a turquoise blue lake, within a stone’s throw of the Fitz Roy swathed in thin smoky wisps of cloud.

If Patagonia has more in common with the icy landscapes of Antarctica, the tropical forests of Misiones – in north-east Argentina are closer to the postcard image of South America.

A FIVE-HOUR flight from El Calafate, via Buenos Aires, it feels like a different continent. The area’s largest attraction is the Iguazu Falls, a series of 275 waterfalls and cataracts shared by Brazil and Argentina.

Argentine authorities have done well to save their park from descending into a Disneyland attraction.

A small train brings visitors to the base of the Devil’s Throat, a long and narrow chasm where half the river’s water falls, while walkways wind through the forest and under waterfalls giving a true sense of the surroundings.

Sarah Marshall was a guest of Journey Latin America. A 16-day holiday to Argentina starts from £3,657 per person, inc. flights. Visit journeylatinamerica.co.uk or call 020 8747 8315.

Air Europa flies from London Gatwick to Buenos Aires, via Madrid, from £691.30 return (aireuropa.com/0871 423 0717).
___________________________
SOURCE:
“TRAVEL: Argentina becoming a hot favourite with travellers”
The Liverpool Post
Jan 26 2012
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-culture/2012/01/26/travel-argentina-becoming-a-hot-favourite-with-travellers-99623-30193838/

Hooded, tortured, handcuffed, chained by their feet to the wall _ that’s the way prisoners at the Navy Mechanical School were kept at a notorious secret detention centre during the 1976-83 military dictatorship in Argentina.

mid the horror they experienced, the detainees were aware of the bell ringing next door at a school. On one side there was pain, suffering and death. On the other, children playing, laughter, the school bell, the sound of a ball bouncing in the yard: the noises of life.

“The prisoners kept careful note of the ringing of the bell at the school next door and of other sounds that could help them keep track of when it was daytime versus nighttime,” said Debora, a guide at the Navy Mechanical School (Esma, to give it its Spanish acronym). “We know that one of the worst forms of psychological torture is not to have a sense of time or space,” she added.

Esma, one of the worst of the major torture and murder sites during the military dictatorship, was converted in 2004 into a memorial museum and cultural centre. It also serves as an archive for records from that time and as headquarters for human rights groups such as the Mothers and Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo.

In late October, Esma was once again in the news in the first sentencing to come in the trial of 15 suspects accused of crimes against humanity committed within that facility. Among them were former navy officer Alfredo Astiz (“The Angel of Death”) and Jorge “Tiger Acosta” who, together with seven others, were sentenced to life behind bars for their crimes. Another four defendants received sentences of 18 to 25 years in prison and two were acquitted but remain in prison awaiting trial on other charges.

The basement where prisoners were tortured and a view of the ‘capucha’
hall with its high grey wooden beams, where prisoners were kept lying
inside wooden cots on the floor with artificial light beaming down on them constantly.

The 17-hectare Esma compound contains about 30 buildings, one of which is the Officers’ Club. It is there where the roughly 5,000 prisoners were kept.

Some of the victims included Azucena Villaflor, a founder of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, and French nuns Alice Domon and Leonie Duquet, who were kidnapped in 1977 because they were linked to the nascent movement of mothers searching for their abducted children. Only 4% of Esma victims survived. The others were killed in the so-called “death flights” in which they were thrown alive from airplanes flying over Rio de la Plata.

Tours of the Esma museum begin in front of the Officers’ Club. Cars would drive up to the entrance bringing the victims, gagged, handcuffed and hidden in the trunks. It is hard, viewing the sunny exterior of the structure today, as hundreds of birds twitter in the trees, to picture the profound horror described by the tour guide.

Walking down steps that lead to the club’s basement is a sobering experience. Detainees were tortured in small cubicles made with agglomerated wood. There was a “nursery” that served as clandestine maternity ward.

About 35 women gave birth in the Esma, among them Alicia Alfonsin, mother of Juan Cabandie, currently a politician with the Victory Front who represents a constituency in Buenos Aires. Cabandie was torn from his mother’s arms when he was only two weeks old and raised by a policeman and his wife. He did not learn his true identity until he was 26.

The basement was also a centre to produce military audiovisual propaganda and the site of a printing shop and photo lab. The guards forced prisoners to produce fake passports and identity documents.

The basement was also where the Wednesday death flights were organised. The guards injected prisoners with pentothal, walked them out through a side door to the parking lot where they were put aboard lorries that would take them to the Buenos Aires military airport.

Survivors say that the basement, which is really quite small, was also where they saw the body of writer and journalist Rodolfo Walsh, gunned down by an Esma task force on March 25, 1977 on a street corner in downtown Buenos Aires.

Today, the basement is nothing more than that: A rectangular space with paint peeling off the walls. Small windows set high in the walls let in a little sunshine. They were kept covered up when the place was used as a prison. There is no sign of the wooden panels of the torture cabinets. However, a large black stain on the roof, caused by a fire during a foiled escape attempt, is a reminder that three and a half decades ago nobody came down into this basement willingly.

One level above is the officers’ dormitory and a few steps higher up is a room where the prisoners were held lying down, placed inside low wooden planks formed into a “T” shape, with artificial light constantly beaming down on them. This place was known as the capucha (hood).

It cannot be seen with the naked eye, but our guide explains that there is writing on the walls made with countless tiny incisions. It was in this way that some of the prisoners were able to leave a record of their presence. There are names, telephone numbers, a cross bearing the word “faith”. Those inscriptions have been used as evidence in the trials of military officers accused of unspeakable crimes.

Three years ago staff at the Esma Memorial Site found the name of Horacio Domingo Maggio written with a ballpoint pen next to the date “27/12/77″. Maggio was one of the few prisoners who managed to escape from the Esma. But a task force hunted him down and killed him. The guards brought his mangled body back to the Esma and displayed it before other kidnap victims as what they called “war booty”.

“The first sensations I perceived in this place were the strong stench, the moaning and screaming from pain, the cries of anguish of those kidnapped victims who were being held there,” wrote Andres Castillo, one of the few victims who survived.

In front of the capucha was la pecera (the fishbowl), where better educated prisoners were forced to carry out intellectual tasks such as translating French newspaper Le Monde Diplomatique. Another room served as storage for belongings stolen from victims during kidnapping operations.

Yet another smaller space, equipped with a water tank, is located higher up. This room was the capuchita (little hood) and is even smaller than the capucha. Poorly ventilated and extremely hot, it was used to submit victims to even harsher conditions. The air is thick here and it is hard to breathe.

Outside in the sunlight, among the trees, the air is breathable again. Different paths lead to what is today the Cultural Centre in Memory of Haroldo Conti and other offices run by the Plaza de Mayo Grandmothers and Mothers.

Those facilities are used to organise theatre and film festivals, exhibitions and lectures with guest writers such as Ricardo Piglia and Martin Kohan. They also help demonstrate to people who visit the Esma that from death life can be born again.
_______________________________________
SOURCE:
“Horror tour”
24/01/2012
http://www.bangkokpost.com
http://www.bangkokpost.com/travel/travel-feature/276547/horror-tour

Elda, our house mother, made an amazing paella for dinner. She doesn’t usually make such elaborate meals, but it was a special occasion, so she broke out the big guns: the seafood. Although Buenos Aires is a port city, people don’t really eat seafood. Beef is just too engrained in the culture that they just eat meat all the time. Jose Maria loves seafood though, so I think that might be why Elda cooked that. The meal had three courses, one of clams, one of mussels, and then the paella. I’ve never really eaten seafood in the past, but for some reason I had zero hesitation eating this food. I just went in for it and it was delicious, don’t know why I ever doubted!

Buenos Aires, Argentina

If you’re invited to dinner, it’s customary to bring either an appetizer, wine or the dessert. Jose Maria ordered ice cream from a shop called Freddo, one of the best in the city. You can literally get anything delivered to your door, so they delivered the kilo of ice cream to the residencia. I had dulce de leche with pieces of shaved chocolate in it and Swiss chocolate with almonds. With the rich Italian history in the city, the ice cream is so creamy and delicious!

It was great having Jose Maria over. He’s not like any professor I’ve ever had. Just a really chill guy who clearly just wants to help us get used to Buenos Aires. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s a pretty easy grader! Since he was the guest of honor, Elda cooked him a whole crab. I hadn’t tried crabmeat before either, so I had some of the leg meat. It was good, but I expected it to taste more like lobster.

I don’t know what it is, but I have not laughed so much and so hard as I have here in a long time. I’ve been reduced to tears many times, which hasn’t happened at home in a long time. During this dinner, my sides were splitting, mostly from Jose Maria’s reactions to ridiculous Spanglish. I’m so grateful to be surrounded by people that are making me laugh like this, it’s so refreshing.
_____________________________________
SOURCE:
“Buenos Aires provides food and fun”
By CAROLYN TIERNAN
January 23, 2012
Carolyn Tiernan is a Collegian blogger. She can be reached at crtierna@student.umass.edu.
http://dailycollegian.com
http://dailycollegian.com/2012/01/23/buenos-aires-provides-food-and-fun/