Buenos Aires Sidewalks

Walking down the street is an adventure in any not so familiar city. 

Considering the sidewalks are ridden with holes and incomplete patch-up jobs, what I saw this morning showed a particularly adventurous spirit. No I’m not referring to the motorcycles that pseudo-suicidally weave in and out of traffic, or the brave pizza deliverer who roller blades between the yellow lines in the middle of the street, but simply a man walking on the sidewalk, reading. Maybe he was late for an exam or class and was cramming last minute; maybe he’s an aloof intellectual who prefers the printed page to the live, in-color show that surrounds everyone in the streets. Whoever he is, I applaud his bravery. 

I used to do this in school. Waiting in the lunch line, walking in the halls. The walk and read was usually due to needing to cram more than a passion for literature. Only twice, or maybe three times, do I remember bumping into a wall or a pole. It hurt. But nothing serious happened.

My dad one-upped me. He used to study riding his bike to school. God knows how.

This man had sensors in his feet. I saw him approaching. Cars were coming and going from the driveways as he crossed and passed them. A significant hole was in front of him. Oh no, I thought. Don't fall. Just last week I watched my mom collapse onto the street from a stumble on a similar hole. She sat against a storefront unable to stand. Lots of people stopped to help. An old lady told us it had happened to her a few days earlier. Somebody else suggested suing the mayor. The sidewalks have always been full of dog poop, pick-pockets, and other obstacles to avoid, but the effort to maintain cobblestone or brick-like surfaces instead of cement seems like a failing battle considering all the missing pieces.

He stopped just in time, lowered the book for a moment, and crossed the street. I bet he could walk the path with his eyes closed. Muscle memory. Periphery vision. A local.

Buenos Aires and Comfort Food

In the States I snacked on humus, crackers and ginger snaps. In Buenos Aires I snack on bacon and oranges fresh from our tree. Hm..

Adjusting to new comfort food when traveling or after a big move is an adventurous and comical affair.
The trick is to enjoy the local foods without gaining a hundred pounds or too much suffering. This includes a grieving process for what is no longer available.

Leaving Chicago.... left me craving lots of foods I didn't even know I liked before living there. Mexican and Middle Eastern food in general, two-dollar delicious non-fast food burgers, cheap organic pizza, fried mac and cheese, mini corn dogs, pulled pork sandwiches in a challah bread roll, micro-brewery beer on tap for only two dollars, cafes that sell organic juices, wine, liquor, coffee, and vegan cafe food all at the same time. I never ate a gyro sandwich before Chi. Fortunately they didn't become a habit.

New York... I miss your worldly collection of deliciousness available at any time of night. And bagels. Deliciousness.

New Hampshire and Maine: I miss your lobster and seafood in general. Your easy access to super markets fully stocked with all my favorite goods at a not so expensive price. Especially ginger snaps.

Maggie Smith did an excellent job playing her part in "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel." For anyone who hasn't seen the film and has a heart, an interest in traveling, aging, and/or.... (for lack of a better description) feel-good dry humor, go see this film. Maggie Smith's character begrudgingly adapts to moving from England to India. She gets used to almost everything but mourns her English biscuits. In her defense, English biscuits, otherwise known as digestives, are delicious. I mourn them too. Judi Dench's character, in the same movie, describes dunking a biscuit in tea with such perfection that I'm ready to book the next flight to London.

Speaking of London, the incredible access to Indian, Turkish and Persian food, not to mention fish and chips... Ok. Deep breath.

Buenos Aires is a place to feast on many things, especially meat. There are delicious thin toasted sandwiches called tostados available everywhere and I miss them when I'm away from Argentina. I have access to fruit fresh from our trees, family cooking, empanadas, milanesas and dulce de leche. Pastry shops are everywhere. There's a lot to be loved, but the problem with loving food and growing enamored and accustomed to foreign and local cuisine and living in all different kinds of places... is comfort food. That routine that you know leaves you feeling just right. That cookie. That beer. That glass of wine. That take-out restaurant. That home cooked meal. That favorite anything changes because it's not always available.

Traveling not only introduces new experiences, it also requires new habits and flexibility. And maybe some craftiness in the kitchen to try to recreate some of those far away comforting favorites, or many trips to many stores and cafes until they're recreated somewhere else, or enough time that they're forgotten and replaced.  

Food, unlike friends and family cannot be talked to on the phone. A photograph doesn't do a favorite dish justice. Tastes. Smells. Perhaps it's time to take my cooking ability to the next level and avoid this food/ home nostalgia. I bet I could create my own urban nomad cookbook. Any takers?

Life

Missing city living. If only mountains, ocean views, museums, shows, comedy, restaurants, old friends, new friends, and interesting work could happen all at once.

Poker

This morning I woke up from a nightmare where I lost three million dollars to gangsters in a single poker game. I had two days to pay it back- or else. My real life seemed a lot easier after that. Talk about perspective.

Online Dating

Those of us perusing the internet are probably on at least one networking site for social, professional, personal or romantic reasons. I'd bash the internet, but even though I've wasted hours, days, probably weeks of my life perusing the net, it also connected me with several apartments, reignited friendships, helped me get to know acquaintances, and connected me with jobs. Using the internet has even been my job, sending e-newsletters, social media consulting, internet research... the list continues.

Once, my curiosity got the best of me and I joined OkCupid for about a month. It was weird. I didn't like it. I felt like I was walking into a bar in a bathing suit and couldn't shut up the people talking to me. No bouncer to kick them out. Sure, I could delete messages but some of the stuff was really weird. I wish I'd written it all down before deleting the account. Some comments were memorable material. [Just to be clear, I was not wearing a bathing suit in my profile photo.]

For example, the following are paraphrased excerpts of messages I randomly received from strangers:

"You look way too sweet and innocent to be with a guy like me. If you ever decide to man up, give me a call and we can have some fun."

"I like you. It would be great to meet up. I'm a nice guy. Pretty interesting too. As long as you don't mind every inch of me [literally] being covered in tattoos, I think we'd hit it off."

"Hey, I'm going to be in town for a medical conference in a month. I bought concert tickets, made dinner reservations and booked a hotel. I'd love it if you could go with me and show me around town." [Do online dating sites double as escort services?]

"I want to talk to you about everything. I want to get inside your brain. I want to know your thoughts on everything in the world. I want to spend the rest of my life talking to you. "

My curiosity was satiated. I know some people have had good experiences on these things, but seriously, why would anyone want to put up with any of those messages? Spam be gone. Delete.

Another article on contraception

Right on:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/11/opinion/the-freedom-to-choose-birth-control.html?_r=1&ref=sunday

Freedom of Religion

This blog post was inspired by the following New York Times article:

"Boehner Vows to Fight Contraception Rule" By Jennifer Steinhauer

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/09/us/politics/boehner-vows-to-fight-contraception-rule.html?_r=1

Stenhauer quotes the Speaker of the House, John Boehner:

"'In recent days, Americans of every faith and political persuasion have mobilized in objection to a rule put forth by the Obama administration that constitutes an unambiguous attack on religious freedom in our country,' said Mr. Boehner"

Not true. Notice how Boehner says "Americans of every faith and political persuasion have mobilized in objection." How dare Boehner speak for all Americans? Last time I checked, it was still legal not to be religious in the United States. No one's making anyone take contraception. What about the large portion of Americans who believe in freedom of religion, tolerance and who may not be religious themselves?

Freedom of religion includes the right not to be religious. The first amendment guarantees this. The religious right has forgotten this. Boehner, if you and your church are against something, that is fine. That is your right. But do not impose religious restrictions on those of us not of your congregation. We, as US citizens, have the freedom to choose our church or not to choose a church at all. The only laws we all must follow should be those based on the the US Constitution and not your church's mandates. Boehner, you've confused freedom of religion with freedom only to follow your religion. The constitution guarantees the former, not the latter.