Archive for the 'The city' Category

The Obelisk of Buenos Aires

Published by Michael on August 13, 2008 in The city. 0 Comments

The obelisk of Buenos Aires you find at the avenue 9th of July. When you see the news on television, it always starts with a view of the Obelisk.

The Obelisk at night
The Obelisk at night

The obelisk was built in May 1936 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the first founding of the city.

It is located in the center at the spot where the Argentine flag was flown for the first time in the capital . Its total height is 67 meters (220 ft) and its base area is 49 square meters (530 square feet). Architect Alberto Prebisch designed it and its construction took barely four weeks.

The obelisk is one of the main icons of the city, and a venue for various cultural activities (usually sponsored by the city government) and other events. It is the traditional gathering spot for sports fans to celebrate when their favorite team wins.

Lines B,C and D of the subway have stations near the obelisk, and are connected by a number of underground passages with commercial galleries, a true “tunnel of time” if you wish to see how Buenos Aires looked like 50 years ago…

National Holliday on Monday 18th of August

Published by Alejandra on August 13, 2008 in Stay in BA News, The city and Upcoming Events. 0 Comments

Next Monday 18th of August will be a National Holliday to remember San Martín’s death, therefore the office will be closed.

San Martin

José de San Martín (25 February 1778 – 17 August 1850), was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the southern part of South America’s successful struggle for independence from Spain.

In 1812, he set sail for Buenos Aires from England, and offered his services to the United Provinces of South America (present-day Argentina).

After the Battle of San Lorenzo in 1813, and some time in command of the Army of the North during 1814, he started his plan to attack Lima. This involved first creating an army in Cuyo, liberating Chile, and then attacking Lima by sea.

In 1817, he crossed the Andes from Mendoza to Chile, and prevailed over the Spanish forces after the Battle of Chacabuco and Battle of Maipú (1818), liberating Chile. San Martín seized partial control of the viceroyalty’s capital (Lima) on July 12, 1821 and was appointed Protector of Perú. Post closed-door meeting with fellow libertador Simón Bolívar at Guayaquil, Ecuador on 22 July 1822, Bolívar took over the task of fully liberating Peru and declared its independence. San Martín unexpectedly left Perú and resigned the command of his army, excluding himself from politics and the military, and moving to France in 1824.

Together with Simón Bolívar, San Martín is regarded as one of the Liberators of Spanish South America. He is the national hero of Argentina. The Order of the Liberator General San Martin (Spanish: Orden del Libertador General San Martín) in his honour is the highest decoration in Argentina.

Some Buenos Aires’ slang & expressions (Part 3)

Published by Alejandra on August 11, 2008 in The city. 0 Comments

Macana [f] 1 a bad thing to happen, an inconvenience, a pity (quite standard and accepted by now); 2 a bad thing that has been done, a screwup, a mistake (esp. in the phrase mandarse una macana).

Macanudo/a [adj, interj] (nothing to do with macana) very good (esp. a deal, an arrangement), nice and friendly, open (a person).

Mango [m] 1 fig. a unit of currency, esp. in the phrase No tener un mango ‘Not have a (single) mango’. Etymology uncertain, probably related to the fruit of the same name (though not widely known in Argentina at present). 2 [fixed phrase] al mango (of a machine, a domestic appliance, a car, a recorder) at the maximum possible setting (at full speed, at full volume, etc.); saturated, at the most, al palo.

Ma’ qué [interj?] [not polite] surely a rapid speech-form of mas, ¿qué…? ‘but, what…?’. Difficult to explain except with an example: –Fuimos al shopping y… –¡Ma’ qué shopping, si es un supermercado grande! ‘–We went to the mall and… –What mall? It’s a big supermarket!’. Note: if you can explain this better, tell me! This phrase is plain Italian, though its usage is somewhat different.

Metejón [m] a passion for an object, person or issue; a strong yearning. From meterse ‘to get oneself into [a place]’ = ‘to fall hopelessly in love’. Used as tener un metejón con ‘to have a yearning with = for’.

Meter [vt] [fixed phrase] meter la pata ‘to get one’s leg in’, to do something stupid, to make a mistake, to manage a situation badly. Can be completed with hasta el fondo ‘down to the bottom’ for emphasis.

Continue reading ‘Some Buenos Aires’ slang & expressions (Part 3)’

Pancho, choripan o paty!!!!!!!!!

Published by Michael on August 9, 2008 in The city. 1 Comment

To snack in Buenos Aires in the street is funny and you have a few options. To begin with the salty ones there are hotdogs or panchos, sausage on bread or choripan and hamburgers or paty. It will cost you about 2,50 pesos until 5 pesos and you have various additive sauces to decorate you snack with. If you want to be sure that the stand with the offered food is a good one, just watch the movement a while and if you see a lot of people attacking the standkeeper to have a quick snack, you can be sure of a “healthy” fast food snack!

If you prefer to snack something sweet, there is a choice between an sugar topped apple and a sugar tenon.

To eat something quick just standing in the food shop, the most easy thing to do is to buy a portion of pizza. Also very popular and a nice “bad” habit in Buenos Aires. Just add a “faina” to your slice of pizza and at least you will be satisfied for a while. And for me there is no better pizza than the pizza in Buenos Aires. When you are at holidays you can take the pizza away with a classical moscata, a sweet wine drink.

Cheers!

Hot Dog

Some Buenos Aires’ slang & expressions (Part 2)

Published by Alejandra on August 5, 2008 in The city. 0 Comments

Dedo [m] lit. finger; hacer dedo hitch-hike; a dedo (appointed) by the will of someone in power, without consulting with anyone else or following criteria for selection (as if merely pointing at the person with the index finger) — as is routine for the designation of non-elected political officials; A la mitad de la Corte Suprema la puso Menem a dedo ‘Half of the Supreme Court was appointed by (former President Carlos) Menem…’. Journalists popularized the cult alternative digitar, lit. ‘to key in with a finger’ for the same meaning.

Despelote [m] a mess, an occasion of great confusion, an organizational disaster. Etymology: from the privative preffix des- (English des-, de-, dis-) and pelot- ‘ball’ (fig. ‘testicle’). The ending -e is curiously found often in words of occasion with a negative connotation (see embole and despiole).

Embole [m, usu. sing] (a place, lapse of time, or activity involving) boredom.

Engranar [vi] to become angry; lit. the action of a gauge (engranaje) setting others into motion. The corresponding noun is engrane. The etymology, though, must be related to grana ‘red, crimson’ (whence granada, the fruit, and Granada, the Spanish city).

Engrupir [vt] [becoming old-fashioned] to deceive, usually by using nice words; to get someone to buy into a not-so-good idea.

Escrachar [vt] to ruin the cover of, to uncover in public, to show (someone) as having an illegal or evil behaviour. This word has been lately applied to demonstrations (escraches) of some human rights groups in front of the houses of officials of the last military government. These demonstrations are intended to increase the public awareness towards the impunity of the crimes of these officials and denounce their places of residence. People next door of these criminals and collaborationists sometimes don’t know of their past. Etymology: probably imitative/onomatopoeic.

Continue reading ‘Some Buenos Aires’ slang & expressions (Part 2)’

Some Buenos Aires’ slang & expressions (Part 1)

Published by Alejandra on July 31, 2008 in The city. 0 Comments

Año verde [m] [fixed phrase] lit. ‘(the) green year’ an imaginary time where extraordinary things happen; usually in the phrase Argentina año verde. (This would need pages of explanation. In short, suppose the country is ruled by honest politicians and all public services work fine; that’s Argentina año verde.)

Apoliyar [v]: to sleep. (Proper spelling, I think, should be apolillar, from polilla ‘moth’; the verb apolillarse [ps-ref] means ‘(of clothes) to become old-looking and unwearable because of being eaten by moths’ and by extension ‘to become decrepit’, and it may have something to do, but is not directly related in meaning.)

Arriba [n, adv] above, the place above; fig. the higher spheres of power; [fixed phrase] de arriba free of charge, esp. granted by someone one doesn’t know or expect, or through sheer luck (lit. ‘from above’).

Atorrante/a [adj, m, f]: (being) a scum, a good-for-nothing, someone who leads a useless life (generally meaning not working, not studying, just going to parties and having fun). When used of women: easy, whorish, a whore (in figurative or literal sense), esp. one who is ‘known’ by every men wherever she goes. When said of children or young boys, the word can even be appreciative and friendly (un atorrante as ‘a cute little imp’ or ‘a sharp boy’ à la Bart Simpson in a good day).

Autobombo [m, uncountable] self-advertising. Etymology: from auto- ’self-’ and bombo, a kind of big drum used a lot in public demonstrations, strikes, etc., presumably to call for attention.

Baboso/a [m, f, adj] a skirt-chaser (also the same sense applied to women), lusty, crazy about (the opposite) sex. Lit. ‘drooly’.

Continue reading ‘Some Buenos Aires’ slang & expressions (Part 1)’

Save coins for the bus!

Published by Michael on July 12, 2008 in Stay in BA News and The city. 0 Comments

One of the most common ways of traveling in Buenos Aires is by bus. When you want to take the bus, just search for the bus stop and place yourself in line to wait until the bus arrives. When you see that the bus (recognizing the number or the color) which you want to take is coming, put up your hand as a sign to stop the bus. In the meantime, search for your so carefully saved coins (lately coins are very rare…..), tell the bus driver how much you are going to pay (90 cents , 1 pesos or 1,40 ) and drop your coins with a smooth rhythm in the ticket machine. If you don’t know what the amount to pay should be, tell the driver where you want to get out, don’t forget to give the street number (the block number for example at 1300) or a crossing street, because some of the streets are crossing half of Buenos Aires city.

Enjoy your trip!

Currency

The official Argentine currency is the Peso. There are bills of 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 pesos, and coins of 1 peso and 5, 10, 25, and 50 cents.

Pride Parade 2008 in Buenos Aires

Published by Michael on July 12, 2008 in The city and Upcoming Events. 2 Comments

The Pride Parade LGBT from 2008 ES EL 1º DE NOVIEMBRE

The march Pride LGBT 2008 EN 1 November

Wednesday July 2 the CHA had the first meeting of the Organizing Committee of the LGBT Pride march 2008.

It was agreed that the date of the march will be on Saturday, November 1st and the week from 27 to October 31 will be the week of Pride, which is open to all organizations to submit cultural activities, reflection, discussion and other spaces. In this week your organization can present their activities.

As part of the Organizing Committee of the march, Marcelo is responsible to receive proposals from organizations of the activities to be performed.

The time limit for receiving the list of proposed activities, which will then be disseminated material triptych, is until July 31.

The activities can be send to the e-mail: marcelomarquetz@yahoo.com

Visit a museum today?

Published by Michael on July 3, 2008 in The city. 0 Comments

When you want to escape a little bit of the rhythm  of the never sleeping city and you just don’t want to be a lot outdoors today……

Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Bernardino Rivadavia.
It refers to nature, fauna, flora, mineralogy, geology and paleontology.
Mondays to sundays from 2 PM to 7 PM
Neighborhood: Caballito
Angel Gallardo avenue 490 Tel: +54 (11) 4982.1154/4494

Are you cold in Buenos Aires?

Published by Michael on June 26, 2008 in The city. 1 Comment

What about making a nice warm soup today?

If you need to buy some uncommon spices, you can go by train straight to Belgrano neighborhood and next to the train station you will find Buenos Aires’ China Town, with a lot of chinese specialized supermarkets. Just nice to do on a cloudy or boring cold winterday and get back to your apartment in Buenos Aires and explore your kitchen! Underneath I suggest the cosmopolitan recipy of the famous Russian red beet soup, called borsch (or borsj).

Enjoy the trip and the meal (with the horseradish you bought in the mentioned neighborhood).

Russian Borsch

RUSSIAN BORSCH:

  • 600 g chopped red beets
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 1 red onion
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 400 g chopped root vegetables (traditionally celery root, parsnip, cabbage, carrot)
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • salt, black pepper to taste
  • vegetable broth
  • chopped fresh parsley leaves
  • sour cream (to garnish)
  • horseradish (to garnish)

Peel the red beets and chop into bite-sized pieces. Heat the oil in a pan and brown sliced onions and garlic. (if you re thinking about the meat version, add the sliced pork/beef cubes at this stage and brown properly). Add the cumin seeds and the chopped vegetables. Coat well and fry over low heat until the veggies are soft, but crispy. Add the broth to cover the vegetables. Bring to boil, cover and let cook until soft. Add the black pepper and salt to taste and squeeze in the lemon juice.
Pure half of the soup (unless there is meat in it) and bring back to the boil. Mix in the parsley leaves and serve.

Shred the horseradish very finely and mix in with the sour cream. Serve the soup with a slice of rye bread and a good dollop of the spicy sour cream dip.

It’s a great soup to to serve with a good Argentine wine. A warm heartening excuse to invite your family or friends in your “own” flat in Buenos Aires and show them how you fill being a local in the city.

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