La Pluma Negra

Within my first few days being in Buenos Aires I told myself I wasn't leaving the city until I bought a piece of art here. The artwork in Buenos Aires always catches my attention, just begging for at least a couple minutes of my time.

One Sunday afternoon after a wonderful brunch at Magdelena's and bottomless Mimosas, my friend Logan and I headed to feria Recoleta. It's at artisan fair that takes place in Plaza Recoleta. There, I stumbled upon La Pluma Negra.

The owner behind the work is named Joao David, who is originally from Portugal but lives in Buenos Aires. Most of his artwork is done by zen-doodling and pen. I fell in love with his work, and he sells them at very fair prices. I got a couple 8x11.5 pieces for 30 pesos each (coming to about $4.25 USD). Honestly, I'm probably going to buy a couple more this next week.

You can follow him on facebook here.
You have a tumblr? Follow him here.
(And you should because Joao's work is incredible!)

Besos,

Julietta

Cementerio de la Recoleta

City of the Dead

This past Friday CEA took us to the famous Recoleta Cemetery. This cemetery is 14 acres big, containing 4,691 vaults. This cemetery is for the dead elites of Buenos Aires; containing graves of many notable people like Eva Perón, former presidents, Nobel prize winners, military figures, ect. It is listed as one of the world's best cemeteries.

Inside we found the city of the dead, where anyone who was anyone is buried. The origins of the cemetery are at the entrance, newer ones the further you go out into the labyrinth. One could walk for days in there. All around are grand mausoleums of stone and bronze serving as symbols of Buenos Aires' golden age when it was one of the richest cities in the world. Each grave was a piece of art, the living legacy of the dead citizens in the city. Every corner we turned stole my breath away.

Inside the city of the dead, we learned some interesting stories about some of the graves inside.

Tomb of Liliana Crociati de Szaszak

Liliana was 26 years old when she passed away. She was in a hotel with her husband, just beginning their honeymoon together. An avalanche struck the hotel and killed her. She is dressed in her wedding dress in the statue. Her father had known something had happened to his daughter when her dog, Sabu, died the same night she did. On her grave there is also included a beautiful poem from her father.

The Tomb of Rufina Cambaceres

Rufina was a 19 year old beautiful socialite of Buenos Aires. One night as she was getting ready to attend a show, she collapsed without warning onto the floor. She was pronounced dead, and was put to be put in her coffin and placed in the family mausoleum.

A little while later a cemetery worker had noticed that the coffin had moved inside of the crypt. Expecting a grave robbery he discovered something much, much worse. Found inside the coffin were scratch marks all over, and Rufina, really dead this time, hands and face bruised from having tried to break out of the coffin.

Doctors now speculate that at the time she may have had a condition that had slowed her heart rate down so slowly that the doctors at the time would have thought she was dead. Now we have technology that can detect it, unfortunate for Rufina.

Mrs. Tiburcia Dominguez & Mr. Salvador María del Carril

This not so happy couple spent 30 years of their married lives without speaking to one another. The hatred they lived with for years was taken to their graves after the widow stated in her will that their statues were to be facing opposite directions. A true homage to their marriage. A little funny, and quite unfortunate.

If you ever visit Buenos Aires, I strongly urge you to visit this incredible cemetery...

Cat's that roam the graveyard, I'm convinced they're spirits from the graves

Looking into the mausoleum 

For 5 years and a pretty penny, you can be buried here too!

Absolutely breath-taking 

Con todo mi amor, besos! 

Madres de Plaza de Mayo

The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo is an association of Argentine mothers whose children were "disappeared" during the Dirty War of the military dictatorship, between 1976 and 1983. They organized while trying to learn what had happened to their children, and began to march in 1977 at the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires, in front of the Casa Rosada presidential palace, in public defiance of the government's state terrorism intended to silence all opposition.

Many of the disappeared were believed to be abducted by agents of the Argentine government during the military dictatorship and were often tortured and killed before their bodies were disposed in rural areas, the river, or unmarked graves. The ones who disappeared were often in opposition to the government, or generally considered a threat to the dictatorship. Most women captured at the time that were pregnant were kept in concentration camps until their babies were born. Once born, the children were given in illegal adoptions to military families (or anyone is positive association with the dictatorship). The mothers were generally believed to be killed. Many of these disappearances have gone unaccounted for, and many of those responsible for these tragedies have yet to be punished.

I had briefly heard of the mothers before coming to Buenos Aires and it was a topic I frequently asked locals their opinion on. When I had first heard the story, the dictatorship seemed like it was so long ago.

This past Thursday I had the opportunity to see & march with the mothers.

It wasn't until I saw the mothers in person and received a little more in-depth story did I realize how fresh this wound from the dictatorship still is for the Argentine people. The current democracy has only been around for 30 years, most people in Argentina still remember life during the dictatorship.

Something that has really impressed me about people here in Buenos Aires is their knowledge on current events and politics. Not only can almost any porteno tell you about the current events in their politics, but they can give you their opinion on it as well (and they usually will). Back home not only would I say the majority of people are really uneducated but also apathetic to what is going on in our politics and current events. Whenever you hear any story from the dictatorship it's really no wonder why the Argentines love taking advantage of their political voice… because they still remember a time when they were forbidden to.

It was an honor to march with the mothers, even if it was only for a short time due to the poring rain. It was probably the first time in my life I ever participated in a political rally, but I wanted to show the mothers that I support their efforts for answers and justice on the disappearance of their children.

If you want to learn more about the mothers,  click here to visit their website

Did I mention it was POURING rain?!

The mothers, dedicated to their children

The Typical Mistake

Me & my awesome Professor, Blake

I've mentioned before that my communication's class is by far my favorite of the semester. Makes sense… it's intercultural communication and that just so happens to be my major. My professor, Blake, does an incredible job not only engaging us intellectually, but challenging us as well. His class is always forcing myself to reconsider how I view the world in which I live.

This week instead of having our regular classroom lecture, Blake had us come visit him as guests for his radio show here in Buenos Aires, "The Typical Mistake" on Radio Palermo. TTM is an all English-language radio show here in BsAs since 1999. My prof is the co-host on this show and his friend, Guillermo, is the show host/founder.

Who listens to an English-speaking show in Buenos Aires? Well, more people than you would think (unfortunately I don't have concrete numbers). Most of the audience is made up of Argentines who want to practice and integrate English into their lives, but TTM also has a growing set of listeners from all over the world.

Our topic during the show was about mass media. And the question asked was, does mass media drive culture? Or does mass media reflect culture?

I took a popular culture comm class last semester at Texas A&M. This class definitely changed the way I looked at the world by learning how we are affected by popular culture. From my previous professor I learned this: "Popular Culture serves as a mirror to society, reflecting standards and commonly held beliefs. PC serves as a resource to our lives, crossing across most barriers that divide us. To take a rhetorical perspective on popular culture is to pay attention to the persuasive nature of signs as we become detectives of meaning. "

I reflected back on this class as we sat and discussed mass media on the radio. And I though, "Does American popular culture really reflect me as an American?"

Let's look at how PC defines beauty. The reputation of the US abroad is that we are a nation of obese people. Yet in our mass media how many obese people are represented? Our advertisements and music videos are covered in half-naked photo-shopped women. This ideal image of "beauty" our pop culture portrays is so perfect that its nearly impossible for us to recreate without spending an abundance of money on clothes, cosmetics, or even surgery. I feel as if our media drives culture more than reflects it. If our media reflected who we were, magazines would stop using things like photoshop. Instead they drive this image of what they define beauty to be, and convince us that with their product/service alone can we obtain their definition of "true beauty".Is this image of beauty really a reflection of me??? And don't even get me started on the racial aspect of this beauty concept as well. (seriously, where's my hispanic disney princess?)

That's jus' me though.... What do you think about the relationship between culture and mass media?

Here is the link the hit "Like" on The Typical Mystake's facebook page.

Radio Palermo

Jamie and I getting silly during the break

Me & the sound board guy

Malena Canta El Tango

Yesterday CEA took us to ‘La Esquina de Homero Manzi’. This Resto-bar was the symbol of urban culture in Buenos Aires during the 1940's (aka the Golden Age of Tango). Here we got to enjoy a delicious steak dinner and a tango show.

Tango was actually born in the brothels of BsAs, meant to be an "acting out" of the relationship between the prostitute and the pimp. It has since then transgressed to be a living cultural artifact of the city. Tango is not only a dance but a genre of music as well (both instrumental and lyrical).

Tango was used as an instrument of speech for the Argentine people. Throughout the history of tango, it's fortunes have always been tied to economic and political conditions in the country. Tango is almost always nostalgic for a better time. As political oppression developed in Argentina, lyrics were a beacon of light to the political feelings of the working class. Eventually the dance and the music went underground until it's rebirth in the 1980;s

Watching the show also reminded me how much I missed partner dancing, hopefully I will have the opportunity to take a tango class before I leave the city. I was mesmerized as I watched all the stories unfold on stage. Not only where the singers telling a story, but the dancers and musicians as well.

It was one of the first opportunities we really had to get dressed up, and every girl took advantage of the opportunity. It was really nice to have us all together for a big CEA family dinner.

If you ever come to Buenos Aires, I highly encourage you to check out Tango.

Con todo mi amor,

Julietta

A very blurry CEA familia

La Banda

Here is a video featuring the Tango classic: "Malena Canta El Tango"

Perspective

A couple of days ago I wrote a post talking about my life and my reflections on the all the events in my life leading up to now. I wondered how these life events affected me and how they are doing to continue to affect me in my future.

Well, I am someone who also calls them-self a Nerdfighter and am an avid follower of the Vlogbrothers. On catching up with my Youtube subscriptions I saw that John Green made a vlog titled perspective, kinda touching on some of the same ideas I had in my post. Except in this case it is written and said by John Green who's a real writer and way better with words than I am. So if you didn't read my post, don't and just watch this video because it is John Green.

Ni Una Sola Palabra de Amor

"A tape with recorded messages was found inside an used answering machine. Through these calls we get to know the incredible story of Enrique and Maria Teresa: a woman expecting a call from a man who will never respond. Ten years later, over this completely real audio, this short film gets made." 

The answering machine was purchased at an Argentine Market. Check it out, I included the version with English Subtitles

October is over...

I've been here for 2 months. Wow. I feel like I remember first landing in EZE just yesterday. I have a month and 2 weeks left after this, time is really flying by.

This past month has been a really fruitful one in my life. This is also one of the happiest I've ever been in my life. For awhile I was thinking that my happiness had to do with my location: that maybe one of the reasons I was so happy was because I was in Buenos Aires. I think now I realize that my happiness had to do with the fact that I actively kept choosing happiness every day I've woken up…

This is one of the first times in my life I came to a new place with absolutely no one. No friends from high school or college, no family, no boyfriend, no one. I tried not to show it, but that absolutely terrified me. I've only been here for two months and I already have a long list of goodbyes I'll have to make come mid-December. I truly cherish all the friendships I've made here and hope I can continue them back home in the states.

Looking back now it's crazy seeing how all the dots have aligned in my life so far. How one choice in my life effected so many others. Right now I'm here for a reason, and I can think of every event that has lead me here but I still really have no idea where it is heading. I keep pulling this image of the falling dominoes all aligned in a certain pattern. Every life event I've had so far Is one of those dominoes, where will the next one take me? This has been my biggest reflection this past month, about how crazy the Universe is in all it's infinite wisdom.

I'm also wondering what it will be like when I go home, have I evolved? Has this experience ever changed me? How will my life back in Texas be affected by this experience when I go back? I have no idea how my the legacy of my study abroad will effect me when I'm back in the States. Isn't life just beautifully frustrating in that way? I'm trying to learn to embrace the uncertainty.

Besos y abrazos,

Julietta

This month I...

Went to 5 different museums in BsAs!

Went swimming in Uruguay

Had wine tasting class

Chilled with T-Rex at Technopolis

Brought Halloween to the city of fair winds (Cat & Hippie)