This past weekend, I was able to travel to Jujuy and Salta to meet up with Joseph and Victoria and see a very different side of Argentina (thank you, mom and dad for the birthday present...flying time was 4 hours round trip as opposed to 48 hours in buses round trip). These two provinces at the northwestern corner of the country are extremely indigenous in character and have some of the most beautiful scenery in the country.
My trip began in the underwhelming but conveniently located city of San Salvador de Jujuy, the capital of Jujuy province. So as not to confuse you, the city is often referred to only as Jujuy and not San Salvador de Jujuy even though that's also the name of the province. This city is not particularly beautiful, not particularly wealthy, and not particularly interesting (hence the lack of pictures), but it was a central location for us to begin the trip and rent a car, and I barely stayed there for more than 12 hours. When I refer to something beautiful and incredible in this post, I will generally be talking about the province and not the city. We left Jujuy (city) on Friday morning heading north through the Quebrada de Humahuaca (kay-BRAH-duh day hoo-muh-WAH-kuh). According to translate.google.com, the word quebrada translates as ravine, gully, or brook. Basically it's a cross between a valley, a canyon, and a gorge, although Joseph, Victoria, and I had trouble defining the differences between the three, that has some amazing scenery and rock formations and a few small towns. At the center of the quebrada, the low point in this valley, lies a two-lane highway, a set of abandoned railroad tracks, and a currently dry riverbed. There were bridges over the riverbed, so I assume that it fills with water during the 'rainy season' whenever that is.
We were able to hit 'the big 3' towns of Purmamarca, Tilcara, and Humahuaca (in that order...they are three but they are not big....I just made that term up...), which all featured tourist-catered artisan markets, dirt roads, and awesome mountains. We ended up driving back to Tilcara, the town with the most restaurant and nightlife options, and stayed there in the house of a family that we found through the local tourism office after (but not because) I accidentally overtipped them.
Saturday morning, we left Tilcara and headed west over the mountain ridge lining the quebrada towards las salinas grandes, the salt flats. These are basically gigantic open spaces with no vegetation that are completely white. We drove most of the day on a dirt road that when near but not into the salinas (whoops...), but the drive was still beautiful. This road left us at a pretty dismal looking town called San Antonio de los Cobres, which is connected to Salta by the tourist trap that is the Tren a las Nubes (train to the clouds), which costs $120 USD per person. Ridiculous. Part of our plan was to avoid paying for that ticket but still see the scenery by driving on the camino a las nubes (road) in our coche a las nubes (small rental car). We drove about an hour out of the way to see what was supposed to be a very impressive puente a las nubes (bridge...part of the train tracks), but it was underwhelming to say the least.
The drive to Salta was really beautiful and enjoyable, although the sun did end up going down, the paved road ended, and we wound up on some sort of construction detour through the bottom of a canyon/valley/ravine/quebrada on a makeshift road that ran next to and periodically across a stream. We did, however, make it to Salta without incident and spent a great two days exploring the city. As you can see from the pictures below, it was a really amazing trip!
If you don't believe anything I just told you and want a second account, check http://thesmallmarsupial.blogspot.com/ in a week or so when they have had time to update their blog.
Now, as my grandfather would say, I am visiting Buenos Aires before leaving for Mendoza (Andes Mountains + malbec wine/vineyards = good trip). My visit has already been long enough to witness the rebirth of a strike in Universidad de Buenos Aires (this was supposed to have ended for good last week...), a garbage strike which left the streets smelling oh so lovely, a murder resulting from a conflict between two train worker unions, and separate subway and bus strikes at different hours today.
Pictures of the trip are here on my facebook...I took too many and had to split it into two albums:
Album 1
Album 2
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Who are the gente in your barrio/El Teatro Colón
This is also kind of a two-for-one deal post, since I am about a week behind here.
If Saturday Night Live ever decides to do a Mr. Rodgers parody set in Buenos Aires, they can use this post to write the lyrics to Señor Rodgers' new hit song "Who are the gente in your barrio?". In my daily walks through my neighborhood to class, the subte, the bus, or anywhere else I might be headed, I have come across three distinct professions that don't seem to exist in the United States.
1) THE DOG WALKER
To compensate for the amount of time lost in the beaurocratic disorganized mess that is Argentine society, many porteños choose to outsource their dog walking. The legal limit is 8 dogs per person, but this is rarely challenged and seems to be enforced about as strictly as the Sullivan's Island whistling ban (or at least I hope that isn't really enforced). It's very common to see a guy walking down the street with 10-20 dogs at a time and just about as common to see all of those dogs tied to a telephone pole while the walker is picking up/dropping off a customer or taking a cigarette break. Don't believe me? Check this out: http://www.tripfilms.com/Travel_Video-v113-Buenos_Aires-Dog_Walkers-Video.html
2) THE FLYER-ER
This is exactly what it sounds like. A walk down any commercial street here usually means being bombarded with leaflets advertising restaurants, clubs, English classes, legitimate churces, less legitimate looking religious-y things, POLITICAL PROTESTS, and just about everything else you have no desire to be bothered with. These guys (and girls) are everywhere, and they must be able to make some kind of money doing this despite the fact that no one cares about anything they hand out.
3) THE SIDEWALK CLEANER
Okay so I have to admit that this one is kind of made up since it's actually a part of another profession. Despite providing free healthcare and education, the goverment here is not in charge of maintaining the sidewalks. Instead, these generally tiled surfaces seem to be maintained by whatever building they happen to be in front of. On most blocks, the pattern/type of tile is different in front of every building. Just about every building has some type of super/land lord/maintenance person, all of whom stand outside for 23 minutes and 34 seconds hosing of their sidewalk territory beginning at 7:30 in the morning, so the morning commute means dodging hoses and artificial puddles. This way, the sidewalk is free of litter and presents left by those 23 dogs for at least 40 minutes.
The song would probably continue to describe the vegetable lady, the empenada stand guy, the husband-wife bakery team, and at least one person with a pretty bad plastic surgery battle wound. These are the people in my barrio, the people that I encontrar cada día (the song went something like that, no?).
And now on to bigger and better things:
It just so happens that Victoria's brother Gonzalo (that would be my brother's girlfriend's brother) is an incredible/really well known oboist and was recently on tour in South America. I was able to go hear him perform at the Teatro Colón, which is certainly an item on any Buenos Aires to-do list. There's no need for me to write what wikipedia can already say better (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teatro_Col%C3%B3n), but the important part is it's huge, well-known, old, beautiful, and was just restored last year. I do have a few pictures, though--enjoy:
This picture is from the building's incredibly grand lobby. I couldn't do it justice:
The front of the theater from my 5th floor seat:
The end of the concert:
I was able to hang around afterwars and introduce myself to Victoria's brother:
If Saturday Night Live ever decides to do a Mr. Rodgers parody set in Buenos Aires, they can use this post to write the lyrics to Señor Rodgers' new hit song "Who are the gente in your barrio?". In my daily walks through my neighborhood to class, the subte, the bus, or anywhere else I might be headed, I have come across three distinct professions that don't seem to exist in the United States.
1) THE DOG WALKER
To compensate for the amount of time lost in the beaurocratic disorganized mess that is Argentine society, many porteños choose to outsource their dog walking. The legal limit is 8 dogs per person, but this is rarely challenged and seems to be enforced about as strictly as the Sullivan's Island whistling ban (or at least I hope that isn't really enforced). It's very common to see a guy walking down the street with 10-20 dogs at a time and just about as common to see all of those dogs tied to a telephone pole while the walker is picking up/dropping off a customer or taking a cigarette break. Don't believe me? Check this out: http://www.tripfilms.com/Travel_Video-v113-Buenos_Aires-Dog_Walkers-Video.html
2) THE FLYER-ER
This is exactly what it sounds like. A walk down any commercial street here usually means being bombarded with leaflets advertising restaurants, clubs, English classes, legitimate churces, less legitimate looking religious-y things, POLITICAL PROTESTS, and just about everything else you have no desire to be bothered with. These guys (and girls) are everywhere, and they must be able to make some kind of money doing this despite the fact that no one cares about anything they hand out.
3) THE SIDEWALK CLEANER
Okay so I have to admit that this one is kind of made up since it's actually a part of another profession. Despite providing free healthcare and education, the goverment here is not in charge of maintaining the sidewalks. Instead, these generally tiled surfaces seem to be maintained by whatever building they happen to be in front of. On most blocks, the pattern/type of tile is different in front of every building. Just about every building has some type of super/land lord/maintenance person, all of whom stand outside for 23 minutes and 34 seconds hosing of their sidewalk territory beginning at 7:30 in the morning, so the morning commute means dodging hoses and artificial puddles. This way, the sidewalk is free of litter and presents left by those 23 dogs for at least 40 minutes.
The song would probably continue to describe the vegetable lady, the empenada stand guy, the husband-wife bakery team, and at least one person with a pretty bad plastic surgery battle wound. These are the people in my barrio, the people that I encontrar cada día (the song went something like that, no?).
And now on to bigger and better things:
It just so happens that Victoria's brother Gonzalo (that would be my brother's girlfriend's brother) is an incredible/really well known oboist and was recently on tour in South America. I was able to go hear him perform at the Teatro Colón, which is certainly an item on any Buenos Aires to-do list. There's no need for me to write what wikipedia can already say better (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teatro_Col%C3%B3n), but the important part is it's huge, well-known, old, beautiful, and was just restored last year. I do have a few pictures, though--enjoy:
This picture is from the building's incredibly grand lobby. I couldn't do it justice:
The front of the theater from my 5th floor seat:
The end of the concert:
I was able to hang around afterwars and introduce myself to Victoria's brother:
Friday, October 8, 2010
Rosario
So I am a bit behind on my blogging thanks to my midterms and the two-day trip to Rosario right in the middle of them, but I might be able to catch up this week.
The strike in UBA is still going on, and there is a chance that the students there may actually lose a semester. This is extremely rare even for Argentina, and hasn't happened in the past hundred years (we are talking through a military dictatorship here). Even if the semester does finish, it is possible that it might not happen on time, so our study abroad program has put a "plan B" into effect that will allow us to complete our UBA classes in the form of an independent study.
Anyway, on to Rosario...
The trip to Rosario was the first of two trips organized by our study abroad program. Rosario is the second largest city in Argentina (if you ask someone from Rosario, most other people will tell you that Córdoba is actually the second largest). The city is located on the Paraná river, which empties into the Río de la Plata (by Buenos Aires) and developed as a major port city. Goods would arrive by boat in Rosario, would be transferred to trains along the Rosario waterfront, and then be taken to all other parts of Argentina. This system, however, no longer exists. Today, the port areas, which are still active, are located upstream or downstream from the city, and the Rosario waterfront has been converted into public space with restaurants and entertainment facilities in former railroad buildings. It's a pretty cool place!
While Buenos Aires seems to still have the economic crisis of 2001 fresh in its mind, Rosario is growing and not really looking back. There is an incredible amount of new construction, and I have to agree that their slogan ("Rosario: el mejor lugar para vivir"...Rosario: the best place to live) might have some truth to it. The city has parks everywhere, a laid back atmosphere, and less-visible poverty than Buenos Aires. It seems to be a relatively wealthy city, but I couldn't tell how people make money. Virtually all of the buildings here seemed to be residential and not commercial...I guess it's possible that they business district is either nonexistant/very spread out or located away from the waterfront where I spent most of my time.
One of the most impressive/noteworthy things to see in Rosario is the Monumento de la Bandera Nacional (the monument of the national flag), which traces it's origin to Rosario. The monument itself looks like something that belongs in Washington, DC, but perhaps with a bit more "Third Reich" architectural influence. We were able to visit the observation deck, which gave a great view of the city and the riverfront.
I've uploaded my pictures onto facebook--enjoy:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2060862&id=1495500074
Jacob
The strike in UBA is still going on, and there is a chance that the students there may actually lose a semester. This is extremely rare even for Argentina, and hasn't happened in the past hundred years (we are talking through a military dictatorship here). Even if the semester does finish, it is possible that it might not happen on time, so our study abroad program has put a "plan B" into effect that will allow us to complete our UBA classes in the form of an independent study.
Anyway, on to Rosario...
The trip to Rosario was the first of two trips organized by our study abroad program. Rosario is the second largest city in Argentina (if you ask someone from Rosario, most other people will tell you that Córdoba is actually the second largest). The city is located on the Paraná river, which empties into the Río de la Plata (by Buenos Aires) and developed as a major port city. Goods would arrive by boat in Rosario, would be transferred to trains along the Rosario waterfront, and then be taken to all other parts of Argentina. This system, however, no longer exists. Today, the port areas, which are still active, are located upstream or downstream from the city, and the Rosario waterfront has been converted into public space with restaurants and entertainment facilities in former railroad buildings. It's a pretty cool place!
While Buenos Aires seems to still have the economic crisis of 2001 fresh in its mind, Rosario is growing and not really looking back. There is an incredible amount of new construction, and I have to agree that their slogan ("Rosario: el mejor lugar para vivir"...Rosario: the best place to live) might have some truth to it. The city has parks everywhere, a laid back atmosphere, and less-visible poverty than Buenos Aires. It seems to be a relatively wealthy city, but I couldn't tell how people make money. Virtually all of the buildings here seemed to be residential and not commercial...I guess it's possible that they business district is either nonexistant/very spread out or located away from the waterfront where I spent most of my time.
One of the most impressive/noteworthy things to see in Rosario is the Monumento de la Bandera Nacional (the monument of the national flag), which traces it's origin to Rosario. The monument itself looks like something that belongs in Washington, DC, but perhaps with a bit more "Third Reich" architectural influence. We were able to visit the observation deck, which gave a great view of the city and the riverfront.
I've uploaded my pictures onto facebook--enjoy:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2060862&id=1495500074
Jacob
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Buenos Aires is actually not in Europe
So I was actually planning to post something along these lines at the beginning of the week, and then this ended up being the topic of discussion in my class today (the class is called Buenos Aires, the City and its People). I feel like many of the posts on here (with the exception of the posts about trips, classes, and the Jewish community...so I guess the one remaining post...) are not completely accurate in that I have overrepresented the cosmopolitan side of the city and made it sound like a European city that happens to be in South America. It kind of is...but it certainly has South America problems as well.
People refer to the worst neighborhoods here as Villas de Miseria. These are essentially shantytowns, and, while most are located outside of the city, the most infamous is located a train yard from Recoleta, the city's most expensive neighborhood (http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_31 Sorry...no English translation, but it does have pictures.). These areas have limited access to electicity, no access to natural gas (which the rest of the city is fairly dependent on), and limited if any running water.
The city also has a pretty significant homeless problem that makes this issue looks miniscule in New York and Philadelphia. In United States cities, the issue of homelessness seems to be limited mostly to older males (of course this is not a blanket statement, but they are the most visible in urban environments). Here, however, it is almost just as common to see families. Nearly every time I buy a subway pass, there is a homeless woman or man standing next to the counter holding a baby and asking for change. People here, however, seem much more willing to leave money with the homeless population. I'm not sure whether it's because people here are just more friendly than New Yorkers in general or whether it's because everyone understands how this could happen after the severe economic crisis in 2001.
There is also a very distinct style of subway entrepreneurship here. People of all ages (I have seen everyone from kids who couldn't be older than 7 or 8 to men in their 80s) sell pretty much whatever they can find to sell on the subway. Today alone I was offered stickers, childrens' books, gum, packages of tissues, matches, and sunglasses. The salesperson walks around the car and leaves one item on each person's lap for them to examine, usually gives some spiel about the quality in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, and walks around a second time to collect either the item itself or a few pesos in exchange. This only happens during the day and at night...never in the morning or evening when the subway is packed during rush hour.
In our class today, we discussed a reading in which the author contrasted the experience of tourists and residents here in Buenos Aires. The tourist is more likely to see the cosmopolitan, European looking Buenos Aires, and the resident is more likely to see the reality of the city. Over the past 2.5 months, I definitely feel like I have transitioned from tourist to resident. The author also stated that anyone who calls this the Paris of South America after getting to know the city has not spent much time in Paris. Even though I've never visited Paris, I can also agree that this does not seem like the most accurate description.
My goal here is certainly not to be a downer but instead to share a more realistic view of what life in this city is actually like.
This week also includes a few firsts for me...my first parcial (midterm), my first trip to Rosario (and almost certainly my only trip there...I am going this weekend with my study abroad program), and my first time being on the same contient as a violent coup attempting to overthrow a country's government (http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/09/30/ecuador.violence/index.html?hpt=T2).
Chau,
Jacob
People refer to the worst neighborhoods here as Villas de Miseria. These are essentially shantytowns, and, while most are located outside of the city, the most infamous is located a train yard from Recoleta, the city's most expensive neighborhood (http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_31 Sorry...no English translation, but it does have pictures.). These areas have limited access to electicity, no access to natural gas (which the rest of the city is fairly dependent on), and limited if any running water.
The city also has a pretty significant homeless problem that makes this issue looks miniscule in New York and Philadelphia. In United States cities, the issue of homelessness seems to be limited mostly to older males (of course this is not a blanket statement, but they are the most visible in urban environments). Here, however, it is almost just as common to see families. Nearly every time I buy a subway pass, there is a homeless woman or man standing next to the counter holding a baby and asking for change. People here, however, seem much more willing to leave money with the homeless population. I'm not sure whether it's because people here are just more friendly than New Yorkers in general or whether it's because everyone understands how this could happen after the severe economic crisis in 2001.
There is also a very distinct style of subway entrepreneurship here. People of all ages (I have seen everyone from kids who couldn't be older than 7 or 8 to men in their 80s) sell pretty much whatever they can find to sell on the subway. Today alone I was offered stickers, childrens' books, gum, packages of tissues, matches, and sunglasses. The salesperson walks around the car and leaves one item on each person's lap for them to examine, usually gives some spiel about the quality in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, and walks around a second time to collect either the item itself or a few pesos in exchange. This only happens during the day and at night...never in the morning or evening when the subway is packed during rush hour.
In our class today, we discussed a reading in which the author contrasted the experience of tourists and residents here in Buenos Aires. The tourist is more likely to see the cosmopolitan, European looking Buenos Aires, and the resident is more likely to see the reality of the city. Over the past 2.5 months, I definitely feel like I have transitioned from tourist to resident. The author also stated that anyone who calls this the Paris of South America after getting to know the city has not spent much time in Paris. Even though I've never visited Paris, I can also agree that this does not seem like the most accurate description.
My goal here is certainly not to be a downer but instead to share a more realistic view of what life in this city is actually like.
This week also includes a few firsts for me...my first parcial (midterm), my first trip to Rosario (and almost certainly my only trip there...I am going this weekend with my study abroad program), and my first time being on the same contient as a violent coup attempting to overthrow a country's government (http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/09/30/ecuador.violence/index.html?hpt=T2).
Chau,
Jacob
Thursday, September 23, 2010
How I came to have one class this week
On a normal week here, I have 4 classes that each meet once a week for 3-4 hours. Two meet on Tuesday, one on Wednesday, and one on Thursday. This is definitely a more relaxed academic schedule than I am used to, and that was exaggerated even more this week.
Universidad del Salvador--
The cancellation of my social psych class was actually announced in advance to permit the celebration of "día del estudiante". This falls on the calendar just after día de la mujer, día del niño, día de amigos, and día de la secretaria, holidays to honor women, children, friends, and secretaries respectively. Next up are the days of third cousins, great aunts, aquantainces, and postal employees (just kidding).
Universidad de Buenos Aires--
As of Tuesday evening, the students were still on strike (see previous post for details). This classroom lacks heating and air conditioning, so it is a bit much to expect a notification by email (or text message, shoutout to Penn Public Safety) about the status of that day's classes. I showed up on time and sat in the classroom for 30 minutes with 2/40 of the other students in the class until it became obvious that neither the professor nor the other students were coming. Oh, and we were supposed to get our take home midterms that day...go figure.
Universidad Católica Argentina--
The professor of my UCA class emailed us the day before citing a personal problem/conflict and cancelling class. This was the second week in a row this class was cancelled (the week before was for school-wide olympics, apparently). This also means that our midterm is pushed back a week.
My fourth class, however, is my Spanish/Argentine Culture class run by the study abroad program, so it is less subject to the whims of the Argentine university system (or lack thereof). I definitely am getting the real academic experience here, which includes classes cancelled at the last minute and even without any notice (we are still responsible for the work by the way). It certainly makes me realize how lucky I am to be at Penn!
In other news, tomorrow morning I am getting my Argentine student residency.***
More to come soon!
***Subject to unannounced changes in appointment, any strikes that may happen between now and 10 am, and my navigation of a bureaucratic nightmare of an office.
Universidad del Salvador--
The cancellation of my social psych class was actually announced in advance to permit the celebration of "día del estudiante". This falls on the calendar just after día de la mujer, día del niño, día de amigos, and día de la secretaria, holidays to honor women, children, friends, and secretaries respectively. Next up are the days of third cousins, great aunts, aquantainces, and postal employees (just kidding).
Universidad de Buenos Aires--
As of Tuesday evening, the students were still on strike (see previous post for details). This classroom lacks heating and air conditioning, so it is a bit much to expect a notification by email (or text message, shoutout to Penn Public Safety) about the status of that day's classes. I showed up on time and sat in the classroom for 30 minutes with 2/40 of the other students in the class until it became obvious that neither the professor nor the other students were coming. Oh, and we were supposed to get our take home midterms that day...go figure.
Universidad Católica Argentina--
The professor of my UCA class emailed us the day before citing a personal problem/conflict and cancelling class. This was the second week in a row this class was cancelled (the week before was for school-wide olympics, apparently). This also means that our midterm is pushed back a week.
My fourth class, however, is my Spanish/Argentine Culture class run by the study abroad program, so it is less subject to the whims of the Argentine university system (or lack thereof). I definitely am getting the real academic experience here, which includes classes cancelled at the last minute and even without any notice (we are still responsible for the work by the way). It certainly makes me realize how lucky I am to be at Penn!
In other news, tomorrow morning I am getting my Argentine student residency.***
More to come soon!
***Subject to unannounced changes in appointment, any strikes that may happen between now and 10 am, and my navigation of a bureaucratic nightmare of an office.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Los Iamim Noraim
I feel like I need to make a high holiday post here, since I have spent a lot of time in services, eating, or in transit over the past few weeks to observe Rosh Hashana and Iom Kipur (as the spell it here...the letter "y" is pronounced like "sh" or "j"). I know I have mentioned the Jewish community here, so I hope there isn't too much overlap with other posts, but it's hard to remember everything I have put in here.
But first...a surprisingly spot-on article from Charleston's very own Post and Courier about Buenos Aires. This really gives a great description of the city and is worth reading.
http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2010/jun/20/streets-of-buenos-aires/
When I arrived in Buenos Aires, Victoria (my brother Joseph's girlfriend...who happened to grow up here) connected me with one of her high school friends and her family. They have been incredibly helpful in giving me suggestions for things to do, connecting me with people at Hillel, and, most recently, inviting me to spend Rosh Hashana and Iom Kipur with their family. I joined their family for meals, slept at their house, and went with them to services...their hospitality was really incredible, and they were able to answer all of my questions about Buenos Aires and its Jewish community.
Before coming here, I was under the impression that the Jewish community was past its prime, that it was still here but rapidly shrinking due to an aging population, secularization, and people moving (mostly two Israel and the US). While all of these things are happening, I have in no way gotten the impression that the Jewish community here is on a worse trajectory than the US. There are 20+ conservative synagogues (and a conservative rabbinical school) as well as 40+ orthodox ones. While people tend to have family in the US, Europe, and Israel, there doesn't seem to be a burning desire to leave the country. All of the synagogues here have a lot of security, but this is very understandable, since two bombings in the early 1990s at the Israeli Embassy and the city's major Jewish center killed over 100 people. Anti-semitism here, however, really seems to as rare as in the United States. Despite being a majority Catholic country, this tends to be a pretty open place (to an extent...gay marriage is legal but abortion is both illegal and not appropriate for dinner table conversation).
So, what were the high holidays like at an Argentine conservative synagogue? Pretty darn cool. The synagogue that this family goes to is one of the only ones in la zona norte, an upper middle class suburban area to the northwest of the city. The others, which I think are limited to a Jabad house and small sephardic and/or orthodox congregations, serve a different demographic, so this is kind of the catch-all place for people who don't want to travel into the city (also, the reform movement doesn't exist here). This congregation, called Lamroth Hakol, has grown so much in recent years that they can't fit into their building despite a recent renovation and expansion. Services for the first day of Rosh Hashana and Iom Kipur were at a convention center nearby. The 1478-seat room was almost completely full, especially for the evening services (I think a lot of people still have to work during the day on Jewish holidays/Shabbat here...evening services tend to be bigger) and was well over capacity with 300+ people standing to hear the final shofar blast at the end of Iom Kipur.
The services, which were mostly Hebrew but also included some Spanish readings, were led by the congregation's rabbi, two cantors (one of whom also performs regularly in operas), a 4-person back-up choir, a cellist, a violinist, a pianist, a flautist, and another musician who alternated between alto saxophone, guitar, and percussion. It was a little bit of a performance, but somehow it's more engaging to listen to 12 people leading a service together than 1 cantor like the services I am used to.
With no travelling on the agenda for this week, it should be more relaxed and routine, and I will be sure to post any exciting updates here.
¡Gmar jatimá tová, buen año, y que seas inscrito en el libro de la vida!
Jacob
But first...a surprisingly spot-on article from Charleston's very own Post and Courier about Buenos Aires. This really gives a great description of the city and is worth reading.
http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2010/jun/20/streets-of-buenos-aires/
When I arrived in Buenos Aires, Victoria (my brother Joseph's girlfriend...who happened to grow up here) connected me with one of her high school friends and her family. They have been incredibly helpful in giving me suggestions for things to do, connecting me with people at Hillel, and, most recently, inviting me to spend Rosh Hashana and Iom Kipur with their family. I joined their family for meals, slept at their house, and went with them to services...their hospitality was really incredible, and they were able to answer all of my questions about Buenos Aires and its Jewish community.
Before coming here, I was under the impression that the Jewish community was past its prime, that it was still here but rapidly shrinking due to an aging population, secularization, and people moving (mostly two Israel and the US). While all of these things are happening, I have in no way gotten the impression that the Jewish community here is on a worse trajectory than the US. There are 20+ conservative synagogues (and a conservative rabbinical school) as well as 40+ orthodox ones. While people tend to have family in the US, Europe, and Israel, there doesn't seem to be a burning desire to leave the country. All of the synagogues here have a lot of security, but this is very understandable, since two bombings in the early 1990s at the Israeli Embassy and the city's major Jewish center killed over 100 people. Anti-semitism here, however, really seems to as rare as in the United States. Despite being a majority Catholic country, this tends to be a pretty open place (to an extent...gay marriage is legal but abortion is both illegal and not appropriate for dinner table conversation).
So, what were the high holidays like at an Argentine conservative synagogue? Pretty darn cool. The synagogue that this family goes to is one of the only ones in la zona norte, an upper middle class suburban area to the northwest of the city. The others, which I think are limited to a Jabad house and small sephardic and/or orthodox congregations, serve a different demographic, so this is kind of the catch-all place for people who don't want to travel into the city (also, the reform movement doesn't exist here). This congregation, called Lamroth Hakol, has grown so much in recent years that they can't fit into their building despite a recent renovation and expansion. Services for the first day of Rosh Hashana and Iom Kipur were at a convention center nearby. The 1478-seat room was almost completely full, especially for the evening services (I think a lot of people still have to work during the day on Jewish holidays/Shabbat here...evening services tend to be bigger) and was well over capacity with 300+ people standing to hear the final shofar blast at the end of Iom Kipur.
The services, which were mostly Hebrew but also included some Spanish readings, were led by the congregation's rabbi, two cantors (one of whom also performs regularly in operas), a 4-person back-up choir, a cellist, a violinist, a pianist, a flautist, and another musician who alternated between alto saxophone, guitar, and percussion. It was a little bit of a performance, but somehow it's more engaging to listen to 12 people leading a service together than 1 cantor like the services I am used to.
With no travelling on the agenda for this week, it should be more relaxed and routine, and I will be sure to post any exciting updates here.
¡Gmar jatimá tová, buen año, y que seas inscrito en el libro de la vida!
Jacob
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Montevideo, Uruguay
In an attempt to work around the high holidays, leave room for upcoming midterms, and still get a lot of traveling in, I took a little weekend trip over to Montevideo, the capitol and largest city in Uruguay. With about 1.5 million residents in the city (though it felt like a lot less) and another 500,000 in the surrounding area, Montevideo is a lot smaller than Buenos Aires. It's a colonial city, so it feels a lot like the older areas of Buenos Aires (the pictures I have posted look very similar to the ones I took in San Telmo, I think). Montevideo is about a 25 minute flight across/down the Rio de La Plata from Buenos Aires (or a 3 hour ferry ride).
The first thing that struck upon arriving was how dependent this place is on Argentina, and specifically on Buenos Aires. When people in Philadelphia refer to going to "the city", they are 100% talking about New York and not Philly...I think it's a similar situation with Montevideo and Buenos Aires. The Montevideo airport actually has a special section specifically for flights arriving from the Jorge Newbery Aeroparque, the smaller of the two airports in Buenos Aires. The city of Montevideo seemed to be a bit more expensive than Buenos Aires, but the actual city didn't feel quite as nice. Most of the wealthier areas in the city tend to be along "la Rambla", which is a big boulevard that runs along the coastline.
Another big surprise was how empty the city was. While about 4 million additional people come in to Buenos Aires to work during the week, the city is by no means empty on the weekends. There is ALWAYS a tremendous amount of activity, restaurants are full, and there are tons of cultural events. I think Montevideo lacks a lot of that...the old city has a decent restaurant/bar scene, but it's confined to a few streets, and everything outside of that seems extremely spread out. I really enjoyed walking and biking through the city's different neighborhoods and getting a feel for what life is like in a city that is NOT Buenos Aires.
Despite the unfortunately cold weather, I was able to:
-Explore the old city, eat at el Mercado del Puerto, go to Museo del Carnaval (Carnaval is HUGE in Montevideo)
-Go bowling and see an Uruguayan casino
-Rent bikes and ride along "la rambla" and through a few other outlying neighborhoods
-See a play at one of Montevideo's theaters
Definitely a good trip! Check out the pictures here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2055306&id=1495500074
The first thing that struck upon arriving was how dependent this place is on Argentina, and specifically on Buenos Aires. When people in Philadelphia refer to going to "the city", they are 100% talking about New York and not Philly...I think it's a similar situation with Montevideo and Buenos Aires. The Montevideo airport actually has a special section specifically for flights arriving from the Jorge Newbery Aeroparque, the smaller of the two airports in Buenos Aires. The city of Montevideo seemed to be a bit more expensive than Buenos Aires, but the actual city didn't feel quite as nice. Most of the wealthier areas in the city tend to be along "la Rambla", which is a big boulevard that runs along the coastline.
Another big surprise was how empty the city was. While about 4 million additional people come in to Buenos Aires to work during the week, the city is by no means empty on the weekends. There is ALWAYS a tremendous amount of activity, restaurants are full, and there are tons of cultural events. I think Montevideo lacks a lot of that...the old city has a decent restaurant/bar scene, but it's confined to a few streets, and everything outside of that seems extremely spread out. I really enjoyed walking and biking through the city's different neighborhoods and getting a feel for what life is like in a city that is NOT Buenos Aires.
Despite the unfortunately cold weather, I was able to:
-Explore the old city, eat at el Mercado del Puerto, go to Museo del Carnaval (Carnaval is HUGE in Montevideo)
-Go bowling and see an Uruguayan casino
-Rent bikes and ride along "la rambla" and through a few other outlying neighborhoods
-See a play at one of Montevideo's theaters
Definitely a good trip! Check out the pictures here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2055306&id=1495500074
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