Chick Mullet

One of my more courageous moments yet came yesterday when I ventured to a hair salon called "Cool Cuts Studio" - which in the US by name alone would ensure one to walk out with anything but a cool cut. but in BA, anytime a shop has an English word in it, means its very hip, so now. My real estate agent friend Fernanda was supposed to meet me there so we could 1) ensure there was no miscommunication between me and the stylist and 2) to grab coffee or a drink afterwards in my new fab do. Fernanda has the argentine flakiness gene so of course she didn't show up. That left me in the hands of a seemingly competent svelte argentine estilista named Alvaro. He spoke not a word of english so I tried hard to explain that I didn't want him to cut my hair short, I didn't want short bangs (circa my do in '99 - very cool retro in my mind but Hugo still cringes when he thinks of "the curtains" that adorned my forehead during that time). I told Alvaro to make me look like an "Argentina" and left it at that. Here's the end result which I have to say I'm pretty pleased with. Lots of layers and a sort of chick mullet in the back so you can still tell theres some length on it. Once it all grows out another 4 inches I'll look like every other woman on the street here. during the clip clip session, I discovered I had little to fear from Alvaro. Fernanda had good reason to recommend him. He's a stylist to the stars here - is part of the beauty team for the most famous model in Argentina named Araceli. The "People Magazine" of Argentina called "Gente" features a 10 page spread of Araceli cavorting around Brasil a few weeks ago with none other than Keifer Sutherland to promote the new Citroen. Alvaro is in a few of the pix so by association I now feel like a close personal friend of Keifer's. oh and my celebrity cut cost me all of $30 US.

A real winter

Ok this may not be the most illustrative photo but it was the best I could do. Yesterday afternoon it SNOWED all afternoon and and into the evening. BA's first snow in 89 years. Incredible. I ran outside with Utta to see if she would appreciate it but no, she was cold and wanted to jet back indoors as quickly as possible. It's felt like a real winter the past week with temperatures in the high 30s and low 40s throughout the day. yesterday and today it hurt to go outside even bundled up. Of course the snow made front page news here and will probably be talked about for decades. Thank god for all my sweaters and the fox fur bambuska hat Theresa gave me for x-mas years ago. am drinking Mate like mad....

Los Halcones - The Falcons

A few weeks ago I joined a running team called "los halcones" or the falcons. We practice every other day for three hours. yes, three hours. The team mantra/motto is "Era duro pero lo hicimos" - it was hard but we did it. Coach Martin focuses on improving technique and all over body conditioning rather than simply running farther and faster. His idol is Flo Jo. "Con swing, como las negras, como Flo Jo" is one of his favorite motivating expressions. He's also a big Rocky fan. We have a few arm exercises - one called the Rocky where we punch to air forward with both fists at once (tied to the resistance bands of course) and the other called the Apollo - punching towards our phantom opponent one fist at a time. So, each practice starts with an hour or so of different strength training exercises using the bands, medicine balls, and rope stairs. We spend a lot of time on moves to improve balance, coordination, posture and core strengthening. All of this is to eventually improve ones running. The last few days, we've been jumping over hurdles and alternating running laps around the lake with cycling (duathlon style) for time. to be honest I'm not exactly sure what we're training for though some days it feels like we're going for the Olympics but its great fun. Coach Martin likes to take photos of us during drills to show us when we are doing the exercises right or where we need to adjust something. He also produces a monthly team newsletter with photos, links to sports sites for female athletes like www.ladeportista.com.ar and of course the wise words of Rocky and FloJo. Practices are held evenings from 5:30-8:30pm at my favorite lake in the prettiest park in the city. its a small team but diverse. all mujeres from different countries. There's Anna-may 22 yr old model/ballerina from Holland; 33 yr old argentine Gabi works for italian call center; 26 yr old Kati from Finland here studying fashion design at the Univ of Buenos Aires, 21 yr old Camila from Brasil, 17 yr old Ludmila from BA finishing her last yr in high school and headed for med school next year, 25 yr old Cintia who teaches phys ed to students here in BA and 45 yr old Alejandra from BA. I am the only "yankee" - pronounced SHC-AHN-KEH in the group which I don't mind as it's great for practing my espanol. of course the europeans all speak 5 languages perfectly including castellano.

Personal Grooming

Yes, this is in fact a photo of a taxista (taxi driver) stopped at a light at 4 in the morning on Saturday night shaving his face with an electric razor.

Brad's 4-0

Last weekend we helped our friend Brad usher in his 40th at an elegant and tast-isimo pizza restaurant called Ruffino followed by bowling - yes, that's Hugo with the "suav-isimo technique". Stayed out till 4am and suffered muchly the following day. It was an eclectic crowd - Brad's girlfriend Lauras family including parents and young cousins, friends of Brads from the states and expats from England, Malaysia and Peru. I have a more diverse group of friends now than ever in my life and its definitely one of the more interesting aspects of living in BA. My new friends hail from England, Malaysia, Holland, Finland, Argentina (of course), Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Germany, and Brasil. This week I'm learning how to describe things in espanol. How to add emphasis to your adjectives - throw "isimo" at the end of every word. I love it! Bonisimo. My bowling score - Malisimo. People on the street find Utta -Lindisimo. Today is wintery and "chill-isimo" so I've been drinking lots of tasty aka "ricisimo" mate to stay warm.

Futbol

Last night went to a sports bar aptly name "Loco por el Futbol" with huge TV screens to see the Argentines pound the US in their first game in the Copa America. In Buenos Aires this tournament is second only to the World Cup. It was quite a scene - more like New Years Eve circa 1999 than a soccer match but I'm obviously not a true Porteno just yet. Argentina performed well but the locals were angry that the US chose to sit out 4 of its best players in favor of letting newer guys test out the international scene. For about two seconds I struggled with which team I should be cheering for...good thing I went with my adopted homeland or I may have been beaten up. Will be an interesting World Cup in 3 years as the US is getting better and better - some say they could actually give Brazil a run for their money if they continue to improve. Still I can't think of anyone I know in the US that really gives a hootch about soccer. What would it take for the US to adopt this sport as it has football and basketball? probably several more David Beckhams home grown with Paris Hilton flair. In the meantime, I've got a lot of futbol history to brush up on before I head out to a sports bar again in this town. wikipedia gives a good account of the Copa America. The best and most exciting player to watch is Lionel Messi seen above sporting a posh black headband which disguises the requisite futbollers mullet.

Crucigrama

Found one of my favorite games at the store a few weeks ago - Scrabble or as they call it here "Crucigrama". Invited english Emily and American Anne Marie to dinner the other night to sample the lastest of Hugh's Stews con lentejas, chorizo y papas and play. I used to think I was pretty good at this game but try it in another language and I'm struggling with the two letter words. took us nearly two hours to finish one game and Hugo nearly won with "Elfo" - unbelievable. yes, its an actual word and yes, it means what you think it does. the little christmas fairy. hoping after a few more months of espanol, we can graduate to three syllable word play.

Big drama this week with Anne Marie (see above tokin da mate) during Crucigrama. She had moved in with argentine boyfriend Pedro and had planned to move back to the US - florida somewheres - together where they would ideally live happily ever after and so on. he got jealous (as is common with the men here as i've been told repeatedly) as their relationship progressed and the other night "lost it". kicked her out, so she fled to english Emily's apt with all belongings. of course he later apologized but now too late. so back and forth via text. first she's a "ladrona - thief", then it's "te extrano - i miss you". drama drama drama. she is devasted but resolute. back to the states next month less one explosive and too frequently verbally abusive argentine boyfriend.