Around 23 o'clock we heard a lot of noise on the street.
So we ran to the window and saw that there was a band playing in the street.
Obviously we ran down the stairs and out to get a closer look.
And it was what appeared to be a street band doing a performance -
SO cool.
Stay tuned for more "this would never happen in Norway"
søndag 31. januar 2010
lørdag 30. januar 2010
This would never happen in Norway!
We were at the gym doing a class of Fit Combat, and the instructor - who looked more or less like this
(picture from google)
Ended the class by giving everyone a (sweaty) kiss on the cheek.
This would NEVER happen in Norway.
(picture from google)
Ended the class by giving everyone a (sweaty) kiss on the cheek.
This would NEVER happen in Norway.
the what?
Yuhu everybody out there! :)
Yesterday we went to a new "villa" called La Union hace la Fuerza (unionen skaper styrken).
We were there to give English Lessons, but also generally just to play with the children.
I sat down next to a girl who was around 12 years old, and the conversation went something like this:
AK: what do you want to do?
girl: I want you to teach me the difference between the present simple and the present compound.
AK: eh..what?
girl: I want you to teach me the difference between the present simple and the present compound.
AK: really? you sure? you sure you don't wanna play a game instead? look, here's a cool game!
girl: Yes, I'm sure.
Don't worry, we did eventually get our grammar grove on.
And later during the evening we went to a La Bomba de Tiempo drum/percussion show in a cultural center called Konex. Here is a picture of us having dinner first:
The taxi-driver took on a father-like role as he was driving us there
"You see these streets? Very bad neighbourhood. Don't walk here alone.
And when the restaurant gives you the bill, make sure you look over that the prices are the same as in the menu. And don't trust anyone!"
This was a guy who was giving out free candy in his cab. Haha.
Yesterday we went to a new "villa" called La Union hace la Fuerza (unionen skaper styrken).
We were there to give English Lessons, but also generally just to play with the children.
I sat down next to a girl who was around 12 years old, and the conversation went something like this:
AK: what do you want to do?
girl: I want you to teach me the difference between the present simple and the present compound.
AK: eh..what?
girl: I want you to teach me the difference between the present simple and the present compound.
AK: really? you sure? you sure you don't wanna play a game instead? look, here's a cool game!
girl: Yes, I'm sure.
Don't worry, we did eventually get our grammar grove on.
And later during the evening we went to a La Bomba de Tiempo drum/percussion show in a cultural center called Konex. Here is a picture of us having dinner first:
The taxi-driver took on a father-like role as he was driving us there
"You see these streets? Very bad neighbourhood. Don't walk here alone.
And when the restaurant gives you the bill, make sure you look over that the prices are the same as in the menu. And don't trust anyone!"
This was a guy who was giving out free candy in his cab. Haha.
fredag 29. januar 2010
This is what life is all about...
I don't know, but life as it seems here is everything from slum and poverty too over the top and plastic surgery. Walking down the street is like a ride on the financial roller coaster. On one corner in the main shopping street you can see a girl of 7 years old selling vegetables, from early in the morning till late in the evening. On an another apparently rich businessmen leaving their office to have lunch in a fancy restaurant. But the most unpleasant is of course all the women walking down the street with silicon here and botox there. That really makes you realize that its something very wrong with this world.
And then its us, rich compared to most people here. Amazed by the prices. Happy to spend money on things that is so cheap here compared to at home. Food, clothes, fitness and other, for us, normal things. Doesn't that make us part of the problem?
To be honest, I don't feel rich when it comes to money! I want to travel more, I want to see more things and places than what my wallet allows me to. And that I guess, means that I'm spoiled and a even bigger part of the problem.
But somehow I don't have a bad conscience because of this. I know I'm extremely lucky, and I know I will have the opportunity to do a lot in my lifetime, but I don't fell bad about that. I feel bad about all those who won't have the same opportunity to do what they want the most. Therefore I promise that I will do what I can to make the barbie dolls walking the streets of Buenos Aires, and any other person with a misconception concerning the use of their resources - anywhere in the world, realize that what they are doing is wrong. And that if you have the choice between another nose job and putting the 7 year old in a school for one year, the right thing would be to choose the school.
To be a "tourist" in this place is like kicking yourself in the head. We go to the park to get a tan, while the people living in the slum seek shelter from the burning sun. We buy a bottle of wine at the supermarket because it is so cheap, while people one the street is begging you for money to buy water. We go to a restaurant to try the famous Argentinian meat, and we cant finish our plate, while so many in this city go to bed every night feeling hungry.
Should we maybe walk around with a constant tummy ace and feel bad? Well, I don't. I feel bad sometimes, but it passes. And then I'm back to being extremely happy again...
In the end we might also be part of the solution. Yes, we are visiting bad areas of the city, and yes, we will tell people about it when we get home. But didn't very many do this before us, and didn't they tell everyone when they got home? Yes - but it doesn't seem like anything happened. It's about time something happens. So be prepared... I believe I will shout it directly in your face the next time I see you.
-Ida-
- felling a little bit sad again,
super happy in one hour...
And then its us, rich compared to most people here. Amazed by the prices. Happy to spend money on things that is so cheap here compared to at home. Food, clothes, fitness and other, for us, normal things. Doesn't that make us part of the problem?
To be honest, I don't feel rich when it comes to money! I want to travel more, I want to see more things and places than what my wallet allows me to. And that I guess, means that I'm spoiled and a even bigger part of the problem.
But somehow I don't have a bad conscience because of this. I know I'm extremely lucky, and I know I will have the opportunity to do a lot in my lifetime, but I don't fell bad about that. I feel bad about all those who won't have the same opportunity to do what they want the most. Therefore I promise that I will do what I can to make the barbie dolls walking the streets of Buenos Aires, and any other person with a misconception concerning the use of their resources - anywhere in the world, realize that what they are doing is wrong. And that if you have the choice between another nose job and putting the 7 year old in a school for one year, the right thing would be to choose the school.
To be a "tourist" in this place is like kicking yourself in the head. We go to the park to get a tan, while the people living in the slum seek shelter from the burning sun. We buy a bottle of wine at the supermarket because it is so cheap, while people one the street is begging you for money to buy water. We go to a restaurant to try the famous Argentinian meat, and we cant finish our plate, while so many in this city go to bed every night feeling hungry.
Should we maybe walk around with a constant tummy ace and feel bad? Well, I don't. I feel bad sometimes, but it passes. And then I'm back to being extremely happy again...
In the end we might also be part of the solution. Yes, we are visiting bad areas of the city, and yes, we will tell people about it when we get home. But didn't very many do this before us, and didn't they tell everyone when they got home? Yes - but it doesn't seem like anything happened. It's about time something happens. So be prepared... I believe I will shout it directly in your face the next time I see you.
-Ida-
- felling a little bit sad again,
super happy in one hour...
torsdag 28. januar 2010
Muy barato!
Today I went to the hairdresser on the corner across the street and got my hair cut for the price of 40NOK.
Then I went to the Chinese restaurant right next to it and bought a menu with a starter, main dish and drink for a total of... 23NOK.
Then I went to the Chinese restaurant right next to it and bought a menu with a starter, main dish and drink for a total of... 23NOK.
onsdag 27. januar 2010
L.I.F.E. Argentina
We´ve had our first assignment for L.I.F.E Argentina.
L.I.F.E. is an acronym that stands for: Luchemos para un Infancia Feliz con Esperanza
(We are working for a happy childhood with hope).
Every week LIFE organizes different activities that they carry out in different slums in the suburbs of BsAs.
(We are working for a happy childhood with hope).
Every week LIFE organizes different activities that they carry out in different slums in the suburbs of BsAs.
Monday we went to Ejercito Celestial about 30min. outside BsAs.
We had been told that the ambulance refuses do drive into this slum, and that if someone is shot the body needs to be taken to the boarder between the slum and the city to be picked up by medical personell.This all sounds very scary, but I can happily rapport that it did not feel unsafe at all while we were there, and that there has practically never been any problems for the LIFE volunteers in these neighbourhoods.
We were driven there in a minibus, and we brought some games, papers, pencils, jumping rope, a basketball, and cereals with milk. The project of the day was "Toy Workshop" because it´s summer vacation here, and therefore there are no homeworks to work on (which is what is normally done during our visits).
The contrast between the slum and BsAs was extreme. These are people who have very little of anything and everything, and they are living in sheds, some with water, some without. The children are dirty, hungry, and very behind educationally speaking compared to other children, and.....they are LOVELY.
They are craving attention from adults, and don´t have too many positive role-models to look up to. A boy came up to me and wanted to play a game. He had a deck of cards with numbers from 1-12 and with the numbers in English written on the cards. I told him that I would love to play, but that he had to explain how the game worked because I´d never played before.
Do you know what the game was?
They are craving attention from adults, and don´t have too many positive role-models to look up to. A boy came up to me and wanted to play a game. He had a deck of cards with numbers from 1-12 and with the numbers in English written on the cards. I told him that I would love to play, but that he had to explain how the game worked because I´d never played before.
Do you know what the game was?
The game was that I held up a card and then he tried to say what number it was.
And there we were, sitting on the ground, playing this "game" for almost 2 hours.
It never got boring to him.
It never got boring to him.
That fascinates me when thinking about how restless children can be. They have nintendo games, TV-shows, musical instruments, books, toys, after-school activities, sports +++ etc.
and they are still BORED!
and they are still BORED!
The children loved to play, hug, draw, and learn English - and I feel really lucky to be able to do some of these things with them.
Maybe it would be better or more helpful to be in an organization that spent all it´s time systematically donating more food, more clothes, to focus only on teaching them English etc. during the visits...but in the moment it felt really important to just be there together, and hopefully together create a nice break from everyday life...both for them and for me :)
-AK
mandag 25. januar 2010
San Telmo & La Boca - we're still alive!
Yesterday we got on a sweaty bus 29 and left our new home of Palermo to see some other parts of this enormous city. While sitting there on the bus with my back slowly but certainly becoming one with the leather seat I finally do understand that this city really has everything.
In the barrio of San Telmo the late colonial and Rosista buildings still stand tall. The area is known to be a very atmospheric place and we find that it definitely lives up to the rumors. Every Sunday it's a big (and very popular amongst tourists) antiques market in Plaza Dorrego. Here you can find anything and everything, from street-puppet-shows to any wanted colored old-style-telephones.
After dancing some Tango in the streets in San Telmo followed by watching some REAL Tango-dancers we had lunch in a place where the three tables surrounding us contained by one; two Brazilian guys wanting to taste AK's leftovers before ordering their own food, two; a Norwegian couple who looked very Norwegian, and three; two American couples in their late fifties who had been traveling around South America for a couple of weeks and still didn't know the Spanish word for beer. We said "hasta luego" to the Brazilian guys, "hade" to the Norwegians and "everything the Americans needed to tell the waiter in Spanish" to the Americans waiter, and then left to jump into a taxi going in direction La Boca, knowing that would be the safest way to travel.
La Boca is colorfull!
By the way, today was our first day of work. In Ejercito Celestial. A suburb a little bit south in Buenos Aires. I will write about that tomorrow.
-Ida-
In the barrio of San Telmo the late colonial and Rosista buildings still stand tall. The area is known to be a very atmospheric place and we find that it definitely lives up to the rumors. Every Sunday it's a big (and very popular amongst tourists) antiques market in Plaza Dorrego. Here you can find anything and everything, from street-puppet-shows to any wanted colored old-style-telephones.
After dancing some Tango in the streets in San Telmo followed by watching some REAL Tango-dancers we had lunch in a place where the three tables surrounding us contained by one; two Brazilian guys wanting to taste AK's leftovers before ordering their own food, two; a Norwegian couple who looked very Norwegian, and three; two American couples in their late fifties who had been traveling around South America for a couple of weeks and still didn't know the Spanish word for beer. We said "hasta luego" to the Brazilian guys, "hade" to the Norwegians and "everything the Americans needed to tell the waiter in Spanish" to the Americans waiter, and then left to jump into a taxi going in direction La Boca, knowing that would be the safest way to travel.
La Boca is colorfull!
By the way, today was our first day of work. In Ejercito Celestial. A suburb a little bit south in Buenos Aires. I will write about that tomorrow.
-Ida-
søndag 24. januar 2010
Tango
Take a look at this video of Ida teaching this guy how to tango during the Antique Market in San Telmo earlier today:
We just ate a whole cow!
Apologies to the ozon layer. But it was delicious.
So, as promised in the last posting we went to the restaurant La Cabrera yesterday, with great expectations, since it had been recommended to us by several people who have visited Bs.As. (yes, that's the abbreviation for Buenos Aires that all the cool kids (now that includes us) use!)
Argentina is famous for steaks, so we were going for the cow.
Kjersti and I (AK) ordered the bife de chorizo, but Ida decided to go her own way on the menu choice, and eventhough the waiter tried to warn her that it would be too much, and 3 long pieces of meat for just her, Ida bravely insisted.
A good sign
This was the steak-knife.
And despite reading several places that if you order beef you don't get anything else than the piece of meat, we can now tell you that this is NOT true at La Cabrera. Kinda wish we would have known that before we went crazy eating bread and the extra large salat before the food was served. Because at the end of the evening (after approx. 3 hours of non-stop eating) we had devoured almost 2kg. of pure meat between the three of us. Not to mention all the other stuff we ate on the side.
Kjersti & I had 1 each of these, Ida had 3.
Then this guy came and gave us more stuff to eat.
One waiter was so impressed that even though we were sweating cow he invited us (mostly Ida) out to dance that same evening (we politely declined due to above mentioned meat-sweating).
I may or may not have ordered tiramisu for dessert.
Things heard around the dinner-table:
- I feel that this is what life is all about!
- I'm so full that I'm gonna throw up.....hm, maybe a little bit of salat?
- K: It looks like it's common to just order one piece of beef for 2 people
I: Yes, but the ones doing that are girls, and we don't wanna be no damn girls!!
If you ever come visit we will definitely go to La Cabrera!
So, as promised in the last posting we went to the restaurant La Cabrera yesterday, with great expectations, since it had been recommended to us by several people who have visited Bs.As. (yes, that's the abbreviation for Buenos Aires that all the cool kids (now that includes us) use!)
Argentina is famous for steaks, so we were going for the cow.
Kjersti and I (AK) ordered the bife de chorizo, but Ida decided to go her own way on the menu choice, and eventhough the waiter tried to warn her that it would be too much, and 3 long pieces of meat for just her, Ida bravely insisted.
A good sign
This was the steak-knife.
And despite reading several places that if you order beef you don't get anything else than the piece of meat, we can now tell you that this is NOT true at La Cabrera. Kinda wish we would have known that before we went crazy eating bread and the extra large salat before the food was served. Because at the end of the evening (after approx. 3 hours of non-stop eating) we had devoured almost 2kg. of pure meat between the three of us. Not to mention all the other stuff we ate on the side.
Kjersti & I had 1 each of these, Ida had 3.
Then this guy came and gave us more stuff to eat.
One waiter was so impressed that even though we were sweating cow he invited us (mostly Ida) out to dance that same evening (we politely declined due to above mentioned meat-sweating).
I may or may not have ordered tiramisu for dessert.
Things heard around the dinner-table:
- I feel that this is what life is all about!
- I'm so full that I'm gonna throw up.....hm, maybe a little bit of salat?
- K: It looks like it's common to just order one piece of beef for 2 people
I: Yes, but the ones doing that are girls, and we don't wanna be no damn girls!!
If you ever come visit we will definitely go to La Cabrera!
lørdag 23. januar 2010
Stalker info
To all the stalkers out there, who already missed the fact that I announced our address here yesterday, I thought I'd show you a bit of where in Buenos Aires we are spending most of our time (for now anyway):
On the map above you can see all the different barrios in Buenos Aires. We are in nr.14, the big one "Palermo".
And here are the streets that we have frequented the most these past 5 days of living in Buenos Aires:
Tonight we are widening our horizon further and are going to eat a steak dinner at
La Cabrera. We're excited to see if it's as delicious as we've been told! :)
and also, excited to see if they have available tables.
On the map above you can see all the different barrios in Buenos Aires. We are in nr.14, the big one "Palermo".
And here are the streets that we have frequented the most these past 5 days of living in Buenos Aires:
Tonight we are widening our horizon further and are going to eat a steak dinner at
La Cabrera. We're excited to see if it's as delicious as we've been told! :)
and also, excited to see if they have available tables.
fredag 22. januar 2010
PALERMO
¡Hola a todos!
NO more excuses! we HAVE internet at home, and will now blog frequently! :)
So, where to start?
Well, it's still hot and still cheap.
oh yes, I know exactly where to start!
The airport.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: Ida, demonstrating the tango
Ida wants you all to know that that is not how it looked in her head.
Not sure how to create a natural segway from Ida's gracious movements to....well, anything. So:
We live in a really nice apartment, as you can see below
Livingroom
Bedroom (there's 2, but this is the one that I share with Ida)
Bathroom
Oh yes, new address AGAIN (note to self, try to stay in one place longer than 6months)
Jerónimo Salguero 1881 2D
Palermo, CP: 1425
Ciudad de Buenos Aires
Argentina
We will start working for L.I.F.E. Argentina on Monday with a workshop for kids, followed by a birthday celebration for children Wednesday, English lessons Friday, cooking classes Saturday and a football tournament to raise money for Haiti "Kick it for Haiti" on Sunday.
Untill then we are pretty much on holiday.
And we have noticed a few things while walking around the city:
Despite it being summer it's SO green everywhere!
Don't be fooled though, there aren't that many skyscrapers in Buenos Aires
(I always imagined there would be a lot).
AND the women are GORGEOUS!
Sorry dudes, no pictures of that....yet.
We have decided to take some steps to try to match all of this gorgeousness that surrounds us, and have
a) bought some dresses
b) joined a gym to work out
c) started working on a tan
We'll keep you posted on how that works out (a work out...get it?)
NO more excuses! we HAVE internet at home, and will now blog frequently! :)
So, where to start?
Well, it's still hot and still cheap.
oh yes, I know exactly where to start!
The airport.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: Ida, demonstrating the tango
Ida wants you all to know that that is not how it looked in her head.
Not sure how to create a natural segway from Ida's gracious movements to....well, anything. So:
We live in a really nice apartment, as you can see below
Livingroom
Bedroom (there's 2, but this is the one that I share with Ida)
Bathroom
Oh yes, new address AGAIN (note to self, try to stay in one place longer than 6months)
Jerónimo Salguero 1881 2D
Palermo, CP: 1425
Ciudad de Buenos Aires
Argentina
We will start working for L.I.F.E. Argentina on Monday with a workshop for kids, followed by a birthday celebration for children Wednesday, English lessons Friday, cooking classes Saturday and a football tournament to raise money for Haiti "Kick it for Haiti" on Sunday.
Untill then we are pretty much on holiday.
And we have noticed a few things while walking around the city:
Despite it being summer it's SO green everywhere!
Don't be fooled though, there aren't that many skyscrapers in Buenos Aires
(I always imagined there would be a lot).
AND the women are GORGEOUS!
Sorry dudes, no pictures of that....yet.
We have decided to take some steps to try to match all of this gorgeousness that surrounds us, and have
a) bought some dresses
b) joined a gym to work out
c) started working on a tan
We'll keep you posted on how that works out (a work out...get it?)
torsdag 21. januar 2010
ARRIVAL! :)
Hi guys!
We have arrived! safe! (despite crazy traffic)
Our apartment is great, and we just found out that we will have a MAID coming in every week...that's crazy!! but nice.
Another thing that's crazy but nice are the prices here..yesterday we had a full steakdinner with wine, salat etc. and the total price in NOK: 100 per person...included tips and everything.
We like.
And another thing we like...the weather. It's summer here with around 30 degrees. Oh yes.
The only thing we don't like is that we still don't have internet in the apartment which makes it difficult to blog. However, we believe we will have internet fixed in the next few days and will then update you with pictures and more experiences from Buenos Aires.
For now,
from all of us to all of you
BESOS :¤
We have arrived! safe! (despite crazy traffic)
Our apartment is great, and we just found out that we will have a MAID coming in every week...that's crazy!! but nice.
Another thing that's crazy but nice are the prices here..yesterday we had a full steakdinner with wine, salat etc. and the total price in NOK: 100 per person...included tips and everything.
We like.
And another thing we like...the weather. It's summer here with around 30 degrees. Oh yes.
The only thing we don't like is that we still don't have internet in the apartment which makes it difficult to blog. However, we believe we will have internet fixed in the next few days and will then update you with pictures and more experiences from Buenos Aires.
For now,
from all of us to all of you
BESOS :¤
fredag 15. januar 2010
You said suck? Oh'yeah, we suck!
But now we'll do a lot better, because WE ARE LEAVING ON MONDAY!!! Buenos Aires here we come...
Abonner på:
Innlegg (Atom)