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Who knew that Thanksgiving was the fourth Thursday in November and not the third? We certainly didn't. My roommates and I planned to cook a grand Thanksgiving feast and then have our TEFL classmates over for drinks afterwards. This idea did not go over too well with everyone else because they did not want to miss out on turkey and stuffing. So, we decided to invite everyone for a potluck style dinner. Unfortunately, two days before Thanksgiving, someone pointed out that we were a week early and that Thanksgiving was in fact next week.
The morning of the real Thanksgiving, Lisa and I ventured off in search of a turkey. We had to go to this supersized grocery store called JUMBO to find one. We bought the biggest turkey they had, which was still the smallest one that I had ever seen. It cost 70 pesos ($20), but it was worth it. We desperately searched for cranberries in any form, but apparently they don't exist in Latin America.
We googled "How to Cook a Thanksgiving
Turkey" and used the resulting webpages as a guide for the day. Since our turkey was frozen and there wasn't enough time for it to thaw in the fridge or cold water, we had to microwave it. After about 40 minutes, the microwave shut off. The lights did too.
We went out on the balcony to contemplate if Thanksgiving could still happen without electricity. The air was filled with nervous energy and panic. We could hear protesters banging pots and pans on the next block. They had been without electricity for 72 hours. We tried to call off our party, but our friends had already prepared their dishes and were too excited to give up their Thanksgiving. All of the stores within walking distance were out of candles, but we had one flashlight. We had to lead each gue
st up five floors through a dark stairwell to our apartment. Once we got all of the food together, we decided to eat outside on the patio by the pool. The turkey turned out perfectly, even without electricity or a meat thermometer! We had stuffing, mashed potatoes, salad, and probably 3 or 4 different pies. It was a grand feast! Our Argentine friends were so intrigued by all of the food, especially the Salad. I caught a picture of them inspecting the spinach salad. They thought that it was so strange that we ate raw spinach!
I have been so jealous of of how distinctive Argentine culture is, and it has often made me sad that the U.S. seems to lack any sort of unifying culture. Well, this Thanksgiving I am thankful for Thanksgiving. Americans have traditions too!
San Antonio de Areco is a small town about 100 km from BA in the region of Las Pampas (the plains). Every November they hold a gaucho festival called "La Fiesta de la Tradición." We had read about this 
event in guide books and didn't want to miss it, but we couldn't figure out transportation to get there. Luckily, on Friday night I met a nice Argentine that offered to take my friends and me to the festival even though it's a little touristy. He picked us up at 9am yesterday and we headed out to the countryside. We stopped at an enormous church on the way called "La Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Luján." We were told to beware of pickpockets inside the church. Inside, Juan Pablo pointed out the security guards stationed at the altar to guard the altarpieces that were made of precious metals. It blew my mind that thievery inside a church was such so common! Another interesting fact that Juan Pablo told us was that everyone who buys a car in BA comes to Luján to get their keys blessed in a special ceremony. After about 45 more minutes of driving through grasslands of cows, horses, and sheep, we arrived in San Antonio. The cobblestoned streets were filled with gaucho men & women on horseback. The men wore berets, white shirts, and red scarves tied around their necks, 
while the women wore traditional style dresses. I couldn't help thinking how miserably hot they all must be. The horses were speckled white and brown and were much smaller than any other horses I've seen. This particular breed exists only in this region of Argentina and in Chile. Wind pipe music made the scene feel even more authentic, until we listened closely and realized the musicians in feather headdresses were playing "Sound of Silence." We had an amazing lunch in a "Pulpería" (traditional bar) that had walls adorned with old signs, cerveza ads, and thousands of old bottles. Although the decor was authentic and much more tasteful, it reminded me of a fancy cracker barrel.
Since we are all currently unemployed, our days are finally free to roam around the city like a regular tourist. The problem is, however, that our days are cut short when we wake up at 2:00 each afternoon. Even if we're not partying until 6am, it just doesn't feel right to go to bed early, especially after eating dinner at 10 or 11. Also, once I'm in bed, I've got my earplugs in and my eyemask on, so I can sleep through anything! Well, on Wednesday, we finally got ourselves up and moving and out of the house by 2:00. Our motivation was to save 10 pesos by getting into MALBA (Museo de Arte Latinamericano de Buenos Aires) for free. We hopped on the metro for a short ride to Plaza Italia. On my map of Palmero, everything is colored green after this plaza. I had been looking forward to strolling through the "Palermo Woods" for awhile now. Well, for the first 15 minutes or so, we did not breathe in the fragrant aromas of flowers and freshly cut grass, but instead the pungent smells of dirty animals and excrement. We were walking the border of the Buenos Aires zoo. I don't have any desire to see what it smells like inside those walls. As we got closer to MALBA, the air began
to clear and the traffic noise faded into the distance. We passed a few people sunning themselves on park benches and a shirtless man with red leathery skin carrying a lounge chair. Rollerbladers zoomed past us and we dodged children learning how to ride bikes for the first time. It felt like we were at the beach. There were tons of Argentines laying out on the shore of a nice-sized lake or picknicking with family in the shade of the giant palm trees. The rosedal, an enormous rose garden enclosed by white columns, offers a pleasing backdrop to the water. We'll have to go back to the Rosedal to learn more about it. MALBA is the city's newest museum, which you could tell by its modern facade made of glass. There are four stories, so we started at the top and worked our way down. The top floor was the temporary exhibit by Felix Gonzalez-Torres called Somewhere/Nowhere. When we first entered the gallery, I was startled to see people touching one of the pieces in the corner. I approached them and saw that the corner was stuffed with red, white, and blue lollipops. Everyone that passed took one or two and no one seemed to mind. As I looked ar
ound the gallery, I noticed various stacks of paper and people taking from those as they pleased as well. Everyone seemed to be incredibly attracted to the free items, even though they were just plain sheets of paper with one solid color on them. I had a lollipop. The rest of the museum was more interesting. There was a Frida Kahlo self-portrait, a Diego Rivera painting, and some other works by 20th century artists. I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be, especially since MALBA is supposed to be BA's best museum, but I still enjoyed seeing art. On the way back, we strolled through the Japanese Garden (Jardin Japones). It was definitely the most peaceful part of the city, perhaps rivaling the Recoleta cemetary where Evita is burried. Little red bridges hover above the lake and link rocky islands and circling pagodas. My only complaints is that the water was almost filled to the brim with the biggest fish I've ever seen with huge mouths sucking at the surface. Walking above them on the rickety bridges made me fearful of falling in and being eaten alive by these things. When we got back to the apartment, I felt refreshed after a day of being immersed in nature and art in the middle of bustling Buenos Aires.
Who knew that Thanksgiving was the fourth Thursday in November and not the third? We certainly didn't. My roommates and I planned to cook a grand Thanksgiving feast and then have our TEFL classmates over for drinks afterwards. This idea did not go over too well with everyone else because they did not want to miss out on turkey and stuffing. So, we decided to invite everyone for a potluck style dinner. Unfortunately, two days before Thanksgiving, someone pointed out that we were a week early and that Thanksgiving was in fact next week.
Turkey" and used the resulting webpages as a guide for the day. Since our turkey was frozen and there wasn't enough time for it to thaw in the fridge or cold water, we had to microwave it. After about 40 minutes, the microwave shut off. The lights did too.
st up five floors through a dark stairwell to our apartment. Once we got all of the food together, we decided to eat outside on the patio by the pool. The turkey turned out perfectly, even without electricity or a meat thermometer! We had stuffing, mashed potatoes, salad, and probably 3 or 4 different pies. It was a grand feast! Our Argentine friends were so intrigued by all of the food, especially the Salad. I caught a picture of them inspecting the spinach salad. They thought that it was so strange that we ate raw spinach!
