throughthislens

The power of The Mate.

2009-04-02T11:40:00.004-03:00

I'm still blogging for Glimpse.org. Click here: The power of The Mate.

I'm back . . . online. Kind of.

2009-03-14T19:52:00.004-02:00

Oh hello there. I'm sorry to have neglected you. I swear I didn't mean it. I'm just trying not to spend my life on the Internet. It's not working very well.

Ha. Ok here's what's going on in Argentina:

(click here)
Floggers, the new urban tribe.

XO. Julie

Love in the city.

2009-03-03T23:20:00.003-02:00

Spotted in the subte.

In the clutches of a coin shortage

2009-02-28T15:45:00.002-02:00

So, besides working as a programs coordinator at a Spanish school, I'm also working for Glimpse, an online magazine for young people living abroad. I'm blogging for them, so I'll be posting some bits and pieces about life in Buenos Aires on Glimpse.org.

If you are interested in the latest on the coin shortage here, head over to the blog:

No hay monedas -- Buenos Aires in the clutches of a coin shortage.

Erk, I still haven't changed my flight . . . procrastination is eating away at me.

Wait, wait . . .

2009-02-25T20:35:00.006-02:00

This is a subte station. For some reason, I'm really into taking pictures in the subte.

So I have something to admit.

I have not called to change my March 9 flight home to a later date. The idea is to change it to May. But I can't bring myself to do it. Why? I'm scared to make definite plans to go home.

Yes, I just went through and read some of my old blogs, how I was so scared to come here, and I've suddenly found myself 180 degrees away from that -- I start shivering in my boots (or rather, sandals, it's summer here) when I think about setting foot in the good old U.S. of A. So many expectations, so few jobs . . . erk!

This procrastination is really bad though -- I need to call the airline company and change my flight to set a date, or I'll be selling some organs to buy a ticket to get back into tierra madre.

Spotted last Sunday in Buenos Aires' botanical gardens.

It's a good thing my parents are adventuring in Brazil at the moment (look at them!), or they'd be calling to ream me out.

This is in Colonia, Uruguay.

Stoplights and good food.

2009-02-20T20:24:00.004-02:00

Above: Evening in Colonia, Uruguay on Wednesday.

The parents have arrived!

What does this mean?

The two of them have way more energy than I do, and on Wednesday went to dinner at midnight, when I had to curl up and retreat to my bed.

Stuart has found many uses for his Spanish. I was particularly impressed by the fact that he knew the word ''semáforo'' (stoplight) which is a word I'm not sure I'd be able to recall on the spot. He has not won over any nuns with his Spanish skills (the rumor is that this happened in Spain), but they still have two more days in Buenos Aires . . .

Molly has made it her goal to go to every craft fair, big and small, in the city. This is quite lofty in a city where every corner is a great place for a ''fair,'' but I would say she's doing quite well.

The two of them have figured out the subway system (after only a tiny bit of instruction) and today they even switched lines!

Also, we have embarked on ''Julie's unofficial international food tour of Buenos Aires.'' After almost six months in Argentina, I'm taking advantage of the opportunity to eat at some places that don't serve pizza or empanadas. So far we've hit up a falafel place and a Vietnamese restaurant. Tonight might be Mexican or Indian. It looks like for ''real'' Argentine food they're going to have to break off on their own.

Above is a shot I took when we visited Uruguay on Tuesday.

Bus stops

2009-02-17T01:46:00.001-02:00

Above: Snapped on a recent evening downtown. There something about a bus stop that brings together people from all walks of life.

Hiding in dark corners.

2009-02-11T00:47:00.010-02:00

Today it rained. A lot. There was flooding. A lot of it.

So I did the only rational thing you can do when it gets ominously dark and rainy in a large Latin American city -- I went downtown, hid in corners and took pictures of people as they whizzed by me.

Naturally, it was fun.

I added some new pictures. You can see some of them by clicking here: Shadows and blurs.

You don't need facebook to access the photo album.

Hugs and kisses to all!

Julie

Above: After I asked this guy what time it was, he took of running to catch the train. There he is in the subte tunnel with his feet midair. I'm standing in the entranceway to the tunnel.

Above: For weeks I've been curious about a seemingly abandoned house in my neighborhood. I pass it every day on the way to work, and I wonder if anyone lives inside -- it's quite rundown, and I'm not even sure if there it has a roof. This evening however, I spotted some residents --- here's one of them, on her bicycle.

Sorry, no postings this week. Or next.

2009-02-09T16:07:00.004-02:00

Every day my wonderful friend Rachel Saffitz forwards me the journalism job listserv circulated by her university. Of course, I usually skip right over the PR jobs that sound like they actually pay a living wage and head right for anything that says ´´reporter´´ or even better ´´intern.´´

Today, however, there was no skipping involved, nor was a forced to ponder what my parents might do to me if I tell them I am interested in spending a fourth summer as an intern.

This is because the listserv was even more pathetic than usual.

I´ve copied you all below. Anybody want to get a drink? (It´s almost 5 pm here).

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
1. JOURNALISM INTERNSHIPS:
Sorry, no postings this week.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
1. FREELANCE:
Sorry, no postings this week.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
1. JOURNALISM EDUCATION:
Sorry, no postings this week.

2009-02-08T20:24:00.001-02:00

The view from the window in my living room. One day I will tire of taking pictures out this window . . . maybe. (Reflections! Cool!)

Sin titulo.

2009-02-07T21:05:00.001-02:00

Art by the train tracks between Palermo Hollywood and Palermo Soho.

Bon-bons.

2009-02-06T19:42:00.004-02:00

In Argentina, the ''catcall'' is not a catcall at all, it's a carefully crafted ''compliment'' sometimes shouted, but more often subtly grunted as you pass the kiosk/bus stop/church/grocery store/gym/bar/bathroom/table/subway turnstile/shopping mall. The cheesy pick up line is not a pick up line at all, but a simple way to interact between men and women, of all ages. Not important at all if the lady in question is not even quite a lady yet, or if the male in question could have dated her grandmother.

Hence, a warning if any of you ladies ever take a little trip to Buenos Aires: You will be ''complimented'' often and in a variety of creative ways, by doormen, by taxi drivers, by gentlemen at kiosks, by people on motorcycles and even the colectivero. You may even start to think your real name is ''nena'' (baby) or ''mami'' (momma?) depending on your doorman's preferred terminology.

I have recently struck up a ''friendship'' with one of the doorman in a building near mine. Fortunately (I think?) I pass his building every day after work, which provides me with endless amount of entertainment. Call me crazy, but I think he spends the entire day inventing new lines for the ladies who pass by his building. After discovering the similarities in our names, he has become even, err, friendlier.

Julio: Hola linda.
Julie: Hola Julio, como le va . . .
Julio: Did you get that little piece of paper?
Julie: Huh? What piece of paper?
Julio: The one they use to wrap you in because, baby,
you look just like a bon-bon. (like candy, get it?)
(cue uncontrollable chuckles on his part)

Really, it's sweet. Points for the creativity.

Besos!

Julie

Questionable habits

2009-02-04T18:39:00.005-02:00

If you thought cell phones were used for talking, you were wrong, wrong, wrong. In this city, they are devices used for text messaging. (Talking? That's so 2002). Texting your Grandma, your girlfriend, the doorman who is standing in the hallway next to your office -- here in Buenos Aires they love the text message. No fear of getting a barrage of unwanted calls from that creepy guy you met at a bar in Palermo -- he'll never actually speak to you, you'll just receive a litany of texts wanting to know q tal estas? (Or, if you're really lucky, q tal estas?!?!?!?!?!? Punctuation marks have really caught on here, too).

Really, in Buenos Aires, they put teenagers to the U.S. to shame.

So I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised that I've noticed a new trend: Texting while riding riding your bicycle during rush hour. Yes, this happens, and frequently. I should also mention that Buenos Aires is severely lacking in stop signs, patient people and traffic laws in general. It is, however, quite full of potholes. And, I think I've mentioned this before, home to the widest street in the world.

The fact that portenos drive like beer-fueled race car drivers, however, has not stopped bicyclists from sending off a quick love note to a novia while pedaling down Avenida de Mayo. I've heard you get bonus points if you are typing, wearing headphones and balancing delivery food in the basket of your two-wheeler, because this I've also seen.

The government recently implemented a "Please-for-the-love-of-God-use-your-helmet" campaign, and they've posted yellow "USA CASCO" (Use your helmet!) signs all over the city. This is mostly directed at motorcyclists, but I'm wondering if the bicyclists will also pick up on it.

I've noticed, however, that portenos have some questionable habits in the health and safety department -- mostly a love affair with red meat, cigarettes and plastic surgery -- so I have my doubts.

Correction

2009-02-04T10:40:00.003-02:00

Josh was Rolfe in the Sound of Music, not Franz. (Was there a Franz?).

Apparently my fact-checking skills are slackin´here in South America.

Josh says bye.

2009-02-02T23:20:00.006-02:00

Tonight I said a very sad goodbye to my good friend Josh, who has been living here for six months and decided that getting stopped three times by the city police was just too much for him. He is now moving to slave . . . err work . . . on a farm in southern Argentina. Josh and I went to kindergarten together, and I best remember him singing a duet as Franz in the Sound of Music when we were 10 (ahh those were the days). Needless to say, it was a very sad goodbye. Hopefully we will be reunited before we return to be bums together in Maryland.

Also, I got my favorite compliment tonight while we were out: "Wow your English is so good! Where did you learn?"

New photos

2009-01-31T02:38:00.003-02:00

Above: Today I discovered that there are a dozen Santas living in my
neighborhood! And all this time we thought Santa lived in the South Pole.

So I recently posted new photos. Or rather, some are old photos, some are new . . . all are fun! Click below.

Photos

Besos,

Julie

And she actually arrived.

2009-01-28T19:35:00.003-02:00

Well, she arrived today for her interview -- she being the mystery candidate who so kindly sent us the, um, wrong picture with her CV. She was heavily makeuped, but fully dressed, so unfortunately today at work wasn't all that interesting. Roli, however, did run into my office at the end of the day with a really cheesy smile and kept asking ''Did you see her?? Did you see her??''

Now we'll just see if she actually gets hired.

Photo attached?

2009-01-27T16:13:00.005-02:00

The school where I work is in the midst of hiring new teachers, and something very, very . . . unusual happened today.

I should preface this by explaining that the hiring process in Argentina is a little different than it is in the U.S. While at home it is either illegal or simply unbecoming to consider a candidate based on marital status, exact age or number of children, these are basic facts that go right at the top of every CV that has passed through our office, right next to the awkward-looking photograph of the potential teacher.

My boss and I get a good laugh out of the photographs, many of which resemble that emo picture you have of yourself in the seventh grade, the one you revisit every few years just to remind yourself how awkward you were way back when. I often wonder what possesses some of these candidates to send photographs that look like they were taken with a polaroid camera after a really rough night at a boliche. Faces cut off, deep sunken eyes, unbrushed hair, tank tops, impossibly dreary pouts, bad flashes, horrible lighting, ripped clothes. You name it, I´ve seen it.

Or so I thought. Today, Carolina, one of my coworkers, opened her email account and began reviewing one of the CVs in her inbox. One potential teacher -- let´s call her candidate number 8 -- had a very nice resume, with lots of experience. She had included all the details -- minus one very important item. For some odd reason, she is not wearing any clothing in her photograph, and she had provided Carolina with an artfully posed full-body closeup.

This of course, elicited some speculation in in the office. Was this a joke? Did she upload the wrong photograph and press send without checking? Does she actually think this will get her a job? (I have not quite ruled this one out yet . . .)

So of course, after some contemplation, we took the only logical next step. The director of my school called candidate 8, and she will be arriving for an interview tomorrow at noon. Roli, our doorman, wants to know if she´ll be wearing any clothes.

Updates tomorrow . . .

De ahora en más

2009-01-26T16:55:00.005-02:00

So, since I´ve announced it to my parents and to my boss and to a few of you, I suppose that it´s now going on to the blog: I´ve decided, officially, that I´m going to stay in Argentina longer than the six months I had originally planned.

My flight leaves on March 9, but it looks like I´ll be staying in South America a few months more. At the moment, I´m thinking of staying at my job until May, doing a bit of traveling and then making it home just in time for summer. Really, I just can´t see myself missing the annual Ben & Jerry´s bingefest, i.e. the week more universally known as ´´Turkewitz Family Vacation.´´

Reports of job conditions in the U.S. aren´t exactly roping me back in, and the sad condition of the economy has been made clear to me not only by my friends back home, but also by the suspiciously large community of expats who are here in Buenos Aires making ´´life changes´´ (a nice little euphemism for ´´I´m unemployed and it´s cheaper to live on the peso!´´) It´s a bit a ironic that we´ve fled to a nation with one of the worlds´most unpredictable economies, but hey, ironies make life interesting.

Mostly, though, I feel like I have so much more to learn down here. There are all kinds of things I still want to do, and my Spanish still has a way to go. I´m lucky to have a job, an apartment, a neighborhood to explore, a beach only a few hours away (the water may be brown, but hey, the world isn´t perfect), and easy access to a lot of amazing places. Also, I´ve finally decided that I´m tired of being the office joke, and I´ve enlisted a tutor to smooth out the rough edges on my language skills.

I´m moving along, and I´ve now learned some incredibly useful vocabulary such as ´´turnstile´´ (molinete . . . which actually makes so much sense because a molino is a grinder), ´´I hit my funny bone,´´ (me maté el codo) and Flinstones (picapiedras). As you can see, these are all very essential parts of my Spanish training which I would never have learned in the U.S., and clearly they will help my acquire my dream job one day. (Right?)

So, here´s to four more months in South America! And an announcement for all of you: Ellen just discovered a 688 US dollar flight to Buenos Aires. Wowzers. Email me for more info.

Obama, finally.

2009-01-20T07:47:00.004-02:00

Above: Obama, minutes after winning the South Carolina primary.

I took this picture almost exactly a year ago at the primary in South Carolina, when nobody even knew if Obama would be the Democratic candidate. And now . . . look how much our world has changed. I still can't believe we're in the final hours of the Bush presidency and that by the time I get home from work today, we will have a new president. Wow.

And ps. check out washingtonpost.com today and look for photos taken by my friend Abby Metty. She´s working down there today and her photos are on the front of the site. Go Abby!

Palermo, te amo.

2009-01-19T21:40:00.007-02:00

Palermo, I love you.

Hello!

It has now been almost three weeks since I officially moved into my new place, so I feel authorized to publicly proclaim my love for Palermo, my new neighborhood. Not that my old barrio, Villa Crespo, didn't have its own charms (hmm at the moment only one comes to mind and that's a cheese shop that was oh-so-cleverly named ''Villa Queso." Haha? Get it? Sounds like Villa Crespo? No? Hmm . . .) but I didn't realize that living on such a crazy huge street was really wearing me down.

Let's just say my old digs were more ''I live with Rockville Pike outside my bedroom window and it's rush hour all the time!" and my new place is a lot more cobblestony, leafy and generally pleasant. Amanda and Ellen helped me discover that we also have the cheapest ice cream shop in Buenos Aires at my doorstep (Dulce de leche ice cream, anyone? No? What about dulce de leche with cherries? Dulce de leche with chocolate chips? Vanilla with dulce de leche pieces? Or if that's not Argentine enough for you, dulce de leche with dulce de leche pieces?). I've also struck up a ''relationship'' with the old lady who spends her entire day peering out the yellow-grated window in her first floor apartment across the street. (Who is she watching?) And by relationship I mean she knows that I know that she's watching everyone.

Besides the one night when the couple in the building next door decided to have a not-so-private break up between the hours of 5 am and 6 am, and besides the day that I broke the toilet (long story), everything has been going swimmingly.

I spent Sunday photoadventuring, and was happy to discover that someone else felt the need to proclaim their love for Palermo (see photo above).

Above: Sunset from our living room.

Above: Spotted in my neighborhood.

Above: The graffitti fairy doing her work to make Palermo
look interesting (check out the can of spray paint in her hand).

New views

2009-01-10T10:51:00.002-02:00

Above: View from the bedroom window in my new apartment.

Ellen says chau . . .

2009-01-05T21:46:00.003-02:00

I sent Ellen packing today :( and in 24 hours she'll be back at home. She'll kill me for posting this picture, but I like it - - here she is taking one of many, many siestas on the couch (otherwise known as her bed) in my new apartment.

Come one, come all . . .

2009-01-04T18:58:00.010-02:00

Above: Street art in Bariloche, Argentina

It's January! And in Argentina, that means just one thing: TOURISTS.

Ellen and I returned to Buenos Aires a few days ago to find that the city had nearly emptied of actual Argentines. Chasing cooler temperatures and wider pastures, most locals have wisely picked up their mate gourds and their thermoses and headed out, not to return until late February. (I swear, one day I will wax poetic about mate. For now, just think of it as the tea that Argentines - and apparently Uruguayans - drink like it's God's greatest creation).

In the place of actual Argentines, Buenos Aires has suddenly become home to whole new group of city dwellers, a group that favors those nifty zip-off pants, teva sandals, cameras with lenses that double as weapons, and North Face gear in all colors and varieties. The amount of English spoken in the city has doubled in the past week.

Little do they know, these tourists are really here to make us expats feel better about ourselves. Normally we're the ones getting on the subte in the wrong direction and then getting stuck in the station at the end of the line. Or the ones who get so distracted practicing Spanish with the "nice" taxi driver that we don't realize he's driving in circles so he can charge us more. We're the ones who huddle "discretely" in the corner to hide the fact that (shocker!) we still sometimes use a map to get around. We make pathetic attempts at using local street slang, have no clue how to prepare mate the "right" way, and we always have strange requests at restaurants (sin carne?!?).

So, the arrival of fresh meat in Buenos Aires (read: tourists) gives this particular expat a bit of satisfaction. Does this subte line take us to Constitution? Someone asks in broken Spanish. Si! I reply. Which way to the fair? How much does that cost? That way! Quince pesos! I'm so weathered and knowledgeable I can barely stand it. I'm particularly cruel and I've discovered that if the music is loud enough and the drinks are strong enough, I can convince Americans with poor Spanish skills that I am indeed an Argentine. This has only happened once but I'm considering it a victory.

In short, I'm finally starting to peel the "strange short foreigner girl" sticker off of my forehead. I'm pretty sure it will never go away completely (and honestly, I'm not sure I'd want it to), but finally settling into the city isn't half bad.

Above: Lago Puelo near El Bolson, Argentina.

And some updates: Ellen leaves town tomorrow to head back to the land of dollars and peanut butter. Sad! She has lots of stories to tell about Pablo the Chilean who grows suspicious-looking green leafy plants in his lakeside house, a Christmas dinner with so many different types of people that it resembled a UN meeting, and a New Years that will certainly not be forgotten.

More pictures of our trip are here: Pictures from Patagonia. You don't have to have facebook to see them.

If you want to see what we did on New Years, go to Josh's blog. Mom, please note the part near the end where your dear daughter (read: me) arrives at the disco and chugs a great big giant . . . water. Yes, water. You trained me right.

Above: Spotted while hiking Chile.

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T21:04:00.003-02:00

I'm back in Buenos Aires and I want to wish everyone a very, very, very happy New Year! We'll be ringing in 2009 a few hours before everyone else.

Christmas Day in Castro, Chile. A little boy waits at the bus station to visit his family.

Best wishes in 2009!

Thank you, strangers

2008-12-22T23:27:00.004-02:00

Greetings from Bariloche, Argentina.

Amanda, Ellen and I have been on the road now for about four days, and if I could put a theme on the last few days it would be this: Strangers are nice.

If living in a monster of a city for the past three months has made me into a jaded ice queen, simply leaving Buenos Aires for less than a week has rekindled my faith in the niceness of the human race and in my ability to open my big mouth and talk to anyone about . . . pretty much anything. Naturally it has also reinforced my previous suspicion that Barack Obama is the world´s number one universal conversation topic. George Bush´s botched presidency comes in a close second.

In the past few days, we have been on the recieving end of an almost overwhelming amount of hospitality. On the first night of the trip, before we´d even arrived at our first location, Amanda and I found ourselves in the drivers´cabin of our bus (´´El Rapido Argentino´´), sipping mate at 2 am with the two drivers and helping them thumb through the radio. They shared their mate and we translated Tracy Chapman lyrics. Apparently they really like Tracy Chapman. It was beautiful, and the rest of the bus slept, unaware that there were two yanquis at the front of El Rapido.

Yesterday we took bicycles 18 km outside of El Bolson, which is itself a city quite ´´out there.´´
(Don´t worry, Ellen brought her biking flip-flops). Just when we´d arrived out our destination, Lago Puelo, I was accosted by a grandfatherly type who kept insisting that he knew me. After I tried to think of every way to remove myself from this entirely awkard and incredibly unusual situation, I realized that I did know him. He was a passenger from El Rapido. He worked on a boat on the lake. Naturally he invited us on to the boat. Another mate. More conversation.

Today we left El Bolson for the much larger and more touristy - but still overwhelming beautiful - Bariloche (pictures later). We took a chairlift up to the top of a nearby mountain (no screaming on Ellen´s part . . . she´s come so far), but realized on our way down that we weren´t really sure how we´d get back to town. Just as we were looking glum and confused while waiting at the bus stop, the chairlift operator arrived in his chariot. Err, car. No fear, he said, he´d be happy to drive us yanquis into town. No mate this time, but let´s just say I´m getting realllly good at charming older Argentine men.

Last Saturday in La Plata

2008-12-17T19:34:00.004-02:00

La Catedral, La Plata, Argentina

Good news ! Ellen has arrived and we are now introducing her to the kilombo that is Argentina.

Pictures above are from a little outing on Saturday to La Plata, a city just outside of BA.

We leave on our big trip tomorrow, so blog posts will be a little sporadic.

Besos a todos!

Julie

The times they are a-changin'

2008-12-16T09:54:00.007-02:00

. . . says Bob Dylan.

And indeed changes are about in the Argentina compound. For various (amiable!) reasons, my roommates and I have decided to go our separate ways once we ring in the New Year. For me, that means I'll be moving across town to Palermo into a new apartment with two new roommates. The apartment has red walls, a 13th-floor view of the city and a giant giraffe in the living room (it's wooden). New year, new people, new neighborhood, new subte line . . . new adventures.

Alana and Drew on our terrace in October.

As I discovered yesterday, however, my new apartment will also involve learning some new skills, i.e. finally learning to light a gas stove. Pathetic and embarrassing yes, but I have avoided those light-with-a-lighter gas stoves for years, succumbing to my fear that I will light my face on fire and gracefully allowing someone else (Grace Koerber in Italy, for one) to do the lighting themselves. Something about gas and fire gives me the heebie jeebies. It's kind of like driving stick shift. I should reallllly know how to do it, but . . .

Anyway, I went to visit Mechi, my new roommate, yesterday, and she showed me the ins-and-outs of the apartment, including the gas stove and oven. Unless I want to eat PB&J for the next couple months, it looks like it's light or perish for me.

Drinking mate on our terrace in October. One day I will explain mate to you all, but I believe it warrants a whole blog post, so just sit tight for now.

In other news: I am officially on vacation since my school is on break until Jan. 5. Ellen arrives tomorrow, and on Thursday we take off for southern Argentina and Chile. I am trying to convince her to go horseback riding once we arrive in Chile, but if anyone remembers the last time she got on a horse (sorry this is mostly a joke for my uncles), perhaps we should just stick to bicycles.

No anda el subte ni el agua, pero . . . bueno

2008-12-12T18:34:00.005-02:00

I can't emphasize enough how much living in Argentina means learning to live with life's little inconveniences. The waters shuts off, the subte doesn't work, but hey, the wine flows freely and we've got lots of beef, right?

Yesterday I awoke to discover that there was just enough water left in the tap to . . . brush my teeth. After that - nothing. Unfortunately for my coworkers, who spend most of the day with me, showering was out of this question. This wouldn't have been so bad, except I hadn't been able to pick up my clean clothes the day before. The owner of the laundromat down the street said he'd be open when I stopped by. But he wasn't. Starting to understand Argentina?

This morning I was sad to discover that my beloved subte station (beloved because it is a convenient 8-second walk from my apartment) was lockered shut. Due to a paro, or strike, unionists (gremialistas, perhaps my favorite Spanish word of all time) had shut down several subte lines. This left the 1.5 million people who typically ride the subte, well, subte-less. The government, as you can imagine, was not very happy. Neither was my boss when I arrived half an hour late.

This afternoon when I left work, Clarin announced that protestors had shut down major streets in the city center, complicating traffic on Avenida 9 de Julio, an 18-lane road that runs through downtown. Yes, 18 lanes, you read that right.

Anyway, besides good jokes, there are upsides to all this havoc. There are fantastic words to be learned from it (I think I've already introduced you to kilombo, meaning "head splitting chaos"). There are also free subte rides (the subte had returned to service when I came home from work today, but everyone was passing through for free).

Lastly, there's a new attitude about life: Well, if it - the water, the subte, the oven, the lights -doesn't work, it doesn't work. Go have a cafe and some medialunas (or better yet, ice cream and beer, a fascinatingly disgusting concoction I was recently introduced to).

Maybe it will work later. Maybe.

Bruce Lee learns Spanish! Bow wow.

2008-12-10T20:01:00.010-02:00

Alas, I have neglected this blog and I am very sorry. I promise not to have any more one picture posts until . . . next week.

Anyway, there are updates. On Sunday I took a ferry (see above) to Colonia, Uruguay, otherwise known as the "anti-Buenos Aires." In this strange tiny town you could hear birds chirping instead of cars roaring, and people actually rode little carts and motorbikes around. You could cross the street at a non-crosswalk without being torpedoed by a taxi driver. I brought along my camera and it was pretty much a day in heaven.

Also, we now have a celebrity at the Spanish school where I work. His name is Bruce Lee, and he's a 45-lb barking bundle of love brought to us each afternoon by two Bulgarian girls who take Spanish classes at our school. While he is not the martial artist/movie star we all know and love, he has made just as big of a hit with our students (not to mention with my boss).

While the girls take class, little Bruce hangs out on the patio. The strangest part of all is not that the dog replies to commands in both Bulgarian and English (we're working on the Spanish, it's only his second day), but that several different people from various far-flung lands (Turkey, Argentina) have commented on Bruce the Bulgarian dog's likeness to Milo, the dog in "The Mask." I had no idea Jim Carrey movies were such international hits.

And . . . the newest word to add to my vocabulary: "gua gua" which apparently is Spanish for "bow wow."

Les mando un beso,

Julie

2008-12-07T01:57:00.002-02:00

In Colonia, Uruguay, today.

More later!

Besos,

Julie

On the road again real soon

2008-12-01T20:51:00.010-02:00

It's December! And that means . . . vacation!

Amanda and I are in the midst of planning a big trip down to southern Argentina and into Chile. On December 17 we will receive a guest appearance from none other than Ms. Ellen Turkewitz, and the three of us will be (if all goes according to plan) hopping a bus to the lake district of Argentina (just a quick 20-hour jaunt), catching a ferry to an archipelago in Chile and then looping back up to Bariloche just before New Years.

In honor of my sheer excitement, I'm posting throwback pictures from Thailand.

When the lights go out

2008-11-29T15:55:00.008-02:00

Things are heating up in BA, both literally and figuratively. On Thursday, when most of you all were enjoying turkey and some crisp weather, the temperature hit more than 40 degrees celsius in the city here. That's more than 100 degrees fahrenheit.

Besides a serious shedding of clothing and a run on ice cream, the heat wave has caused major power outages in the region. When the lights go out here, access to drinking water becomes difficult and traffic lights all over the city shut down. As you can imagine, water and traffic lights are serious necessities in a city of more than 3 million people. The only word to describe the result of this situation: kilombo, which translated (approximately) means "downright craziness."

I'm thankful that my building only lost power for a few hours while I was at work. However, my neighborhood, Villa Crespo, is one of those most affected by the outage, and some people haven't had power or water since Tuesday. Last night the issue came to a climax when protesters shut down parts of Corrientes - the main thoroughfare that I can see from my bedroom window - marched down the street banging pots and pans and yelling that the power company needs to fix the utility issues.

"Villa Crespo 5 days without water, without light"

There were TV cameras and the procession stopped for a good hour a block away from my house to protest, shutting down a major intersection and basically causing havoc.

Clarin says that the power outages continue today. However, I have noticed that the traffic light outside my window is working, which means I can now cross the street without my heart in my throat. Of course, Amanda and I paid a little visit to the grocery store and now have a cabinet full of bottled water. Por las dudas.

Giving thanks

2008-11-26T22:58:00.008-02:00

My friends Marcelo and Ben in Lomas de Zamora on Sunday.

It's the night before Thanksgiving, and all through Argentina . . . there is not a canned pumpkin or a cranberry to be found. Hence, my Thanksgiving in Buenos Aires will be slightly different.

It will not, however, be without friends and lots of good food, and I feel really lucky to have those two things. My roommates and I have invited over our patchwork of American and Argentine friends, and so tomorrow night we'll have our own little celebration. I made a pathetic attempt today to search for the ingredients for my mom's famous pumpkin bread, but my lack of a bread pan and the apparent absence of canned pumpkin in Argentina has sort of put the brakes on that idea. (So sad!) Instead I'll be rushing home from work to bake a much simpler apple crisp (directions: Peel apples. Add sugar. Bake.)

In the midst of all the craziness that is going on in the world at the moment, I feel really lucky to be here, experiencing new things and meeting new people.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you in all your different parts of the world! Que lo pases bien!

Lomas de Zamora at night.

Watching the sunrise after Marcelo's birthday party.

Besitos a todos,

Julie

Art

2008-11-20T23:59:00.002-02:00

I spent Saturday night contemplating the deeper meaning of this painting:

Insight?

Out in La Provincia

2008-11-19T19:41:00.013-02:00

Benjamin and Marcelo

On Sunday, the sister of a friend of a friend invited a few of us to her house outside the city. One subte, two colectivos and a taxi ride later, we arrived in the province of Lomas de Zamorra and discovered we were going to be "provincializada."

Ben brings hacky sack to the provincia.

In Argentina, a Sunday means a huge asado -- or cookout -- with enormous cuts of meat whose names I do not know in English or Spanish. Let's just say, there was a lot of fascination with the concept of vegetarianism.

It was perhaps the best day I've had in Argentina. A lot of ice cream, bike rides and people with real buena onda.

Back page news

2008-11-15T12:47:00.010-02:00

My fascination with the local reaction to Obama's win continues. While our president-elect has (finally) made it off the front pages of the biggest newspapers here, he continues to be big news on the back pages of the local diarios.

Meaning -- The back page of Clarin, traditionally reserved for political cartoons, has featured at least one Obama cartoon every day since the election.

My personal favorite is "La Nelly," a regular cartoon which features Nelly, an old lady who has been camped out on the border of the U.S. and Mexico for some time now, accepting various visitors and making political commentary, most of which I do not understand. I think the idea is that she is tripping on drugs and creating elaborate visits in her mind. Nelly is rarely politically correct but always lively (therefore I am not posting full translations on this blog).

Nelly, Obama and Jack Daniels on the U.S.-Mexican border.

After the election, Nelly was blessed with a visit from none other Barack himself. He arrived from behind a cactus, swinging a bottle of Jack Daniels, singing "We are the champions," speaking in broken Spanish and making intelligent statements like this:

"Yes, I am the esperanza black, new presidente of United States. Mi terminar con crisis financiera, recesion y guerras in the world!"

Since then, Obama continues to lounge on the border with Nelly (I guess he doesn't have anything better to do?), taking generous swigs of his Jack Daniels and discussing important world issues.

And this question, from Nelly, after Obama empties a bottle: "Se habra empedado para festejar o para tomar coraje?"

"Are you getting drunk to celebrate, or to find some courage?"

Obama and Nelly discuss his position as the "New JFK."

Night in BA

2008-11-13T22:52:00.000-02:00

The economy in Buenos Aires

2008-11-13T19:08:00.001-02:00

If you want to know what's going on down here:

Fiscal crisis gives Argentines familiar sinking feeling

2008-11-12T23:36:00.002-02:00

One hidden perk of my job: My boss' photography hobby and his insistence that I borrow his equipment. Smile. Photo taken on my terrace this afternoon.

Voyeurism at its best

2008-11-10T20:22:00.008-02:00

(Watching people watch photos at the Museo de Arte Popular)

Buenos Aires is like a playground for people watchers, and Sundays are perhaps the best day for people watching, when everyone forgets about the week ahead, lets down their guard and lets it all hang out.

This particular Sunday I was treated to a concert by two teenagers who somehow forgot that they were on a colectivo full of people, and decided to rock out - - at the same time but not quite in unison - - to the music blasting out of their ipods. Air guitar included. The bus ride sounded like some strange American Idol audition where the potential idol decides to do simultaneous renditions of "Ticket to ride" and "No day but today" but fails miserably. It was endearing.

I was also treated to a dental inspection by the old man who removed his teeth while waiting for the bus (they were fake, I discovered). And I encountered an impromptu dance circle in Recoleta that featured a pregnant lady and a 7-year-old doing African-Brazilian dance. (Unfortunately I somehow deleted the video).

Relaxing in Recoleta on Sunday.

Miss you all mucho!

Chau,

Julie

Saturdays in the city

2008-11-08T18:22:00.004-02:00

Approx translation:

Make it so they return to paint 'Guernica.' Jan. 17, 1991

Obama = Buena Onda

2008-11-06T20:38:00.005-02:00

In Buenos Aires, saying an individual is "buena onda" is perhaps one of the highest compliments you can give. Literally, it means "good wave," but it's kind of like saying you get good vibes from someone (or something or someplace).

Basically, you don't want to be friends with anyone unless they are muy buena onda, you don't want to hire anyone unless they are muy buena onda, and you don't want to date anyone unless they are muy buena onda. And clearly, you don't want to elect a president unless he's muy buena onda!

The above means:

Good day

Buenos Aires

Vote Obama

BUENA ONDA!

Note: I asked this lady before taking a picture of her chest. She did not mind.

The night before el dia gigante

2008-11-03T22:39:00.006-02:00

It's the day before the big day here in Argentina, and we expats aren't the only ones awaiting tomorrow's big election news.

Argentines seem to be just as fascinated by this election as we are, and my boss recently made me show him my absentee ballot just so he could see "the real thing."

Clarin, one of the largest national newspapers, covers the election daily, providing us with updates on Joe the Plumber (actually, here he is "Jose el Plomero") and useful electoral maps that include the voting preferences of states such as N. Delaware (now is that New Delaware or North Delaware? And is this a red state or a blue state?).

For real though, John McCain should feel lucky that Argentines aren't in charge of choosing the next president of the USA. According to Clarin, 60 percent of Argentines are in favor of Obama, while a whopping 10 percent would vote for McCain.

We shall see . . .

The old man date?

2008-10-31T18:30:00.006-02:00

View from the terrace of our apartment.

Finding friends in Buenos Aires has been a little difficult, especially Argentine ones.

Meeting cute old Argentine men, however, has not been so difficult. Today I was asked out on my second date with a man who clearly fits into the 60-and-older crowd, I'm not sure whether to be charmed or creeped out. Or perhaps I should be asking myself why I am attracting this crowd.

Anyway, today's encounter occurred during my lunch break, while I was lounging in a park near the congressional building. I had spread out my jacket, bag and lunch across my bench, and when I saw an older individual amble toward me, I thought it might be rude if I didn't make some space for him. He, however, misinterpreted my scooching as an invitation for a chat. He told me that "of course" he would sit with me for "un ratito."

When I declined to head to the nearest bar with him (this sounds like a weird invitation, especially at 2 p.m., but it's actually not that strange here), Juan Carlos and I sat and chatted for a bit. After 10 minutes he promptly asked me for my phone number, which I gave to him because I was too surprised not to. Or perhaps I'm just that desperate for Spanish speaking partners. Just kidding. Kind of.

I've also struck up quite a friendship with my doorman, whose name is Jose, but who I have called Jorge and Juan on several occasions. I don't feel too bad about that, because despite the fact that we see each other five or six times a day, he asks me at least once a week to repeat my name for him.

Anyway, Jose, who is older and quite portly, likes to give me advice on everything from the best LavaRap (laundromat) to the cheapest gym to the best way to hold your purse on the Subte. This week he had just finished telling me something about our plumbing system (long story), when he called me back downstairs. "Escuchame" (listen up) he said, "If you ever want to go to the movies but you don't have someone to go with, I'll take you. We can go to Belgrano, or wherever you want."

I was flattered. I think?

Sundown from our porch in Villa Crespo

2008-10-28T21:35:00.003-02:00

Foto adventures in Cementerio Chacarita

2008-10-26T21:56:00.009-02:00

Disco Nap, I love you.

2008-10-25T12:36:00.004-02:00

In BA, I've learned that nothing gets kickin at night until at least 1 am. In the absence of something to do between the hours of 6 pm and 1 am, I have recently discovered the beauty of the Disco Nap.

What, you ask, is this amazing invention? Urban dictionary defines it as so:

"sleeping when ya got something goin' later on that you need to get ready for."

Taking advantage of the disco nap involves something like this:

Last night my roommates and I had plans with Amanda's cousin's wife's Dad's friend's son and his friend (she explained this to me several times and just had to repeat it for me again). After a trip to the grocery store, a chat with my fruit man and a session with CNN en espanol, I discovered that it was . . . 10 pm. With hours to spare before heading out, I curled up on my bed and shut my eyes. At 1 am, Amanda announced it was time to head out to meet the cousin's wife's Dad's friend's son. A few post-disco nap fist pumps and a change of clothes later and LISTO! I'm refreshed and ready to go out.

Of course we didn't get home until 5 a.m., so at the moment I could use a post-disco nap.

More soon! Miss you all a lot.

Julie

Love letters to the government

2008-10-19T15:06:00.007-02:00

I've been reflecting on my recent obsession with wall graffiti, and I've come to the conclusion that when you are in Buenos Aires, one man's wall graffiti is another man's nature. Meaning, in the near absence of greenery and actual fresh air, I've come to appreciate BA's own "nature."

So, while some of my friends are romping around in El Salvador with scorpions (!) I'm learning to appreciate the woosh and screech of the subway as it rolls into the station, or the way BA's politically active have chosen to adorn the city's walls with love letters to the government.

"The walls have ears and your ears have walls."

Most likely a commentary on the policies of the famously

repressive military government of the 1970s and 1980s.

Wall graffiti is everywhere - and portenos (those are Ba's locals) like to opine on everything from the past military dictatorship to the current president to the status of their favorite futbol team. Of course, just so we don't feel left out, they occasionally throw in their opinion of our own president.

As you can imagine, these "love letters" sometimes take the form of hate mail, but I like to think of them as endearing symbols of people who care about their country.

Sign at the antique fair in San Telmo.

"I consume, you consume, he consumes, we all consume."

*Note: Apologies for above obscenity. Gracie I hope you aren't reading this one :)

Evening in Buenos Aires

2008-10-15T23:23:00.002-03:00

Workin' it

2008-10-14T23:29:00.005-03:00

So I have to admit that I've been holding out on you all, and now I'm ready to spill --- on Thursday, I went for an interview for a new job, on Friday I had training, and now I'm officially the full time Student Coordinator at a Spanish language school in BA. I'm so excited about this that it warrants capital letters, and I'm one to use my capitals sparingly.

Since my new job is full time, I had to leave my English students behind. This was somewhat sad, since I tend to get easily attached, especially to people intimately interested in English grammar (it sounds like I'm joking but I'm not). I have this image in my mind of my students aimlessly wandering the brightly lit halls of Microsoft -- that's where I was teaching -- downtrodden, frustrated and completely unable to communicate with their coworkers beca

use I up and left them.

However, my new position allows me to speak Spanish all the time with my new bosses, Florencia and Juan, who are ever forgiving about the seemingly endless number of ways I manage to creatively butcher their language. It also means I get to move up about two rungs on the foodchain of expats in BA, and not worry -- so much -- about having enough money to do extravagant things such as laundry and eating. Haha, just kidding. Sort of.

In other news, the moneda shortage (recall, those are the ever elusive coins here in BA) seems to have reached new heights, although my friend Susanna insists it's no worse than when she studied here two years ago. My friends and I were delighted yesterday to discover that our subway rides were free -- we chalked it up to the holiday weekend and sped through the ticket turnstiles like kids at Disneyland. However, today Clarin reports that the moneda shortage is the culprit behind a weekend of free subway rides. Because dozens of stops were completely out of monedas, the ticket sellers had no change to give customers looking to buy subway passes, and the stations were therefore forced to let passengers ride for free.

Ahh, the joys of inefficiency!

Also a shout out to all of you who say you have been reading my blog! Dan and Eric, where are all the snarky comments??

Love letters from Rosario

2008-10-13T21:52:00.006-03:00

A love letter in the streets of Rosario: "Esteban, I love you."

Well the fearless five (fabulous five? I think I need a better name) - that would be Alana, Amanda, Susanna, Josh and myself - set out for a little adventure to Rosario this weekend. It's a holiday weekend here - in the U.S. we call it Columbus Day - marking Columbus' arrival in the Americas. I suppose down here it's a day for either celebration or more sober commemoration, depending on your preferred version of history.

Besides being the home of South America's largest disco (so say the employees at our hostel, though I have reason to question their sources) Rosario also happens to be the birthplace of Che Guevara. Since this past week marked the anniversary of his death, the buses from BA to Rosario were packed with Argentines ready to pay homage to the revolutionary, or just looking for some time off. The fact that the bus was packed turned out to be lucky for me: There were plenty of people to help me open the bathroom door when I thought I was locked inside and therefore shook vigorously until the entire bottom floor of the bus knew I was having problems opening the door.

We did in fact hit up this famous disco - it's called a boliche here - and were relieved to discover that it is still perfectly acceptable to play "Hit Me Baby One More Time" and "Lady Marmalade" in some parts of the world. If your name is Rachel or Rachel, you can imagine that hearing the Moulin Rouge theme song conjured up the image of a certain Christina Aguilera impersonator circa 2002. Smile.

View from the bus station in Rosario.

Photos from this weekend are here: FOTOS FROM ROSARIO.

Surgery anyone?

2008-10-09T01:05:00.005-03:00

The financial crisis isn't the only big news in Argentina. Here's a little gem from yesterday's "La Razon:" Three provincial governments are cracking down on local discoteques for giving out plastic surgeries -- more specifically "implantes de siliconas" -- as door prizes to teenagers who frequent their establishments.

Apparently at least one boliche -- the local name for a disco -- in La Rioja has been cited for hooking young partiers by promising surgeries as door prizes. The recent winner of one such prize ceded his surgery coupon to his girlfriend so she could get the aforementioned "implantes." How sweet.

Yes, as I am learning, Argentina is as well known for it surgery obsession as it is for its juicy steaks. Susanna -- who has a job at an economic consulting firm and therefore a health plan -- recently informed me that her health insurance comes with one free plastic surgery a year. You know, for maintenance.

So far I've abstained from the famous Argentine beef, and I'm think I'll be staying away from this part of the local culture as well . . .

Chau!

Oh how global we are

2008-10-08T13:20:00.008-03:00

Sidewalk art outside a subte entrance.

The financial crisis has sent Argentina into quite a tizzy as well, the only difference being that Argentines are decidedly more adjusted to being in a tizzy about the state of their economy, while we Americans are still new to this. Argentina's economy hit a low in 2001, the peso fell to the floor and an enormous number of people lost of their jobs, so, as the economy goes south around the world, a lot of people in BA are experiencing a bit of dejavu.

Most of the papers here cover the elections closely, and my English students are superinterested in what I think of American politics. They are fascinated by Obama, and they like to ask me point blank which candidates I'm "for," as if the election is a futbol game with diehard fans and a longstanding rivalry.

Unfortunately, I made the mistake of expounding on my political beliefs at a recent dinner with a family from the local Chabad. (They asked! I swear I would never bring up politics at a shabbat dinner. Talking about it was certainly against my better judgment). I was rewarded with a lengthy and questionably sourced lecture (err, discussion?) on Obama's terrorist ties and how his election would lead to the triumph of the Arab world and the coming of the Messiah.

I think "awkward" would be a good way to describe the rest of the evening.

In other news, I just bought a bus ticket for Rosario, so I'll be spending most the weekend out of town. I know nothing about the town, except that my favorite Colombian pop singer has a an awesome song called "Rosario Tijeras."

CHAU!

Julie

P.S. Click here to see Kenneth Cole's AWEARNESS blog, which is featuring my Thailand video!

"Uniforms distort man and make him crazy"

(bueno . . . excuse my horrible translation skills)

Escape!

2008-10-06T20:52:00.009-03:00

We made an escape from our escape on Saturday, and Josh, Amanda, Susanna and I took a little trip to the afueras - suburbs - of Buenos Aires. For those of us accustomed to the grassy green lawns of Chapel Hill, North Carolina and the eco-friendliness of Weaver Street Market, leaving BA's craziness was like escaping back into a world we forgot existed (tree? what's that?).

Also, fed up with the amount of time it takes to post photos on this blog, I've created a facebook album of some recent photos. See them here: FOTOS.

Josh looking pensive during our riverboat ride in Tigre.

Church in San Isidro.

Junk at the weekend market by my apartment.

Walls outside a local guarderia (preschool).

Que trabajadora soy

2008-10-02T09:24:00.003-03:00

Unas novedades!

I am no longer just your average norteamericana bum in Buenos Aires, I am now an employed norteramericana bum in Buenos Aires. Que bueno.

I started teaching English this week, and it's fantastic to feel like I have some sort of purpose. Mostly I'm teaching private classes to businessmen in their offices, which means traveling from place to place via subte (subway) and imparting my vast knowledge of the English language. Before you know it, every Microsoft exec in BA will be armed with a vocabulary of Julie-isms.

I'm going to a bar tonight to watch Biden and Palin square off - should be interesting.

In other news: This blog has been seriously lacking in photos, mostly because the city is so full of petty crime that I'm not really into bringing my camera out. Photos soon though.

Chau y un beso,

Julie

2008-10-01T12:28:00.002-03:00

Holler at the Andaman Rising team, which just received first place for "Multimedia Project" in this month's NPPA contest.

See info here:

National Press Photographers Association.

Happy New Year

2008-09-29T17:34:00.004-03:00

It's that time of year in Buenos Aires - yes, you guessed it, it's Rosh Hashanah, or the Jewish New Year.

What, pray tell, does that mean down here in the Paris of the South?

Well, among many things:

The local confiteria (pastry shop) was absolutely llena (full) with Bubbes today, all scrambling and pushing to buy round challahs. Good news - I was able to elbow my way in and conseguir a few. Of course, here in BA they call them "jalas" (the "j" in Spanish makes a "ch" sound) and because the Argentinians seem to absolutely love their sweets, the jalas are glazed and decorated with rainbow-colored jimmies.

Almost all the local grocerias - owned nearly always by Koreans and Chinese - have hauled out impressive displays of kosher food. Unfortunately, most of the food is for Passover (errr, which happens in March or April), but hey, it's the thought that counts. Who knows when we will get a hankering for matzah.

The floristas - flourists - found on every city block have put up signs wishing all their Jewish neighbors "Un L'Shanah Tova." And local groups have posted signs advertising Rosh Hashanah block parties.

Such is the loveliness of living in such a cultural mashup of a city. The Koreans here speak Spanish, the Argentines speak Yiddish (yes, I saw an ad for a Yiddish tango concert, whatever that is) and the Chinese make sushi. The kioskos (snack kiosks) sell Israeli junk food and classes in "danza arabe" seem to be all the rage. Que barbaro. (I think that means "cool" in Argentine Spanish, but I'm sure I'm using it wrong).

A sweet new year to all!

Chau,

Julie

Little victories

2008-09-26T11:00:00.009-03:00

These are the little victories of living abroad: Because everything is still fairly new and totally different, I can bask in

"accomplishments" like successfully sending a package at the post office (check), learning new and crazy Argentine verbs (ok, I learned one last night, I just wish I'd written it down . . .) and semi-mastering the colectivo system.

I'm still working on perfecting the perfect not-too-rude-but-very-forceful "NO" response when cashiers ask me for monedas. I've been hoarding those babies like no other (if you're confused - I blogged a few days ago about the shortage of coins in the city, and the fact that you need to use coins to ride all the buses). I was doing really well - and hadn't given in to a single pleading cashier - until two days ago at the grocery store. After replying "NO," and that I didn't have "ni una moneda," my bulging change purse quickly leaked at least five monedas all over the floor. Woops.

Anyway, yesterday I took a field trip to the city's famous Recoleta Cemetery. Strange, but my favorite part of the city so far has been the cemetery - it's high walls and clean paseos are a relief from the nitty gritty city. Pictures here.

Two Julies! There I am on the left, and the right . . .

2008-09-24T22:42:00.003-03:00

So, two days ago we made a small addition to our tiny expat family - a kitten [insert cute awwwwing noise here]. It's actually Amanda's cat, since my pet care resume is quite bare and includes only a semi-successful stint with two gerbils name Fatso and Squirmy. Despite my complete lack of pet lovin' skills, I'm kind of into the pet thing, and our nameless cat is sitting on my stomach as I write this. Plus, I learned some useful terminology from the cat lady who gave us the kitten - i.e. "piedritas" (kitty litter!) and "castrar" (ok you guys got that one).

Anyway, an update: Life currently is all about the job search. My roommates and I have adopted an addiction to Craigslist (ok, some of us already had that addiction), and we are now intimately familiar with each other's resumes. I also make a beeline for the clasificados in the local newspaper every time I go into a coffee shop (I'm too cheap to actually buy the paper), but so far all I can find is want ads for "Senoritas de la noche" and a lot of people selling their chinchillas. I swear I'm not making this up.

I continue to be completely baffled by Argentine Spanish. Today Amanda ordered "un sandwich imperdible," which, according to my dictionary, is a "safety pin sandwich."

Un besito para todos!

Julie

Josh's blog

2008-09-23T16:02:00.004-03:00

Sending this message in the midst a caffeine-fueled job application frenzy.

Want to see what BA is like? Go to Josh's blog and watch his video:

Josh's blog

He's cool.

Adjusting to Argentina

2008-09-21T23:51:00.002-03:00

I am slowly getting accustomed to Argentine culture. This means, among other things:

- Dinner is eaten no earlier than 10 p.m.

- Toilet paper does not go in the toilet. This is very difficult to remember.

- The rat tail mullet is cool. What, you may ask, is a rat tail mullet? A combination of the two worst hair styles to hit South America, usually short in the front, long in the back, and accessorized by a thin braided tail that start just behind one ear and extends past the rest of the hair. This hairstyle can be made cooler when worn with Slipknot shirt cerca 2000, black jeans with chains and an angry pout.

More to come,

Julie

Adventures in Chinatown

2008-09-20T19:31:00.005-03:00

So today Josh, Alana, Amanda and I wandered into BA's Chinatown for a little cultural adventure. Amidst the cheap sushi, soy sauce ("salsa de soja") and trinkets, we found this little gem:

Nazi vegetarian barbecue sauce in Argentina's Chinatown? Huh.

Currently enjoying Chinese-Argentine sushi for dinner. Mmmm. Also, note that Chinatown has the cheapest peanut butter in town.

Dispatching from Queens

2008-09-19T21:37:00.000-03:00

Buenas noticias: I send this dispatch from my new apartment in the heart of Palermo Queens. Yes, that's right - among the hip subneighborhoods popping up in the barrio of Palermo is "Palermo Queens." Just south of Palermo Hollywood and southeast of Palermo Soho (if my geography is right).

As far as a I can tell, Queens in Argentina is known for its proximity to the subway, a vast number of sandwich shops and a large Orthodox Jewish community. Huh.

The apartment hunt was quite a trial, partly because finding a three bedroom is insanely difficult, but mostly because the apartment advertisements online look something like this:

45 years old building, newly recycled department with two environments ubicated in Palermo. Full equipment for six passengers this department has a lot of luminosity. Just five blocks away from Bosque Palermo (like Central Park in New York), a big park full of trees, green very nice for run. $1600 USD

Ahh the joys of translations. An apartment here is "un departamento," hence the common use of "department" for apartment. Located in Spanish is "ubicado," hence the creation of my favorite new verb "ubicated." And the word here for rooms is "ambientes," which can be translated to either "rooms" or "environments," depending on the context.

In short, it's an amazing relief to be in our apartment and finally begin our lives in Palermo Queens. Somehow we managed to make it thus far with only trip to urgent care (it was for Alana, she's fine, dont't worry!) and just one near run-in with the Argentine police (long story - bad experience with an overeager realtor). Perhaps most importantly, we managed to find an apartment before having to replace our travel shampoos.

A little about the apartment: It does in fact have quite a bit of luminosity, as well as some shockingly bright but somewhat endearing lime green futons (and also matching lime green towels, which Alana is currently wearing). Perhaps most importantly, we have cable, which means during our descansos from the job hunt, we can watch the Brazilian version of America's Next Top Model.

Hasta pronto!

Chau,

Julie

2008-09-18T21:37:00.002-03:00

How cute is this guy?

2008-09-17T13:44:00.009-03:00

And the apartment hunt continues. It's looking like I might be sleeping on someone's terrace (ok, not really).

In the meantime, my favorite photo from a paseo (walk) in San Telmo's antique/junk/craft market on Sunday.

Chau!

Julie

2008-09-16T14:28:00.001-03:00

Hello from the upstairs lounge of my hostel. I haven't been able to post much due to a sketch internet connection, but no fear, I'll be updating more normally soon.

I'm starting to adjust and even feel an affinity for the idiosyncrasies of Argentine culture.

First of all, there is the bus system. I recently became acquainted with the BA bus network, thanks to tips from two of the three people I know in the city. My friends Susanna and Josh instructed me to take buses because they are a) often safer than the taxis and b) nominally less crowded than the subte, or subway. This is not difficult, since the subte usually feels like a pressure cooker.

Once I picked up a Guia "T," a booklet of all the local subte and bus lines, I thought I was good to go. Then I learned how I would have to pay for each ride. Using coins - and coins only.

The problem, according to Josh - who has been in BA a whole three weeks longer and who is therefore infinitely more knowledgeable - is that city is in a bit of coin shortage.

Finding change anywhere in the city is quite difficult, and I've already endured the glare of several grocery store clerks after informing them I didn't have any "monedas" (coins). Basically, the shortage has become so ridiculous that monedas are now worth more than their stated value, because everyone in BA needs to use the bus, and the buses only take coins.

According to Josh - again, the expert here - this little shortage has spurred an underground market for coins and a little Moneda Mafia (my term, not his) that sells the coins back to the banks at a higher price. This is so ridiculous sounding that I believe it.

While this system may seem shockingly inefficient - and I'm sure says mountains about the economy - there something, I don't know, endearing? about it.

And then of course, there's the accent, more on that later.

An update on how things are going: My friends and are checking out apartments and have already made friends with at least one overly pushy realtor (and also one who is the Argentine clone of our realtor from our 696 house - Aynnie I thought you would like that). We're anxious to move on from our hostel, which despite its hot showers and dreadlocked tenants, is starting to lose its charm.

Chau for now ! (Err, that's "ciao" spelled in Argentine).

Besitos,

Julie

PS. Sorry my skype connection and email responses have been so spotty - like I said, bad internet. Que hablemos pronto!

2008-09-13T15:54:00.005-03:00

Word from the cutest little coffee shop/bookstore in all of Palermo Soho (yes, they name their neighborhoods after classy American neighborhoods - right next door is Palermo Hollywood, and I've even heard of Palermo Village).

Living in BA has been challenging for the past few days, as my friends and I work our way through the labyrinth that is the apartment search in a city of millions. We have a few appointments to go look at places on Monday, but until then, we are still very unsettled. We switched hostels this morning, just decided that we needed a change of barrio.

I've been feeling a bit down, like things are moving a little too slowly. Realistically though, I can't expect to just immediately have an apartment and a job and a posse of Argentine friends. And then today - just as I was feeling frustrated - my friends and I stumbled upon an awesome street fair in the middle of Plaza Serrano, and then we had coffee at an outdoor cafe, with this woman banging away on her guitar (strumming away?). I can tell good things are to come.

Welcome to Buenos Aires

2008-09-12T09:51:00.002-03:00

It's day three in Buenos Aires, and I'm blogging from my bunkbed in Hostel Nativo, a cozy little dive in Palermo (upsides: blocks from the subway, has a kitchen, wifi and a lady named Irma who likes to talk a lot) (downsides: kitchen hasn't been cleaned since 2000, Irma's Argentine accent makes it impossible to understand her).

I figured it's time to put pen to paper (err hand to keyboard) and tell you all what's up in the land down under (that's right, I'm wayyyyy south of the equator).

Well we arrived in Buenos Aires under a thick blanket of fog, and were met by the owner of our hostel, who had agreed to pick us up and take us straight into town. He put up with our steady stream of questions, and we stumbled through conversation on the way in. The Argentine accent is killing me, and I'm quickly discovering how to carry on a full conversation, despite having very few clues as to what the other person is saying. Hopefully this will change.

We've spent the first few days trying to see the sites, which means visiting not only the storied Plaza de Mayo and the all important Casa Rosada ("pink house," which is actually their White House), but also the extremely telling Argentine site, JUMBO, which is an enormous all-you-can-buy grocery/hardware/clothing store in the middle of the city, kind of like a Costco on crack in the middle of NYC. There were also a few trips on the subte, BA's subway, which basically means we get really up close and personal with many an Argentine - they pack like sardines on those trains.

This is what I've discovered since I got here:

Buenos Aires has a plethora of pizza, beef, zapaterias (shoes stores), dogs, cute used book stands and near indecipherable local slang, but seems to be lacking in peanut butter (JUMBO had four tiny jars left over from 1994, at approx. 12 US dollars each), stops signs (my god the way they drive is scary) and -- quite sadly -- three bedroom apartments at low prices in the center of Palermo.

So far the apartment hunt is going . . . slowly, and my fellow travelers and I spent yesterday emailing and visiting various rental agencies.

On the upside, I was able to go out last night and walk into a bar and say I actually knew someone working there (!). In a strange twist of fate, my friend Josh - who I've literally known since age 7 - is living here and working at a downtown bar. Sweet.

Ok, ciao ciao - more later!

Julie

Andamanrising.org makes its debut

2008-09-06T13:53:00.007-03:00

I spent the summer blogging to you all about my trip to Thailand with the jschool. Well our site - andamanrising.org - has launched. Check it out! It's an in-depth look at life in southern Thailand after the 2004 tsunami.

2008-09-03T00:49:00.001-03:00

And the countdown begins. One week until Argentina!

2008-08-30T01:43:00.001-03:00

I have entered the world called "Mac heaven" and it is truly heavenly. I hope to never lay eyes on a PC again.

Wonderful.

Preparing for the next trip

2008-08-28T00:12:00.003-03:00

Well I'm home in Maryland right now, and I'm preparing for the next step, i.e. my foray into America's real south, Argentina.

I keep calling the trip a leap of faith, and really that's what it is. I can tell that although I'm outwardly excited, I'm also inwardly terrified - last night I dreamt that I suddenly had 15 minutes to get to the airport to make my flight to Argentina, leaving me absolutely no time to pack. I woke up in a sweat - apparently the thought of going down south without my suede boots and skinny jeans was just absolutely terrifying.

This no-time-to-pack dream is nothing new. Before I went to Spain last year, I dreamt that I arrived in Sevilla to discover a suitcase full of bikinis and nothing else. Right.

Anyway, as much as I'm shivering-ly terrified, this IS the right thing for me. Today made that painstakingly obvious: Two months ago I thought about taking a position at a newspaper instead of traveling to BA. Today I learned that the person who took that position instead of me has already been laid off. Newspapers. Sighhhh. Economy. Sighhhhh. Buenos Aires. YAY!

Above: La Boca, a barrio in Argentina. This isn't my picture, but hopefully I'll have some to contribute soon.

2008-07-28T10:21:00.003-03:00

Goodbye, or really, hasta luego (i.e. see you soon).

(Above: A photo taken by one of the Thai students I met in Bangkok)

Alright all, I'm back in the U.S., safe and sound. In a few weeks I'm going to send out an e-mail about the official launch of our Web site - Andamanrising.org. Apparently I sort of jumped the gun by linking you all to the site earlier - we're going to have an 'official' launch date once we've worked out all the kinks.

Until the launch, you can check out some of the photos we took in Thailand on our flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/andamanrising/

(Below: Thai teenagers at school parade in Sukhothai)

The blog will be pretty adventure-free until September 9, when I'm going to Buenos Aires. My roommates Amanda and Alana are moving there with me. Now all we need are, you know, jobs, an apartment, some Argentine friends. Those details.

(Below: Kendrick and Grace doing 'experimental photography' in the old city of Sukhothai)

Besitos,
Julie

(Below: View of Bangkok from the bus window)

2008-07-25T20:45:00.003-03:00

Hello from Korea - sorry it's been a bit. I'm in the airport on the way back to D.C.

A quick update: Chiangmai rocked - it's such a cool little city, and after being in the south for so long, it was awesome to explore another part of Thai culture. Our hostel was right in the heart of the old city, and we got to see a real mashup of different cultures: monks doing construction work, elephants walking into bars etc.

We moved on to Sukhothai, about halfway between Changmai and Bangkok, for about a day. Sukhothai can be explained like this: we went looking for the market after dinner, only to discover that the "famous" market is so small we had eaten in the midst of it and didn't even realize.

Then we took a night bus right on to Bangkok, possibly the most overwhelming city ever, except that the foreign ministry got wind that American journalism students were in town, and assigned some university students to take us all over the city. A sweet deal, since all our meals, entrance fees, taxis and tuk tuk rides were on the foreign ministry, plus we got the inside deal on all things Thai. I also discovered that you can fit four thais and two Americans in a tuk tuk, which, if you've ever seen America's Next Top Model (holler), I never thought was possible. (picture of a motorcycle zooming through the market near our hostel).

My friends left Bangkok yesterday (today? two days ago? I'm so confused) early in the afternoon - they're headed to Vietnam - so I spent the day at Siam Square, sort of like the Times Square of Bangkok. I had no idea that yesterday was some sort of rock concert/student art fair, but when I arrived via bus at Siam Square, Thai fashion students were laying out their wares - strangely decorated purses, handmade leather wallets, earrings fashioned out of all kinds of metal etc. etc. Bangkok's crazy malls were so completely different from southern Thailand, where everyone wears fisherman pants and old flip flops.

Ok gotta find some food before I hop on my next flight. By the way, I'm sending this from the bathroom. Who knew Seoul's airport had such great wireless?

Julie

2008-07-20T08:35:00.003-03:00

After 18 hours on a train and one unfortunate fall in a puddle, I am in safe in Chiang Mai and staying in the awesome Seven Suns hostel.

Catch you later!

XO,
Julie

Also check this out: "Summer Documentary Bonanza"
http://www.carolinaphotojournalism.org/weblogtest/?p=94

2008-07-18T09:05:00.006-03:00

Hey all -

Sorry it's been a bit since I posted last. The last few days were absolutely crazy - we finished up the site one day early (which has never, ever been done in the history of jschool projects) and after staying up till 5 a.m. working on the site, I got up at 6:30 a.m. to go to Ko Panyee, this Muslim village on stilts in the middle of Andaman Sea. I have amazing pictures, which I'll share later (at the moment I'm in an internet cafe in Bangkok). After all day at Koh Panyee I went back to Khao Lak for a showing of our site, and then we had a big celebration, followed by swims in the pool and late late night swimming in the ocean. So cool because you can see the phosphorence shimmer in the moonlight.

I'm in Bangkok at the moment, on my way up north to Chang Mai. I have a night train that leaves in a few hours. My friends and I are traveling until Friday the 26th, when I leave to come back to the states.

Ok, whew, time to go relax before my lengthy train ride (12 hours!). More about today's transportation "adventure" later. Let's just say there was a van, a plane, an attempted train, two attempted buses, a taxi and several bridge crossing back and forth near the Bangkok airport.

Also, since I'll be traveling for this next week I probably won't be updating too much, if at all, so don't be too worried.

XOXO,
Julie

2008-07-15T15:50:00.001-03:00

Team Andaman Rising - our site is almost ready!

2008-07-15T09:00:00.001-03:00

Me at sunset, taken by Stacey.

2008-07-14T23:48:00.000-03:00

Three days left in southern Thailand. What??

2008-07-14T10:11:00.005-03:00

I can't believe we only have a few days left here in Khao Lak. My video story is done, sans a few minor changes. I'm still chugging along on the sidebar content that I have to turn in. There is still so much to do here in Khao Lak that I haven't been out and done. Tomorrow I'm hopefully going to go get a Thai massage in the afternoon. Wednesday I'm going to Ko Panyee, a Muslim village on stilts, which I'm wicked excited about.

I'm so incredibly glad that I'm traveling after this trip - we haven't had enough time to just enjoy Thailand and wander through markets and get lost. It's only sad that I can only travel around for a week, because I feel like I've only seen a thread of the country.

Tonight I climbed out on the rocks with a Thai beer and soaked in the sunset. It was the best kind - sort of regular and mediocre until the last few minutes when all the pink came through.

On a different note: I've discovered that I can see the sea from the toilet seat, thanks to a strangely positioned and very large window that takes up an entire wall in my bathroom. Blogworthy, right?

Below: Self portrait at sunset. That funny shape in front of the sunset and clouds is my profile - the lights are from "downtown" Khao Lak, which I can see from the beach when I watch the sunset.

2008-07-12T22:40:00.008-03:00

Today is day 3 of superwork mode - I'm hoping to pull through and finish my video story today, so I can spend the next few days working on other stuff for our site (sidebar content, writing introtext, bringing Grace coke lights since she is on the Web site design team and will be working until the minute our plane leaves). Plus, I really need to tell you all more exciting stories than "today I spent a really long time on my computer!"

Pictures from the last few days. (Above: Selket is coached by Phil, with Stacey on the right)

Below: Our Canon kids - here are some of the budding Thai photographers we are coaching at a nearby village school.

There's my professor, Pat, on the right, coaching one of the Canon kids. In the center is Gap, one of our translators. The guy on the left is a teacher at the school where we met the Canon kids.

Yep, that's me in the bathroom at the school. Bet that wasn't what you meant when you asked for more pictures of me in Thailand. Not sure what's up with the saturation on these pictures - I think I need to change a function when I save them.

Coach Steven hard at work.

2008-07-12T05:51:00.003-03:00

Grrr. While everyone else seems to be charging ahead in the editing process, I feel quite stuck in the "rough cut" phase. Our final pieces are due today, but mine is still chugging along near mediocrity.

It also feels like it's been many days since I've left the resort. Hmm, maybe because it has been.

XO, post more later.

Julie

2008-07-11T12:58:00.003-03:00

Sooo, lately I just rip pictures and quotes off of other people's blogs :) Just means I'm busy editing. Here's a photo of Kate and our ngok, taken by Abby.

I did get a chance to relax in the pool today - I'll post pictures later.

XO,
Julie

2008-07-10T06:36:00.002-03:00

Been editing all day - i.e. processing 70 photos in photoshop. But good news! One of our Thai van drivers just delivered 6 kilo of ngok - those prickly red/green fruits I posted a picture of a few days ago.

Above: Out to lunch the other day with a few of my coaches and Mustafa, one of our Thai 'fixers.'

2008-07-09T08:13:00.007-03:00

Today I worked on a trailer for my story.

2008-07-08T03:46:00.003-03:00

This morning I went out to Ban Lam Kem school with a few other people from the group. Canon donated a bunch of G9 cameras to the jschool, and we're giving them to a group of Thai kids, plus editing the photos the kids take and including them on our site. There's me and my little photographer.

More news: Our site has a name - andamanrising.org. Andaman is the sea bordering Phang-Nga province.

And another little gem from the aisles of the Thai minimart: Thinly Sliced Naked Cheese. Mmmm. Even my curiosity could not compel me to buy that.

Now back to some hardcore editing.

XO, Julie

2008-07-06T20:53:00.001-03:00

Good morning - here's an explanation of what I'm doing today, ripped from my friend Stacey's blog.

"[Today] is going to be an exciting day because it is the national tsunami drill day. Around 9:30am, an alarm will sound and everyone will go heading for the hills. We are covering it as if we're a newsroom covering a breaking news event. There are two different groups going to two different towns. Everyone will be stationed somewhere different (top of the hill, bottom, school, in between). We have people doing video, photos, audio, and writing . . . Then everything will be compiled into one big multimedia presentation. It will then be placed on the website alongside our individual stories."

More later,

XO, Julie

2008-07-06T09:47:00.002-03:00

Julie in Thailand.

2008-07-05T22:27:00.005-03:00

Look - I'm actually in Thailand! That's Selket with me (hollller Alana). Uncle Dan, I can still do the one-armed portrait, haven't lost that touch yet.

I didn't end up sleeping out with my Burmese family - the mom was out for the night, and my coach Pailin and I figured it wasn't really Thai-appropriate for me to sleep out with just the Dad. So instead I stayed over late and then woke up early in the morning (i.e. 4 a.m. to be there for sunrise) and then spent the day.

Below is "my" Burmese home in Thailand, just before sunrise.

In other news: My friends and I booked airline tickets to Bangkok for the day our group trip ends. We're going to fly there and then take an overnight train to Changmai, spend a few days around there, then probably hit up one small area (a monkey village maybe?) before taking a train back to Bangkok - I fly out on the 26th. Then three of them continue on to Vietnam and possibly Cambodia.

More later,

XO, Julie

2008-07-05T06:23:00.002-03:00

Sunset from July 3. That's Zach out there.

Tired and got lots of bug bites . . . but alll good. Just one more day for collecting content - and I think I may be done. Celebration tomorrow!

2008-07-04T04:30:00.002-03:00

Happy Fourth!

Yesterday was a good day, despite a couple hangups with my video collecting. I tried to interview the 5-year-old who is the center of my story, and needless to say, getting a 5-year-old to sit still for more than 10 seconds is very near impossible - getting him to answer questions just didn't happen.

BUT, here they say "mai pen rai" or the Thai equivalent to "no pasa nada" - meaning "forget it, don't worry about it, it's allllll good."

The sunset last night was just incredible, incredible, incredible. I'm not on my computer now, but I'll post a picture later. Uncle Dan, I did take pictures of myself today, I'll post them when I get the chance.

I spent the morning reading over the script of my video interview, and now I'm beginning to craft all the pictures, audio and video I've taken into some sort of story. Tonight I'm sleeping out with "my" family - the subjects of my story - probably on the floor under a mosquito net.

After that, everyone in our group has one or two more days to continue collecting material for their stories, and then hardcore editing begins. For me, this is going to be a very slow process as I learn a lot. But my story is very, very touching, I just hope I can do it justice.

More later,

XO, Julie

2008-07-02T21:42:00.002-03:00

In response to some comments (Mostly from my uncles who have dutifully posted snarky comments at regular intervals. Thanks guys)

- I will post pictures of me - I promise. I'm trying to post a video of me on a soong tao, but it's taking too long to upload.

- No, there is no connection between the cat in the picture and my dinner plate. I haven't gone over to the far side yet (i.e. the meat eating side).

- Thanks for the AC advice. My roommate Grace and I had to turn the AC on 'high' in our room because it was the only way to make our clothing dry (yay for sink washing) in less than three days. Now, however, I'm really sick from transferring back and forth between our room and the rest of Thailand. Luckily I figured this out and turned off the AC (we'll deal with the wet clothes later). We opened all our windows last night, and the whole country is like one humidifier.

Keep commenting! I like your snarky comments.

XO, Julie

2008-07-02T10:47:00.008-03:00

Spent a lot of time editing today, which is going really slowly. My video interview is being translated into English tomorrow, and then after that I'll know a lot more about where my story is going.

Escaped the editing room ("The Tree House" - I'll have to post a picture to explain why it's called that) to go to dinner in town.

2008-07-01T08:55:00.004-03:00

Wonderful, wonderful things about Thailand:

- Menu translations: most restaurant menus and food items have English translations, but the accuracy of these 'translations' is questionable, so 'Fried Prawns' becomes 'Fied Pawn' etc. My friend Grace and are still trying to figured out what we'd get if we ordered 'fend fied.' One option at the local minimart: Thin Wafers with Nature Identical Raspberry Flavoured Cream. Doesn't that sound appealing?

- The friendliness: You know the awkward smile that you do to strangers you don't know? I swear it's a staple here, but somehow Thai people don't make it awkward, they just look cute and chipper when they do it. Of course, the friendliness CAN be taken a little far - my friend Stacey is doing a story on a massage parlor run by blind people, and found out today (after a little feeling up by one of the masseuses) that one of her blind subjects has a big crush on her (ok, this is actually kind of cute).

- The sunset (it has stopped raining!): When the sun goes down it feels like you are the white stick in the middle of a giant piece of blue and pink cotton candy - just pink and blue gauziness as far as the eye can see.

- The sun finally came out! It's beautiful: I swear, I haven't sweated this much since . . . ever.

- Soong taos (literally "two bench"): These are public taxis that you can pick up all across the main highway here, and they basically consist of pickup truck with two benches in the back, plus a roof. You see so much of Thailand, get to meet so many people, and the drivers are a trip. Plus, a ride to my assignment (about 45 minutes) costs 50 baht, or less than $1.50. NOTE HOWEVER, that apparently they are NOT the same as 'private taxis,' which, despite appearing exactly the same, are manned by drivers who will try to convince you to pay them about 60 times as much for the same distance. Then you will get into a small discussion (argument?) outside of your assignment despite the fact that neither you nor the driver speak the same language. Ok, enough of that. Take the soong tao (try it with me Mom: 'Song' like one that you sing; 'Tao' like saying 'owww I hurt myself' with a T in front).

- The fact that despite my lackluster Thai I can always tell when Thai people are talking about me because the conversations sounds like this blah blah blah ROOOP blah blah blah ameriKAH blah blah blah FALANG (or blah blah blah PICTURE blah blah blah AMERICAN blah blah blah FOREIGNER).

Tomorrow is (finally) a day when I won't be out collecting pictures or audio or video, I'll just be editing. I'm not sure I've ever learned so much in such a condensed period of time. Yesterday I completely changed my system for shooting; I'm also collected audio all the time (never done that before) and today I shot video for the first time (with a lot of glitches but thank god for my amazing coach Pailin). Things are really, really good though.

Thank you for posting comments. Keep on at it. At the top is a photo I took late last night while out on assignment. Oh also, I saw muay thai boxing, it was awesome.

XOXO, Julie

2008-06-30T06:32:00.004-03:00

I haven't posted much about my story because I get nervous about showing things before they are finished. BUT - here is a photo I took today at the hospital where I'm spending some of my time. This is the buddy of the Mon boy who is the focus of my story.

Going back out on assignment. Please post more comments!

And also - I think I've been ragging on my interpreter too much - he's awesome and without him I would have nothing. Not to mention that he carries around my audio kit for me when I'm already weighted by cameras, flashes, batteries etc. etc. Plus, his wife is expecting twins.

XO, Julie

2008-06-29T20:20:00.003-03:00

Note to self: Remember video tapes when going out to do video interviews.

Grrr.

No time to post photos now - maybe some later this evening.

Aynnie: It's already your birthday here in Thailand. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

2008-06-28T20:19:00.004-03:00

Hey all -

Didn't have too much of a chance to post yesterday after my assignment because I was out late (and I'm going out early this morning - it's 6:20 a.m. here).

This is an idea of what it's like to work through an interpreter:

Me: Out in the middle of nowhere Thailand, on a rubber tapping farm. All around me are trees, a tiny house and not much else, and I'm watching Yun, the father in my story, as he thatches his roof. Suddenly, there is a shout from the woods and Yun looks up, grabs a giant stick and goes running into the trees.

I should preface this by saying that snakes typically come out in this area after a monsoon - and we just had a particularly strong one.

I chase Yun (no easy feat while carrying two camera bodies and a host of notebooks, extra batteries of every kind, pens, rain jacket, toilet paper, plastic bags . . . you get my gist), and behind me is my interpreter.

Interpreter: A pig! Someone saw a pig!

Me, to interpreter: A pig? Not a snake?

Interpreter: A pig!

Me: A snake?

Interpreter: A pig.

Me: (still not understanding why a pig would elicit so much commotion) A pig?

Interpreter: A pig.

Me: A pig (I go running off after Yun, confident that I am in no danger).

15 seconds later.

Interpreter: (sounding alarmed and foolish) JuLIE! JuLIE!

Me: (I stop). Yes?

Interpreter: A snake. Not pig. A snake.

Apparently the words for 'snake' and 'pig' are similar in Thai. Good to know.

Above: Yun after work, as the sun went down.

2008-06-28T01:36:00.004-03:00

There's been a request for more pictures. I don't go out on assignment until this afternoon (around 3 a.m. for you all), so I shot a few this morning.

This (right) is actually a lantern silhouetted by the sky.

2008-06-27T12:38:00.001-03:00

Riding the public bus in Phang-nga today. Driving on the 'other' side of the road + insane Thai drivers = one scary, scary trip.