Making the Same Difference

Stranger than Fiction

2012-03-05T05:00:00.020-03:00

"Cómo estás?" she said to me, the usual Argentine greeting. But as the words came out of her mouth, her countenance did a 360 degree turn. Her tone of voice, her expression, her eyes looked like she was in some kind of dreamlike state. All around us, a rainbow of vibrations permeated the air space.

Body language experts say that when it comes to eye contact between friends, it is normal to look intermittently back and forth between them and other things in the room. But when one stares at another individual with an unbroken gaze, it means something else entirely. The only time that you have that kind of interaction between yourself and then other person is when you are in love.

The ambience was that of a magnetic field, electrically charged. When I responded "Te extraño" (I miss you), I could barely look at her for more than a few seconds before diverting my eyes away. Her presence felt larger than life and seemed to be calling my name, beckoning to me and slowly drawing me in.

The service began and our attention turned from that powerful moment to the church service that was happening. 15 mins later when I turned to look at her to ask her something , she was completely back to normal like nothing had happened.

This may seem like a scene right out of a movie but in reality it's a scene right out of a book..........MY book "Argentine Eyes". And my book happens to me an autobiography meaning that this scene between Marisa and I is actually a clip straight from our personal lives. It may seem strange but it definitely is not fiction. But rather it is stranger than fiction.

The interaction between us as described in this scene was my first brush with seeing how Argentines deal with the world unseen and their relationship to it. It's funny because Argentines do not really talk much about the paranormal in their culture. Worlds like "energy" or "intuition" don't come into their vocabulary very often. BTW, if you ever want to talk to people about having good or bad vibes, the word is "onda". Don't use the word "energia" because that is more like the physical energy in your body. If you use "energia" when you are intending to use "onda", you are gonna cause confusion....trust me :)

But back to our topic of today, the world unseen. Just because Argentines don't talk about the mysterious forces that surround us 24/7 doesn't mean that they aren't affected by them. Argentines subconsciously respond to the unseen realm just as much as those of us who live in a culture that talk about it as part of our lingo on our daily basis.

One blogpost is not enough to cover this vastly complicated topic on all the ways Argentines react to the world unseen. When I first got to Buenos Aires, I was told that one way that when Argentines deal with sorrow or sadness or pain within, it will manifest itself in physical symptoms. I believe this to be true when i witness the reaction of a friend who's new puppy unexpectedly passed away. A day or so after the event we were texting and she told me that she was in bed because she wasn't feeling well. I have no doubt that her feeling ill was completely related to the event.

However, when I first witnessed this phenomenon of Marisa's facial expression changing dramatically and then going back to normal, I didn't have a clue what was happening. This observation I made happened while on my first trip but I wouldn't get my answer until almost a year later on my 2nd trip. While taking classes in spanish in the Vamos Spanish Academy, my teacher happened to be a surfer who understood energy, spirituality, and connection. As well she understood both cultures and when I told her about Marisa's odd behavior it didn't surprise her at all. She explained to me that this is how it is when Argentines are manifesting something from deep within, it will come out on their countenance unknowingly.

As it would turn out, I was partially right on my theory. She was looking at me like she was in love, but not in love romantically. When she gazed at me like that, it actually turned out to be the same gaze that a mother has when she looks upon her baby for the very first time. It just never occurred to me that I was the baby.....

***Argentine Eyes is available for purchase at all major online book retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple ibooks, Sony etc. You can also buy the book for 99 cts directly from Bookrix by clicking the cover below

Reeling from a Real Rail Disaster

2012-02-27T05:00:00.016-03:00

ARGENTINA-TRAIN-ACCIDENT (Photo credit: Globovisión)

"Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through fires of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you."

Isaiah 43: 1-2

As I sat on my bed in Canada reading those words from this ancient book, those words jumped off the page and became so much more than just words......they were a revelation. Especially having read them the day after one of Argentina's worst rail disasters. The day after Mardi Gras is Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday is supposed to be a time for mourning and reflection as Lent commences. This years particular Ash Wednesday in Buenos Aires would be met not just by mourning but by chaos and tragedy.

Argentina's railway system has long been under criticism and scrutiny with pressure on the government to create better regulations. I've been on these trains many times and one glance at these trains and I could tell that they definitely did not have the maintenance of a Disney theme park ride.

It was on a Wednesday morning that started out like any other. This would be the very first run of the day and unfortunately it would be the only run that day. As the train pulled into the station, it failed to slow down and smashed into the barrier at full speed on the platform, causing the first two carriages to collide and literally mesh into each other.

The end result was 703 injured, 51 dead, the gov't under greater scrutiny, the public and the world reminded once again that in life there are no guarantees. Perhaps fear based North American thinking should tell me that I shouldn't take the train and that will be the way to spare my life and live longer. One look at 6 lane Avenida de Julio, the widest traffic lane in the world and you would realize that this way of thinking is folly. I can guarantee you that from what I've seen, there are times where you are far safer sitting on a train than you are as a pedestrian being pitted against Buenos Aires traffic.

It is also humbling to know that the station that it happened at wasn't just some station in the middle of Argentina in another province that I will never see or use. "Estacion Once" is actually 20 mins away from where I rent a room in someone's house. Unlike other Latin American countries where visitors and tourists are exempt from the troubles that go on in the country, each one of us that live here know in our heart of hearts that being an expat does not increase our level of safety.

So what is the answer? The answer is to live on. After two days of mourning with the flags flown at half mast, the government and the people get up and begin all over again. If any of us were to live in fear and not get on a train unless we did a bunch of research to know the history of the line, none of us would get anything done. Due to poor records and inconsistent maintenance, literally any train that I get on could be the ill-fated one. There is no way to tell a perfectly well maintained train from a faulty one.

Because at the end of the day, there is only one train that truly matters..........and that is the train that is scheduled to take me home to glory. It is only train in the world that is always on time, never too late and never too early :)

CCTV of Buenos Aires Train Crash

Fun, Foam & Fat Tuesday

2012-02-20T05:00:00.006-03:00

*** Just a note that parts of the above video tends to be of a revealing nature.

A spray of foam hit my face at 90 miles an hour and in that instant, the Fat Tuesday celebrations had turned my body into a living target. What had meant to be a routine trip to the grocery store turned into an all nite fiesta that went into the early hours of the morning as I found that the block had been closed off as a parade of dancers filled the empty streets. Stalls of street vendors selling hamburgers, pop etc. were set up to fill the public's food and drink needs in place of the supermarkets that had closed earlier than usual.

Growing up in North America, I had only heard of Carnival being celebrated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with the Samba dancers. It never occurred to me that Carnival gets celebrated in so many other forms in different parts of latin america. If you've already been to Rio de Janeiro and had your carnival fix, there are still other great options for you to explore in seeing how carnival is celebrated in Latin America. Uruguay is another country that is off the beaten path that hosts fantastic carnival celebrations.

One day I would love to find myself caught in an endless sea of bodies watching Brazil's annual Samba parade. But I gotta admit that there was something sweet and enduring at watching the community in Boedo come together to mark Fat Tuesday. Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is something that many people know about and lots of people have seen.

However, local community celebrations (called "Corsos") that take place all over Buenos Aires is something that is precious on a whole different level. These are things that you'll never watch on TV or read about in a travel brochure or plan a trip to see. But experiences like watching a neighbourhood community celebration are the hidden gems of travel abroad that divide those who are living like a local and those are who are merely passing through the city. What began as a routine 10 min walk from my apartment to the grocery store resulted in a lifetime of memories....

Murga & Foam

Ojos Argentino (Argentine Eyes)

2012-02-17T03:34:00.004-03:00

"Don't get it right, just get it written." Author James Thurber

It gives me tremendous pleasure to announce that after over 50 hrs of writing, editing, promoting and going through draft after draft, "Argentine Eyes" is available through major online retailers such as Amazon, Apple ibooks, Barnes & Noble and of course Bookrix. Seeing as it is a story about friendship and love, it seemed rather fitting that its official publishing date fell on february 14th.........Valentines Day :D

Thumb through the pages of the novel and you'll discover a treasure trove of stories from my adventures at the end of the world. Like the story of how I stood 10 hrs in a lineup to enter the Casa Rosada to see the coffin of ex-president Néstor Kirchner where he was lying in state. Or there was the time where I passed out while hanging out with a group of friends in Costanera Sur. And let's not forget about my spanish professor who also happened to be a surfer. Read "Argentine Eyes" and you'll discover the two words she said to me in a reply that would change the course of my relationship with Marisa forever.

In addition to compelling stories, within the pages are revealing insights on travel and the various aspects of Argentine culture whether it would be historical, political, cultural etc. Part of the fun of writing in first and second person narration is that I can take a pause from narrating the story and talk directly to the audience about other topics. The narration was a tremendous opportunity for me to reveal pearls of wisdom and keys that would be useful for planning a trip to Buenos Aires.

Interestingly enough, my favorite novels are strong first person novels and some of those styles have also gotten stirred into "Argentine Eyes". Stylistically, you may see bits and pieces of "The Life of Pi", Roahl Dahl's "Boy" and "Going Solo", "Lemony Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events" and "The Motorcycle Diaries".

First person narrative is the most difficult of all the voices to master. But it brings me a huge sense of relief to have had feedback from various people who have read the book and given me the green light to let me know that I've somehow managed to pull it off. Also note that the book is not just in first person but it is a combination of first and second person narration. Second person narrative is not common, which adds to the book's uniqueness. In fact, around Christmas time I wrote a blog called Spoonfuls of Soufflé detailing the challenges of writing a first person piece.

You can purchase the book directly from Bookrix for 99 cents by simply by clicking the cover above. It is available as of right now on Bookrix but for the other online retailers, it may take a few days more so if you check it and it isn't there, check back again at your retailer of choice. If you are purchasing via Bookrix, you will be able to download it in the popular epub format for all kinds of devices such as a Sony, Nook, Kobo, Apple etc. The kindle does not support the epub format so if you are downloading it for a kindle, you will have to convert the file or purchase the book from Amazon.

http://www.bookrix.com/_title-en-angelina-khoo-argentine-eyes

"Argentine Eyes" is your book just as much as it is mine. What began as a simple story that I wanted to put on the internet has gone higher, faster, deeper, further than anything I've ever dreamed possible. And it isn't just my fans clicking on and reading the story itself but it is for all of you that visit this site week after week and read my stories as they unravel. I wish you a fantastic weekend as we celebrate not just the release of this novel but also as we gear up for Fat Tuesday. May your days be filled with fun, foam and Murga madness as the "Carnaval" festivities continue and we usher in the spirit of Mardi Gras :)

MIL GRACIAS Y BESITOS A TODOS........

@tango2themoon

Making Gains in the Mundane

2012-02-13T05:00:00.059-03:00

Image via Wikipedia

I can't help but wonder if for Marisa, doing church cell groups every Thursday nite must have been somewhat mundane at times. I gotta respect that woman for the dedication and commitment she made to the church in her willingness to show up week after week faithfully.

If anything can be learned from this woman's life is that some of life's greatest gains comes from the mundane. Because it would be through this cell group that she poured her heart and life into, this would be the means in which God would give her something that she had been longing for............a third child. And for those of you who are regulars at this blog, you all know that child was me :) And for those of you who don't know our story, you can read the story in my novel "Argentine Eyes"

All of us have dreams and desires. Society teaches us to "look out for number 1" and our goal in life should be to get to the top of the ladder as fast as possible using as many people as we can. But what happened between me and Marisa is a classic example of how her faithfulness and dedication resulted in her getting one of the deepest desires of her heart.

She showed up her cell group on a thursday just like any other thursday. But this thursday nite there would be a young woman from Canada who happened to be in Buenos Aires for a life change. And that one encounter would lead to a chain of events that took off like the way a snowball turns into an avalanche.

Her life is a constant reminder to me to be dedicated to all that I've been given whether it would be writing a blog or teaching english. More and more I'm coming to realize that my destiny isn't going to get realized sitting and wishing that I could be doing anything other than what I'm doing right now. On the contrary, it is gonna be in the midst of pouring my heart and soul into every person and project God has given me that one day I'll stumble upon the pearl of great price.....

@tango2themoon

The Fallacy of Normalcy

2012-02-06T05:00:00.067-03:00

Quite number of years ago, I was on a family trip to Miami and we took a tour of one of the neighbourhoods. The tour guide's commentary was that in this neighbourhood, anyone who had bought a house there had to abide by the rules of the council. You had to have your grass cut or you would be fined $100. If you didn't get your grass cut, someone would be sent to your house to cut it for you and you would not only have to pay the fine but you would have to pay $100 to the person as well for cutting it. The paint color of your house had to fit within the certain acceptable colors or you would get a fine. Also, you car had to be kept within the garage out of sight or you would receive a fine. The tour took us by one house where the people broke all the rules and the guide told us that if these people ever sold their house, they would have nothing left due to the amount of fines.

Latin America may have many struggles economically and politically but the one struggle that they never have had is with the fallacy of normalcy. Latinos are very well of the fact that the fairytale life with the perfect family and white picket fence doesn't exist. As well there is next to no pressure to have your life planned out or to be a certain way. Come to think of it, the opposite is quite true, quirkiness is a welcome factor....it is seen as having life and flavor.

One of the most memorable moments in my english class where I taught is when I looked into the eyes of my students and told them that sometimes when you are dealing with foreigners, if someone seems a little TOO perfect, then something is wrong. I then mentioned to them that it was easy to see that I'm a little quirky but it was obvious that I was a safe healthy person. They immediately agreed profusely and chimed in that they did think I was a healthy person.

From having an entire lifetime with people always finding fault with me, or saying that something wasn't quite right, it was a huge weight off my shoulders that people here know what I have always known deep inside....there is nothing wrong with me. It may seem like such a simple statement but you have to realize that there are certain factors biological, social disorders, and things that come from my upbringing that have caused me to develop into someone that can easily be misinterpreted.

I will admit that my persona may not properly translate live and in person. But it is a comfort in knowing that I'm not the only one, many genius especially in the world of tech like Mark Zuckerberg (the founder of facebook) are actually very socially awkward in person. For people like him, social cues are an extremely difficult thing to master. I'm not that bad, but I can relate and still for me it takes lots of practice to have success in social scenarios.

It is endearing to spend the majority of my time in a continent and country where the cookie cutter has been thrown out the door and people are free to be what they are....no questions asked. And I certain wouldn't want to be a member of the Solomon family in this hilarious episode of "3rd Rock from the Sun" when the concept of what it means to be the average family hits them for the very first time.

@tango2themoon

Spare Keys

2012-01-30T05:00:00.158-03:00

Image via Wikipedia

When I sit back and reflect at all the different types of companies out in the world, it amazes me the attitudes and mindsets that lie within the company's origins. Some companies were born out of pretentiousness. Others were born out of pride and presumption, assuming the world would like what they had to offer. Then every so often, a company is born because someone took a good long look at the actual needs and decides to create a company to address those issues in question.........a company like Spare Rooms BA.

At times I wonder what the world would look like without Spare Rooms. We would probably all be either having to stay in hostels or hotels. And if we wanted to risk staying in someone's home then we would just have to randomly answer classified ads not knowing if we would have a good or bad experience. Many of us would probably have lost our damage deposits due to the fact that it is not uncommon for landlords to keep damage deposits that foreigners have given them because it is easy money.

Living in Argentina, there are so many uncertainties. The subway could shut down without notice, inflation hits the grocery stores along with political and economical unrest. Not to mention unruly drivers, thieves, and pickpockets that are part of the not so pretty picture of life in BA. And here in the midst of broken yet beautiful BA, ideas are being born to great people with great minds on ways to make a big city smaller.

When attempting to live abroad, good accomodation is one of the key factors to survival. The world outside may be crashing but I can get through it all as long as I have a place to call home. There is so much thinking that I have to do in every area of my life as an expat and it is great that with Spare Rooms BA, accomodation is the last thing that I have to think about.

The first time I ever saw Spare Rooms website a couple of years ago, I knew that I wanted to give this company a ring. At that time, due to some chaos going on in my personal life, renting a room with them did not work out. But I have never forgotten about them and after meeting Val on my last trip, I decided I wanted to give their company another try when the time was right.

And as it turns out it would be so worth the wait. When I approached the company again for the 2nd time regarding accomodation, they had doubled and tripled their rate of growth. They now had more rentals in the barrios that they had previously. But not only that, they've spread their wings and have rentals in new barrios that they didn't have before. This almost sounds like the story of Jack and the Beanstalk.

But the real test would be to see if they had a room available that fits my criteria. After every trip, I become more aware of what my needs were. So in my case, I seek accomodation in the barrio of Almagro, Boedo, San Cristobal due to it's proximity to the church and the school. The cost of living in those barrios are alot lower than staying in Palermo, Recoleta or even the microcentro. As well, I sport a deep affection for Boedo after 9 months of being immersed head first into the barrio and its people.

There was one room that caught my attention and the moment I saw it, I swooped down on it like an eagle to its prey. Finding out that it was available for the length of stay that I needed it was almost too good to be true. I will explain to you what is so special about it.....

Of course, there are the things that are immediately obvious about the room. It is in Almagro, has wifi and internet and comes with a private bathroom. I wouldn't have minded sharing a bathroom but it is a plus that this room has a private bathroom. I'm always with other people day in day out so having a little extra space to myself definitely a perk. And working with social media, the internet was definitely mandatory. However, there are some other subtle things about this place that make it beyond perfect. In order to understand, you have to know the address of the school. CENV is located on 4549 Rivadavia, 15 mins away. The only downside is that with such a short walking distance, I won't be shedding any pounds :)

It gets even better than that. There is a list of bus numbers that the place is close to. Both number 128 and 160 take me directly to and from the church. Where things get even more interesting is that the 160 also is the bus that goes to Lanús, Argentina and back. Remember that the church has big annual meetings that take place in Lanús? In addition to that, both my students Julieta and Ceci take to go to the school and the church from Lanús. Being able to hop on bus 160 will make it so much easier for both parties to meet up, whether I would be going to Lanús or whether they would be meeting me at the school or church or even in some random café in Boedo, Almagro, or San Cristobal.

One look at the profile of this place on the website and I couldn't wait to email Spare Rooms about getting the spare keys to this place. Of course it should remain a secret that the real reason I chose this room was the because of the cable in my room as well as it being close to my favorite mall, Abasto. In addition to the great company from the other residents who live in the house. After a day of teaching english, prayer, sermons and helping the poor, it is nice to know that I can fulfill my fleshy desires for great entertainment in room, lively conversation, and a new pair of shoes for good measure :)

@spareroomsba

*** an interesting point is that I booked this place in Sept. The moment I saw it, I knew this was a place that I just couldn't let go no matter what. But choosing to reserve this location would prove a more valuable move than I initially realized. In January 2012, the gov't made an annoucement that the prices of the underground subeway were going to go from 1.10 pesos to 2.50.

Because of this location, I can walk to the school which is 5 mins away. In addition to that, bus 160 gets me to almost anywhere I need to go, whether it would be to the church in Parque Patricio, downtown, or even to "The Office" in Palermo. I will almost never to need to use the subway to do all that I'm called to do. Way back in Sept when I made the reservation, only God knew that in January the prices for the subway would increase. God is good :)

My Seven Deadly Screwups

2012-01-23T05:00:00.007-03:00

Image via Wikipedia

"The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked"

Proverbs 24:16

Everyone has heard of "The Seven Deadly Sins" but I highly doubt that many people know about my 7 deadly screwups. This passage from proverbs is especially comforting to me, because it is no big secret that I have tripped more than 7 times during this whole adventure that God has sent me on. One way in which I've grown is realizing that if I commit myself to the path, God will have a way of pulling me back up each time I trip. And you may have just clicked for the first time onto this site with a big beautiful picture of the Casa Rosada and amazing blogs and wonder "how could this girl could possibly have tripped up?"

Oh trust me, there at least 7 ways and counting that I make mistakes while on the this path. But the good news is that each time I learn from my error and find myself less and less in situations that drive up my blood pressure :o

My Seven Deadly Screwups

1. On my first trip there was a mix up with understanding when my visa date expired. When I was leaving Argentina for the first time, it was brought to my attention that my visa had expired two wks ago. There was abit of a kerffufle with me in the end having to fork out 300 pesos to immigration to pay for the penalty for overstaying on an expired visa but in the end, I made it to my flight. I used that time on the plane to rest, bring down my blood pressure and make a careful note to myself to go to Colonia every 90 days.

2. Showing at the post office not realizing that I need a passport for any kind of transaction. After finally waiting in line for 30-40 mins, it was my turn to go up to the counter. In addition to not having my proper documents, I was told I need a "sobre". Like a good gringa, I had no idea what a "sobre" was in that moment. Eventually I realized that "sobre" means "envelope". In Argentina you have to buy your own envelope before going to the post office. Lesson learned....I was back at the post office within half an hour with both an envelope and a passport.

3. Standing there at the bus stop grinning like a silly idiot as I watch the bus I had been eagerly anticipating come and go with me still at the stand. The good gringa in me hadn't been informed that in Bueno Aires you have to wave your hand at the bus driver to get him to stop and pick you up.

4. Leaping off a bus when I was supposed to stay on. This has happened twice, when I was visiting Lanús and Quilmes. My friend kept telling me to go to the Correo Central near Luna Park. I had no idea where Luna Park was nor did I have a clue what the Correo Central was. Now I understand, Luna Park is the stadium where all the big names come to play in Buenos Aires. It is located close to the Correo Central which is the station where all buses begin or end their route.

5. Misreading the signals and flirting with a woman who actually was sporting a a deep maternal love for me. Um.....no comment. (But I highly recommend reading the whole story behind this in my novel "Argentine Eyes" before you think about hitting the button to unsubscribe from the blog of such an incredibly twisted person you think I must be)

6. Not signing up to get a Sube card when I landed in the city for my 2nd trip. Yes, I was well aware of the shortage of monedas in the city and made it a point to hoard up all my coins and use them sparingly. I had no idea that this 4 x 4 piece of plastic could make such a world of difference in my life in BA. It was a classic gringa moment when I headed to the post office with my passport to sign up for one.....10 days before the end of my 2nd trip after a 9 month stay in the city. With hindsight, I would have reversed that and got the card within the first 10 days of arriving in the city at the beginning of my 2nd trip. At least I can walk into season 3 armed with my Sube card by my side as a little companion on trains and subways :)

7. Thinking that this place and this city had no intention of pulling me back into its grasp after merely one visit (sigh)

Buenos Aires Sucks You In

But the great part about a new year is that you get to start all over again. And perhaps next year the list of all my trip ups will be cut down. So on that note...Gung Hey Fat Choy :) May the year of the dragon bring you strength, health, wisdom, fortune and prosperity.

Are you ready for a new sensation?

@tango2themoon

Ethic Cleansing....

2012-01-16T05:00:00.114-03:00

Image by monky.cl via Flickr

A big question that hits me on an ongoing business in day to day life in Buenos Aires is how to remain ethical. As a Christian, respecting the laws of the goverment are a huge part of my value system. And for even those of you out there who may not come from a similar background as me have some kind of belief that we need to be law abiding whether we live here or are passing through.

In many of the first world countries, the law is clear and it would be a no brainer to whether you are breaking the law or not. But how do you remain ethical in a country where just like the subway, laws can be shut down one day and new ones installed the very next day? And without any notification to the rest of us :o So the one thing that I could be doing that was legal one day could be outlawed or only semi legal the next day.

The scripture talks about the idea of government being God-breathed to bring order to a nation. But the Bible says nothing about dealing with government officials with a god-like ego. Anyone who has had to deal with bureaucratic things knows that life or death depends on who you get assigned to and what kind of a mood they are in. And all too often, the boiling pot of growing discrimination against foreigners bubbles over destroying all in its path.

Even those who have their DNI and are law abiding citizens with all right paperwork who are taxpayers aren't safe. Reality kind of hit us when one fine day, there came a tweet from "The Office" saying that two government officials had shown up and just decided to close down the restaurant due to some issues. This place was fully licensed and had been running about 10 months when this happened. It was due to some new law or ordinance that had just come into place which no one had any notification about. Sadly, this wasn't an isolated incident. There have been many stories of inspectors showing up without warning and shutting down businesses even though everything was in order.

Needless to say, all us expats were FURIOUS. I was in Canada at the time and I was in shock when I got that tweet. But that is the reality of running a business in a country where you can be at the mercy of the system. The restaurant was more than just an eatery, it was our hangout place where the expat community (and Argentines) come together. It was our only oasis this desert of a foreign land where we are outsiders who speak a different language, eat different food, and come from a different culture.

note: i just want to make it clear that the ordinance would have nothing to do with Cristina Fernandez Kirchner and the federal government. It would have been local government authorities that are in charge of things having to do with specifically Buenos Aires, not the whole of Argentina.

At this point, I do not know if an expat who is gleefully able to wave about a DNI and permanent residency papers is any better than an expat who crosses over into Uruguay every 90 days to renew their visa to be able to renew their visa to be able to stay in Argentina another 3 months. Maybe a decade ago there were clear benefits and maybe 10 yrs ago it was clear to what is considered ethical and what isn't. It is possible for people who have legal papers to find themselves discriminated against and none of their rights recognized. At it is possible for people on a tourist visa to receive a smile and nod from immigration and the thumbs up to pass through.

My hearts hope is that this blogpost will shed light on the fact that the foreigners who reside in BsAs aren't above experiencing the hardships that happen in this country. In fact, expats, their businesses, and their activities may find themselves somewhat of a target as the feelings of discrimination towards non Argentines continue to boil underneath. It is one thing to for a foreigner to visit as a tourist, it is another thing to wanna settle and call BsAs "home".

Now the happy ending to the story is that "The Office" did get the go ahead to reopen. What happened with them is not a black and white matter of illegal or legal. To simplify a very complicated set of events, when they were aquiring the license to open, someone gave them the go ahead to do it when another step should have been completed fully. But someone told them they were good to go and it would be no problem at all. It obviously turned out to be a problem because months later someone came along and closed down the restaurant without warning.

All I can say is that every single one of us in BA will never take for granted again the joy of chomping into a mouth watering delicious burger at The Office.....

@tango2themoon

Strangers Like Me

2012-01-09T05:00:00.000-03:00

It was on a clear starry nite in a private residence in San Telmo that I would experience my very first "puerta cerrada", a restaurant in the house of someone. Lively chatter in english would accompany me as I picked my way through the 4 or 5 course meal that nite. Dining in the house of someone wouldn't be the only first that nite, there would be another........meeting strangers like me. Young people from North America who had left everything behind to begin a new life here at the end of the world

If there was any one fictional character that I felt I could relate to in that very moment, it would be a toss up between tarzan or Mowgli from the jungle book when they came face to face with their own kind for the very first time. As the conversations began to flow all nite long, the feeling of aloneness began to dissipate rapidly. And a light bulb went on inside of me as I realized for the very first time that all that this life change that I made and all that I went through as a result of it was nothing new. Others go through the exact same challenges.

There is a theme that came up that nite and it is a theme that seems to echo with many of the travel blogs of others that I read. It was the topic of how challenging it can be to re-enter back into your own culture after spending time abroad. It seems like this is a struggle that almost everybody faces whether they are coming home for a visit or to stay. The more technical name for it is "reverse culture shock".

Some of my greatest insecurities and concerns are not knowing what people's feelings towards me are whenever I touch down on Canadian soil. It is obvious that I have an incredible life and with the blessing and favor of God have seen success as a writer, in the area of relationships as well as my other skills like teaching english, social media, filmmaking etc. But with success comes the big question mark to who is happy and rooting for me and who might be jealous and despise every good news about my life that comes from me.

Argentines are really hard to offend. The majority of them are slow to offend and quick to forgive. And if something does bother them, they are direct about it with you. I don't have to read in between the lines with my Argentine friend or even the expats they live here. What you see is what you get, nothing more and nothing less.

Unfortunately, in the Canadian culture there is sometimes an underlying system of offense. People might see a tweet or hear a comment from you and get upset or get ideas about you and let it boil. And you don't find out until one fine day when they give you a piece of their mind when you least expect it. Or you might just find yourself defriended from facebook when you never saw it coming. But I would like to back this up by saying that though this behavior does exist in our culture, not all Canadians are like that. All the friends who I pick are direct and honest and don't read in between the lines. And they like me hate that system that exists within our society of unspoken offense and reading in between the lines.

It isn't just me who feels this way. The expats who I was talking to are from America and although it is a different culture than Canada, it did come up the theme that it can be tricky going from dealing with people from one culture to dealing with people from another culture. When I landed back in Canada, within 24 hrs I had gone from spanish to english and from winter to summer! My mind was whirling and in a daze. Buses stopped at their stands without you having to wave to them. And I didn't have to hoard my coins because Canada doesn't have a coin shortage. In addition to that, I had to remind myself that carrying around $100 CDN is not the same as carrying $100 pesos. BIG difference!

But with all the challenges that come with travel and expat life, I must say that on my 2nd return to Canada I was pleasantly surprised by the good in people and it was comforting to know that I still have strong alliances here. A common theme that many of my friends share is that we are all happy but none of us have it all. Some friends of mine have a better financial standing but in terms or career or direction of their lives, they're still not sure what they want to do. While other friends of mine have a more solid direction on where their career path is going to be but they don't have as many resources. For me, I get to travel, live abroad, have a blooming blogsite but i don't have alot of financial security and I don't have roots.

Some days I would love it if I had a home and roots and financial security, a pet and a partner too just like my friends do. And I am sure they wish they could break their routine and do what I do. But it brings me such pleasure to see that I can cross the other side of the world and find people in my homeland who are happy even in the midst troubled economic times. And somehow in being content that they can't have it all, in a funny way they do end up having it all :)

@tango2themoon

Great Expatations

2012-01-02T05:00:00.185-03:00

I don't need to state the obvious that Argentine history is nothing less than rich and colorful. There are countless wars, bloody battles, and an endless list of heroes to many to name. If you don't believe me, just spend an afternoon the the Recoleta Cemetery. The amount of names, dates and event are enough to go to the moon and back.

But as interesting as Argentina's history may be, there is another type of history that is being made.....expat history. Just because the history of the expats landing here may not be as extensive, doesn't mean that it is any less fun or interesting. In a previous blog "Chili Experts and Chilly Expats", I gave you a tiny glimpse into the expat world.

Truthfully, people have been coming here for many generations now. Due to location and language barrier, very little info was know about the country except those who happened to settle here due to marriage or work. Blogs were almost completely non existent and if one from the outside world wanted info on Argentina, the only thing available were things like forums and messages boards. These where were expats messaged each other and talked about things that only concerned those living directly there. The information would be almost completely useless to anyone from the outside looking in.

Information wise, things were very bleak....until 2006 when Chicago native Allie Lazar landed on the shores of BA. Her landing here may have seemed like such a minute event. Nobody could have predicted that she would eventually be the writer of "Pick Up the Fork", one of the most prominent (if not the most prominent) food blogs in all Buenos Aires. For the first time ever, outsiders would have a window into the food scene here in BA as they follow her love-hate drama with Argentine cuisine and all its offerings.

As well in 2006 would be the landing of Sorrel Moseley-Williams , a british journalist and broadcaster. She constantly does interviews with expats and reports on the latest happenings in the city. As well she works for Buenos Aire's premier english newspaper "The Buenos Aires Herald"

Spring of 2007 would see the landing of Madi Lang. It was another humble landing. Her arrival on the BA landscape may have seemed like such a tiny detail, little did anyone know that she would eventually become one of BA's top Argentine historian. There are very few that could rival Madi in her knowledge of Argentine history. Although her landing into BsAs was unannounced with no media coverage, within the next few years the press would begin to take notice as her tour company the "BA Cultural Concierge" took to the stage.

For those needing a break from the bustling city of Buenos Aires, look no further. Katie of Seashells and Sunflowers will take you on a journey to Necochea in the province of Buenos Aires. There on her blogsite you'll discover her journey as she experiences life marrying an Argentine and settling down 5, 500 miles away from her home in Philadelphia. Through her blog, Katie sheds light on the process of moving to another country. As we she is a great food blogger who adds delicious recipes to her blogsite on an ongoing basis.

For every one story that I've featured here on my blogsite there are at least 10 more expats who's story I have yet to tell. Stories like that of....

Frank Almeida, a Chicago native who's landing in BA resulted in the city being filled with delicious Sugar and Spice Cookies

Maya May, the creator of Spanglish Exchange, the weekly billingual event that has spread world wide

The there is the story of Dan Perlman of Casa Saltshaker who was one of the pioneers of the puerta cerrada scene (closed door dining). Check out his food blog as well http://www.saltshaker.net/

The above video is of Mark and Kevin, the boys of Ya Ya Bean. They are two best friends who came to Buenos Aires and decided the city needed spicing up with their hot sauce "La Boca Roja". Anyone who is familiar with Argentine cuisine knows that the word "spicy" is almost non existent. But the boys of Ya Ya Bean are on a mission to change that....

And of course, the story of my landing in 2009 is no big mystery. What for me began as a much needed break in life turned into a life long relationship with the city. I would be the first North American ever to break into the world of Centro Cristiano Nueva Vida, a thriving church in the heart of Buenos Aires and one of Argentina's biggest church networks spanning more than 30 000 people. Within 2 years of my landing, a church that had been relatively unknown to the outside world would have their story told through social media such as videos, blogs, pictures etc. At last the mission of Rock and Vida would be made known to the world.

Argentine history may be something that you read in history books but expat history is something that is being made every single day. Every single time a new face lands on Argentine soil, they bring their own flair and flavor to the expat scene. And that thought is something that gives me a warm glow in my heart and fills me with great expatations :)

@tango2themoon

Spoonfuls of Soufflé

2011-12-26T05:00:00.121-03:00

Image via Wikipedia

Once during a masterchef competition, Gordon Ramsey commented to the contestants that there is one dish that strikes fear in the hearts of professional chefs everywhere....soufflé. It was in that episode that I learned that in the gastronomic world, making soufflé is no piece of cake (pun intended). Soufflé is not impossible but it is one of the most technical and a successful soufflé requires exact timing and execution. It is the type of thing where you are either gonna "kill it" and create something brilliant. Or you're gonna "murder it" and find yourself walking back to your kitchen with your tail in between your legs. There is no real in between....your souffle will be delicious or it will be a disaster.

In the writing world we have something very similar. Before I go on, I wanna say that this is only an opinion and other writers and authors are open to debate me on this. But after reading lots of articles, talking with other writers and most of all having written a novel myself, there seems to be a common consensus that writing in 1st person would be equal to making a soufflé.

There are multiple articles on the internet and many of them say that writing in 1st person is the hardest of all voices or one of the hardest voices. Many of you took a keen interest in "Argentine Eyes", my autobiography that is written in 1st person. And many of us when we watch a movie don't just like to watch the movie, we like to find out what went on behind the scenes. So that is what this blog is about today, lifting the veil on the writing world and giving you a behind the scenes look at the making of "Argentine Eyes".

The writing world is one where things that sound easy are actually the hardest. That being said, some of the hardest things are actually kids books and novels in 1st person. This may come as a shock but I HATE the kids book section. Not because I don't like kids books but simply because the world of kids books is plagued with garbage from people who think writing for kids is easy. Honestly, if I were going to have a baby there would be only two books in this moment that I would want in the nursery. One of them being "That's Not Your Mommy Anymore" and "Go the F*ck to Sleep". Heaven is rejoicing that I'm not a mother yet :P

During the process of making a soufflé, there are many things that can go wrong and every one of the steps. Execution, speed, and timing is everything and it is the exact same with writing in 1st person. After having a discussion with a friend who is an author, she told me she's scoured the net for good 1st person stories but it is rare when she comes across someone who has done it successfully. A common mistake is that many 1st person novels sound like blogs, not novels. And in the same way that there are many opportunities for something to go wrong with making a soufflé, 1st person novels are of the same nature. 1st person is a powerful voice to write in but it is the voice in which it is easiest to fall flat. You have to stay in character from beginning to end and you have to make the reader feel connected, as if the story is happening to them.

Based on the feedback that I've got from others in the writing world, it seems as if I've had a good response on "Argentine Eyes" and was able to kill writing in 1st person. How was I able to achieve this? I did this by sitting in an apartment in Buenos Aires editing and re-editing every line of the novel to perfection. In the end, I produced a good read with little or no typos. But I will admit to you that I got completely burnt out til the point that after I finished my final edit, I couldn't even read my own book. This was a result of waking up at 7:30 in the morning and editing all day long until 11pm at nite all day everyday.

And I had to be open to criticism on two levels.........one is from the writing world and how well written the book has been done. The other level in which I have to be open to critique comes from the fact that I am writing about another culture and I have to make sure that Argentines feel that my novel is indeed reflective of Argentina. Both these things are challenging to execute properly and make me really nervous as a writer because it is a bold and gutsy thing to do.

There is so much more that I could be write about in the experience of what it is like to do a novel. And you can be sure that in the weeks and months to come, I'll continue to lift the veil on life as a writer and reveal more about what it is like. But for now, I wanna wish you a happy holiday and my highest hope as a writer is that as you read everything I write, you'll feel like you're tasting delicious spoonfuls of soufflé :)

Argentine Eyes (wattpad)

Argentine Eyes (Bookrix)

@tango2themoon

Spitting Out the Silver Spoon

2011-12-19T05:00:00.131-03:00

Image via Wikipedia

During my recent hiatus in Canada, I paid a visit to Starbucks. But unlike most people who entered the store, I wasn't there to purchase a drink. Instead, I was there to whip up a venti sized cup of gratitude along with 2 pumps of appreciation and a side of extra foamy thankfulness to my very first boss who was the manager there.

Being born into wealth, power and influence, I could have had anything I wanted just for asking. But in 2003, I decided to spit out the silver spoon that had been placed in my mouth since the day of my birth and see how much far I could go on my own merit. My first step towards entering the world of the working middle class was to fill out job applications. It wasn't too long before the caller ID on the house phone displayed the name "Starbucks Coffee"

In reality, I had no idea what I was doing. I had never worked a day in my life nor did I know what it is like to receive a paycheque. Going for a job interview was completely foreign to me. But all I knew is that live or die, pass or fail....I needed to grow and I needed to do something. After successfully nailing the interview, a whole new world opened up to me, the world of work. For the next few months I would be thrown into a world of lattes, frapps, shifts, till duty etc. In addition to that was learning appropriate social behavior in the workplace not just between me and customers but between me, co-workers and supervisors.

It felt like a tremendous privilege for Starbucks to give me a chance and be my first entry into the work world. Part of their mandate is that they want you to grow as a person and they have a system in place to try and help you hit the next level of your potential. Now I realize that one of the keys to success as an individual (especially for one's first job) is to be under a good manager. And I actually had an amazing manager for my first boss. I didn't realize how amazing she was until years later when I had been in the working world for awhile.

She was one of those people that was very professional yet very personal. There were standards to be met by the company and she was always fully supportive in doing all that she can to help me get there. When she gave me correction, she did it with grace and there was never a moment that she didn't have my best interests at heart.

On my recent trip back to Victoria, I debated in my mind about visiting her to express my gratitude and let her know what a difference it made in my life that she gave me the chance to work for one of the world's biggest companys. The Starbucks experience is definitely one of growth. I have no doubt that getting to experience a work environment what placed so much value on growth as an individual contributed to my success. If my job had been pumping gas in a gas station, perhaps I would be a different person today. Working under her at Starbucks impacted many of my work ethics that are still with me today.

On a routine trip to downtown Victoria, I dropped into one of the Starbucks locations and asked which branch this particular manager was working at. Upon getting my answer, I was still debating about whether I should do it. My head kept saying things like "What if she's not there and you're just wasting your time?" At one point I decided to go stand at the bus stop for the bus that would take me to her branch where she was managing, just a few minutes away from the downtown core. There, some guy was trying to sell a bus ticket for $2. Bus fare is $2 and 50 cents and he had bought too many bus tickets and was selling a $2 and 50 cents bus ticket for $2. Realizing that this just might be a sign that I am meant to go show my gratitude, I coughed up $2 for the $2 and 50 cents bus ticket. I was getting a 50 cents discount to show my thanks and appreciation :)

Upon reaching the branch, I entered in and inquired about her. The staff told me she was on shift but they didn't know where she was. So I decided to make a trip to the washroom. As I got closer to bathrooms, the door opened and she came out. Her face showed surprise and delight. I didn't waste a single moment to let her know that I was here to give her thanks for giving me that chance so long ago. Her first response was to exclaim "That was so long ago!" But gratitude has no expiry date :)

We had a 6-8 minute conversation in the corner near the washrooms just a few steps away from the main area. I truly believe that it was God that made it this way that I could talk to her and say what I wanted to say. I don't think that we could have had the same conversation if she was behind the counter. I told her about who I was and how when she hired me, I had never worked before and was beyond grateful that someone would give me the chance. Having this opportunity and being able to put Starbucks on my resume may have been what also caught the attention of some big corporations later on when it came to making their hiring decisions. Starbucks may have taken me on a for a first job but in some of the companies I worked for later on, I know for a fact that I couldn't have gotten in without previous work experience.

She was delighted to see how much I had grown as well to hear about Argentina. There was something so liberating about the conversation with her. She has been a manager for quite awhile and she mentioned to me that out of all the people that she has ever had under her, I was one of the most appreciative. That meant more to me than a million hits on my blogsite.....to hear 8 yrs later that this is the impression that you left on someone's life and that is how they remember you.

One of the scariest things in my life I ever did was to see how far I could make it on my own. But trading in the silver spoon for a grande sized cup of experiences from life in the working world is one of the best things I ever did. I went higher, faster, deeper, further than I could possibly have dreamed or imagined. It would be a journey that ultimately took me to the ends of the earth and back. And to think that it all began with me behind an espresso machine whipping up that perfect grande vanilla non fat no foam latte.....

@tango2themoon

This Little Piggie Ended Up at the Supermarket

2011-12-12T05:00:00.040-03:00

Last week I talked about trying to save money while living as an expat abroad. To prove to you that I'm not a hypocrite and I practice what I preach, I've decided to show you a pic of what I had for dinner one nite last season in my effort (maybe desperation is a better word) to save money

Expat life is anything BUT fancy feasts at ritzy restaurants in the Palermo district. With the Argentine economy experiencing a 20% inflation rate, every peso had become precious. I found what remained of poor old porky with a a 20 peso ($5 CDN) price tag attached to him while strolling through the aisles of Coto. It was a match made in heaven because I needed to save money and he needed a decent burial. Lucky for him, I had found the perfect place for him to have his last rites and final resting place....at the bottom of my belly.

The answer is NO....it did not taste like chicken. For those 20 pesos that I coughed up to bring him home, I got two meals out of him, two meals that pretty much consisted of muscles and ligaments. The skin was quite tough and chewy and gave me a great source of gum for the next day or so.

This little piggie ended up at the supermarket.....

@tango2themoon

Dollars and Sense

2011-12-05T05:00:00.076-03:00

Image by Manic Street Preacher via Flickr

Sitting in my financial advisors office in Canada, I felt a deep sigh come from within as a put my signature on the dotted line authorizing a withdrawal from my RRSP savings. Great accomplishments don't come without some form of sacrifice. And sacrifice would be part of what would be needed to make season 3 of my adventures in Argentina happen.

Looking back now, my very first trip to Argentina in Sept 2009 happened at a very timely moment. When I first landed there, the country was just beginning to climb in its popularity with tourist and travellers. One year later the country's popularity exploded and by then my blogsite had already begun so it feels as if I began life there just before everything happened and me and my blogsite caught a perfectly timed wave that has definitely contributed to all my success. I thank God for the wisdom to have made the life change when I did.

On my first trip, the prices of everything were quite economical and ideal for budget travel. A trip to Iguazú falls including the bus tickets, hostel, admission, food etc came to a total of $300 CDN. If I had a time machine, I would go back in time and tell my younger self to enjoy indulge in this moment because it wasn't going to last forever.

Reality hit on my 2nd trip when i had my own apartment. My parents would send me a certain amount of food and money from abroad and I would withdraw it from my bank. When you pay your rent, you have the option to pay in dollars or pesos. When I withdrew at the bank, i always got pesos so that is the currency I paid in. The apartment at the time i rented it was $685 USD but because I paid in pesos, sometimes i would owe more pesos than last month due to the fluctuating exchange rate between the US dollar and the Argentine peso. Not to mention that every few months it seems like the prices for food in the grocery would go up 2 or 3 pesos. There was no question that inflation was taking over rapidly and the prices of everything in stores Oct 2010 when I landed for my 2nd trip were worlds apart from the prices that I would see in stores July 2010.

Don't get me wrong, Argentina is still a very good and affordable place to live in comparison to other places in the world. In my english class, I tell my students that although Argentina is getting expensive, its not impossible. They can go to the pharmacy, stop by a kiosk or vendor and pick something to eat. They can buy things for their house like utilities. Its costs money but its not impossible to live. They still really enjoy simple pleasures in day to day life. I told them that in other places in the world, it's almost impossible to do anything other than leave your home and come back due to the cost of living. Buenos Aires is still an excellent option for living and working, you just have to be creative and resourceful. Things would be cheaper than in places like Europe but it isn't dirt cheap like it once was 10 yrs ago.

Its interesting because I have lived in two different places that are challenging in different ways. Victoria, B.C. and the west coast is challenging because EVERYTHING is expensive. Beer, hand cream and pharmacy products, coffee, haircuts are all high costs. But it is a place that is relatively calm and people have routine. As a result, people on the west coast have adapted to a way of life to help them cope with the high prices. For example, instead of going out to get a hair cut we'll get someone we know to cut our hair if we know someone that can do it well.

This is only an opinion but I think Buenos Aires is the exact opposite. It is not a calm and tranquil city to live in and there is change day to day. But the prices of items needed for daily living are relatively cheap. People can't afford big expenses but little things like a cup of coffee are no problem at all.....until now. Due to inflation, Argentines have had to quickly adapt to new ways of living. I don't think that things will ever be as expensive as the west coast and I think up to certain extent, Argentines will always be able to buy the little things needed for day to day living. But like the people on the west coast, it wouldn't hurt for the people here to learn to get creative with finances. I feel really blessed to have learned to adapt to both situations. While in Victoria, B.C. I learned to get creative and resourceful with the high cost of living. And in Buenos Aires, I am able to adapt to change very quickly and go with the flow.

Within the grand scheme of things, the small portion of my savings that I had so carefully hoarded up seemed so miniscule compared to the reality of the resources I need to make life in BA happen. But the truth is that my life in BA is comprised of many little decisions that don't make sense at the time both when I am in BA and outside of BA. All I knew is that very day I felt I was supposed to meet with my financial advisor and withdraw a certain specified amount that would be the seed of season 3.

Stuff like that doesn't always make sense but there are other decisions that I've made that do make sense. Like the decision to rent a room in someone's house instead of getting my own rental apartment. Last season I was blessed enough to find an apartment in Boedo for $685 USD per month but even the price of that apartment has gone up. At this point, you would be hard pressed to find a place in BA in a good location for under $700. Knowing this makes the idea of moving into someone's home for the new year more and more appealing. Details to come....

Bizarre Foods comes to Buenos Aires

2011-11-28T05:00:00.022-03:00

@tango2themoon

Fantastic Phonetics!!!

2011-11-21T05:00:00.010-03:00

One must wonder at times what some of the greatest challenges an ESL teacher like me would face. Is it having to come up with lesson plans?

Nope.

Finding teaching and resource material?

Nope.

The biggest challenge I face as an english teacher to date is the strong psychological barrier in the mindset of many latinos when it comes to learning english. All their lives these people have heard comments like "English is difficult to learn and the pronounciation is impossible!" In addition to that, in Buenos Aires there many bad english teachers and high priced courses that do very little to help a latino grasp the language of english. Thus reinforcing in people's minds the idea english is a horrifically hard language to learn and only few can truly achieve it.

But in my classes, I make sure that the opposite is true. I am of the firm belief that anyone can learn with the right teaching methods, resources and commitment on the part of the students. One thing that sets me apart from many english instructions in Buenos Aires is that I am a native english speaker who teaches english in the spanish language. Alot of english teachers teach in english and they don't really know realistically what students need to successfully learn another language.

What makes me different is that I am an english teacher who is a student of spanish myself. Obviously I learned another language with success and truthfully, alot of the time I'm just sharing with my students the things that helped me when I am trying to learn their language. And it seems as if the formula I used to achieve learning spanish is the same thing that is helping them learn english successfully. Like me, within a few short months they have managed to grasp basic english with little sweat and alot of fun.

There is a determination in me to break the latino mindset that english is impossibly hard. The fact is that english and spanish are very similar. The root of both our languages is latin. If you don't believe me on my comment about the similarities of our languages, I would suggest to you that you pull up all the months of the year in english and then pull up all the months of the year in spanish and compare them side by side. When I did the lesson with my students and showed them the months of the year in english, their eyes went wide and their jaws dropped.

One of my greatest secrets is in investing in good language material. I don't need to tell you that the language market has hundreds if not thousands of books out there. Some are top notch while others are junk. Today I'm going to share with some of my picks that form my collection of good language material that I take with me whenever I go to teach english in a spanish speaking country.

Some of the things that many english teachers miss out on is the use of mnemonics. From experience, I can tell you that one hour of class with the clever use of mnemonics is worth more that 6 wks of classes using faulty methods. And my favorite books to use when it comes to phonetics and mnemonics is Dr. Seuss of course. However, I would like to point out that it isn't as easy as it sounds. Due to the fact that alot of Dr. Seuss's books have made up words and tricky rhymes, I have to be careful in my choice of books. Some books that would be fun to us would be confusing to an early language learner.

One day, Ceci showed up in my class without the other lady. Ceci had a cold and her body was obviously feeling the brunt of the cold Buenos Aires winter. But she wanted to learn english still and i could see that and I made sure I didn't disappoint. For this class, I did something different. Instead of referring to another excellent book I use called "Ingles para Latinos", I instead began writing the text of "Green Eggs and Ham" on the chalkboard.

"Green Eggs and Ham" has a long repetitive text and I kept having to erase the text and write the next part but it was every bit worth it. The genius of the book is that it only has 50 different words that gets used again and again and again. It is a fantastic tool for teaching someone how to say "I like" or "I do not like" as well students learn the conditional tense (would, could). And it is a great way to teach negation (Not in train! Not in a tree!)

All I can say is that by the 45 mins which we went through the whole "Green Eggs and Ham" text, I had found a completely brainless way to burn new lessons into Ceci's brain. Because of this lesson, this is how she is able to remember conditional tense, negation, and how to say I like or I don't like. Even until this very day, the lesson has never left her.

Other books in my collection are "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish". But if there was any one book that I had to take to Buenos Aires with me other than "Aprenda Ingles", "Ingles Para Latinos", a few dictionaries including the Oxford spanish-english picture dictionary, it would probably be "Hop on Pop" by Dr. Seuss. To this date, there is no greater tool in the world that teaches phonetics with the use of clever mnemonics.

With these simple teaching resources loaded into your luggage the way a bullet is loaded into a gun, you´ll be armed and ready to teach an explosive lesson filled with fantastic phonetics!

@tango2themoon

High Metabolism.....Low Blood Sugar

2011-11-14T05:00:00.059-03:00

Image via Wikipedia

As an expat living in a 3rd world nation, I have come to understand the value to keeping healthy. Eating right takes on even more importance when you live in a nation where the word "organic" barely exists and red meat is around every corner. I take special steps to ensure that my food choices are the best they could possibly be with limited budget and scarce resources available. Going to parillas and eating meat is a special treat for me and when I had my rented apartment, I always made sure there were things like water, eggs, tea, fruit, yogurt. I took care to exercise portion control and never "stuffed myself". It all looks and sounded good.....on paper. All of us know that 1 + 1 almost never equals 2 because there are always variables in the equation. And what I didn't take into consideration was that I have high metabolism and low blood sugar. In addition to that, living in Argentina where 5 things can happen in an hr is an added stress because I constantly have to think fast and be ready to act any given moment. These are things that I did not factor into the equation and it is funny how such a little oversight would result in big consequences.

In previous blogs I mentioned about feeling fatigue. Unfortunately this fatigue kept plaguing me even after I arrived back in Canada. It was then I realized that there was something that I had bitten off more than I can chew in this lifestyle that I had been trying to embrace down in Argentina. My diet was lacking something but I wasn't sure what it was.

It is no secret that I am a high energy person. Not in an athletic sense but in the sense that if I wake up at 8am in the morning, by 8:05 there is laundry on the go and eggs cooking in the pan :) Having low blood sugar is hard because sometimes when I wake up, I have to wait abit before i know my body is strong enough to actually get up. And being full of spirit, while I am lying there I already want to be doing stuff but I know I can't get up too fast or I'll end up nauseated.

Not factoring in a high metabolism rate was a learning experience for me. Yes, I am big on portion control. But when you have a high metabolism rate and you are only feeding your body bits and bites, thats not enough. And what I think happened is that my body realized that I wasn't giving it enough and began taking things into its own hands and began living on the fat storage of my body's reserves. Combine that with low blood sugar and looking back now, that was probably the reason for the fatigue.

It was while resting in Canada that I knew I needed to come up with a plan to accomplish all that I'm suppose to accomplish but still stay on top of things healthwise. Up until then I hadn't really been eating anything rich or creamy like curries or Indian food but going forward, I think that if I want to survive another season of extended time abroad, that will be what I have to do.

While in Canada I tried out a cool $12 Indian lunch buffet at a new place called Sizzling Tandoor. The food was authentic North Indian food and I was able to eat until I was stuffed but not bloated or sick. This is the first time in a long time that I have ever eaten until I was stuffed. I usually stop when my stomach is half way full or sometimes even a quarter of the way full.

As far as I know, there are very few Indian places in Buenos Aires that are truly good and none of them are buffets. However, through "Pick Up the Fork" I found a great Chinese food buffet called Los Sabios. It is a vegetarian/macrobiotic Chinese food buffet. The buffet is in Almagro so it is right around the corner. It is a healthy option at a low price and like Sizzling Tandoor, I would be able to stuff myself on food that is healthy. Amd thinking that perhaps once a wk or once every 10 days if I gorge myself on a calorie rich feast, it might be the answer that my body is seeking to ensure longevity down in Buenos Aires....

http://veggiern.tumblr.com/

@tango2themoon

Long Distance Love

2011-11-07T00:00:00.000-03:00

Image via Wikipedia

One of my biggest challenges in attempting to maintain meaningful relationships with Argentines is dealing with latinos who have feelings but aren't overly expressive. Argentines break every stereotype that could possibly pop into your mind about latinos and overly emotional behavior. In fact there are situations when the level of emotion shown was much less than what I've experienced in the Canadian culture.

For example, whenever I leave or come back to Argentina, when my friends see me for the first time there isn't any hugging or crying. Its more like eyebrows get raised and their faces beam with almost a glow when they see me for the first time after not having seen me for months. Or if I am parting, then they'll just give me a brief beso and nod with some polite parting words to wish me a good trip.

Long distance love gets tough when you know in your heart that these people do have very deep emotions but you aren't quite sure how its going to manifest. And when it does, what response would be appropriate to offer solace? My biggest mistake would have been to assume that just because they seem unaffected outwardly by my departure that they will be unaffected. The opposite is true, they may actually be profoundly affected if the right steps aren't taken.

On my 2nd departure from Argentina, I knew I would be dealing with the emotions of both an Argentine mom and a sister....Marisa and sister. These two are not biologically related and at the time of this writing do not know each other. God simply gave them to me to be part of this new family he is creating for me in Argentina.

For Marisa, it would be her 2nd time round having me abroad. We've been through this before but where things got a little complicated is that while in Uruguay, she got into a situation where she has no access to internet nor a cell phone. This is why you haven't heard me talk about her for awhile, we have been out of contact. But being out of contact doesn't mean out of mind. Every so often I get a FB message from Marisa's mother asking how I am and telling me that it would be GREAT if I would give her a response in spanish. I am suspecting that Marisa is using her mom to connect to me to check to see how I am doing to give her some peace of mind until we can be together again.

On this trip, it was Ceci that I was very concerned about. You see, Argentines may be reserved but they are accustomed to sense of community. She saw me every week for two hrs while in my classes. We text each other . She hears my voice and feels my presence. And suddenly we go from this regular routine to one where she cannot see me, hug me, kiss me, hear my voice, text me etc. The only communication we have is through social media.

You must remember that you are dealing with people who are use to the closeness of community and who are unlikely to ever have had a foreign relationship with someone who lives abroad. There is nothing within their life experience that they can draw from to help them cope with this situation. Although the two of them are quite different in their personalities, experience has taught me that for people coming from that culture, its really important to let them know that you haven't forgotten about them. It may sound really cheesy to be sitting down writing a FB message to someone to let them know that you think about them and you haven't forgotten about them while abroad but it does work wonders.

At the end of the day, each person is different and will react in different ways. And even they don't know how they are going to react to this strange new situation until it actually happens. Sitting in that classroom with Ceci as we talked about our relationship, I let her know that it would be challenging but i knew that there was no way she would know what it was going to feel like until it actually happens.

Maybe the one good thing about the 10 hr flight from Buenos Aires back to North America is that it gave me plenty of time to rack my brain on ways to deal with long distance love....

@tango2themoon

Angry Birds

2011-10-31T05:00:00.109-03:00

Image by haikugirlOz via Flickr

I will be walking into season 3 of my adventures in BA armed and loaded with a pile of new weapons. By "weapons", I not only mean just new ESL material but there is one piece of equipment that I consider my "Deathstar". My weapon of mass destruction.........a 8GB 2nd generation ipod touch. Our North American mindset teaches us that unless its the greatest and the latest, then it's useless but nothing could be further than the truth.

For the past 2 seasons, I have had the privilege of living and learning among people to whom having little resources hasn't stopped them from being resourceful. I don't need to have a 64 GB 4 gen ipod touch in my hand. But rather, it's all about whos hands the ipod touch has found itself in. With my skill and knowledge, I can make my new friend that i found off "Used Victoria" do wonders.....thats if I ever stop playing "Angry Birds".

Every social media nerd needs some kind addiction that they spend all their time doing that replaces having any kind of a social life. For millions out there "Angry Birds" provides the perfect escape. It is an addictive game where you launch animated birds at pigs (or monkeys if you are playing "Angry Birds Rio") that have been stacked up on wood, ice, or stone blocks. It sounds easy but it is anything but! If anything, it certainly exercises the left side of my brain....

Because I'm one who easily gets caught up in temptations just like any other bloke out there, there are some ground rules that I have to set for my ipod touch. Bringing it to classes is OK because I bought it as a tool to be used to help ESL. Bringing it to church is a big no no and I will explain the reasons. You may think that I have some amazing spiritual life. But I am no different from anyone else, I'm not more special or talented. What gives me the edge and is part of the secret to my success is that I have some foundations that I set for myself to stay disciplined and keep to the path.

Knowing myself, I know that with the sermons being in spanish, the most natural thing in the world for me when my attention is starting to drift is to find my hand reaching into my bag for this ipod touch and finding the "Angry Birds" app. And what will happen is that while pastor Gulliermo is talking about bringing down the fortresses of poverty and darkness in our society, I'll be sitting there concentrated on attempting to bring down the fortress of pigs. I'll end up so distracted that I'll barely hear the words "Silly gringa" that all the people around me will be muttering themselves as they shake their heads at the blatant disrespect towards the message being given.

So unless I know that with 100% certainty that the ipod touch would be able to stay in my bag during church services, my little friend will be staying at home. But not to stay that I haven't found some interesting analogies while playing the game. One thing that is interesting is that there are different colored birds and they all have a different special ability. Every level I get a different set of birds to used to bring down the fortress. Some birds break ice, others break wood etc.

Its funny sometimes because when I start a new level and I look at the birds that had been allotted to me, the quantity and the type....it sometimes doesn't make sense. I look at the level and think that there is no way that i can accomplish what I need to accomplish with what I've been allotted. But it has worked out every time that they makers of the game knew what they were doing and I was given what I was given because that would be exactly what I need for that level. Nothing more, nothing less.

And I'm coming to realize that art imitates life and my circumstances in BA are no different. Whether I know it or not and whether the tools i have make sense or not, I've been given all that I need in perfect measure. Sometimes in the game it takes me multiple tries to properly figure out how all the birds I've been given are supposed be used to bring down the fortress but once I get it, the whole thing is a breeze.

There are days when I look at my tools that I have to use in BA and it all seems so plain. A samsung NF310 that I bought on my last trip, "Red Fish Blue Fish" and "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr Seuss (as well as a pile of dictionaries and grammar books), a discontinued olympus tough digital camera, my trusty flip cam, a used ipod etc. If I presented this list of items to anyone, it would sound more like stuff you would find in a garage sale.

But I've read too many fantasy books and and watched too many Disney movies to know that nothing is every truly plain or ordinary if you want it to be. In movies I've seen pens turn into magic wands. And perhaps this ipod touch with a mild crack in the corner could one day be a sword of sorts.......

@tango2themoon

The World is a Classroom

2011-10-24T05:00:00.004-03:00

SF to Paris in Two Minutes from Beep Show on Vimeo.

Roars of laughter echoed from our table throughout the dining hall of Mcdonalds as the three of us sat there together in what would be our very last lesson. As I look upon the faces of both Ceci and Julieta.....it was unmistakable that something in them had changed forever through the course of this three month period. The course in english was only for 3 months but the lessons they learned would stay with them forever. It may have been the last lesson with me but truth be told, for them it was only the beginning.

I had arrived at the school around 10am as usual to find that the doors were still locked. Normally this would be a problem because I needed to get in, grab a classroom and prepare for today's lesson. Later I would find out that there had been a mistake where the secretary had thought our class started at 11. But her "mistake" would be one that actually ended up benefiting us greatly as we ended up on comfy seats in the upstairs dining section of Mcdonalds next door. In addition to that, I had a huge bonus for the ladies.....movies, books, and other resources that I would be donating to them to help them continue learning english while I was in Canada.

When they turned up, I quickly greeted them with the traditional "beso", explained the situation, and beckoned them to come to McDonalds where we could do the lesson. The ladies didn't see any problem with this set up and we quickly made our way to the dining hall upstairs to begin what would be the last lesson. For weeks now I had been imagining what that last lesson would look like. But nothing on earth could have prepared me for what an amazing finish it would be. And I truly believe with all my heart that God planned for our last class to be the very best.

Not only where we in a comfortable intimate atmosphere but it would be during the course of this lesson that for the first time ever I could see how my labor has bore fruit in the lives of these two women. During our session, they would beam excitedly and tell me how this course has changed everything for them in all aspects of their lives. Even the way that they watch movies isn't the same. Before they would just watch the subtitles in spanish when they view english speaking films. Now when they watch a film, they not only catch phrases but they are beginning to understand the culture BEHIND the movie.

Julieta and Ceci went beyond learning english, somewhere along the line wisdom and understanding took root in their hearts. And in 3 short months the course took them from knowing nothing about english or about North American culture to a whole different place where they are just getting their feet wet in grasping the American pop culture. Their eyes went huge with delight as I showed them all the spoils in the bag for them to help them on this journey : Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss, Season 1 of Glee, a collection of R & B CD's, Finding Nemo, Ugly Betty Season 2 etc. This collection of items may not sound like much in comparison to what other people have but for them its going to work wonders in exposing them to pop culture. A little goes a long way with these ladies :)

But the benefits of the course didn't just stop there, their language skills came to life. On the first day of class, I had told these ladies that if they took my advice to heart, they would grasp the english language. And it looks like my words became a self fulfilling prophecy of some sort. For the last 3 months, I concentrated so much on teaching them that I wasn't able to really observe the course's effects on their life.

It was only on that last day while we were eating, drinking, laughing and learning that I could finally see the full manifestation of their abilities. Julieta, I believe is a visual learning who learns through reading and writing. Ceci learns through sounds and repetition and prefers an audio method. Julieta has a passion and a gift for teaching other Argentines the difference between North American culture and Argentine culture. Ceci on the other hand has a real knack for patterns and pronounciation in english. Her passion lies somewhere within exploring and learning about pop culture through entertainment.

One of my last pieces of advice to the girls was that it is normal to take a break from formal lessons and explore english in other ways. I did the same with spanish, I would do formal study and then just have a season where I would watch movies and read books in spanish. I encourage them to learn english informally the next few months while I was in Canada and to figure out their gifts and their passions. Once they do, I will be able to show them how to reach each one of their respective goals. It was becoming more and more obvious that they have different ways of learning and different goals as learners so taking a break to explore while I jetset off to North America was quite timely.

There is a sound that accompanies every single lesson that I do with others, it is the sound of laughter. Scientist say that people who laugh live longer. If that is the case, then each one of my students really might live into the next century because in our sessions, we sometimes don't got 10-15 mins without bursting into peals of laughter. And laughter was definitely present as I whipped out my book and taught them how to say things like "I am near sighted" in spanish as well as phrases like "I have a hang-over". Of course I did mix in a good dose of much more useful vocabulary having to do with themes like religion, society, beliefs, social matters. It was such a pleasure to see two people reach a point where they knew enough english to be able to make use of these less basic vocabulary words.

It is such a privilege to have nurture them into all that they are now and to be able to be a resource for them in the future. All the books and teaching material that i had cost me the last of my savings that I had saved up from my previous job. But to be sitting in mcdonalds munching on medialunas and seeing their beaming faces from across the table, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

In essence, Ceci and Julieta served as the bait drawing me back to BA for season 3. They expressed to me their desire to keep learning and that they had full intentions of learning english even while I was in Canada. As an ESL teacher, those words are music to my ears. Their desire to learn fuels my desire to teach like logs being tossed into an asado. But perhaps the greatest lesson I could ever teach these two is that the world is one big classroom.....

A Nite of Fun @ Casa Mun

2011-10-17T05:00:00.002-03:00

So if picture is worth a thousand words then how much is a video worth? Well when it comes to anything having to do with Casa Mun, then I would have to say that the answer is "priceless".

http://www.casamun.com/

Magnificent Moments

2011-10-10T05:00:00.001-03:00

So how it works in our church is that the year is divided up into trimesters. Every season, we set our goals for things to be accomplished and visions and projects to be completed during that season. At the end of every trimester, our church celebrates by having a massive service where thousands of people from all the different branches attend. Due to the amount of people that show up, the church literally has to rent a stadium to house the crowds and even then, there is always overflow. Last year in Oct. was my very first time going to this service. And I went to another one again last July. Some of you may remember that I told the story of going there on a previous blog "Uncut....Uncensored....Unrated".

Here is the thing, I actually had more raw footage that just didn't seem appropriate to simply share publicly. For quite awhile, I was wondering what I wanted to do with this magnificent footage. Then one day close to the end of my 2nd trip, I wanted to see what it would be like if I threw all these clips together to create a mini movie. Those clips I previously showed are beautiful but two clips aren't going to do justice in conveying what it feels like to be there. But my hope is that this new video with all the never-before-seen footage will be your front row seat to some of the church's most magnificent moments.....

Bar-hopping

2011-10-03T05:00:00.076-03:00

Being someone who used to do tours of Chinatown, Victoria....I have a deep appreciation for the preservation of history. And certainly have a deep respect for a city that recognizes historic value! When visiting Buenos Aires, in my rush to explore the sites I would often miss the small orange sticker in front of select bars and cafés indicating that it is a "bares notable". A "bares notable" is a café that the goverment has deemed to be of historic value and therefore the interior of it cannot be altered or renovated. Currently in Buenos Aires there are about 60 select bars and cafés that have this special recognition.

Unbeknownst to me, I had actually eaten at many of these places without knowing it. My first meal that I ever ate within hours of landing on Argentine soil was at Confiteria Ideal. And of course, by default everyone has to pop by Café Tortoni at least once during their stay in Buenos Aires. But after trying out these two places that are the obvious, the explorer in you may have urgings to explore the less obvious spots.

On a street just off of Defensa called Alsina, there is a spot called La Puerto Rico. The big secret to this café is that there is actually fresh ground coffee available, something that is very difficult to find in the city and to date, this is the only café that I know has it. In Buenos Aires, medialunas (croissants) can go all the way from mediocre to magnificent. And I would have to say that the medialunas at the café are definitely tipping towards the magnificent side.

Taking a break from the busy microcentro, a stroll through San Telmo's streets may bring you to El Federal. On my first trip, this café was a frequent favorite for me because it was in walking distance to where I had to teach. The charm of El Federal almost wants to make you order something traditionally Argentine like café con leche or a picada (a plate with an assortments of meats and cheeses). And they certainly don't fail at delivering traditional Argentine fare for locals or tourists alike.

On my 2nd trip, a new café got added to the list....Café Margot in Boedo. As a writer, I am drawn to cafés with historic value but yet have a trendy upbeat atmosphere a unique twist on Argentine fare. Café Margot is just that for me. On the outside, it looks like any other of the historic cafés but the twist is in the food. At café Margot, my cravings for things like turkey come to an end.....something that is almost unheard of here in this country.

All the places I've mentioned are just a tip of the iceberg. There is a whole list of places that have been given that special recognition by the government. One day I'm sure I'll get them all. It would definitely be "bar- hopping" of a different kind. Places like La Poesia keep calling my name over and over again....

Smoke and Mirrors

2011-09-26T05:00:00.061-03:00

Awhile back when I was surfing the channels for something in english to watch, I stumbled across this one episode of Gordon Ramsey in Master Chef. What really got my attention was the story of this one girl who created a dish for the judges. The judges could hear the passion in her voice but couldn't taste it in her dish. What had happened is that she at the amateur level that she was at had focused on the wrong thing. She was trying to do the fancy restaurant presentations of food and in the midst of it all had sacrificed flavor. She had thought that this is what the judges were looking for.

The judges knew they were all dealing with amateurs so they were never looking for restaurant presentation. They were looking for taste, passion, and flavor. In a bold move, instead of turning her down...Gordon Ramsey sends home and gives her 2 hrs to go back to her house and come back with ingredients to make another dish that really represents who she is.

As you know, in Canada and the U.S. we LOVE stories of 2nd chances. I am one who got another chance at life myself and I am making the best of it. Just like that girl, whenever you step out and do something different, you are bound to make mistakes and have misguided moments. There has been twice now that I was riding the bus in Buenos Aires to or from a location in the city that I had never been to before. And I actually mistakenly hopped off the bus when I was suppose to stay on. No problem! I just catch the next bus with the same number and pay another 1.10 pesos to finish my journey :)

In my last blogpost, I talked about the importance of not being a lone ranger and being willing to ask questions. You can travel solo but attempting to be a lone ranger is very unhealthy. Some of you may be looking at this beautiful blogsite and artful blogging as well as my ability to surf through life in a foreign country. But it is important to note that i didn't start off doing everything skillfully in each one of these areas. I slowly built up to skills over time and the truth is that any traveller who's made it or expats that reside abroad would tell you the same.

Gordon's Ramsey's whole point in his words to that girl was that it is the heart and soul of the dish that matters. All the fancy presentation in the world wasn't going to matter if they couldn't taste authenticity. People must be able to taste authenticity in all that you do. Yes, this blogsite has many fancy things on it now but the heart and soul of it is my writings. Same with my travels and my relationships with people here abroad. I can have fun, go to dinners and do things that look great and inspiring. But I must always remain committed to the heart and soul of why I am here and why I do what I do. As long as I live with passion, flavor, commitment and focus on people instead of looks and reputation....things will eventually work out that I end up looking good to others on the outside simply because I really am that good.

And thus my life gets presented to the world like a piece of culinary art that tastes as good as it looks. No smoke and mirrors....