Provecho!

Time to throw some observations and details your way.
Let’s combine two of my favorite things. Food and culture.

Even though, I am presently living in a large, diverse, eclectic city, the cuisine of Argentina still maintains a distinct local character. There are many adjustments that must be made while living in another country and one of my favorite explorations is the new cuisine that is presented. This includes your daily routine with food, what to buy at a new grocery store that holds all new products. No more dried cranberries, crumbled goat cheese, good hummus (ahhhhhh), and basically everything that Trader Joe’s holds. However, HELLO meat, new sauces, fresh organic foods, street markets, unique tastes, cooking together with your roommates and enjoying a long meal with conversation. No rush. And finally…..finding new restaurants within your new kingdom!!!

Food Observations.

1) Argentine Parrilla: Meat is HUGE in Argentina and the best place to find the freshest meat (sorry if you don’t eat meat. The words “fresh” and “meat”, may sounds a little unappetizing) is at a local Parrilla. In Buenos Aires, you have a range of Parrilla’s. From fancy, clean, great décor, top selection of wine to a tiny opening in the concrete wall along your street, that contains a grill, a few beers, and a drunk local Argentine making some conversational connections while flipping fresh meat on his grill. So, a Parrilla, is where the meat is placed on this enormous grill, cooked fresh every day, and in most cases….yes….probably just came off the animal. If you like meat, you would fall in love. Not to mention, you can get a steak here and nice glass of wine
for no more $12….at a nice restaurant. For real folks.

2) Dulce de Leche- My goodness, I have died and gone to sweet heaven! For breakfast, it is very typical to have some sort of croissant, bread, or pastry….but in Argentina, these breads are served with Dulce de Leche. A softer, creamier, and all around fantastic Carmel. I am in the phase of putting this on my apples, crackers, and whatever else it taste good on which is everything (maybe even my finger sometime)

3) Mate: There is a lot of coffee here, espresso style mostly, but there is also a tea called matte that is a HUGE part of traditional Argentina. This tea is a natural energizer but can also be used in a ceremonial manner of friendship. If you are offered matte, it is a compliment that the person would like to share conversation with you. It is proper to take the mate, and drink it all. My first time of being offered Mate, I thought it would be rude to drink all of someone’s tea, so I only took a few sips. Now I know that one should drink the whole thing to show gratitude. To a great deal of Argentines, Mate is just part of their day….all day. This is a picture of how they drink Mate in Argentina.




These are just a few of the most common food observations. I asked my friend Gustavo, why the meat was so good here. In this huge country, the majority of people live in Buenos Aires Province. Yes, more than half the population. Just to note, Buenos Aires city, is different from Buenos Aires, “state”. So, it’s not like I am running around Tokyo or anything, because I live in the center city. So, with all this remaining land and agriculture, the cows here are raised to walk miles every single day, eating grass, and other varieties of fresh energy for their bodies. The result of this, are cows with strong, tender, healthy, non-hormone injected muscles.

This past weekend, I went to a small town by the name of Chascomus to work. Once again, I am reminded of how fortunate I have been to have met Lidia and Gustavo. This weekend consisted of working with some adolescents and on Saturday, a group of young kids joined us. I love working with kids.....buy my goodness. Saturday was insane....Guastavo and I were running around all day with a few seconds between activities, cooking, creating new activities, cleaning, making sure the kids didn't jump in the lagoon, trying to teach them english, and a pause to look at eachother and just start laughing at the chaos. Due to the fact that we all remained positive and light hearted, Saturday was a memorable experience. In two weeks, I will be heading to Cordoba for another weekend with “English In Action” ( and to works with teens again....phew! ). Gustavo is kind enough to let us stay at his hotel, for free…for a whole week. Amazing. Both Lidia and Gustavo are people that I have felt an instant comfort and connection to. They let me ask as many questions about this country as I may please, and love the cultural exchange of all the conversations.



My roommates and I are continuing to enjoy our international house and explorations of this city. Monday night can consist of going to a percussion show in Palermo while Tuesday nights will probably hold an outing to an amazing Tango dance club we have discovered. I love it. The other day, we walked to the market, bought a good steak and sat and ate lunch for about two hours together. Talking in Spanish ( me trying to) and enjoying our food. No rush. I am loving this aspect of the culture.

This is a picture of the girls I live with in BA.




Due to the fact it is about to be summer down here, it has been challenging to find as much work as I would like. However, patience is a HUGE virtue down here. Why? Because, my goodness, I am not in the United States anymore. Everyone takes their time, can be a little inconsistent as far as employment goes, but it all comes together…eventually. For the summer, I am looking at some other options, for I have been told that many English teachers do other things outside the city for the summer then come back in March to teach a new year. While I have this time, working more on the weekends and randomly throughout the week, I believe I am going to invest in an intensive Spanish immersion course. I know when the school year starts here, you don't exactly have a great deal of time for yourself. So, it’s possible I will be home for the holidays, back here for New Years in Mendoza, then wanting to spend time in Patagonia until the new school year starts. We shall see! I am not to worried about it though, because I have fallen in love with where I am at.

More Pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/barnes.ashley/ChascomusAndAFewFromBuenosAires#

Cultural Observation:
While I was at the camp with the kids today, a little girl about the age of three came running up to me in hysterics. She had lost her parents and was trying to talk through her tears. First of all, there is only so much I can say to her in Spanish. Second, what I can say is probably not the exact accent that she is used to. Anyways, I got some others and we started searching for her parents. It was really interesting how they were found. In Argentina, when a child is lost, you start walking around wherever you are, and proceed to start clapping in a calm consistent manner. Then as others in the crowd hear the clapping, they join in, and soon everyone at the campsite started to clap so that her parents would know she was found. And there you have it…she found her mom and dad. So simple, easy, collective and effective. Below is a picture of us starting to lead her back to her parents.