Dev's Delights

Ok so I have had NO time to update! If I have been home, I have been asleep or attempting to sleep! The past week has been CRAZY!

First of all Buenos Aires Fashion Week (BAFWEEK) was in no fewer words AMAZING!!! I worked with the press, did a little translating when needed and got to sit front row at the majority of the fashion shows! I was also very proud of myself because in one month I managed to learn most of the designers by name, face and/or clothing design. I also realized, once again, that I want to work in that world. I LOVE IT! So if you know someone in the beauty/fashion industry looking to hire, send me their info!

Also, when I had a few free moments between some of the runway shows, I made friends with one of the makeup artists. He let me watch as he made up a few models, chatted with me, taught me a little bit, let me play with some of the makeup and even complimented how I had done my makeup! It was a fun and proud moment!

All in all, I LOOOOVEED BAFWEEK!

Since then I have been exhausted!!! But that has not stopped me! After the last show on Friday my whole team went to dinner together which was a ton of fun. Then a bunch of us headed to the BAF Party where we were VIP! And my friend Aurora got to come with me! It was fun but we left pretty quickly. That night was also my friend Clarissa’s last night so we went to see her for a bit. Then I crashed! And refused to get out of bed until the next afternoon!

The rest of the weekend was full, as usual. But I definitely made time to sleep because I was just dead! Sunday I watched my first full game of the Winter Olympics. It was less than thrilling to watch Canada beat us at hockey, but we were outplayed so I can’t say too much about it.

This week is back to life as usual here in Bs As. Monday I went to a live drum show and Tuesday night I went to a place where locals go and tango! I LOVE IT! I just wanted to go out and join but it is a pretty complicated dance. My friend taught me the basics, and then this little old man who had been tearing up the dance floor grabbed me to dance! I was obviously brand new but I made it through my first Milonga! Very proud! And I have officially tangoed!

Next up is my birthday and I can’t wait! I am just sad I can not celebrate with all of my stateside friends! (and those scattered across the world!)

Good night moon! Besos! Ciao!

So I am officially in LOVE! I want this to be my real life! (And not just my life that is avoiding real life!) After one full day I am physically exhausted, but can not wait to do it all again today! I can not even describe how wonderful BAFWEEK is for me. Between the makeup station (HEAVEN!), the runway, the models and rallying the reporters (all in Spanish by that way), I just couldn’t be happier. I honestly fell into the most perfect internship in the world!

More to come later but I will throw a few pictures your way as I run to get ready for day two!!!

Ok so one thing I have learned very quickly around here is that pedestrians do NOT have the right of way. The only right we have is the right to be run over if we don’t get the hell out of the way fast enough! I the past few weeks I have been honked at and glared at more times than is necessary! Sometimes, they even speed up to either scare you or hit you to make an example of you.

And regular traffic laws don’t always apply. There are lanes, but they are mostly just for show. The speed limit is pretty much just for show, too. Sometimes, being in a cab is just as scary as being on the street. They speed, cut in and out of traffic like it’s their job and cause more “almost accidents” than I have ever seen in my life! I once had a cab driver who didnt want to wait in the turn lane which had about 7 cars waiting. So he pulled up in front of them into the middle of the intersection. Just cut in line and sit in the middle of the intersection!

But my favorite “traffic sign” are the arrows on the major streets dicating the flow of traffic. Normally that would be nothing to note, but aside from the basic arrows such as this,

they also have one that looks a little something like this.

No joke. Some streets have traffic that goes in different directions. But I am not sure when it changes. It’s a little crazy!

It all reminds me of this driving video I once saw. I watch it now and have flashes to running across crazy Buenos Aires streets!

Other random stuff I thought I would end the post with:

Yes! The toilet does flush spinning the other way! Most of the toilets don’t actually spin like they do in the states, but when they do, it is a little weird!

The universe is upside down! Right now in Buenos Aires I can see my favorite constellation, Orion, The Hunter. It is my favorite because it is easy to find him and his belt, and because one of his shoulders is a red star called Betelgeuse (Beetlejuice). Also, his foot is blue, but I don’t see that as much as my favorite star, Betelgeuse. Well here, he is UPSIDE DOWN!!! Betelgeuse is his foot here! I thought I was crazy when I saw it to think the sky was upside down, but it is upside down!

Off to Cordoba for the weekend! Look out 10 hour bus ride, here I come!

Today (Sunday) is a very sad day for me. My best friend I have made down here left Buenos Aires today to head for Cordoba for two weeks. Hopefully I can visit her while she is there. But even Buenos Aires is sad she is gone, yesterday was nice and sunny and today it is a torrential downpour!

Otherwise, this week has been interesting. After the futbol game, I was cold and tired and didn’t feel like paying for a cab, so I stayed at my friend Mayara’s place because she has an extra bed in her room, and the owners once told her I could stay whenever I want. Well, apparently they were not ok with it. When I got up Thursday morning, they got mad at me, told me it was not a hotel and that I had to pay. They told me that people pay per person and not per room. So even though Mayara pays more to have her own room, I still had to pay. It was RIDICULOUS! That night when I went back over there I avoided all contact with them because I was furious! I have had bad luck with some of the older Argentinian population this trip!

The next night when I went over there, Antonio, the man who owns the place, decided that, for the police and for his records, he needed all of my information, including my name (first, middle and last), place of birth, date of birth, passport number, phone number and email address. I gave him most of it but drew the line at email address. I want no correspondence from them! On top of all of that, on Friday during the day, Christina (Antonio’s wife) went in to my friend Rafa’s room while he was not there, took all of his stuff out and put it in his sister’s room. Because even though he had paid to have the room until today (Sunday), they had booked someone else in his room starting on Saturday. And the same thing happened to my friend Neil on Saturday morning. He woke up and was booted out! It is craziness over there!!!!

Other than that, Thursday night a bunch of us went to a dinner/Tango show with Mayara’s grandparents and cousin. It was great! And the food was pretty delicious too! Friday night we all went out for Mayara, Rafa and Eva’s last weekend here. We went back to the Mexican food place (which was better than I remember) and then to a club called Asia de Cuba. It’s a great club but there was one group of guys that were like vultures!! I almost got in to it with a few of them because they wouldn’t leave me and my friends alone. Luckily we had three guys with us that would intervene when necessary.

But one of the guys decided at around 6 am, it would be a good idea to do the worm in the middle of the club! Needless to say it was a bad idea. He managed to cut his chin open on glass or something and had to go get 5 stitches!!! It was a strange but fun night!

This weekend has been pretty lazy and tonight we will go to a bar to watch the Superbowl. WOO! As much as I love football, I LOOOOOOVE Superbowl commercials! I wonder if they will show them here or if they will show Argentinian commercials. I will be pretty upset if I don’t get to see them! Pues, vamos a ver! (Well, we will see!)

Besos a todos!

Ok so I have wanted to update for some time now, but it has been pretty crazy for me here! Any free moments I have at home I am working or sleeping! So here is a quick update:

This weekend I went to a beach in Uruguay called Punta del Este. It is supposed to be the ritzy Hamptons-like get-away for Buenos Aires. But it just seemed like any other beach town to me. Not to mention, NO ONE accepted credit cards and we were only able to find one working ATM. It of course was in the farthest area of town from our hostel. But what I did love, aside from the beach, was the exchange rate. For two nights, our hostel cost 950 Uruguayan pesos, or 49 US dollars. They had towels for 40 pesos, or 2 USD. And even though no one accepted credit cards, everyone accepted Uruguayan pesos, Argentinean pesos, US dollars and Brazilian reals.

But after we finally checked in we hit the beach and it was BEAUTIFUL! Cold, but BEAUTIFUL! And even though we applied and reapplied sunscreen, some of us fried. We rented umbrellas for the next days! Other than that it felt like one very long day of beaches, no AC and fun. We ended up being a group of 12 and we had a blast!! But I must say, one of the best parts of the trip was the Peruvian restaurant I went to one afternoon. It was the best food I have had since arriving in South America. LOVE!

Since then I have been absolutely overloaded with work! I started off with a normal amount and suddenly this week everything blew up! I will definitely be doing some work from home from now until BAFWEEK. I am still trying to learn all the designers and may have a summary post to help me!

Last night my friends and I headed to a futbol game (soccer). It was a ton of fun but it was POURING!! I had a pancho and I was still soaked through! I am still a little cold! And after we left it was IMPOSSIBLE to find a taxi. Since my purse was under my pancho, I held it up and put my hand on my back to look pregnant hoping a cab driver would take pity. But my friend got a cab before I had a chance to strut my stuff! But I know it would have worked!

Ok, off to work! Tonight, TANGO SHOW!!!

*new favorite translations:

- hip hop in Portuguese in Hipi Hopi (the spelling may be off but you get the idea!!)
- this one was found by a friend at a restaurant – burrito de pollo o carne = little donkey of chicken or meat

Ok so does everyone remember the School House Rock song “Elbow Room“? Ok, I know it is about manifest destiny and all but I always think about it when I think about the American need for personal space. Weird? Anyway, there is no such need for a personal bubble in other parts of the world. For example, in Spain and here in Argentina, everyone greets with cheek kisses. In Spain it’s one on each cheek while here it is just one cheek.

Normally I love it, but sometimes it can get a little awkward! With friends it is great. But I also greet everyone at work hello and goodbye with cheek kisses. Lucky for me there are only 6 people other than me that work there! Otherwise that could take a while. So that was a little weird for me, but nothing I found too strange.

Then when I went and visited the doctor for my stomach, and SHE greeted me with a kiss on the cheek! That was way bizarre! All I could think was that this simple greeting could be the source of lawsuits in America! But everyone here does it. This one is still a little odd to me.

Then the other night at a club, we were directed to follow someone to the pay counter to get in, and HE kissed me on the cheek as well. Did I know him? Nope! Did my friends? Nope! But hey, I went with it and next thing I knew he was handing me and my friends VIP wristbands. Not too shabby for a kiss on the cheek!

Other than that all is well down here in Bs As. I finally figured out how to use the “colectivo” or bus system. But it is very confusing and even the locals use the guide book I had to buy to figure it out!

A friend of mine had her purse stolen last week which was terrible. Luckily it was a quick cafe grab and nothing violent or in the street or anything. But it still sucked! She lost everything, la pobrecita!

Work is going well and is about to get really busy I think. On top of that I have to learn everything about every designer that is going to be showing at Buenos Aires Fashion Week (BAFWEEK). So far there are 26 with more to come and I only know one from before, Puma. I am working on making myself a study guide for all of them!

I did a little more touring this week. The bus tour on Tuesday, went to a museum here that had an Andy Warhol exhibit, and Saturday I went to the cemetery where Evita is buried. This weekend my friends and I are planning on taking a beach trip to Uruguay! So excited!

My brother just moved to Israel for the next 6 months so our only way to see each other is Skype. But luckily my whole family now has web cams and we can all chat! So excited! And so excited for him!

Hope all is well where you are.

Besos!

ps – favorite new translation: sassy = rompe pelotas (ball buster!)

So I had my first Argentinian Tango show experience last night. Not only was it FREE!!! But it was also an AERIAL Tango show. IT WAS WONDERFUL!!! Anyone who knows me well knows what a nerd I am when it comes to anything theatrical. Plays, Broadway shows, ballet, all of it I LOVE. This was no exception. Within seconds I was hooked. All I could do was stare with a giddy expression on my face. I was sitting in an outdoor amphitheater in Buenos Aires with a sky full of stars above me and an aerial tango show in front of me. I attempted to take some pictures but they of course do NOT do the show justice and the lighting and movement of the dancers made it difficult.

After that my friends wanted some Mexican food! YUM! We stumbled upon a place call Lupita’s and was delicious! Even I, who am super particular when it comes to my Mexican food, thought it was great! I did not see queso on the menu which is still a mild failure in my book, but the flavors were great and there was a sauce that was actually legitimately spicy!!! I will definitely have to go back there!

***I forgot the funniest part about the Mexican restaurant!! We sat down and started looking at the menu when 75% of the people at the table looked at me and said, “Devon, what’s a burrito?” I was stunned! “You don’t know what a burrito is?” So I told them:

“It’s a tortilla rolled up with stuff inside.”
“Oh, and enchiladas?”
“Tortillas with less stuff rolled up and cooked with sauce.”
“Ok, and quesadillas?”
“Tortillas with stuff inside but grilled and flat.”
…”Devon, what is a tortilla??”

I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT!!! It is always amusing trying to explain thing in Spanish to people from all over!

So what a night, a wonderful show and delicious Mexican food. What more could I ask for?!?!

**On top of that, we were at a kiosk today and there were PEZ dispensers, and my friend had NEVER seen PEZ before! Again, shocked! So I bought her a Tinkerbell one and she was like a 5 year old! LOVE IT!

The little one made my day with this the other day!! Love you goober!

So this weekend has been pretty full! Friday I went back to my first host house to get the paper I needed to pick up the box of things I left at home from the post office. Graciela took this time to sit me down, once again blame me for her broken toilet and more or less call me a liar. It was fun! She then spent 10 minutes telling me a story about a German lady at a hotel. It was supposed to prove that she is a good person and not a liar and she sees no reason why I was unhappy and unable to take responsibility for the toilet. Like I said, fun.

The post office was fun, too. I make my way there after the lecture from Graciela and it is PACKED! Everything here is a “Take a number” and wait. So I pull my number, 61, and look up to see they are on 85. So I had to wait for them to make it up to 100 and then back around to 61!! It did not take nearly as long as I thought it would but it was still a good while. I then get up there to be told that without my actual passport I could not get the box. I had a copy and another student ID and someone (ahem, Graciela) told me that would be fine. So I had to leave and come back.

When I went back later, with my passport, I again pulled a number in the 60’s. But this time they were on 19, so the wait was not as long. I finally get up there and hand over my papers. The man looks at me, laughs to himself (still not sure why), and hands me back a smaller paper and sends me into another waiting room! This one is more open with more seats luckily. But then I sit and wait while someone who needs to learn to enunciate mumbled numbers over a blurry loud speaker. Once your number got called you went through to a back room where they hand you your package. It was all very weird and I was just relieved to be done with it!

That night my friends and I went to a fiesta at a hostel, where someone I met the week before came up to me and said, “Hey Maria! How are you?” I just smiled and said, “Great, how are you?” No need to correct anyone anymore. I now officially respond to Devon, Elizabeth and Maria. I have started using that name occasionally too. When I get that “What the heck did you just say your name was?” look, or when someone seems to be a bit of a creeper, my name is Maria!!!

The next day was raining and gross. So we headed to the movies. We got our tickets and were eating lunch in the food court when another friend joined us and sat with his backpack in his lap. I thought nothing of this until I heard someone whisper, “….dog…..backpack.” Sure enough I glance under the table to see a little fox terrier sticking his head out of this grown man’s backpack.

He is a grown man, a doctor, who thinks bringing your dog to the movie theater in your backpack is permissible and normal. He will never be my doctor! But it was a cute dog and the looks on the mall patrons’ faces after the movie with the dog’s head sticking out of the backpack were pretty priceless!

Sunday was a wonderful lazy day full of sun, pool and naps! Just what I needed after 2 very crazy weeks! Though it did feel weird to be in a swim suit in the pool in January! LOVE IT!

Oh my, I have had quite a trying two days since my last update! Yesterday, my glorious, wonderful stomach I love so much decided it was going to hate me for everything I have put it through the past week and half. (OY!) So that plus a terrible rain storm kept me up all night! I have seriously not been afraid of a storm in a long time, and this one made me very nervous. It kept blowing my window open! I found out when I woke up the next day that it had blown open our living room windows and it was filled with water! Teresa (new host mom) was sweeping the water into a bucket. (OY!)

So I attempted to go to work but with my stomach being the way it was, I only lasted an hour before I had to leave. I came home and just crashed. I had the wonderful parental units call my trusted doctor while I lay in bed pitifully. (OY!) I get the name of a medicine and head to the pharmacy to try to see if I need a prescription or not. I get there, tell them the name of the medicine. I even spell if for them and they have no idea what I am talking about. I call home and have my mom look up alternate names and such that I could try with the pharmacists. I sat there for 30 minutes while they just stared at me. I got a few other names from my mom and showed them to the wonderful pharmacists who think I am just a sad little sick American. At that moment she says, OH! we have that! It was the exact medicine I asked for initially, even spelled the same way! (OY!) But I was just glad to have it!

I also met my German house mate that day. It was a nice awkward, “Nice to meet you, excuse me while I run to the bathroom” moment. (OY!)

Today, with the medicine, I was feeling much better. I still felt very weak because I didn’t eat yesterday, but better. I managed to get to work and even successfully made it to my lunch break. (YAY!) On my way back in, it sounded like it was raining in the elevator shaft around me. (For anyone who lived in Towers with me, they know what its like to have rain in the elevator! oy.) So I tell my boss who freaks out a little and calls downstairs. Not ten minutes later, water starts POURING out of the light fixture in the bathroom, and dripping from the bathroom door frame, 3 places in the meeting room, inside the closet with all of our electronics boxes and from the balcony above. (OY!!!!) We ran around like crazy putting buckets and trash cans under the water while shutting down and unplugging all electronics. I was trying so hard not to laugh while everyone looked very stressed. We sat there for another hour or so waiting to see if it would stop or someone would come fix it. I ended up getting to leave early, but have to go in an hour early tomorrow! (OY!)

I need a break from all this craziness!!! I get out of a crazy lady’s house to have a crazy stomach and rain in my office building?!?! OY!!!