Entrando la cultura Porteno!

Buenas de Argentina! After some sprinting in the airport after last minute flight changes, I slept my overnight flight and arrived in Buenos Aires at 7AM on the 11th. My first few days here were busy ones, cramming as much in as we could while Nick had some more time off than usual..

The apartment is beautiful, with plenty of space and a balcony overlooking the famous Recoleta Cemetary and the busy square with statues and park space, filled with benches and portenos lounging in the grass drinking wine or mate (tea). We started out our Thursday by being portenos. We went to a famous cafe La Biela which is right next to the apartment building in this fancy part of town and had cafe con leche y medialunas or croissants, the typical argentine "breakfast" (they don't do breakfast). But don't let croissant fool you, these medialunes are flaky sweet and delicious, different from any I've had before, and they're a local staple food. Next on the list enjoying Buenos Aires Porteno style was bringing our bottle of Malbec and blanket to spend time on the lawn soaking up the city and relaxing for the afternoon. Later we went out for dinner and drinks with some of Nicks good friends and fellow teachers.

The next morning we went for a run through local parks and to see Palermo's park and garden, a local neighborhood close to Recoleta. Fridays Nick meets with his advisory group of 4 students for dinner. I was thrilled to meet some of the students Nick speaks out frequently, and there were no exaggerations, they are wonderful! Incredible kids that are intelligent and interesting, as well as very easy to get along with. We went out to a local Milanesa restuarant, which was amazingly delicious! I love Milanesa. I plan to make it at home frequently! Here is a link to a recipe I found online, this is the Napolitano Milanesa recipe, it is the original type, a typical argentinian dinner.

http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/milanesa/

Milanesa is steak, chicken, or fish in thin layers, cooked or fried covered in breadcrumbs which makes the base of the meal. Then you decide which toppings, Napolitan is the original, and is ham tomato or marinara sauce and mozzrerlla cheese. It's the new pizza my friends. The house special was ham, fried eggs, and cheese to top. Incredible. Needless to say I already hit up the local supermercado to buy some milanesa seasoning packets.

After dinner we got ice cream and spent some time walking in Recoleta and walked the students back to their dorm. Nick's group has a student from Charlottesville VA, Ecuador, China, and Thailand.

Saturday we spent the day getting slightly lost navigating the city, which in all seriousness is not South American! There are Portenos, then there are Argentinians. Portenos or people of the port are specific to Buenos Aires and have a different culture altogether. I recall memories of cities in Spain and Italy while here, similar to New York just with parks galore. The city streets are busseling, food stands and dog walkers galore, or Portenos with their miniatures in arm as they attend to their errands. It's entertaining, no doubt! As well as the calls of "estas divina!" y "Hola Muneca!!"

Finding a local cafe for cafe con leche is easy, as long as you can navigate around the dog poop and pee on the sidewalks which is apparently normal in this city, no doggie bags needed here. With every coffee, you also receive a miniature glass of fresh squeezed orange juice, water, and minitature cookies for dipping purposes.

This day we visited the local Buenos Aires Zoo and Botanical Gardens, both fantastic! The zoo was very fun, as some of the animals can literally just roam the park. Hippos, giraffes, zebras, camels, and huge wooly creatures and can't even say what they are.

After exploring these areas of town we caught a cab to meet up with the students for their indoor soccer practice, and afterwards we caught a cab to La Boca. La Boca is an area of town very popular for tourism, it's where the port is and the Casa Rosada or the president's home is located. El Caminito is famous, it's a few streets of shops and restaurants and activity with wildly painted houses.La Boca has brightly painted walls throughout the streets from teal to pink, streets filled with vendors and sit down restaurants and bars with tango demonstrations. We got a bottle of red to share and enjoyed a meal and some excellent dancing and musical performances. Definitely a tourist location but you still can't miss out! It's a good time. However most of the tourists are not American, mostly European or south American.

Definitely taking advantage of our time free together in Argentina, & more posts to come!

Namaste

Starting my New Years resolutions for 2013 I decided to get started on finding an ashram to visit, I have been wanting to do a yoga retreat. Who would have known there's one in Virginia?? Yogaville is an ashram created by Guru Savinanda 25-30 years ago in the Blue Ridge Mountains right by the James River, incredibly beautiful and I can just imagine it in the the brighter seasons instead of January!

I decided to do a weekend stay. There are some residents who live nearby and run the ashram, others come in and go staying for days, weeks, or months. I started out my stay with a hatha yoga class, which is different from my practice of vinyasa, but will certainty be exploring it now! Hatha is more holistically focused, with vinyasa I focus on the postures and breathing throughout the quick pace and the preiod of deep relaxation at the end. Hatha has periods of work with periods of more meditation type rests between followed by pranyama or breathing practices. I also took a joint free class that was quite gentle, going throughout the body working and stretching each joint. Needless to say, my body feels incredible! 2 yoga sessions a day, meditation in the mornings, and good lectures. 3 vegan meals a day which were all incredible, they have great cooks!

The experience was really wonderful.. Being able to meet new people with similar interests and insights to share with me was motivating, in addition to the lectures on karma yoga and yogin living. Having that amount of time to spend with this positive energy and to focus on my values and how to bring them to the forefront of everything I do was just what I needed. I work on my practice at home and I read great works that help to solidify my perspectives but having others to share these views and interchange with is wonderful. With my best friend gone that I usually do this with I need my outlet! Most of those I met are from the northern virginia/DC area, from India, Mexico, Trinidad, and South Korea, really incredible! I did not feel like I was just 2 hours away, that's for sure.

The return home..

After missing our flight and having a layover overnight in LA, we finally got back home both with work the following morning. A rough few days back for sure, missing important engagements and I got sick yet again so had to leave work, another call out. I'm amazed that I was sick before the trip, now after the trip, but never during which I was worried about and super prepared for with a mini pharmacy with us the whole time. Being home today though i got a chance to check out my gardens, and they look incredibly massive, more like a wild forest for sure. The tomatoes are blooming, a squash is ready, and the plants are just massive, overpowering my garden box which I thought was more than adequate!

Now I also started my recipe investigation to find the delicious foods I tried like bananas in coconut milk, and maybe a sticky rice recipe. I'll start on that post next, and hopefully find some good example photos to include..

Mai Pen Rai

And so we begin our final day in Thailand. In the morning we walked with a few friends to the malls in the city center to try to do some souvenir shopping, more importantly I was on a search for some more papaya sticky rice before my return! We shopped and Found some delicious sticky rice and I tried some tuna and crab sushi at the mall which was delicious and different. They put the rice on the bottom, toppings on top of the rice, then wrap it in the seaweed wrap, much smarter than the normal roll! We then ate dinner at a restaurant by the hotel, ordering some delicious red curry, and a spicy seafood salad which I ordered - pet nit noi - or just a little spicy. But let me tell youuuu it was HOT! Incredibly yummy, but I was sweating hardcore, and tearing while eating it and demolishing water. Arroy mak - very tasty! Then we boarded the bus at 8pm to drive to Bangkok for our 1am flight. We awoke in Beijing at 630am and were fortunate to get a 24hour permit or visa to China so we could leave the airport and enter the country during our 6 hour layover.

A large group of us, about 12 decided to brave this quick drop in to the city center. We exchanged our money for yuan (which was a fiasco as Nick had accidently received japanese yen from our baht in thailand instead of yuan) then we boarded the airport metro that was built for the Beijing olympics and connected or to the city subway to arrive at Tiannenmen east stop, where Tiannenmen Square and the Forbidden City is located.

Let me just say, entering the most populated city was crazy. Lucky for us it was so early in the morning, because it just got crazier as the day progressed. The masses of people, and the difference in culture was immediately distinguishable. They are forceful people, used to pushing their way through. Things we view as courtesy are not the same, you have to be very aggressive, puts New Yorkers to shame! Luckily English translations are everywhere. The subway announcements were in Chinese and English which was fortune for us. So we exited the subway and entered the forbidden city. Which just in recent years became open to the public, not even Chinese citizens were allowed inside. It is the largest preserved palace in the world. And it is massive. We thought the entrance was the site, we bought tickets and entered the outer walls to see the true vast extent of the palace grounds. It was drizzling and murky out, which only added to air of awe and mystery if this place. The color red of communism was everywhere and a massive picture of Mao Zedong towered over the entrance. Incredible to think we were actually in Beijing at the moment, and knowing we couldn't miss our flight or else we'd have some serious issues (there's only one flight out of Beijing a day to US, and missing our flight would mean overstaying our 24 hour visa which would put us in a rather bad situation with the Chinese government). Entering the palace grounds I just felt an incredible sense of disbelief, these are pictures I have grown up seeing in textbooks, while learning about the Ming dynasty and all the rulers and dynasties that resided in these walls. After exploring for an hour and a half and seeing the ornate kings throne we headed back to be safe rather than sorry to make our next flight. That journey back was rough. Feeling jet lagged and sleep deprived.. Definitely passed out on our next flight to LAX, incredibly happy and satisfied we used those hours to see something incredible instead of playing it safe and regretting not taking the opportunity.

Following our landing in LAX, we missed our connecting flight home to DC, due to fog that delayed our takeoff in Beijing. Alaska only has one flight a day, so had to wait until Monday for the next flight. Passed out for a good 12 hours and am now finally headed home to Virginia.. When we missed our flight, it almost soured our entire trip, feeling at our breaking point with exhaustion and jet lag from our 30 some hour day that seemed would never end and starting to remember and feel the pressures of everyday obligations settling back in with work and such. But we brightened up, just got a hotel room, ate some American food we had been craving, and thought "Mai Pen Rai" from Thailand. What an amazing trip, and worth every effort

Coral Island

Our final excursion was our trip to Coral Island, in the Gulf of Thailand. Needless to say I was thrilled to have yet another positive experience to end our Thailand trip with. We boarded a pretty rustic speedboat on the beach behind our hotel for about a 30minute ride to Coral Island. The island had clear clear blue water with white soft sand beach, the water was as clear as the top of the Erawan water fall. Interestingly there were absolutely no fish or animals visible in the water, just clear all the way through. I could be in up to my shoulders and see my toes, in this water I had no reason to be scared! We explored the beach, climbed the rocks on the opposite end, and enjoyed a fresh seafood lunch of the som Tom spicy soup, whole crab, shrimp, oysters, a whole grilled fish (like the fish in Nicaragua at Lago Nicaragua!) and tempura of fish and vegetables. Delicious! Along with a fresh blueberry smoothie/shake. Relaxed the rest of the afternoon in the warm water, by 3 we were all sunburned and ready to escape the strong Thailand sun to return to the hotel. After returning, we decided to get a beachside oil Thai massage, $300 baht! Even better than our first with the sounds of the ocean and the breeze. Bitter sweet, knowing this would help us for our incredibly long travel back home the following day..

Pattaya

Our final destination to complete our mini tour of Thailand is Pattaya, on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand. It started as a small fishing village for beachside relaxation that has become a big travel hotspot for its incredible beaches and other... Perks I guess you could say. Ill start with our stops that were on our way to pattaya, like the Spiracha Tiger Zoo.

The tiger zoo we visited is apparently the largest in Thailand. This fact only further depressed me because it being the largest and being a stop on our tour means its probably the nicest, and I would prefer to not even imagine how the smaller less funded tiger zoos are maintained. It started out promising, walking in and immediately getting the opportunity to feed baby tigers. Incredibly adorable and soft fur! Then we went further in and you see many baby tigers in individual cages, and other animals chained to the wall for photo opportunities, like deer, horses. And an arangatang which had to be sedated as he sat on a bench free of any restraints to take photos. We had tickets to see the crocodile, elephant, and tiger show. The crocodile show was nerve racking, heads placed within crocodile mouths and everything. Then the tiger show had about 10 200lb tigers sedated and cowering in fear of a 100lb female Thai trainer with a simple metal switch.. Ears drawn back in fear throughout the show.. It was awful. Jumped through fire hoops and made different formations. I've never seen a tiger show in the states, but I want to know if there's any difference, or if they truly always are that depressing. After this show we all felt ready to get out of there, we still had the elephant show though. Which was a little better, only some of the trainers used their hooks. The elephants walked on tight ropes, threw darts, skipped, and other feats. After this we all pretty much bolted out of there, and needles to say it was on all of our recommendation cards to not include this stop in future tours, and I'll be doing more research on these zoos, and the elephant camps while I'm at it!


Next stop was to the Gem Discovery Exhibit, which I joked about and was dreading. However it was awesome! We started with a ride that went through an interactive exhibit of how gems and stones are formed, then got to see actual workers working and constructing and cleaning the stones to jewelry, then to the massive showroom. I never understood much about gems and jewelry but now can say I appreciate them and the different carats, cuts, etc. Many people bought jewelry there, pretty cheap prices when it's in the Thai baht!

Then we checked into our hotel. Again, ridiculously nice. Of course they publicize that Brad and Angelina Jolie stayed there while vacationing. It's just outside the downtown city, right on the ocean, with numerous pools, spa, etc. I got a manicure and pedicure for 500 baht, which is $15, crazy!

Once we checked in we went outside the hotel and first off got a Thai massage. They advertise for them everywhere, 1 hour for $200 baht! Which is about 6.50.. Soo we go in, order two massages, and wouldn't you know it, Nick gets a Thai ladyboy as his masseuse!

I should preface this with the knowledge that Pattaya is known for their ladyboy population, men that cross dress and are either surgically or non surgically changed to ladies. Sometimes they are hard to distinguish, our tour guide Audi gave us some pointers, such as since Thai people do not have large Adams apples so this is not a good indicator, their indicators are their hands, fake boobs (Thai and Asians do not usually get implants, so implants indicate a ladyboy) and their id's say Mr. (There is actually some debate in Thailand regarding ladyboy rights currently, they are striving to have the ability to change their id's to say "ms." instead of "mr." but no success yet)

So we lay down for our massages, and nick looks at me nervously. I hear our masseuses laugh and there is definitely a deeper tone laugh. I take a second look and can tell immediately now by his jaw line and body shape that yes, this is in fact a ladyboy. Very very funny. I almost cry im laughing so hard, I can't face nick throughout the massage to see this go down. But it was an amazing massage, they can be pretty rough! They contort your body and force stretches, I actually just discovered a bruise on my triceps from it. So after this, we head back to the hotel to meet up with some friends before hopping a cab to the city center to go down "Walking Street".

We knew from our research before leaving that Pattaya is a city known for its prostitution. Specifically "walking street". So we were expecting something like a red light district, similar to some places in Europe. Over the next 2 nights we discovered how unavoidable and blatant the sex trade is in this city. It become popular for prostitution from war veterans after Vietnam, as a site for veterans to travel for some r&r and has exploded since then. The crazy thing is, it's solely based on tourism. If the city did not have the tourism, it simply wouldn't not be occurring. The road along the beach where there is usually food sales, and other small beachside shopping is lined with women and ladyboys lined up. Literally ages 14 or so to 55. The only difference between the regular city and walking street is how aggressive the prostitutes are, cat calling and soliciting buyers. Absolutely incredible. I won't go into it much more, but unlike anything I've ever seen or will see. The following day we went shopping in the city, and even during the day you see people with their hired company, one or multiple, out at malls restaurants or wherever. It's disconcerting, you can't pin who are real couples, who are just biracial couples traveling, if its a man with their younger daughter or relative, and what gender is what at times. Many of the blatant obvious are the older white men (strangely mostly Australian) with their young ladies (and I mean young, sometimes appearing 14-15). As it was explained to us, many of these women are Thai girls who travel to the city to make money to send back to their poorer family, sometimes lying about where they are and their profession. Many return home after years of work and live out their life as a normal woman raising a family and marrying. Just a means to an end. A job so profitable that men will become ladyboys to work in this way. Crazy. I will stop here. Important to never forget and appreciate opportunities given to you. The things we take as basic rights in the US can really be privileges we have been given.

Needless to say, my mood definitely soured the longer we were out at night in this city, and Pattaya is not on my list of places to return to. But life is full of unpleasant things and you can't just pretend they don't exist. Part of traveling is to see and experience good and bad, to get a better global perspective.

Ayuthaya

We left early to see some historical sites of Thailand, like Bang Pa In Palace "summer palace", and Ayutthaya. First stop was the palace, which was a perfect example of cultural diffusion. It stuck out like a sore thumb, 100% not what I expected to see in Thailand. Built by King Rama V (the king from the King & I) it was incredibly European in style with a Chinese temple. King Rama V was known for modernizing Thailand and opening them up to global influences, hence the palace grounds design made sense. I felt like I was walking in a set from pride and prejudice or some other European palace instead of in eastern Asia. Sculptures, gardens, terraces, etc.. Really beautiful grounds. We learned about the Boddhi or Pho trees that are commonly at temples, apparently it is the tree siddartha was under when he reached enlightenment, so is revered in Buddhism and is only allowed to be planted at temples or on palace grounds.. They are beautiful trees with intricate roots growing up, and there was one near a mini outdoor temple at the palace entrance. The palace is still used, the royal family stays over the summer in the location and is open for visitors when they are not on the grounds. The palace is separated inner and outer grounds, the inner part only for women and boys under age 12, and is sedate by a long walkway with slats so people in the outer grounds can not see in. We also saw the throne of King Rama V, no other kings have sat on his throne, and there is a special spot for kings to bow down in front of it to pay their respects.

We then boarded the bus again to head to Ayutthaya ruins. On the bus Audi our tour guide brought us on some snacks to try, like kau lam, or sticky rice!! My absolute favorite like the sticky rice with papaya and coconut milk dessert at Jays, sticky rice is sold on the streetside inside bamboo. Its apparently very difficult to make, ill have to research it but its made with white or brown rice stored inside bamboo then cooked for a long period of time with other ingredients. So we got to try brown and white sticky rice, breaking the bamboo to scoop it out, sweet and delicious! Our other treat were these green roll ups. They are a muslim sweet, is like a green crepe rolled with a sweet inside, maybe similar to butterscotch? Also amazing!

So off to the Ayutthaya ruins, who's name means "undefeatable city" as they withstood being conquered numerous times, like from the Burmese 33 times I believe? But eventually they did pillage this capital, burning it down. It was capital for 417 years, and was like the Rome to me of eastern asia. Now what's left are three stone buildings which hold the ashes of kings (all Thai are cremated, with their ashes separated to temples, family, and spread to nature like down rivers).

Arriving there reminded me of Pompeii. It was a huge area, the three old white stone buildings remaining in the center as the focal point with old crumbled walls of old rooms and temples surrounding them. Old remains of statues of Buddha are visible everywhere, most of them with the bodies intact and heads removed.. Walking through was interesting to compare to the US or Europe, there are no workers policing you to not climb or step here or there, you are free to roam and explore it as you will, although hopefully with respect, but I did see some tourists climbing up on incredible and delicate ruins which annoyed me.

Afterwards we returned to our hotel Felix on the River Kwai Resort right on the river, cooled off in the pool as that day was stiflingly hot and then left for our dinner cruise. It was on a small boat with 8 of us. Going down the river at night we saw the ruins we saw earlier in the day with the night sky, some temples, and Thai people out eating at restaurants on the water. Our dinner was delicious with my favorite som tom spicy soup with coconut milk and other delicious food. Then karaoke on the boat. By the way thais are obsessed with karaoke, it's everywhere!