This week a bunch of us went to hear our friend Cliff Williamson singing at a lovely old local bar called La Dama de Bollini. It was a lot of fun. Cliff sings mainly American folk and country music, although towards the end we were all singing Beatles!
This video is a little longer than my usual, but it has three songs: Folsom Prison Blues, Shenandoah and I Saw Her Standing There.
Enjoy!
I had hoped to send you photos or at least a report on the Carnaval, as Venetia and I went there last night. Carnaval in Buenos Aires is quite small in comparison to the huge events in other parts of the country, so it’s more small local events in various parts of the city. We chose San Telmo, but unfortunately it was a bit of a bust.
It was to start at 7.30 pm, but of course we knew it wouldn’t because nothing starts on time here. There was some acrobatic entertainment as the crowd started to gather, but after an hour with no sign of anything starting we decided to give up.
So we went to La Poesia, one of the great old cafes in San Telmo, for wine and picadas. I think the picadas were meant for more than two people! But we managed to eat almost everything, while washing it down with good old Malbec!
Picadas are a great way to eat here. They vary quite a bit from place to place, but basically they are tapas trays, with cold meats, cheeses, olives and more yummy things. I often have them if we’ve arrived at a cafe and it’s kind of late for a full meal.
Today I went for lunch with Venetia and Montserrat, a new friend originally from Barcelona but now living in England and visiting Buenos Aires for some academic research. We went to the food market in San Telmo, which has an eclectic mix of fabulous fruit, meat and fish stalls, marvellous coffee, junk and great food. Here are some images that include all of it.
Walking along the street afterwards, we spied this beautiful old hand painted door.
Lunch was a delicious veggie raclette with a nice glass of red wine.
I don’t quite know how yesterday got to be so busy, but it did and I enjoyed every minute.
First, I have joined a writers’ group. I’ve never done this before as I’ve never come across a group that appealed to me. But Cliff, one of my expat friends, invited me to come along and I did a couple of weeks ago. There are some talented writers there, and all very supportive of one another. It will certainly hold me to my commitment to writing my novel every day, and the opportunity to have people critique it is also helpful. I’m sure this will do good things for my writing. We meet every Wednesday.
I rushed home from that and jumped online to meet with Susan and Lois, my Butt Kickers. I kind of hogged the time, I’m afraid, but they did want to hear all about my new apartment. I told them I had looked at a red couch, but was thinking it would be more sensible to get a neutral colour and brighten it up with cushions. They pointed out that doing the sensible thing wasn’t a noticeable characteristic of mine — true — and they both voted for the red couch. I’m going to do it!
Then I was off to the movies with Venetia to see The Return of Mary Poppins. It was a fun, happy movie. There aren’t too many of those around these days, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Dick Van Dyke even made a brief appearance — even in his nineties the man can still dance!
Finally, speaking of dancing, I dashed home and had a quick bite to eat and then went out dancing tango. Lina and I went to El Obelisco, a milonga I had gone to a couple of times last year but on Fridays. I did enjoy it last night, but I think it was better on Fridays so I’m going to try that next time. The milongas are run by different organizers every night, and sometimes that means they take on a certain personality with the organizers. So the same venue can be quite different on different nights. Any way you cut it, though, I love dancing tango in Buenos Aires!
I enjoyed my busy day, but I really must try to keep better track of things and not book so much in one day. Maybe.
My big news for this week is that I have found an apartment! It is five minutes from where I am now, which puts it smack dab in the middle of the area I love and wanted to be in. I take possession on March 1, and I can’t wait to move in. I think that’s when I will fully realized I live here!
This afternoon it was way too hot to do anything strenuous, so I sat at an outdoor cafe across the street from the new place and did this sketch. This is the front of the building so you can’t see my apartment because I am in the back. That is great because instead of overlooking a busy street, my balcony overlooks city rooftops and a courtyard garden. I’m going to make good use of that balcony.
It really is the quintessential Buenos Aires apartment building, which is what I wanted. And guess what the little store on the street level sells — art supplies! How great is that?
Last night I went with five friends to see a wonderful outdoor performance of flamenco at the Museum of Spanish Art. Here’s some video to give you a flavour of what we saw. It was wonderful!
I thought my two bureaucratic issues were separate, but today they joined forces against me!
First, the good news — I think. I went to FedEx and sent off my newly minted fingerprints to the fingerprint people in Toronto. They should get them on Monday, and will be able to send them to the RCMP and start the next phase of the residency application. When I finished at FedEx this morning I was feeling pretty good.
However …
Cecilia and I trotted down to the Aduana, paperwork in hand as instructed, to see if we were now cleared to go to the boxes. Sadly, no. First, the guy who attended us last week was off sick, so the other three (count ’em, three!) people who had a lengthy discussion about the “problem” were new to us, and we were new to them.
They pointed out that I was a temporary resident, which of course I knew. My “precaria” expires on February 24, so technically at that point I would have to leave the country unless I have permanent status by that time. That might actually have been feasible if we hadn’t had to redo the fingerprints and all that entails, so now there’s no way I will have permanent status by February 24. However, Silvina is going to renew the precaria for a further three months, which is apparently quite normal. So now I’ve been told I have to go back when I have the new precaria and they can proceed. I can’t fathom the logic, because I will still be a temporary resident. Am I missing something?
Last week I thought I was getting closer to my boxes, but today, not so much.
Of course, today was the hottest, stickiest day of the summer and by the time we had stood waiting for all this figuring out, I was reduced to a greasy spot. Cecilia and I decided we needed a reward, so we went to the Sheraton and had a pisco sour! (After my trip to Chile with Venetia, pisco sour at the Sheraton is becoming something of a go-to remedy for life’s little ups and downs!)
Stay tuned!
This morning I took the first step in fixing the problem with my RCMP criminal record check: I was fingerprinted.
Carefully following the instructions on the Canadian government website, I first found a fingerprint service in Canada, which was easy because I just used the same one I used before. From their site I was able to download the necessary forms, which I duly filled in, ready to present myself at a very official looking office on Tucuman. As it turned out, unlike the fingerprint service in Canada, this is actually a government department, which is good because it didn’t cost anything. The Canadian service costs $120!
Anyway, I arrived at 8.30 am and joined the “Fila #1” (the first line), only to eventually find I was not only in the wrong line but the wrong office. I had to go out the door, turn left and go in next door. I did that, and went through the dingy glass fronted door that seems typical of government offices everywhere, into an equally dingy office containing four desks piled high with papers. And two women engaged in earnest conversation.
One of them reluctantly stepped forward to serve me. She didn’t say a word, just looked at me. In my best Spanish, I told her I wanted to have my fingerprints taken on this form. She looked at it for a moment, said “Black pen. Here is blue,” and handed it back to me. I had completed the form in the wrong colour ink! What was I thinking??
I asked if I could write over it in black, but she sent me outside to wait for “Fernando”. He arrived a short time later, and at least he was jovial and friendly. Miss Congeniality explained my mistake, and he said, “No problem. I will print out another form for you to do it again.” However, when he presented me with the form a moment later, I pointed out it was the FBI form and I needed the one from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police — yes, I gave them their full title just to be sure.
“Ah, Canada!” he said. What a concept!
Anyway, he printed out the form and while I was filling it out, he conferred with Miss Congeniality. “It doesn’t say anywhere here the form has to be in black ink,” he said. “But it does,” she stated flatly. I think she just made up the rule because I had interrupted her conversation.
I was then walked down to another, even dingier little room and “dabbed”. Fernando gave me some foul smelling liquid to rub off the ink, and I was done.
Apparently they don’t send the papers to Canada; I have to do that. But that’s good, because at least I can send them by FedEx, which I’m sure would have been an unsurmountable obstacle, at least if Miss Congeniality had anything to do with it.
When I finished the dabs, my day took a turn for the better, as I went to take part in a writers’ group I had been told about by two BAIN friends, Cliff and Paddy. It was great. We met at a restaurant over coffee and medialunas, which was a good start.
We each talked about our writing week and then did a writing exercise, which was good practice. Then we each read something we were working on and got some helpful critiques.
I’ve never belonged to a writers’ group before, and I think this is going to be good for my writing as well as lots of fun.
On Friday the saga continues as Cecilia and I go back to the Customs Office to see if I can finally get access to my boxes.
While I was back in Canada for six months last year, I sketched only once, while I was visiting my friend Lynda in Quebec. I’ve been hoping I would be inspired to start again now that I’m back in Argentina.
Well, last week in Chile I did do a couple of sketches on the spot, although some of the things I would like to have sketched were during walking tours when I didn’t have time. I don’t like sketching from photographs, as I lose much of the sensory experience, but in this case I didn’t have much choice. I haven’t made those sketches yet, but I will soon.
In the meantime, I took my sketchbook on Sunday afternoon and ended up doing this little doodle in La Biela, my favourite people watching cafe.
I had a couple of client deadlines to meet in the past few days, but now that they are done I will be able to spend some time putting together the Chile videos — coming soon.
Well you just never know what’s going to happen, do you?
As part of dealing with my residency glitch, Silvina (who is handling it for me) suggested we meet to clarify what needs to be done to correct the problem with my documents. She said she was staying with a friend who lives about a ten minute walk from me, and invited me to join them for a drink as well as dealing with the documents.
It didn’t take us long to conclude the business part, and then I was introduced to Inge, Silvina’s friend. She is delightful! Over champagne and empanadas (which were delicious), we learned a bit about each other, and we are going to go to some concerts together. Argentine hospitality is lovely, and tonight was a great example. Here are photos of the four of us: Silvina, Inge, her granddaughter Carolina and me.
