Adventures in Argentina

I thought a lot about this blog. The very word ‘privilege’ can be challenging for me. Not because I don’t think that I am privileged, but more because I don’t know how to define the word. I think that privilege can have a lot of different definitions. For example, Websters online dictionary says that privilege is:
A Noun
1. A special advantage or immunity or benefit not enjoyed by all.
2. A right reserved exclusively by a particular person or group (especially a hereditary or official right)
3. (law) the right to refuse to divulge information obtained in a confidential relationship.

Well, according to this definition I am privileged… because there are things that I have that are "not enjoyed by all" (like being able to fly across the planet to hang out for three months in another country, or being able to devote several years of my life to studying, or being able to have a really good/REALLY FREE healthcare system).

But there are other people (including some people in Argentina) who enjoy things that I don’t have (like a swimming pool, or having a really big family, or owning a car, or having public universities).

Websters also says that privilege can be a verb. As in ‘The York International Internship Program privileged me by providing me with the opportunity to go to Argentina for three months".

But I am not going to talk about definitions. I could spend this blog talking about how I am more or less privileged than other people, but to be honest, I don’t want to make those comparisons…instead I want to write a letter of thanks. I always like reading the thank you notes inside of CD cases (you know the kind where the artist has the chance to thank all the people who made the record possible). So here is what I would write if my internship were a record, and this was the CD cover….

Thank you. Thank you to everyone who made me who I am… and who brought me to where I am.

Thank you to my family and York University and my host organization… but also thank you to the people who don’t even necessarily know they made a difference… like the guy who held the door for me when I was carrying too many groceries, or the people who pretended to understand me even when I could barely put together a sentence.

Good friends are hard to come by and I have been really privileged…I have a lot of good friends.. thank you to them.

Thank you to Natasha (for that incredible memory) and Larissa (for her sense of humour).

Thank you to the guy who invented alfajores (they are delicious).

Thank you to all the artists who share their visions, each musician who is willing to bare his soul, and all the people who shared their ‘mate’ with me.

Thanks for the laughs, the tears, the hellos and goodbyes, the new ideas and old advice.

Thanks. Or maybe I should say ‘Gracias’.

Happy travels! Until next time…

Carly

Since I have been here in Argentina I have learned a lot. So much, I couldn´t even begin to express it all in one blog! But the other day I received some very good advice and it prompted me to write this entry and pass on a few of the things I have learned along the way. So here it is!

1. Good wine doesn´t have to be expensive. You can get good wine for 10 pesos, you just have to try all the wines to know which ones are the best. (Don´t worry... I tried them all).

2. Carry a rock in each hand when you pass a house with an angry Rotweiller. (Trust me... this is good advice!)

3. Always know where the matches are (it makes life a lot easier when the lights go out.. and they will go out).

4. Don´t try and teach yourself to knit from a website on the Internet... you´ll just waste time and yarn. Learn from a friend. (Learned this lesson first-hand).

5. HAVANA alfajores are the most delicious!

6. Learn to laugh. Learn to laugh at yourself.

7. When learning a new language... learn all the bad words, too. (Friends here have made sure to teach me all the things they don´t teach you in Spanish 1000 at York University... haha)

8. When travelling: see everything you can... eat everything you can... try everything you can.

9. Dance. Dance folklore... dance tango... dance even if you don´t know the steps!

10. Last but not least... one of the best pieces of advice I have ever received (which came from a musician that performed at El Recodo del Sol):

"Be kind. Everyone you´ll ever meet is fighting a hard battle." -Daniel Drexler (from the song "Be Kind")

Well, there you have it... some advice from Unquillo, Argentina!

Happy travels!

Until next time,
Carly

So this is my entry on gender. As you may have noticed (if you are another YIIP intern) I am a little late in writing this entry. That´s mostly because I have been pondering it for the last few weeks.

I thought about the topic...and then I thought about it some more. Then I wrote something... and erased it... and wrote something else... and erased that too. I just don´t know exactly what to say about this topic. So in the end this is what I came up with. These are some thoughts on gender...hope you enjoy.

So I realized the other day that the cultural center I work at (El Recodo del Sol) is almost entirely run by women. Women clean, women take care of the library, women give classes, and women run the kitchen. Oh and I shouldn´t forget to mention that the owner is (you guessed it) a woman!

So what does this mean? Well, to be honest, I don´t know. Maybe it is just coincidence? I love the women I work with and they are all good at what they do, so why shouldn´t they do these jobs? But it does seem kind of strange that there aren´t many permanent employees that are male.

In contrast to all the women I work with... almost all of the artists that come to perform are men. Certainly women aren´t any less talented in the arts than men (I happen to know... ahem... haha) so why are there so few female performers here? I don´t know.

And I don´t know if these things are important, but I thought I would throw them out there.

Now before we go any further I feel the need to mention that Argentina has a female president! And although there are a lot of traditional families in the community that I live in (with a stay-at-home mother and a working father) I wouldn´t dare say that women don´t have the opportunity to study or work here in Argentina. In fact, some of the most independent, creative women I have ever met live right here in Unquillo!

So what about the men? Well, I have yet to meet a stay-at-home dad... but this seems to be a generally new idea in most countries. And although pick-up-lines sound a little better in spanish ("Hola hermosa... tus ojos... como las estrellas" haha) they are just as ineffective as in english! Haha.

But in all honesty, I have got to say that the situation is pretty good here. For the most part, I can go where I want... say what I want.. and do what I want (without the fear that my gender will get in the way).

So I may not have many answers, but there you have it... some thoughts on gender!

Happy travels!

Until next time,
Carly

So the other week I got time off of work to go on a roadtrip to see the ocean. It was the first time in my life I had ever seen the ocean and it was spectacular! We made sure that we saw (and ate) everything. We didn´t leave one calamari untouched in Mar de Ajo ...unfortunately this would come back to haunt me in the days following, but I´ll get to that later.

We also managed to make it to Buenos Aires. What a city! We visited the Maipo Theatre where I saw my first "revista"...to put it simply: lots of political humour and very few articles of clothing!

Here is a picture from the Maipo Theatre.

The drive home was long... very long... 14 hours long. But we arrived safe and (more or less) sound. The next morning was when the real troubles started.

I woke up to find that there was no water in the house. As it turned out, the entire neighborhood had been without water for the whole week we were away (apparently we have good timing!) Luckily, the water was fixed just a few hours after we discovered we didn´t have it (we have incredible timing!)

It was about this time, that I started to feel a little bit dizzy. Nonetheless, I headed off to work. But by the time I got to work, things were steadily going downhill... this was when I started to get sick.

So I will spare you all the gorey details, but to say the least, I spent the night with my head in the toilet.... wondering "why did I have to eat those extra few calamarettes??"

Thankfully I recovered quickly, but on the advice of the doctor I am sticking to a strick diet of rice, noodles, and water for the week. Not quite as tasty as before, but I´m not taking any chances! Haha.

Well, that´s all for now... check out some of my trip photos below!

Tango in the street in Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires (in front of the Parliament building)

At the port in Mar de Plata!

The ocean (Mar de Ajo)

A dock.

Fishing boats.

Take care and happy travels!

Carly

The 30th of June seemed like a good day for a Birthday, so I thought I would celebrate!

Here are some photos!

The cake! Yum.

It was actually a double birthday celebration! The man next to me also has the wonderful birthdate of June 30th!

A few members of my "family" here in Argentina! It was smokey because we were cooking "churi pan" (sausage and bread) in the fireplace. Tasty!

Well, thats all for now... stay tuned for:

Roadtripping... my vacation to the ocean!

Chau,
Carly