(Originally 'posted' on 12/20/08)
Well gang,
I’m almost at the point where I could be writing this whole email in Castellano, minus some potential grammatical errors and complex sentence structure, but in the coming weeks, I may start that to see if I can catch any of you sleeping at the wheel. I’ve begun cracking down on my English use with locals, and almost demand they speak to me in Castellano... Of course, they oblige, but it often slides back to English – we typically laugh, and then jump back to the local tongue.
I’ve found there to be many phrases that don’t necessarily have an equal in English – for example, I was speaking with a friend yesterday about my iPhone and my desire to use it here with a local Argentine number, but that I would need to unlock it... This is where we got in to a little difficulty, as the term ‘lock’ (or the verb, to lock) does not exist in the Spanish language. I tried explaining it using examples – specifically using a door, keys, and a door handle, but we didn’t get very far. In English, you can open/close a door without keys, which indicate a locking mechanism, thus the verb, to lock, but in Spanish, you open/close a door (as we do in English), but when you want to “lock/unlock” a door, you simply add “con las llaves” (with the keys). So, in explaining my need to unlock my iPhone in order to use it with the local sim card, it took an extra 10 minutes because we were at odds with how to describe the context to eachother in Castellano. Alas, we got there and the message was understood, followed by a good laugh and a sigh that we got through it, ha!
I’ve begun to venture out a bit more in to the ‘tourist’ zone, having acted as a tour guide for a new friend visiting the area. He’s actually the brother of a business contact who is down here for a few days by himself before he too is joined by another friend, so we got together on Wednesday afternoon for what amounted to be a 5-hour walk around town. I was relatively surprised at how familiar ‘those’ parts of town were to me, as I had really only been zipping around town when I was here last year. The architecture here is incredible – it’s a mix of old-world French (for those of you who have had the chance to visit Paris, many of the buildings share in that ornate, hand-crafted, detail-oriented style), a little third world, and modern/developing areas...
Unfortunately, I’ve realized that I cannot pull pictures off of my ‘new’ memory card because it was not pre-formatted, so I need to buy a cable for my camera so I can plug it in to my new laptop – just another thing I’ve learned about living abroad: these are the things you don’t necessarily consider before you depart on foreign adventures. So, I’ve switched back to my old memory card, which holds fewer pictures, so I can start to upload my photos for everyone to see...
Not a whole lot else to report, as I’ve just been meeting new people, making new friends, and trying to speak like a local. I think there are couple of things to note that may not go over well with my parents – I’ve now been told by more than a few people (all of whom were strangers when I met them) that I could pass for an Argentine once my Castellano improves a bit, but that I already have the look and the speed at which I am picking up the language has surprised even my friends who are here... So, I hope that can all come down to visit me, because if I continue at this pace, I’ll be on a fast-track for citizenship and may never leave... Haha, j/k (maybe)...
There’s a big ‘fin del ano’ fiesta tonite outside of the city in a grandiose garden that I’ve been invited to, so I figure, when in Rome... I should have my camera situation sorted out by later today, so I’ll be sure to send along a few pics when I get them on to my computer.
Until the next installment...
Besos y abrazos!
Chau,
Adam
P.s. There may be a new little-companion in my next installment, we’ll see... Un perrito!
Monday, December 29, 2008
Miercoles, Dia Cinco
(Originally 'posted' on 12/17/08)
Buenos dias!
Well, I’m going on day 5 in Buenos Aires, and I feel like I’ve been here WAY longer – it’s a pretty incredible City and I’ve spent much of the last few days working and in meetings learning about how business (specifically real estate) is conducted; things are certainly different from the states, and I can certainly understand the hesitancy of American companies working/investing down here...
It’s amazing how small the business community is in the world, as I was attending a meeting yesterday with a prominent architect discussing a few potential deals I am trying to assemble, and when he took at my resume, his eyes lit up (not because of how amazing I am, haha) because he had just met a few people from my last company about one month ago at a South American Investment Conference. Sure enough, a few minutes later, his assistant whips out the business cards of two former Gettys colleagues... What?! Really?! I promptly put on that filter in my brain before I said anything and simply smiled and laughed at the coincidence... Ha! On the good note, at least he knows I’m not necessarily a dummy, unless he thinks less of me as a result of the people I was with at the meeting...
Work aside, my Spanish is progressing my leaps and bounds with each day, as I am really trying to speak as much Castallano (the dialect of Spanish spoken across Argentina) as possible. I have found there to be pronunciation challenges with specific words, such as ‘celular,’ as the use of the mouth and tongue in combination is different in Spanish than in English, so it’s a matter of retraining my mouth how to talk – similar to Asian languages using the letter ‘r’ because the sound it makes in English does not exist in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean (among others). There are also phrases, such as ‘tiro al arco,’ which means a shot at goal (any sport where this is applicable, not just soccer), so I try and practice them aloud when I’m in the privacy of my apartment – I’m not really interested in people thinking I’m crazy walking the streets repeating words and phrases; probably not a good idea for me to be considered the crazy gringo, ha!
One thing is for sure – Latin Time really does have a definition! I am also under the impression that Argentina is actually a verb: to Argentina. What I really like about it is that I end up being the guy who is always on time for things, which makes the Shindler gene that so often proves to put us behind schedule, namely my sister and I, a perfect fit for Latin America – I knew there was a reason that I picked Buenos Aires!! If someone says he/she is on their way, it means he/she is leaving in 30-45 minutes, and if he/she suggests a meeting time, it’s at least one hour thereafter. My dad would be proud of how annoyed I’ve gotten waiting around, as he’s always been the one to be timely, but I’m learning and will probably fall back to my old ways and just be on Latin Time from here on out... However, this does not apply to business meetings, as people generally seem to be on time for ‘important’ things when it comes to money down here, as there is not a lot of it to go around, and everyone is after his/her piece of the pie.
So far, I have been able to spend some time with a handful of friends, and with each new connection, new friends seem to emerge, so the social networking experiment is certainly going well. However, I am still without the ability to call mobile phones in Argentina, which is becoming a bit of a pain in the culo (butt). I’m going to try and resolve that issue this week and make sure I have both a prepaid calling card, which I need to dial mobiles from my Argentine landline, and a mobile phone. Beyond that, I got my personal apartment phone (Vonage – VoIP) all set up, as I needed to buy a new power source because I had apparently fried the one that came with the base set because I didn’t realize the power (voltage) was different when I attempted to set it up the other day. Oh well, live and learn – all squared away now, so no sweat off my back.
I’m still trying to get a feel for how things function during the day, as my days have consistently begun after 2p, and ended around 5a, not because everyone is constantly partying, but because things just start/end REALLY late... For example, I came to understand that my first nite was much later than I had originally thought, having gotten home around 4a when I thought it was midnite. This was probably the bubbles from Polo, but as the next few days unfolded, I realized why... The sun doesn’t set until 915p, so at 9p, you still think it’s like 6 or 7p, which doesn’t really help... I’m certainly not complaining about the sun being up from 7a to 9p, it just throws off the your body when trying to adjust. That, and, dinners usually start well after midnite – on Sunday, we sat down at 2a to eat, and that seemed pretty standard, as the restaurant wasn’t even close to being empty... So, to counter this, I’m trying to be home by 2a – I know, this may sound a little nuts, but waking up before noon is now a priority, ha!
For those who aren’t aware of them, empanadas are the street food of Buenos Aires – little delicious bundles of joy (beef, chicken, corn, cheese, ham, vegetables, etc) that cost AP $4, which is a about US $1.25. I can eat these things until the cows come home, and have tried to have at least one every day. I may start a blog only about empanadas, as I scour the city for the best ones I can find... The food, otherwise, has been great, and I had the unfortunate happenstance of grabbing a few drinks and an appetizer at TGI Fridays – how lame, right?! The restaurant we ended up going to for dinner didn’t even open until 9p, so we had to wait it out for an hour by getting ripped off at the ‘establishment’ because it’s a tourist trap... BLAH!! That, I promise, won’t happen again, and if it does, I certainly won’t let any of you know about it, haha.
So, today is my first day without any real plans, so I’m catching up on a little bit of work and will hit the ground as a tourist to set out on a day of picture taking and exploration...
Chau,
Adam
Buenos dias!
Well, I’m going on day 5 in Buenos Aires, and I feel like I’ve been here WAY longer – it’s a pretty incredible City and I’ve spent much of the last few days working and in meetings learning about how business (specifically real estate) is conducted; things are certainly different from the states, and I can certainly understand the hesitancy of American companies working/investing down here...
It’s amazing how small the business community is in the world, as I was attending a meeting yesterday with a prominent architect discussing a few potential deals I am trying to assemble, and when he took at my resume, his eyes lit up (not because of how amazing I am, haha) because he had just met a few people from my last company about one month ago at a South American Investment Conference. Sure enough, a few minutes later, his assistant whips out the business cards of two former Gettys colleagues... What?! Really?! I promptly put on that filter in my brain before I said anything and simply smiled and laughed at the coincidence... Ha! On the good note, at least he knows I’m not necessarily a dummy, unless he thinks less of me as a result of the people I was with at the meeting...
Work aside, my Spanish is progressing my leaps and bounds with each day, as I am really trying to speak as much Castallano (the dialect of Spanish spoken across Argentina) as possible. I have found there to be pronunciation challenges with specific words, such as ‘celular,’ as the use of the mouth and tongue in combination is different in Spanish than in English, so it’s a matter of retraining my mouth how to talk – similar to Asian languages using the letter ‘r’ because the sound it makes in English does not exist in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean (among others). There are also phrases, such as ‘tiro al arco,’ which means a shot at goal (any sport where this is applicable, not just soccer), so I try and practice them aloud when I’m in the privacy of my apartment – I’m not really interested in people thinking I’m crazy walking the streets repeating words and phrases; probably not a good idea for me to be considered the crazy gringo, ha!
One thing is for sure – Latin Time really does have a definition! I am also under the impression that Argentina is actually a verb: to Argentina. What I really like about it is that I end up being the guy who is always on time for things, which makes the Shindler gene that so often proves to put us behind schedule, namely my sister and I, a perfect fit for Latin America – I knew there was a reason that I picked Buenos Aires!! If someone says he/she is on their way, it means he/she is leaving in 30-45 minutes, and if he/she suggests a meeting time, it’s at least one hour thereafter. My dad would be proud of how annoyed I’ve gotten waiting around, as he’s always been the one to be timely, but I’m learning and will probably fall back to my old ways and just be on Latin Time from here on out... However, this does not apply to business meetings, as people generally seem to be on time for ‘important’ things when it comes to money down here, as there is not a lot of it to go around, and everyone is after his/her piece of the pie.
So far, I have been able to spend some time with a handful of friends, and with each new connection, new friends seem to emerge, so the social networking experiment is certainly going well. However, I am still without the ability to call mobile phones in Argentina, which is becoming a bit of a pain in the culo (butt). I’m going to try and resolve that issue this week and make sure I have both a prepaid calling card, which I need to dial mobiles from my Argentine landline, and a mobile phone. Beyond that, I got my personal apartment phone (Vonage – VoIP) all set up, as I needed to buy a new power source because I had apparently fried the one that came with the base set because I didn’t realize the power (voltage) was different when I attempted to set it up the other day. Oh well, live and learn – all squared away now, so no sweat off my back.
I’m still trying to get a feel for how things function during the day, as my days have consistently begun after 2p, and ended around 5a, not because everyone is constantly partying, but because things just start/end REALLY late... For example, I came to understand that my first nite was much later than I had originally thought, having gotten home around 4a when I thought it was midnite. This was probably the bubbles from Polo, but as the next few days unfolded, I realized why... The sun doesn’t set until 915p, so at 9p, you still think it’s like 6 or 7p, which doesn’t really help... I’m certainly not complaining about the sun being up from 7a to 9p, it just throws off the your body when trying to adjust. That, and, dinners usually start well after midnite – on Sunday, we sat down at 2a to eat, and that seemed pretty standard, as the restaurant wasn’t even close to being empty... So, to counter this, I’m trying to be home by 2a – I know, this may sound a little nuts, but waking up before noon is now a priority, ha!
For those who aren’t aware of them, empanadas are the street food of Buenos Aires – little delicious bundles of joy (beef, chicken, corn, cheese, ham, vegetables, etc) that cost AP $4, which is a about US $1.25. I can eat these things until the cows come home, and have tried to have at least one every day. I may start a blog only about empanadas, as I scour the city for the best ones I can find... The food, otherwise, has been great, and I had the unfortunate happenstance of grabbing a few drinks and an appetizer at TGI Fridays – how lame, right?! The restaurant we ended up going to for dinner didn’t even open until 9p, so we had to wait it out for an hour by getting ripped off at the ‘establishment’ because it’s a tourist trap... BLAH!! That, I promise, won’t happen again, and if it does, I certainly won’t let any of you know about it, haha.
So, today is my first day without any real plans, so I’m catching up on a little bit of work and will hit the ground as a tourist to set out on a day of picture taking and exploration...
Chau,
Adam
Bienvenido a Buenos Aires!
(Originally 'posted' on 12/14/08)
Hola!
Well, I’ve made it to Argentina safely, and so far, so good. It has still not yet set in that this is my new home, as I’ve been a bit of a transient for the last few months, but I imagine that once I start taking classes, I’ll have some kind of ‘aha’ moment when it kicks in and I say to myself, “wow, I’m living in Buenos Aires.”
My apartment is a nice little 1-bedroom on the first floor (primer piso) of a 3 story walkup – ground floor translates to ‘planta baja’ in Spanish, and I was originally concerned that I’d be on the ground floor, which Is not the case. The superintendant lives down the hall, and he was very friendly when I arrived, and despite his limited English – I mean, I didn’t come here to teach people English, I came to learn Spanish – he was able to ‘show’ me the apartment, all in Spanish. Woo hoo! The ‘landlord/agency’ I reserved the apartment with sent a representative to take my rent and deposit and execute my lease. As per usual, I didn’t bother reading much of it, but glanced at a few dates/numbers to make sure the general meeting was accurate, which it was. Oh, and it was in Spanish, haha, so I can say that I have now executed my first real estate transaction in Argentina, in Spanish.
It was a beautiful afternoon, with temperatures in the 20’s (I’m going to have to quickly get used to the metric system, along with Celcius/centigrade measurements), which translates to the 80’s, as it’s the summer here now – the seasons are opposite of those in the northern hemisphere, and the climate is quite temperate. Summers reach the 90’s and winters dip down to the 40’s, but it rarely snows (infact, it snowed last year fin Buenos Aires for the first time in 30 years). I can’t really complain about leaving NYC in the winter and landing here in the summer.
My next order of business was to get myself somewhat situated, so I started to unpack some of my things and get my ‘technology’ set up. I am obviously all squared away with the internet, but my mobile phone (312 351 4510) does not work yet, as I need to get in touch with AT&T to figure out how to make it work... That said, the US landline I have (312 698 8748) is not up and running either, as I need to find a power converter for the plug. The adapter I bought for the laptops does not provide the right charge to the phone’s plug, so that is my next order of business. I definitely feel a bit naked without a phone right now, but I do have a ‘local’ phone in the apartment, but I cannot call other ‘local’ mobile phones here in Argentina without a prepaid calling card, so I’ll figure out how to do that in the coming days. Welcome to living abroad, right?
After I got all hooked up to the internet, I got an invitation from a friend down here to attend the championship of the Argentina Polo Cup, which is an event I attended last year, but only for matches earlier in the tournament. He swung by my apartment with a few of his friends, including a few Americans, so we all shared a few empanadas and got to know eachother. My apartment is in a neighborhood called Palermo Viejo, which is a lot like Lincoln Park meets SoHo, so I’ll get to know it well over the next few weeks before packing up and heading to the next apartment (I’m not really thinking too far ahead just yet). Plaza Serrano, which is just 6 blocks away, is the center of activity for the area, with bars, restaurants, boutiques, fairs, etc, so I’ll probably venture around this afternoon and see what a Sunday is like in the neighborhood.
For those of you who haven’t seen a polo match, it’s quickly becoming my new favorite sport – the power and grace of the horses, along with the control and skill of the players are pretty amazing in concert. From a more ‘economic’ perspective, polo tends to be the sport of the wealthy, as it obviously takes great resources to maintain the horses and the requirements of the team. There are basically 3 tournaments each year prior to the Cup, and many of the most elite teams (those that made it to the quarterfinals) are family-owned, with several brothers playing on the team – part of the wealthy elite’s status is to have a polo team comprised of sons (there’s actually a team I saw last year that was made up of four brothers). I’ll spare you all the rules, but there are basically 8 chacas (like an inning) that last 7 minutes (I think) each, and there are 4 players on each team, with 3 referees. Each team typically has between 8 and 10 horses, which can be substituted on the fly – it’s like changing equipment, but only you change your horse. Yesterday’s match was less about offense, as the two teams met last year in the final as well, but it ended up going to a sudden death, 9th chaca. We were seated amongst fans of the team that ended up winning, whom I tried to strike up conversations in Spanish about the rules, but the guy I was sitting next to kept deferring to his son/nephew to get me answers in English. He understood that my Spanish wasn’t great, but appreciated my efforts and we ended up having a ‘basic’ chat in Spanish about Buenos Aires, school, etc. Once the match ended, we (the collective gang of friends) hit up the Chandon (an Argentine winery) tent for some good old fashioned victory celebrations, with champagne, of course... One thing to mention about polo fans is probably worth discussing, at least for my own good – the people are beautiful!!! This likely is tied to the economic well-being of the fanbase, as people, in general, were pretty put together (in speaking with several young ladies over the course of the nite, I was informed that I did not stand out as a foreigner, but my ‘local’ friends did – this may have been on purpose) - it was like being at the Kentucky Derby, though I cannot cite first-hand references because I’ve never been. As a friend of mine said, Argentine’s don’t realize they’ve won the genetic lottery!
At some point in the evening, with a likely combination of a general lack of sleep and lots of champagne making me quite a bit done (las brujas fue a mi cabeza), I called it a nite and ventured back to my apartment. I have to imagine it was early, by my standards as of late, but I woke up feeling pretty chipper and certainly pretty well rested. My head was hurting a little bit, but not from las brujas – speaking, or trying to speak, Spanish all nite was taxing, but I was hanging in there and was able to converse.
So, that was my first day, what a way to start this adventure!
I’m going to try and keep a log of my days down here, maybe with a blog of some kind, and will be taking pictures like an Asian tourist in Manhattan, so I will be sure to keep everyone up to speed on my experiences. And, with luck, I’ll be a fluent speaker in no time!!
Ok, it’s time for me to finish my unpacking and venture out of this apartment and get myself some food! Tengo mucho hambre!!
Ciao,
Adam
Hola!
Well, I’ve made it to Argentina safely, and so far, so good. It has still not yet set in that this is my new home, as I’ve been a bit of a transient for the last few months, but I imagine that once I start taking classes, I’ll have some kind of ‘aha’ moment when it kicks in and I say to myself, “wow, I’m living in Buenos Aires.”
My apartment is a nice little 1-bedroom on the first floor (primer piso) of a 3 story walkup – ground floor translates to ‘planta baja’ in Spanish, and I was originally concerned that I’d be on the ground floor, which Is not the case. The superintendant lives down the hall, and he was very friendly when I arrived, and despite his limited English – I mean, I didn’t come here to teach people English, I came to learn Spanish – he was able to ‘show’ me the apartment, all in Spanish. Woo hoo! The ‘landlord/agency’ I reserved the apartment with sent a representative to take my rent and deposit and execute my lease. As per usual, I didn’t bother reading much of it, but glanced at a few dates/numbers to make sure the general meeting was accurate, which it was. Oh, and it was in Spanish, haha, so I can say that I have now executed my first real estate transaction in Argentina, in Spanish.
It was a beautiful afternoon, with temperatures in the 20’s (I’m going to have to quickly get used to the metric system, along with Celcius/centigrade measurements), which translates to the 80’s, as it’s the summer here now – the seasons are opposite of those in the northern hemisphere, and the climate is quite temperate. Summers reach the 90’s and winters dip down to the 40’s, but it rarely snows (infact, it snowed last year fin Buenos Aires for the first time in 30 years). I can’t really complain about leaving NYC in the winter and landing here in the summer.
My next order of business was to get myself somewhat situated, so I started to unpack some of my things and get my ‘technology’ set up. I am obviously all squared away with the internet, but my mobile phone (312 351 4510) does not work yet, as I need to get in touch with AT&T to figure out how to make it work... That said, the US landline I have (312 698 8748) is not up and running either, as I need to find a power converter for the plug. The adapter I bought for the laptops does not provide the right charge to the phone’s plug, so that is my next order of business. I definitely feel a bit naked without a phone right now, but I do have a ‘local’ phone in the apartment, but I cannot call other ‘local’ mobile phones here in Argentina without a prepaid calling card, so I’ll figure out how to do that in the coming days. Welcome to living abroad, right?
After I got all hooked up to the internet, I got an invitation from a friend down here to attend the championship of the Argentina Polo Cup, which is an event I attended last year, but only for matches earlier in the tournament. He swung by my apartment with a few of his friends, including a few Americans, so we all shared a few empanadas and got to know eachother. My apartment is in a neighborhood called Palermo Viejo, which is a lot like Lincoln Park meets SoHo, so I’ll get to know it well over the next few weeks before packing up and heading to the next apartment (I’m not really thinking too far ahead just yet). Plaza Serrano, which is just 6 blocks away, is the center of activity for the area, with bars, restaurants, boutiques, fairs, etc, so I’ll probably venture around this afternoon and see what a Sunday is like in the neighborhood.
For those of you who haven’t seen a polo match, it’s quickly becoming my new favorite sport – the power and grace of the horses, along with the control and skill of the players are pretty amazing in concert. From a more ‘economic’ perspective, polo tends to be the sport of the wealthy, as it obviously takes great resources to maintain the horses and the requirements of the team. There are basically 3 tournaments each year prior to the Cup, and many of the most elite teams (those that made it to the quarterfinals) are family-owned, with several brothers playing on the team – part of the wealthy elite’s status is to have a polo team comprised of sons (there’s actually a team I saw last year that was made up of four brothers). I’ll spare you all the rules, but there are basically 8 chacas (like an inning) that last 7 minutes (I think) each, and there are 4 players on each team, with 3 referees. Each team typically has between 8 and 10 horses, which can be substituted on the fly – it’s like changing equipment, but only you change your horse. Yesterday’s match was less about offense, as the two teams met last year in the final as well, but it ended up going to a sudden death, 9th chaca. We were seated amongst fans of the team that ended up winning, whom I tried to strike up conversations in Spanish about the rules, but the guy I was sitting next to kept deferring to his son/nephew to get me answers in English. He understood that my Spanish wasn’t great, but appreciated my efforts and we ended up having a ‘basic’ chat in Spanish about Buenos Aires, school, etc. Once the match ended, we (the collective gang of friends) hit up the Chandon (an Argentine winery) tent for some good old fashioned victory celebrations, with champagne, of course... One thing to mention about polo fans is probably worth discussing, at least for my own good – the people are beautiful!!! This likely is tied to the economic well-being of the fanbase, as people, in general, were pretty put together (in speaking with several young ladies over the course of the nite, I was informed that I did not stand out as a foreigner, but my ‘local’ friends did – this may have been on purpose) - it was like being at the Kentucky Derby, though I cannot cite first-hand references because I’ve never been. As a friend of mine said, Argentine’s don’t realize they’ve won the genetic lottery!
At some point in the evening, with a likely combination of a general lack of sleep and lots of champagne making me quite a bit done (las brujas fue a mi cabeza), I called it a nite and ventured back to my apartment. I have to imagine it was early, by my standards as of late, but I woke up feeling pretty chipper and certainly pretty well rested. My head was hurting a little bit, but not from las brujas – speaking, or trying to speak, Spanish all nite was taxing, but I was hanging in there and was able to converse.
So, that was my first day, what a way to start this adventure!
I’m going to try and keep a log of my days down here, maybe with a blog of some kind, and will be taking pictures like an Asian tourist in Manhattan, so I will be sure to keep everyone up to speed on my experiences. And, with luck, I’ll be a fluent speaker in no time!!
Ok, it’s time for me to finish my unpacking and venture out of this apartment and get myself some food! Tengo mucho hambre!!
Ciao,
Adam
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