thanksgiving
I had two, yes two, thanksgiving dinners to attend yesterday- one at my friend Danny's and the other at my house! It was my host mom's first time to have americans living with her so she was overjoyed to prepare TWO turkeys...mmm. I was in charge of the stuffing and we had pumpkin pies made from scratch (canned pumpkin does not exist here). Here are some pictures from both fiestas. Happy Thanksgiving!
charity like aly
Danny's friend Chris, Danny, Vicky (with the glasses), Leila and Charity (doesn't smoke, just likes to hold the cigarette)...we had Thanksgiving dinner on Danny's gorgeous outdoor patio! Notice that Charity is in a bathing suit- perfect weather for a spring Thanksgiving in Buenos Aires.
danny y kelly
Two UT law students...wondering who is gonna win the game on Friday...
Belgrano
Belgrano, the upper-class suburb of Buenos Aires in which I live, is covered by a canopy of trees. I never realized how thick this lush barrier was until today, one of the most beautiful spring days I’ve enjoyed here. As I walked to school I noticed tiny little tear drops of water falling. This confused me. Rain really seemed unlikely, if not downright absurd, on such an incredible happy, shiny day. Then I realized the trees were raining, drops from a past rain, drops that were just now working up the energy to slide down the waxy tree leaves.
Unfortunately, when I say I “enjoyed” this day I meant it in the most limited way possible. My hour walk to and from school was a nice precursor to my five hour study session in the basement at school. I saw fruit being delivered in baskets on rickety bicycles, children in school uniforms, (the private school kids in plaid and starched whites, the public school kids in white smocks…okay, okay I just wanted to use the word “smock.” Did I even spell it correctly?), a dog walker with about ten dogs tethered to her hip, Porteños enjoying their morning coffee and croissant in quaint cafés, and he- and she-mullets in every direction that I glanced. Just another day in Buenos Aires.
This is the last week of classes at Torcuato di Tella, it’s also Thanksgiving week…something I know we are all looking forward to! Gig ‘em Ags!
Hassan and Scalia
This picture is SO blog-worthy. Here's a picture of Hassan standing next to Antonin Scalia, one of the most hated/adored Supreme Court justices, depending on who you ask.
Scalia Says:
A few nuggets of wisdom...from Antonin Scalia
Refer to the picture above to understand the relevance of this post. Please feel free to voice your opinion on why you do/do not like reading the judicial opinions of Antonin Scalia or to post your own Scalia quote!
What the Justice had to say...
"To many Americans, everything from the Easter morning to the Ascension had to be made up by the groveling enthusiasts as part of their plan to get themselves martyred."-- Antonin Scalia, speech, Mississippi College School of Law (April 9, 1996)
"We are unwilling to send police and judges into a new thicket of 4th Amendment law, to seek a creature of uncertain description that is neither a plain-view inspection nor yet a "full-blown search." '--Antonin Scalia, Majority opinion in 6-3 ruling that refused to expand police powers to search or seize evidence that they suspect may be stolen, 3 Mar 87(ABE GEORGE: do you see what I see?)
"[In a big family] the first child is kind of like the first pancake. If it's not perfect, that's okay, there are a lot more coming along."--Antonin Scalia, recalling his appointment to US Supreme Court; in "Newsweek," 30 Jun 86 (I take personal offense to this quotation.)
"On this day, when we're celebrating our constitutional heritage, I urge you to be faithful to that heritage -- to impose on our fellow citizens only the restrictions that are there in the Constitution, not invent new ones, not to invent the right because it's a good idea."-- Antonin Scalia, speech at a January 12, 2003, Religious Freedom Day rally in Fredericksburg, Virginia
Reflecting
Today I ran into a girl I haven’t seen since the beginning of the semester and it made me think back to the beginning of this whole adventure...I arrived exactly four months ago in this bustling, cosmopolitan city. How much has really changed? I still stumble over my words at times, trying to roll the “errrre” when appropriate and to remember the “cool” way to say ‘have a good weekend.’ (So many times my friend Vicky has giggled at my phrasing and compared it to her grandmother’s parlance). I have improved, this I am sure of. As inclined as I am to get distracted by the disappointment that I’m not speaking fluently, a wise man recently told me (last night as a matter of fact) that it’s important to keep one’s eyes on what one has accomplished as motivation to continue moving toward the final goal.
There are so many things I meant to do, meant to read, meant to see! I didn’t get nearly all of it accomplished because I was too busy noticing the details in life that I take for granted at home. The little nuisances of life- traffic patterns, owner/pet interactions, grocery store aisles. Now it’s November and I’ve not written in my journal nor sat down to do the daily Spanish practices, which I had whole-heartedly committed to when I decided to bring 8 pounds worth of grammar books instead of warm winter clothes (big mistake!).
It’s funny to think that in one month and one week I’ll be eating a Chipotle Burrito Bowl, chicken, a little bit of rice, corn salsa, spicy salsa, a touch of sour cream, hold the cheese but don’t forget the guacamole…oh excuse me, did I trail off there??!! Perdón! Have you ever thought about what you’d miss most if you left home?
3 PARAGRAPHS AND A FOOTNOTE, COMPLETELY UNRELATED TO THE ABOVE, PERHAPS BORDERLINE BORING…MY EDITOR WAS UNREACHABLE. I APOLOGIZE FOR ANY BOREDOM YOU MIGHT ENCOUNTER, PLEASE LEAVE CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM AS NECESSARY. GRACIAS. MERCI. OBRIGADA.
I got a blockbuster card today, thought it would be a fun but I couldn’t find a single movie that looked appealing. Sadly, I almost went for Starsky and Hutch but I’ve seen it too many times to justify watching it here…went home and read “The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart, presents- American: Democracy Inaction”*. Highly recommended- “A brilliant, laugh-out-loud read!”
This weekend I WILL finish my paper (I’m up to page 19). I have to go hunting for the Ben Harper cd that just dropped, apparently he did it with the Blind Boys of Alabama, it’s gospelish soul music. Running in the park sounds nice…
If you want to see a handsome picture of my brother that really gives life to the way the “stylish” guys dress here…click on the link to the right: “Eric’s blog.” They have rat tails here I tell you, rat tails and mohawks, wearing suits and I can’t maintain a straight face. Somehow it’s strangely attractive at the same time (sans the rat tails that is!) Have a great weekend ya’ll!
*A birthday gift from Hassan Elrakabawy
Aure at the park, a walking weekend!
We took a break from walking to enjoy this gigantic flower sculpture in the park.
With Gretel and Ellie
This photo was taken at a friend's birthday party. La fiesta was held on a military base, very traditional Argentine gathering with great music!
Slip Up
As some of you may (or may not) notice a post was recently removed from this blog. A baffling entry full of hurtful statements and descriptions and a not-so-hurtful-but-disastrous-to-health recipe was included as well. The Editorial Staff* of this web log has made the decision to expunge it from the record.
The author apologizes to her reading audience, perhaps it was the weather or a certain chord of homesickness that contributed to the nonsense she typed. Thank you and we apologize for the inconvenience.
;)
*The staff is a two-person operation: Nancy Stolpman, grammar and puncuation and Aurélien Guichard, content oversight.
Laura Scudder
Guess who's about to go home and eat Laura Scudder Peanut Butter...with a spoon! My friend Danny went home to Texas for a week and came back with many treats including my favorite PB. At first I was tempted to sell it considering it really is worth it's weight in gold here. The other splendid sight of the week was Bing Cherries, I caught a glimpse at a fruit stand. Not even in my dreams did I think I'd be eating fresh bing cherries in November!
This week completely escaped me because I am in the depths of researching and writing my final paper for my seminar class. I am writing about the differences between civil procedure (the way litigation progresses) in civil law countries like Europe and South America and common law countries like the U.S., England, India, Australia. In between researching I will squeeze in the time to go to a two-day music fest to hear performances by Blondie, PJ Harvey, Pet Shop Boys (what??), Bebel Gilberto, Rhinocerose....and other obscure DJs. Reggie is going with me so it should be a good time.
I hope everyone enjoys the weekend. Eric, no worries- I will be posting photos soon!
