The VanNess Vagabonds

Mark began working at Well Done on Wednesday of last week. Deciding what to do while he is working can be a little hard. Most things I want to see, he wants to see as well. I am left with the decision- go to the places I want to see alone, then go again with him or, find other things to do that Mark doesn’t want to see.

I did the later this week and kept the big things to do with him like going to a Tango show, soccer game, traditional bbq restaurant, La Boca, San Telmo, the Recoleta cemetery.

Instead of visiting these things I walked and walked and walked to a lot of other really cool stuff. I took the subway once by myself (even thought I was warned by multiple locals that it is dangerous)- living on the edge. It was tame compared to NYC subways. I mean, I didn’t see anyone pee themselves while sitting on one of the seats in the subway (I guess my public transportation expectations are pretty low). I also did some other interesting new travel things like getting really dirty laundry touched by a complete stranger who doesn’t speak a language you understand, tried to buy a bottle of water from an annoyed 12 year old that was really angry I didn’t have a smaller bill to pay with and that I couldn’t understand what he was saying, argued with a bum in a train station in Spanglish, tried to figure out what the word for face wash is in Spanish by asking an Asian teller at a supermarket. It has been a big week. The whole walking thing is a pretty complex situation- if you want more detail about that check out my Poo Poo on your Shoe Shoe post.

1. Tried to see Madres de Plaza de Mayo, Asociacion Madres de Plaza de Mayo. I went to see them, but got lost on the subway. Still there was a really cool statue and some really beautiful old buildings.

I am not sure what they were because I sort of just stumbled upon them in search of Madres. The mothers are interesting because they meet once a week to protest their “lost” children that the government took years ago.

2. Visited the Argentinean Congress building with ornate statues and fountains in front. It was really beautiful and also an interesting part of most cultures. Homeless people in front of the people that are supposed to be helping them. As I was walking up to see the statues I glanced over and happened to see a mother in a little cove with a mattress and a child (about 4 months old) laying on its back covered in dirt with only a diaper on. It is interesting that most places I have seen are like this- most government buildings have homeless people surrounding them. Almost like a cry for help “look at me, I am right here in front of you”.

3. Went to The Malba- MALBA – Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires that has an Andy Warhol exhibit. I wasn’t that excited to see an artist exhibit from the US, especially Andy Warhol ( I have seen his exhibits before), but I was lured there by the idea that there would be Latin Americans Artist work there too. The experience ended up being more interesting than I had anticipated, watching people’s reactions to Warhol’s work, as a US citizen, was surprising. It seemed much of his work didn’t translate well. Two things in particular stick out in my mind (both made me laugh out loud- not so good in a museum).

a. There ware a room painted with his pop art style dark purple cows with paintings of Stalin, Nixon, Kin Jung Il and a black canvas with a red cross. This was interesting to me because much of Latin American is very religious and it seemed as if the people looking at the pieces in this room didn’t realize what he was saying. People looked at the canvases and walked by, without even a glimpse of contemplation. Why go to an exhibit and not think of what the artist is trying to convey?

b. The second was a large room, completely covered in black curtains except for one large movie screen proudly showing Warhol’s infamous “bj” video. As I turned the corner I noticed 4-5 Argentinean women, puzzled, reading the plaque explaining the piece, and quickly speaking to one another in Spanish in a confused tone. When I turned the corner they all glanced at my tattoos looked at me with contempt then continued their confused banter, I am sure debating exactly what this movie was. Normally, I would think they were just discussing the work, but I was told that this is a pretty conservation country, even with the Latin feel, the people here are still very classy. Things like the word “bj” are not used, definitely not spoken about, and for sure not discussed in the middle of a museum (even if it is art). So, again irony stuck me- the contempt for my tattoos while they were standing in front of a gigantic screen playing a movie of a man having oral sex with what has been said to be Andy himself (an old gay artist from NYC).

One really incredible thing that happened at that Museum- I saw the first real Frida Kahlo painting in my entire life. The plexi glass is no match for my smooshed up nose. I wanna see the strokes, the colors mixing on the canvas. Give me a break standing back. I left my mark at that museum, even with the security guard following me everywhere, a big old nose print right in front of the parrot on Frida’s shoulder. Take that plexiglass.

4. The Flower- none of the locals knows the name of it, they just call it the flower. It was a gift to the people of Buenos Aires by Canada. A beautiful lotus flower made of metal with solar power stamen inside that generate power, moving the flower to follow the sun, then closing as the sun sets to rest over night. Sound incredible doesn’t it? It was, it still is even though I found out from a local that it broke the first time they turned it on and they have never fixed it. Whom, Whom. I have decided I am still going to believe it does move and open in close because that would be amazing.

5. Miscellaneous Statues scattered throughout the parks- one really cool one of Evita.

6. A huge 4 block x 4 block park that was off the tourist map and no one spoke English (I loved it). I was given the tip by the guys at the shop Mark is guest spotting at. There was a market wrapping around the park, mostly flea market type stuff, old clothes, albums, toys, etc. Then inside the park was the. . .

7. MACN | Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales-Bernardino Rivadavia -really cool. Mostly made for little kids, but so is Disney World- both are fun for adults (I actually know at least 5 people over 25 who went to Disney world for their Birthday this year). There was the standard dinosaur replicas- what wasn’t standard- a map of all the dinosaur fossils that have been found in Argentina! And there were a lot. I can’t remember anyone telling me of finding anything old in the USA except for arrowheads. They also had real insects and fish forever sealed in enamel or that fluid that doesn’t allow things to deteriorate. Then stuffed animals, real fossils, butterflies . . .augh it was great. Nothing was in English- not the cards, the descriptions; the people didn’t speak any English. It was all Spanish the entire time, which was really cool. Also, the museum was in an old mansion with marble and spiral staircase. I went to a vending machine to get water because there was no ac and I felt really dizzy-ended up getting orange flavored carbonated sugar, drank a couple of sips and realized it was making me more dizzy. Overall it was a lot of fun.

Mark and I went to the Plaza Italia together one of the first days we arrived, which was cool. The botanical gardens are next to the plaza and have a huge population of stray cats. It was really interesting to see wild, domesticated, wild, house, wild, cats. A guy showed up and fed them and gave them water. It made use smile. There are animal lovers everywhere. All the cats came running when they saw him as if he does it every day.

Yesterday was awesome- we went to San Telmo for a huge artist market/antique market, saw a live tango band. Then onto Chinatown for the Chinese new-year- we missed the dragons, but not the insane crowd. Then to recoleta, another artist market, a tango dance performance, beers, then back to Palermo- more beer and the carnival celebrations.

Overall, we have seen a lot so far. The crazy part- that is just the things to see if you are not seeing the main attractions-like soccer game, art galleries, tango shows, steak houses, la Boca neighborhood, recoleta cemetery . . .

This city is amazing, we love it, we wish we could stay longer, but like any great city it is expensive. Things are costing about the same they would in the states, which we didn’t plan for, so although we love it here- we are planning to leave probably this weekend.