photos: villa devoto

Photos from a barrio in the west of buenos aires city (capital) called Villa Devoto.

(photo below: pipe cleaner looking flower)
(photo below: "Caution Dangerous Crossing"...hmmm, one of these should be at every intersection in the city)
(photo below: car registration sticker)
(photo below: painting in the park)
(photo below: kiddy park traffic. it seemed like every kid was driving some sort of mini vehicle)
(photo below: cruising in the park)
(photo below: i witnessed so many kiddy car accidents. most of the time the kids were looking to the left as the car was moving to the right. in the photo below the little girl was still moving as she was looking back waving.)
(photo below: this is my favorite photo from the day. she reminds me of a granny on a jazzy scooter)(photo below: ice cream time)
(photo below: my new flavor...passion fruit!!!! it was hidden by the mango ice cream on the top)
(photo below: on the train home we passed many poor dwellings along the tracks.)
(photo below: it appeared the cartoneros (trashpickers) were unloading and sorting recycles here )
(photo below: there is no problem hanging out the door while the train is still rapidly moving )

6 things that make me smile

1. being able to walk to work

2. seeing palm trees everyday

3. men who still whistle at me when i'm having a bad hair day, wearing glasses, baggy pants and sneakers

4. greeting and acknowledging everyone when you walk into a room with a cheek kiss

5. looking out my window and seeing green leaves on the trees

6. my new rain boots on a rainy day

150 pesos ($40) for the rain boots.

1yr.later: removable things-gone

one year ago i was still in the planning stage of moving to b.a.. i over came many internal hurdles to move here. something like "how can i give up a great job, a 401k, health insurance" and on and on.

some other internal issues i was having was giving up all my belongings, all my possessions. i really thought i would feel worthless if i didn't have anything to show for my X number of years in school. i would have nothing tangible to prove to society that i was successful.

well, that was my fear then...one year later and i have no regrets. at times i miss driving my car but that's about it.

i'm glad i made the move.

read my post from one year ago titled: removable things gone

the joy train

all aboard! er...um...last call?

in b.a. people can rent a "train" or um a "drunk bus" for celebrations. when i've seen the train at night, there was always loud music coming from it and the people inside were always drinking and dancing. occasionally i see dressed up characters dancing with the people too. there may have been a dancing part of anatomy on this train.
Tren de la alegria

feria de mataderos

this past weekend i went to the "feria de mataderos" or in english the "slaughterhouse market".

the neighborhood is called "mataderos" (slaughterhouse) because...well, it used to be an area of live stock markets and slaughterhouses. the area is far away from the center of the city, well back then it was, now it is a neighborhood within the city of buenos aires, and no longer a area of slaughterhouses. It took one hour to get there by colectivo.

i really enjoyed the market. there were more handcrafted goods than the other markets in the center of the city and there were real gauchos (argentine cowboys). there was dancing, both a show and people on the street, tons of food and what looked like a guacho horse race on the street.

(photo below: the llama is wearing a for sale sign. the sign reads "Llama for sale")(photo below: ok ok, so the sign really reads "LLAM for sale")
(photo below: the sign on the wall reads "cine" cinema)(photo below: gaucho dancing)(photo below: gaucho dancing)
(photo below: people in the streets gaucho dancing)(photo below: even a nun is gaucho dancing)(photo below: cooking beef on the street or a grill over the street.)(photo below: home made alcohol)
(photo below: i love this llama! (pronounced "shama" in argentina). check out his tiny sombrero and pacifier around his neck )(photo below: the sign clearly states "no parking". must be an illiterate horse)(photo below: gaucho gearing up for a fast pace canter down a macadam street. once at the end he stands up in the sturrups positions his knive and trys to put his knife through a hanging ring)(photo below: giddy up)(photo below: putting a new ring up for the gauchos)(photo below: llama still for sale but with a new sign)

tip: take the 92 collectivo, it drops you off right at the fair (Av.Directorio and Av.Lisandro de La Torre) the stop to take it back to the centro/recoleta/palermo area is right there too (on Av.Lisandro de La Torre very close to the intersection of Av.Directorio). both tell the bus driver where you are going so he can tell you and follow the route in your guia-t or another map so that you know when you are close. it will take one hour from recoleta.

balcony protest

after work i met up with a friend, on our walk back to our apartments we heard a bunch of noise in our neighborhood. i slowed down looking closely for something, anything that could be making the all that noise. i got a bit scared thinking there was a protest in my neighborhood. i was trying to see where it was coming from so that i could avoid it...but then i noticed there wasn't a large group on the street protesting, rather the people in the balconies were protesting... or celebrating, or scaring away winter hoping it will never come back?

The noise was ricocheting between the buildings.


i now regret not getting my pots and pans out and joining my neighbors. next balcony protest i'll be out there!

chau winter, hello spring

Bonjour Spring!