Third Time’s the Charm

I have gotten used to the fact that when I have a task to do in Buenos Aires, I will generally not succeed until the second or third time.  I will not get off at the right stop the first time I take a new bus, I will not find the post office on the first or second try (still working on that one), I will ask at three kioskos until someone can put more money on my metro card.  This is just how it is, and I need to adjust myself to a new culture that is (this is not said critically) less efficient than the United States. 

This goes for my language abilities too.  Though my Spanish has improved tremendously since I’ve been here, it’s still very clear I am a foreigner.  I try my best to look up words I might need ahead of time—if I’m going to the post office, I review words like stamp and phrases like “air mail.”  If I do ever find the post office, I will be ready to go!  I have become much more diligent with this process after The Great Shoe Fiasco, in which I went to buy shoes without knowing the word for "size."

Generally, when I don’t know or understand what I am being asked, I say no.  This seems to be the easiest way of getting by, since most of the time I know what should be happening or what they should be saying to me but not the specifics.  For example, when I went to the food court (patio de comidas, patio of food in Spanish) at the mall, I didn’t know what they were asking me specifically about the food, but I knew they were trying to get me to add items on to my meal.  However, this strategy is not fool-proof.   On Sunday night, I had the following exchange while ordering carry-out sushi:

Cashier: Okay, do you want wasabi?  It’s an extra two pesos.
Me: No.
Cashier: Do you want (word unclear)?
Me: No.
Cashier: (slowly) You don’t want silverware?
Me: (obviously flustered and embarrassed) Um, no, um, I live close to here.
Cashier: Okay?  Wait and it will be ready in (unclear).

I wait patiently, but it wasn’t until another couple came in five minutes later and I hear the whole exchange over again that I realize it’s a fifteen-minute wait while they make the sushi.  I went for a quick walk around the block, and when I came back, the cashier goes, “Oh, I thought you got tired of waiting!” 

But overall, things are improving with my ability to function in the city and in Spanish.  Yesterday, I went to get money (more on that process is another post), and at the first location I was told there was a problem and that I needed to go to another location.  I go to place number two, and while I’m waiting, I strike up a conversation with these two Canadian travelers.  They had been in the city for twelve hours, and I, Molly Zweig, resident of Buenos Aires for five weeks, was asked for advice about what to do in the city and how to get around.  I felt very good to be helpful, and I also was reminded that as much as I may struggle, I have come a long way since I’ve been here.

Fuerza Bruta, A Fitting End to My First Month

This morning as I battled a particularly tricky cockroach in the bathroom (at time of writing, Cockroach 2, Molly 0), I realized that I have survived my first full month in Buenos Aires.  It was not long ago I was groggy at the airport and dragging my luggage around a new city.  How far I have come since then.

Last night, my study abroad program arranged a trip to Fuerza Bruta (Brute Force), a live-action show that has elements of Cirque du Soleil, Blue Man Group, a music festival, and a special effects smorgasbord.  I looked up reviews online, but I still wasn’t quite sure what to expect.  Fuerza Bruta began in Buenos Aires and has had various incarnations in major cities around the world.  The show we attended was at the Centro Cultural Recoleta, a community space paid for by the city of Buenos Aires for exhibitions, shows, and other arts events.  We walked into a large, dark space and waited for the show to start. 

And it started with a bang.  Basically, you stand in the center of this space, and the show happens around, above, and in the audience.  There’s water, smoke, bits of paper, and audience participation.  Now, I tried to take pictures, but with my simple camera, strobe lights, loud music, smoke, and a strict “no flash” policy, my photos all came out like a colorful Rorschach test.  Instead, here is the official video of the show—just pretend like I’m standing in the middle and having a great time.

The show was really cool.  The acrobats were amazing, and I spent the show being equally fascinated by the performance around me and also by how they were doing the stunts.  For example, one scene involved lowering a large plastic water area above the audience and performers splashing in the water.  The water kept moving around the performers, which both looked interesting and cast unique light patterns on the audience.  I was trying to figure out how the water kept moving—I determined that they were moving the apparatus up and down at a slight angle to keep the water constantly moving. 

The name Fuerza Bruta was clearly appropriate for the show.  The performers, and audience, by extension, were subjected to various elements and forces.  Like other Cirque du Soleil shows I’ve seen, everything in the performance has been beautiful but I’m never sure why it’s happening.  For me, it was the perfect end to my first month in Buenos Aires because this was my first month in Buenos Aires.  Events, places, people, and new experiences were all around me, and it was my job to make sense of it and have fun.  In math, brute force means going through all the possible answers in order until you find the correct one.  Moving to a new country and speaking a new language is itself an example brute force—you have to keep trying until you find your answer or learn how to do something.  There are no shortcuts, no ways to find the answers that don’t involve a lot of work.  You get creative and resourceful, you expect to fail, and, most importantly of all, you take in the beauty, whatever it may be, of what is happening around you.

All Will Know The Wonder

Buenos Aires has been its own challenge, and focusing on figuring out the city and how to do basic tasks has been my main task.  I am learning how to communicate in Spanish and how things are done in Argentina—for example, why I am offered a straw when I buy a bottle of Coca-Cola light or why I need to show identification when I want to use a credit card.

So with no school this past Monday (national holiday to celebrate the death of José de San Martín, liberator of many countries in South America from Spanish rule), I decided it was time to take my first excursion outside of Buenos Aires.  A group of friends and I planned to travel to Iguazú Falls, one of the world’s natural wonders.

We left Thursday night from Retiro bus station, an enormous bus terminal near the center of the city.  As has been one of the themes of my time in Argentina, I had difficulty finding the right bus—on the ticket, it says the bus will be in section 37-51, but not the actual gate number.  Many buses were leaving for Iguazú, so we searched and finally found what we needed.  We elected to take the cama (bed) bus where our seats went almost all the way back for the almost seventeen-hour each way.  There were movies playing the whole trip, and breakfast and dinner (although not particularly tasty) were served.  I am very curious about who is responsible for picking the movies on the bus, as we watched The Hangover (English with Spanish subtitles), Life of Pi (Spanish dub), Argo (Spanish dub), The Intouchables (French with Spanish subtitles), The Dark Knight Rises (English with Spanish subtitles), and more that I cannot remember. 

Upon arriving Friday afternoon, we checked into El Guembe Hostel House, our lodging for two nights.  At $8.25 a night, I wasn’t expecting much, but the hostel met our needs and was in a good location.  The next morning, we were ready at 8:10 a.m. to head to Iguazú Park.  We took a cab (this was the same cost as taking the bus?), and our driver decided we were a good opportunity to practice his English.  He told us that we had to visit Devil’s Throat Waterfall, and described it as the “strawberry on top of the dessert” of our trip. 

Once we got to the park, we took a ride through the forest to learn more about the plants and animals that live in the area.  Afterward, we got to ride on a boat near the falls.  This was hands-down one of the coolest experiences of my life.  I cannot do it justice with words. 

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View of the falls from the boat

Approaching the falls.  After this photo was taken, we were instructed to put our cameras away "unless we wanted them to take a shower." 

A little wet after the boat ride.  Because we went early in the morning, the sun was facing the right direction for us to see rainbows on our boat ride.

At Devil's Throat waterfall

We spent the whole day at the park, hiking and exploring the waterfalls, every view more beautiful than the next.  The next day, we walked to La Triple Frontera (The Triple Frontier), where in one view we could see Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina.  The view was beautiful, and it was just very cool to be at the intersection of all the countries.  After a nice picnic overlooking the Iguazú River, it was time to head home.  We left around 3 p.m. and returned to Buenos Aires the next morning around 10:30 a.m. 

At the borders of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil.  We're standing in Argentina, Paraguay is on the left and Brazil is to the right.

I could not have had a better weekend.  There was a smile on my face for the entire trip, from the beauty of the nature around us and also from the fact that my friends and I planned a successful trip in a foreign country by ourselves.  If I could go back to the falls tomorrow, I certainly would.