Eh voilà, je ne l’ai presque pas remarqué mais 2005 est bien finie, même janvier est presque déjà fini, il est donc temps de faire l’habituel bilan de l’année 2005 concernant les nouveautés musicales de l’année. Voici donc la liste de mes choix pour 2005, ne suivant aucune ordre particulière.
[P] e pronto, quase nem reparei mas o ano 2005 acabou e daqui a pouco estamos já no verão 2006… por isso é tempo de fazer o balanço do ano musical. aqui ficam as listas com as minhas escolhas discograficas para o ano que findou, sem nenhuma ordem em especial.
Bilan 2005 / escolhas 2005 / best of 2005
Albums
Arcade Fire “Funeral”
Aswefall “Bleed”
Deus “Pocket revolution”
Dk 7 “Disarmed”
Fischerspooner “Odyssey”
Goldfrapp “Supernature”
Gorillaz “Demon Days”
Jamie Lidell “Multiply”
Justus Köhncke “Doppelleben”
Lindstrom & Prins Thomas “Lindstrom & Prins Thomas”
Nine Horses “Snow Borne Sorrow”
Richard Davis “Details”
Readymade FC “Babilonia”
Sébastien Schuller “Happiness”
The Juan Maclean “Less Than Human”
Who Made Who “Who Made Who”
Compilations
Mix “A Bugged In Selection” by Erol Alkan
Mix “Back To Mine” by Neil Tennant
“Prima Norsk 3”, various
DJ Kicks mix by Annie
“The Enochian Way” presented by Super Numeri
Singles
Annie “The Wedding - Lindstrom remix”
Lindstrom “I Feel Space”
Tiga “You Gonna Want Me”
The Juan Maclean “Give Me Every Little Thing”
Ladytron ”destroy everything you touch”
Kaiser Chiefs "Every Day I Love You Less and Less (Spike Stent Remix)"
Grand National "Peanut dreams"
Tiger Lou "The loyal`
Baxendale "I built this city (michael mayer remix)"
Boards of Canada “Chromakey Dreamcoat”
Billie Holiday “Speak Low (Bent Remix)” - Verve Remixed 3
Who made who “Space for rent”
Munk “Kick out the chairs - Whomadewho rework”
Sébastien Schuller “Sleeping song”
Colder “your face”
Beady Belle “skin deep”
Gorillaz “Dare”
The Killers “somebody told me (Glimmers mix)
LCD Soundsystem “Tribulations (Lindstrom remix)
Kaos “feel like I feel”
Fischerspooner "Just Let Go (Thin White Duke Remix Radio Edit)"
30 janvier 2006
26 janvier 2006
INVOCAÇÃO AO SOL
(Poemas Ameríndios dos índios da Pampa Argentina)
Dá-me sempre o céu azul,
homem antigo de rosto iluminado.
Dá-me sempre a nuvem branca,
ó velha alma de cabeça acesa.
Dá-me sempre o teu abrigo de ouro,
grande faca de ouro
pela qual
nos encontramos na Terra.
(traduzidos para português por Herberto Helder)
Invocación al sol
Dame siempre el cielo azul,
hombre antiguo de cara iluminada.
Dame siempre la nuve blanca,
vieja alma de cabeza encendida.
Dame siempre tu refugio de oro,
grande cuchillo de oro
por lo cual
nos encontramos en la Tierra.
(traducción libre)
Dá-me sempre o céu azul,
homem antigo de rosto iluminado.
Dá-me sempre a nuvem branca,
ó velha alma de cabeça acesa.
Dá-me sempre o teu abrigo de ouro,
grande faca de ouro
pela qual
nos encontramos na Terra.
(traduzidos para português por Herberto Helder)
Invocación al sol
Dame siempre el cielo azul,
hombre antiguo de cara iluminada.
Dame siempre la nuve blanca,
vieja alma de cabeza encendida.
Dame siempre tu refugio de oro,
grande cuchillo de oro
por lo cual
nos encontramos en la Tierra.
(traducción libre)
24 janvier 2006
Distribuição desigual do crescimento económico – alguns países cada vez mais pobres
Segundo a instituição New Economics Foundation (NEF), uma instituição independente de pesquisa da Grã-Bretanha, citada pelo Expresso, a última década fez aumentar o fosso entre os países «mais pobres» e os «mais ricos» do mundo, revela o estudo «O Crescimento não está a funcionar: a distribuição desigual de custos e benefícios do crescimento económico».
Segundo os investigadores da NEF, «os dados mostram que o crescimento económico sozinho não gera distribuição de rendimento, como defendem algumas receitas económicas ortodoxas». Um dos exemplos citados é o caso do Brasil, que, apesar de ser uma das maiores economias mundias, poderia levar 304 anos a atingir o mesmo nível de distribuição do rendimento dos países ricos.
[EN]
Growth isn’t working: the uneven distribution of benefits and costs from economic growth
The report shows that globalisation is failing the world’s poorest as their share of the benefits of growth plummet, and accelerating climate change hurts the poorest most.
“The report, the first in nef's series of 'Re-thinking poverty' reports, reveals that the share of benefits from global economic growth reaching the world’s poorest people is actually shrinking, while they continue to bear an unfair share of the costs. New figures show that growth was less effective at passing on benefits to the poorest in the 1990’s than it was even in the 1980’s- the so-called ‘lost decade for development’ - and an age of rising climate chaos will worsen their prospects. The report says that the notion that global economic growth is the only way of reducing poverty for the world’s poorest people is the self-serving rhetoric of those who already enjoy the greatest share of world income. It's authors argue that to achieve real progress we need to change in the way we think about and discuss economic issues, and break out of the confines of mainstream economic thinking. We also need a shift in power relations, both globally and nationally, to move power from developed countries, elites and commercial interests to the majority of the world’s population, the poor.”
[nef is an independent think-and-do tank that inspires and demonstrates real economic well-being. Nef aims to improve quality of life by promoting innovative solutions that challenge mainstream thinking on economic, environment and social issues. It was founded in 1986 by the leaders of The Other Economic Summit (TOES) which forced issues such as international debt onto the agenda of the G7 and G8 summits.]
Segundo a instituição New Economics Foundation (NEF), uma instituição independente de pesquisa da Grã-Bretanha, citada pelo Expresso, a última década fez aumentar o fosso entre os países «mais pobres» e os «mais ricos» do mundo, revela o estudo «O Crescimento não está a funcionar: a distribuição desigual de custos e benefícios do crescimento económico».
Segundo os investigadores da NEF, «os dados mostram que o crescimento económico sozinho não gera distribuição de rendimento, como defendem algumas receitas económicas ortodoxas». Um dos exemplos citados é o caso do Brasil, que, apesar de ser uma das maiores economias mundias, poderia levar 304 anos a atingir o mesmo nível de distribuição do rendimento dos países ricos.
[EN]
Growth isn’t working: the uneven distribution of benefits and costs from economic growth
The report shows that globalisation is failing the world’s poorest as their share of the benefits of growth plummet, and accelerating climate change hurts the poorest most.
“The report, the first in nef's series of 'Re-thinking poverty' reports, reveals that the share of benefits from global economic growth reaching the world’s poorest people is actually shrinking, while they continue to bear an unfair share of the costs. New figures show that growth was less effective at passing on benefits to the poorest in the 1990’s than it was even in the 1980’s- the so-called ‘lost decade for development’ - and an age of rising climate chaos will worsen their prospects. The report says that the notion that global economic growth is the only way of reducing poverty for the world’s poorest people is the self-serving rhetoric of those who already enjoy the greatest share of world income. It's authors argue that to achieve real progress we need to change in the way we think about and discuss economic issues, and break out of the confines of mainstream economic thinking. We also need a shift in power relations, both globally and nationally, to move power from developed countries, elites and commercial interests to the majority of the world’s population, the poor.”
[nef is an independent think-and-do tank that inspires and demonstrates real economic well-being. Nef aims to improve quality of life by promoting innovative solutions that challenge mainstream thinking on economic, environment and social issues. It was founded in 1986 by the leaders of The Other Economic Summit (TOES) which forced issues such as international debt onto the agenda of the G7 and G8 summits.]
Eleições presidenciais em portugal 2006
Eleições presidenciais em Portugal 2006
E pronto, Cavaco Silva ganhou. Não foi a direita que ganhou nem a esquerda que perdeu, foi Cavaco Silva quem ganhou. Como era de esperar, ele ganhou, logo à primeira volta, com mais de 50% dos votos (embora talvez menos do que as sondagens lhe auguravam). Nenhuma novidade, pois já se esperava há pelo menos dois meses. O povo português pode finalmente respirar pois termina finalmente uma campanha longa e chata e o país pode voltar à "normalidade"...
E porque ganhou Cavaco Silva? Porque se apresentou como candidato supra-partidario (excelente estratégia mas nem sequer o foi pois Cavaco é assim mesmo), sem esperar apoios partidários, que acabaram por vir, pois os líderes dos partidos de “direita” foram inteligentes e pragmáticos. Em segundo lugar, Cavaco Silva é sentido pelos portugueses como um homem do povo, honesto e trabalhador, directo, e não como um desses políticos profissionais que parece não produzirem nada. E, finalmente, porque Cavaco é associado a tempos bons da economia portuguesa, de crescimento, positivos, em que os portugueses acreditavam num futuro melhor. Não interessa já o porquê da situação actual e porquê essas promessas de mais desenvolvimento não foram ainda cumpridas, mas Cavaco teve uma atitude positiva e politicamente correcta nesta campanha e o resultado está à vista.
Efectivamente, estas eleições foram reveladoras de como os portugueses estão cansados de partidos. Como escrevia Antonio Barreto hoje no dn (http://dn.sapo.pt/editorial/index.html), "O primeiro e o segundo candidatos mais votados foram os mais independentes, talvez os mais populistas, mais próximos dos movimentos sociais, mas... contra ou à margem dos partidos instalados. Que daí não venha mal ao mundo: pode ser que os partidos aprendam!" E como escreveu também J.M Fernandes no Publico (www.clicx.publico.pt), “O segundo e mais importante factor (desta eleição) foi o ter revelado a dimensão do mal-estar existente entre o eleitorado face às hierarquias partidárias, ao aparelhismo e ao clientelismo tentacular (…)”.
Aliás mesmo Manuel Alegra, contra a orientação do partido socialista, fez melhor do que o candidato oficial dos socialistas, o que é também sintomático deste divorcio entre o povo e os partidos políticos.
O que os portugueses gostariam agora de ver é um trabalho de colaboração, de conjunto, um empenhamento mútuo de Cavaco e Sócrates, em governar bem o pais e resolver os problemas, tomar as melhores decisões e imprimir um novo rumo e impulso ao país. O que os portugueses gostariam certamente de ver é todos os partidos fazerem o mesmo no Parlamento e na vida pública do país, no Governo e na oposição. Os partidos têm-se equivocado nas suas lutas ultimamente. Não é a luta contra o adversário, contra o outro partido, da outra cor, que interessa. Os objectivos da existência dos partidos e da sua acção deveriam ser o governo do país, a resolução dos problemas que permita aos portugueses e a Portugal desenvolver-se e melhorar o nível e a qualidade de vida dos habitantes. Creio ser isso que os portugueses genuinamente desejam e não lutas e querelas partidárias e palacianas, não as lutas passadas entre esquerda e direita. Já não há “pachorra” para isso. E os partidos que não entenderem isso, os lideres que não o entenderem, não só estarão a prestar um mau serviço ao país e aos portugueses, estarão também a prestar um mau serviço ao seu partido. Como aliás Eduardo Lourenço escreveu no Publico na semana passada, Mário Soares também se terá enganado no combate. O mundo de hoje não é mais o dos anos 70 ou 80 e a dicotomia entre esquerda e direita fazem cada vez menos sentido, pelo menos da forma maniqueísta como alguns líderes ainda insistem em apresentá-la hoje (veja-se por exemplo o discurso triste de Louça na noite da derrota).
Cavaco Silva, no seu discurso, falou como o Presidente que os portugueses esperam, alguém sério, honesto e trabalhador. Claro que não há que esperar milagres pela simples eleição de Cavaco, o sistema presidencial em Portugal é o que é (e ainda bem) e quem tem de governar é o governo. Mas uma boa colaboração entre as instituições é necessária, no mínimo para alcançar uma imagem de estabilidade positiva para o mundo, o país e os agentes económicos. E há muitos problemas e questões para resolver. Os tempos que se avizinham não vão ser fáceis nem para Cavaco nem para Sócrates (sobretudo para este) mas espero que tanto um como o outro não desbaratem o capital político que lhes foi depositado nas últimas eleições, o país necessita e agradeceria.
E pronto, Cavaco Silva ganhou. Não foi a direita que ganhou nem a esquerda que perdeu, foi Cavaco Silva quem ganhou. Como era de esperar, ele ganhou, logo à primeira volta, com mais de 50% dos votos (embora talvez menos do que as sondagens lhe auguravam). Nenhuma novidade, pois já se esperava há pelo menos dois meses. O povo português pode finalmente respirar pois termina finalmente uma campanha longa e chata e o país pode voltar à "normalidade"...
E porque ganhou Cavaco Silva? Porque se apresentou como candidato supra-partidario (excelente estratégia mas nem sequer o foi pois Cavaco é assim mesmo), sem esperar apoios partidários, que acabaram por vir, pois os líderes dos partidos de “direita” foram inteligentes e pragmáticos. Em segundo lugar, Cavaco Silva é sentido pelos portugueses como um homem do povo, honesto e trabalhador, directo, e não como um desses políticos profissionais que parece não produzirem nada. E, finalmente, porque Cavaco é associado a tempos bons da economia portuguesa, de crescimento, positivos, em que os portugueses acreditavam num futuro melhor. Não interessa já o porquê da situação actual e porquê essas promessas de mais desenvolvimento não foram ainda cumpridas, mas Cavaco teve uma atitude positiva e politicamente correcta nesta campanha e o resultado está à vista.
Efectivamente, estas eleições foram reveladoras de como os portugueses estão cansados de partidos. Como escrevia Antonio Barreto hoje no dn (http://dn.sapo.pt/editorial/index.html), "O primeiro e o segundo candidatos mais votados foram os mais independentes, talvez os mais populistas, mais próximos dos movimentos sociais, mas... contra ou à margem dos partidos instalados. Que daí não venha mal ao mundo: pode ser que os partidos aprendam!" E como escreveu também J.M Fernandes no Publico (www.clicx.publico.pt), “O segundo e mais importante factor (desta eleição) foi o ter revelado a dimensão do mal-estar existente entre o eleitorado face às hierarquias partidárias, ao aparelhismo e ao clientelismo tentacular (…)”.
Aliás mesmo Manuel Alegra, contra a orientação do partido socialista, fez melhor do que o candidato oficial dos socialistas, o que é também sintomático deste divorcio entre o povo e os partidos políticos.
O que os portugueses gostariam agora de ver é um trabalho de colaboração, de conjunto, um empenhamento mútuo de Cavaco e Sócrates, em governar bem o pais e resolver os problemas, tomar as melhores decisões e imprimir um novo rumo e impulso ao país. O que os portugueses gostariam certamente de ver é todos os partidos fazerem o mesmo no Parlamento e na vida pública do país, no Governo e na oposição. Os partidos têm-se equivocado nas suas lutas ultimamente. Não é a luta contra o adversário, contra o outro partido, da outra cor, que interessa. Os objectivos da existência dos partidos e da sua acção deveriam ser o governo do país, a resolução dos problemas que permita aos portugueses e a Portugal desenvolver-se e melhorar o nível e a qualidade de vida dos habitantes. Creio ser isso que os portugueses genuinamente desejam e não lutas e querelas partidárias e palacianas, não as lutas passadas entre esquerda e direita. Já não há “pachorra” para isso. E os partidos que não entenderem isso, os lideres que não o entenderem, não só estarão a prestar um mau serviço ao país e aos portugueses, estarão também a prestar um mau serviço ao seu partido. Como aliás Eduardo Lourenço escreveu no Publico na semana passada, Mário Soares também se terá enganado no combate. O mundo de hoje não é mais o dos anos 70 ou 80 e a dicotomia entre esquerda e direita fazem cada vez menos sentido, pelo menos da forma maniqueísta como alguns líderes ainda insistem em apresentá-la hoje (veja-se por exemplo o discurso triste de Louça na noite da derrota).
Cavaco Silva, no seu discurso, falou como o Presidente que os portugueses esperam, alguém sério, honesto e trabalhador. Claro que não há que esperar milagres pela simples eleição de Cavaco, o sistema presidencial em Portugal é o que é (e ainda bem) e quem tem de governar é o governo. Mas uma boa colaboração entre as instituições é necessária, no mínimo para alcançar uma imagem de estabilidade positiva para o mundo, o país e os agentes económicos. E há muitos problemas e questões para resolver. Os tempos que se avizinham não vão ser fáceis nem para Cavaco nem para Sócrates (sobretudo para este) mas espero que tanto um como o outro não desbaratem o capital político que lhes foi depositado nas últimas eleições, o país necessita e agradeceria.
22 janvier 2006
The photos from argentina are now edited and uploaded in my smugmug page - check them out... No explanations yet, photos are self descriptive, but I'll add some text in due time...
As fotos da Argentina foram editadas, seleccionadas e carregadas na minha página web smugmug - dê uma olhada... Não há ainda descrição porque as fotos falam por si, adicionarei comentários assim que puder...
Mis fotos de Argentina han sido cargadas en mi pagina web smugmug - echa una mirada... todavia no hay comentarios porque las fotos hablan por si, en cuanto pueda la añado.
Les photos d'Argentine ont été chargées dans le site smugmug, allez y jeter un oeil... Dès que j'ai le temps j'ajouterai des commentaires.
As fotos da Argentina foram editadas, seleccionadas e carregadas na minha página web smugmug - dê uma olhada... Não há ainda descrição porque as fotos falam por si, adicionarei comentários assim que puder...
Mis fotos de Argentina han sido cargadas en mi pagina web smugmug - echa una mirada... todavia no hay comentarios porque las fotos hablan por si, en cuanto pueda la añado.
Les photos d'Argentine ont été chargées dans le site smugmug, allez y jeter un oeil... Dès que j'ai le temps j'ajouterai des commentaires.
20 janvier 2006
this is my visited countries map... there is still such a big world to visit...(create your own world visited map at world66)
Episodio curioso en el aeropuerto:
Estaba en Ezeiza, aeropuerto internacional de BA, esperando para poder entrar en el avión de Varig para Sao Paulo. Se forma la cola para embarcar en el avión ... y un grupo de unos seis pasajeros se cuela, pasando olímpicamente de los demás, que habían hecho la cola durante más de una hora. Mientras entrábamos he podido constatar que tenían pasaporte rojo con una cruz blanca, de Suiza, claro.
Cuando hemos llegado a Sao Paulo, nos anuncian desgraciadamente que el vuelo a Lisboa ha sido anulado y que solo tendríamos vuelo el día siguiente por la mañana ... mierda ...
Nos transfieren en bus a un hotel, después del quilombo habitual con las formalidades, y hacemos el check in en el hotel a casi ya media noche. Tanto para entrar en el bus como para hacer el check in pasa lo mismo: el grupito de suizos (francófonos cabe señalar) se cuela, delante de la gente que estaba ya más o menos en la fila, eso sí quizás poco definida, porque todos estábamos cansados y queríamos descansar, llegar lo más rápido posible a la cama … o comer algo.
A las 5 de la mañana nos llevan al aeropuerto. Al embarcar en el avión, el mismo número ... la gente hace una cola muy civilizada y, cuando se abre la puerta de embarque, los suizitos se cuelan de nuevo delante de todos, después de haber estado tranquilamente sentados hasta el último minuto y eso que era una cola como se debe, no una de éstas que se hacen en Bélgica...
Esta vez yo estaba en la parte inicial de la cola. En este preciso momento, se me suben los colores (y las calores), se me calienta la sangre y digo, en mi mejor francés, en voz alta para que todos se enteren: "Monsieurs, il y a une file, il faut faire la file au fond, comme tout le monde”, a lo que una de las suizas contesta, sorprendida por escuchar francés, "oui, mais ça sert à quoi, quelle est la différence?".
Le respondo simplemente, “Ah bon, et c'est comme ça qu'on fait en Suisse?». Al oír la palabra "suiza", los seis de marras, de cabeza gacha, se han dirigido al final de la cola. Algunos pasajeros que han entendido, han aplaudido y me han sonreído.
Conociendo Suiza, al menos con mi experiencia personal, me parece que no se atreverían a hacer estas cosas en su país. Allí ni siquiera se atreven casi a pasar un semáforo rojo para peatones ... y cuando lo haces casi te pegan. .. (me pasó!). Pero en Sudamérica, "tercer mundo", a quién le importa. Somos suizos y tenemos que estar en nuestro lugar, ya que somos los primeros.
Estaba en Ezeiza, aeropuerto internacional de BA, esperando para poder entrar en el avión de Varig para Sao Paulo. Se forma la cola para embarcar en el avión ... y un grupo de unos seis pasajeros se cuela, pasando olímpicamente de los demás, que habían hecho la cola durante más de una hora. Mientras entrábamos he podido constatar que tenían pasaporte rojo con una cruz blanca, de Suiza, claro.
Cuando hemos llegado a Sao Paulo, nos anuncian desgraciadamente que el vuelo a Lisboa ha sido anulado y que solo tendríamos vuelo el día siguiente por la mañana ... mierda ...
Nos transfieren en bus a un hotel, después del quilombo habitual con las formalidades, y hacemos el check in en el hotel a casi ya media noche. Tanto para entrar en el bus como para hacer el check in pasa lo mismo: el grupito de suizos (francófonos cabe señalar) se cuela, delante de la gente que estaba ya más o menos en la fila, eso sí quizás poco definida, porque todos estábamos cansados y queríamos descansar, llegar lo más rápido posible a la cama … o comer algo.
A las 5 de la mañana nos llevan al aeropuerto. Al embarcar en el avión, el mismo número ... la gente hace una cola muy civilizada y, cuando se abre la puerta de embarque, los suizitos se cuelan de nuevo delante de todos, después de haber estado tranquilamente sentados hasta el último minuto y eso que era una cola como se debe, no una de éstas que se hacen en Bélgica...
Esta vez yo estaba en la parte inicial de la cola. En este preciso momento, se me suben los colores (y las calores), se me calienta la sangre y digo, en mi mejor francés, en voz alta para que todos se enteren: "Monsieurs, il y a une file, il faut faire la file au fond, comme tout le monde”, a lo que una de las suizas contesta, sorprendida por escuchar francés, "oui, mais ça sert à quoi, quelle est la différence?".
Le respondo simplemente, “Ah bon, et c'est comme ça qu'on fait en Suisse?». Al oír la palabra "suiza", los seis de marras, de cabeza gacha, se han dirigido al final de la cola. Algunos pasajeros que han entendido, han aplaudido y me han sonreído.
Conociendo Suiza, al menos con mi experiencia personal, me parece que no se atreverían a hacer estas cosas en su país. Allí ni siquiera se atreven casi a pasar un semáforo rojo para peatones ... y cuando lo haces casi te pegan. .. (me pasó!). Pero en Sudamérica, "tercer mundo", a quién le importa. Somos suizos y tenemos que estar en nuestro lugar, ya que somos los primeros.
19 janvier 2006
New! Nouveau! Novidade!
Maintenant il est + facile de poster un commentaire, il ne faut plus être enregistré/ membre, pour l'envoyer. Désolé mais je suis nouveau dans la blogosphere...
Now it's easier to post a comment/message, you don't have to register/ be a member anymore. Sorry but I am new in blogworld...
Agora é + fácil fazer um comentário, não é necessário registrar-se/ ser membro. desculpem mas sou novo na blogosfera...
Maintenant il est + facile de poster un commentaire, il ne faut plus être enregistré/ membre, pour l'envoyer. Désolé mais je suis nouveau dans la blogosphere...
Now it's easier to post a comment/message, you don't have to register/ be a member anymore. Sorry but I am new in blogworld...
Agora é + fácil fazer um comentário, não é necessário registrar-se/ ser membro. desculpem mas sou novo na blogosfera...
Le site Vazy à Bruxelles est très intéressant avec des suggestions sur des tas de choses qui se passent à Bruxelles - sorties, expos, musique, etc. Cette semaine ils publient un "edito" intéressant que je me permets de transcrire ici textuellement, directement du site Vazy.be, écrit par Sabrina (sabrina@vazy.be):
"Lundi. Comme tous les lundis, je me rends chez ma psy, réfléchissant à ce que je vais bien pouvoir lui dire. Je suis en mal d’inspiration. Je ressemble à toutes ces femmes plutôt gâtées par la vie mais qui s’imaginent toujours être les moins bien loties.Alors que parfois je me dis que j’exagère, Bree, Susan, Gabrielle, Lynette et les autres tentent de me déculpabiliser de me sentir (si) malheureuse même quand tout va bien. Pauvre Desperate Housewife (que je suis…)Mais pendant que l’on se plaint de nos problèmes conjugaux, de notre boulot, de nos enfants… Une femme de dix-huit ans originaire de Meerwala (Inde) a été condamnée à être violée à titre de "châtiment", en raison de la "liaison illicite" présumée de son frère avec une jeune fille qui appartenait à une tribu considérée comme "supérieure". Une iranienne de dix-sept ans est condamnée à mort pour avoir mortellement blessé un homme qui tentait de la violer. Et deux millions de fillettes sont excisées chaque année… J’éteins mon PC, choquée par toutes ces horreurs. La sonnerie du téléphone me ramène à la réalité. C’est une copine, on joue 'Loulou' de Pialat ce soir. Une pauvre petite bourgeoise en mal de sensation forte (ça me rappelle quelqu’un ?). "Allez, viens" me dit-elle. Je finis par céder. Après le film, on se retrouve autour d’un verre. "Géniaaaal ce film, (…)" J’écoute mon amie sans l’écouter. Sa voix raisonne, me semble loin. Je me dis que demain j’achèterais « Mutilée » de Khadi pour comprendre le quotidien d’une femme qui a vraiment souffert.Je rentre chez moi, ma petite fille dort paisiblement. Mon adorable mari travaille. Je me sens un peu seule. Alors j’allume la télé, me mets un "Desperate Housewives" pour me convaincre, une fois encore, que j’ai le droit de me plaindre."
"Lundi. Comme tous les lundis, je me rends chez ma psy, réfléchissant à ce que je vais bien pouvoir lui dire. Je suis en mal d’inspiration. Je ressemble à toutes ces femmes plutôt gâtées par la vie mais qui s’imaginent toujours être les moins bien loties.Alors que parfois je me dis que j’exagère, Bree, Susan, Gabrielle, Lynette et les autres tentent de me déculpabiliser de me sentir (si) malheureuse même quand tout va bien. Pauvre Desperate Housewife (que je suis…)Mais pendant que l’on se plaint de nos problèmes conjugaux, de notre boulot, de nos enfants… Une femme de dix-huit ans originaire de Meerwala (Inde) a été condamnée à être violée à titre de "châtiment", en raison de la "liaison illicite" présumée de son frère avec une jeune fille qui appartenait à une tribu considérée comme "supérieure". Une iranienne de dix-sept ans est condamnée à mort pour avoir mortellement blessé un homme qui tentait de la violer. Et deux millions de fillettes sont excisées chaque année… J’éteins mon PC, choquée par toutes ces horreurs. La sonnerie du téléphone me ramène à la réalité. C’est une copine, on joue 'Loulou' de Pialat ce soir. Une pauvre petite bourgeoise en mal de sensation forte (ça me rappelle quelqu’un ?). "Allez, viens" me dit-elle. Je finis par céder. Après le film, on se retrouve autour d’un verre. "Géniaaaal ce film, (…)" J’écoute mon amie sans l’écouter. Sa voix raisonne, me semble loin. Je me dis que demain j’achèterais « Mutilée » de Khadi pour comprendre le quotidien d’une femme qui a vraiment souffert.Je rentre chez moi, ma petite fille dort paisiblement. Mon adorable mari travaille. Je me sens un peu seule. Alors j’allume la télé, me mets un "Desperate Housewives" pour me convaincre, une fois encore, que j’ai le droit de me plaindre."
Bachelet - new politicy approach or continuity?
So Bachelet made it! And with comfortable 54.5% against 46.5% from Piñera. This is quite amazing in such a conservative society as is Chile's. Even more so since she is divorced (twice), socialist and agnostic. It is more the trajectory of a single and special woman with a tragic past and a complicated way until reaching the presidency. Her father was a constitutionalist general who was imprisoned and killed under Pinochet's dictatorship, she went in exile with her mother, first to Australia then to Eastern Germany and graduated in Berlin's Humbolt university in medicine (she is a paediatrician). She then returned to Chile undercover in the late seventies and joined the socialist party, climbing slowly and participating actively in the party's rule of Chile in the last 16 years.
Somehow she symbolises a cultural change in Chile and very clearly the population have reaffirmed that they don't want anything else more to do with the times and clique of Pinochet. Yet her result was also the merit of the "Concertación" (political alliance between socialists and christian democrats) and the achievements of the past 15 years. Between 96 and 2005, Chile grew on average 4.2% a year (Latin America only at 2.8%). In 2003, according to Cepal - Comisión economica para America Latina y Caribe - Chile was, among 18 countries in the region, the one with the lowest poverty index (19% of poor, compared to a regional average of 44%, 37.1 in Brazil). Also extreme poverty was reduced by half between 1990 and 2003 to 4.7%. And also a public finances in very good state, low taxes. So, to a certain extent, the people have also voted for the continuity of the liberal policies, yet with a social side. And now with a new approach which will bring more equal opportunities.
For many it is too early to see the direction which Bachelet will take in many respects. She has said that she sees Mercosur/Mercosul and Alca as being compatible and that she will give priority to relations with other Latin American countries and also hopes to achieve higher regional integration. Other Latin American countries however, like Argentina and Brazil, fear that little will change in Chile's approach to Latin America, continuing to favour Alca and privileged relations with the USA.
According to Chilean economist Marta Lagos (from the NGO Latinobarometro which monitors democracy evolution in the continent, as mentioned by Folha de S. Paulo), Bachelet could be compared to Evita Perón with the difference that Bachelet is the antithesis of populist, in the way that she can also induce (and is a result of it) a cultural change in the country. However Lagos does not consider Bachelet to be a trend in Latin America but more an exception (yet there is another woman well placed in the surveys for Peru's next presidential elections), since the number of women in Parliament and in management places is very reduced. Yet she could symbolise a trend to come.
But the future will tell how Bachelet will be able to keep her promises for more equal rights, political renewal and better relations with Latin American neighbours.
So Bachelet made it! And with comfortable 54.5% against 46.5% from Piñera. This is quite amazing in such a conservative society as is Chile's. Even more so since she is divorced (twice), socialist and agnostic. It is more the trajectory of a single and special woman with a tragic past and a complicated way until reaching the presidency. Her father was a constitutionalist general who was imprisoned and killed under Pinochet's dictatorship, she went in exile with her mother, first to Australia then to Eastern Germany and graduated in Berlin's Humbolt university in medicine (she is a paediatrician). She then returned to Chile undercover in the late seventies and joined the socialist party, climbing slowly and participating actively in the party's rule of Chile in the last 16 years.
Somehow she symbolises a cultural change in Chile and very clearly the population have reaffirmed that they don't want anything else more to do with the times and clique of Pinochet. Yet her result was also the merit of the "Concertación" (political alliance between socialists and christian democrats) and the achievements of the past 15 years. Between 96 and 2005, Chile grew on average 4.2% a year (Latin America only at 2.8%). In 2003, according to Cepal - Comisión economica para America Latina y Caribe - Chile was, among 18 countries in the region, the one with the lowest poverty index (19% of poor, compared to a regional average of 44%, 37.1 in Brazil). Also extreme poverty was reduced by half between 1990 and 2003 to 4.7%. And also a public finances in very good state, low taxes. So, to a certain extent, the people have also voted for the continuity of the liberal policies, yet with a social side. And now with a new approach which will bring more equal opportunities.
For many it is too early to see the direction which Bachelet will take in many respects. She has said that she sees Mercosur/Mercosul and Alca as being compatible and that she will give priority to relations with other Latin American countries and also hopes to achieve higher regional integration. Other Latin American countries however, like Argentina and Brazil, fear that little will change in Chile's approach to Latin America, continuing to favour Alca and privileged relations with the USA.
According to Chilean economist Marta Lagos (from the NGO Latinobarometro which monitors democracy evolution in the continent, as mentioned by Folha de S. Paulo), Bachelet could be compared to Evita Perón with the difference that Bachelet is the antithesis of populist, in the way that she can also induce (and is a result of it) a cultural change in the country. However Lagos does not consider Bachelet to be a trend in Latin America but more an exception (yet there is another woman well placed in the surveys for Peru's next presidential elections), since the number of women in Parliament and in management places is very reduced. Yet she could symbolise a trend to come.
But the future will tell how Bachelet will be able to keep her promises for more equal rights, political renewal and better relations with Latin American neighbours.
18 janvier 2006
Bureaucracy, Varig and the broken myth of iPod...
I am back in town, that is, Brussels. Ouf... finally! Not that I am so happy to be back but happy to be quiet again after a stressful travel back.
The bureaucracy started in Buenos Aires with 1 hour queuing to do the check in with Varig... slowly, slowly (some things go slowly in Argentina, maybe because it was summer and hot), then one queues again to show the boarding pass to go in the gates boarding zone, then queuing again to check the documents for refunding of VAT (a couple of stamps & it continues), then a good 30 minutes more for the border passport control, then another line to get the money back from the VAT (couldn't it be done just in one go?) and yet another queue to change the Argentinean pesos for euros (or dollars) - pesos are not very useful here. Finally more queuing to board in the aircraft, this time only after long waiting, because the flight was 1 hour and half delayed! I can imagine that Argentina could save a lot of money and get more efficient if some of the bureaucracy could be cut, which seems to be a heritage from past times. But Argentineans are quite laid back and cool, have a positive attitude which helps a bit to make up for that. They usually take things with a smile and shrug the shoulders saying "que boludos, que pelotudos"...)
Arriving in S. Paulo (arriving at 22.50 when my connection to Lisbon was supposed to leave at 23.00) I hear that the flight had been cancelled due to technical reasons and we were supposed to get a flight the following morning to Lisbon at 7 am. After some complicated bureaucratic procedures (poor organisation, here one immediately notices that things in Argentina are quite well organised, unlike Brazil, it seems, or maybe it's just Varig) we are transferred to some hotel in the middle of nowhere. I'll spare you the details... we finally took off from Guarulhos (SP) at 7.30 am in a plane which seemed more a charter carrier than a regular line one. Nothing seemed to work, no leg room, but the engines finally made it to Lisbon... On top of that, in the middle of that looooooong and boring flight, my iPod got stuck in the middle of "Utopia" (yes; by Goldfrapp...) and there was no way to make it go (since there's no battery I couldn't remove it and start over, which sometimes helps with electronic things). Of course, after such great days in Argentina and Chile where nearly all went perfectly, it would have been too good to be true, that everything went on perfectly until the end... Murphy's law...
Needless to say I lost my connection in Lisbon to Brussels (which was planned 9 hours after the foreseen arrival!) so I had to stay there and only could take a flight today, wednesday, having to pay extra 100 euros (Varig didn't do anything to make up for the delay). So here's my advice, for the time being, avoid Varig... seems not to be very reliable there days. And pray that all goes well... sometimes it might help they say.By the way, the iPod is back to work again... but now under strict surveillance.
I am back in town, that is, Brussels. Ouf... finally! Not that I am so happy to be back but happy to be quiet again after a stressful travel back.
The bureaucracy started in Buenos Aires with 1 hour queuing to do the check in with Varig... slowly, slowly (some things go slowly in Argentina, maybe because it was summer and hot), then one queues again to show the boarding pass to go in the gates boarding zone, then queuing again to check the documents for refunding of VAT (a couple of stamps & it continues), then a good 30 minutes more for the border passport control, then another line to get the money back from the VAT (couldn't it be done just in one go?) and yet another queue to change the Argentinean pesos for euros (or dollars) - pesos are not very useful here. Finally more queuing to board in the aircraft, this time only after long waiting, because the flight was 1 hour and half delayed! I can imagine that Argentina could save a lot of money and get more efficient if some of the bureaucracy could be cut, which seems to be a heritage from past times. But Argentineans are quite laid back and cool, have a positive attitude which helps a bit to make up for that. They usually take things with a smile and shrug the shoulders saying "que boludos, que pelotudos"...)
Arriving in S. Paulo (arriving at 22.50 when my connection to Lisbon was supposed to leave at 23.00) I hear that the flight had been cancelled due to technical reasons and we were supposed to get a flight the following morning to Lisbon at 7 am. After some complicated bureaucratic procedures (poor organisation, here one immediately notices that things in Argentina are quite well organised, unlike Brazil, it seems, or maybe it's just Varig) we are transferred to some hotel in the middle of nowhere. I'll spare you the details... we finally took off from Guarulhos (SP) at 7.30 am in a plane which seemed more a charter carrier than a regular line one. Nothing seemed to work, no leg room, but the engines finally made it to Lisbon... On top of that, in the middle of that looooooong and boring flight, my iPod got stuck in the middle of "Utopia" (yes; by Goldfrapp...) and there was no way to make it go (since there's no battery I couldn't remove it and start over, which sometimes helps with electronic things). Of course, after such great days in Argentina and Chile where nearly all went perfectly, it would have been too good to be true, that everything went on perfectly until the end... Murphy's law...
Needless to say I lost my connection in Lisbon to Brussels (which was planned 9 hours after the foreseen arrival!) so I had to stay there and only could take a flight today, wednesday, having to pay extra 100 euros (Varig didn't do anything to make up for the delay). So here's my advice, for the time being, avoid Varig... seems not to be very reliable there days. And pray that all goes well... sometimes it might help they say.By the way, the iPod is back to work again... but now under strict surveillance.
15 janvier 2006
Personas
Una de las cosas positivas de viajar solo es la posibilidad y facilidad de poder conocer a otra gente. En general si uno viaja en pareja o en un grupo, es menos facil contactar con otros y conocer gente. La gente que viaja sola es, con excepciones, mas abierta. La verdad es que este viaje ha sido muy enriquecedor por la experiencia de conocer tantas y tan distinctas personas de origenes diferentes. Gente en Buenos Aires, en las agencias, amigos, gente por la calle (lease ca'che), en las tiendas, restaurantes, en los hoteles, hosterias, en los buses, gente que se conoce en excursion, los guias, en los aviones, etc... Lo raro de ir a cenar con Fernando, mi amigo de Bruselas, por BsAs...
He conocido gente muy interesante y en general muy simpatica, 'cool' y acojedora. Como esa señora australiana, viajando 4 meses por el sur de suramerica, de unos 60 años, que ya habia estado 15 dias viajando en Antartida (segun ella un sueño de joven que solo ahora habia podido realizar), como esa pareja franco-americana (que nos hemos encontrado cantidad de veces, parecia programado), los 3 chicos mexicanos que conoci en la excursion a los glaciares de Upsala, Juan, Gabriel y Gilberto, muy simpaticos, o Alejandra la chica argentina tambien en esa excursion, unos brasileños de Brasilia que conoci por San Telmo, el grupo del cruce de lagos (Juliana, Massimo y Francine), esa pareja de catalanes que encontré en Bariloche y volvi a ver justo en el puesto de control de la frontera Chile-Argentina en Cerro Castillo (perdido del mundo), Luis el guia super simpatico de Bariloche que habia dejado BsAs hacia 7 años por mejor calidad de vida, Mariana y todos en la hosteria Marianas en Bariloche, esa pareja chileno-colombiana que venia en luna de miel al hotel Explora (que lujo...), Christian el guia super del trekking en el hielo y sus compañeros/as, Hernan el de la agencia Antares en Puerto Natales, Tadeo, el guia de Torres del Paine y el conductor Jorge (desgraciado defensor de Pyñera..), el chico canadiense que estaba por Calafate haciendo un documentario de viajes y seguia para Lima para 1 mes más de vacaciones con su novia (que envidia de un trabajo asi...), el chico mexicano que habia venido a Argentina entre otras cosas para ver a Maria Volonté (que asi he descubierto) y a quien le encantaba Madredeus, la pareja escocesa (Cléa y John) en luna de miel de Torres del Paine, la pareja americana de Denver que habia estado toda 1 semana pescando en los lagos chilenos (que aburrido...), Cecilia la chica simpatica pero un poco tonta de la agencia de BsAs, Sebastián que me ha sugerido lo que hacer por Bariloche, Ariel y otros...
Experiencias muy interesantes y enriquecedoras, por supuesto, pero que al mismo tiempo me dejan un poco - bastante - nostalgico. Se que no volveré a verlas, quien sabe alguna volveré a ver... (seguro la pareja franco-americana que vive en S. Francisco, los voy a ver por alguna calle de ese mundo). Algunas personas si que me gustaria conocer mejor y volver a ver, posiblemente en otras circunstancias, pero quizas eso no vaya a pasar nunca... pero that's life, asi es y seguimos adelante, con muchas ganas de conocer más cosas, más personas, otras caras, otras latitudes, otros costumbres. Por mi parte siempre más enriquecido con todo lo que he visto y la posibilidad de haber conocido tantas personas distintas.
Una de las cosas positivas de viajar solo es la posibilidad y facilidad de poder conocer a otra gente. En general si uno viaja en pareja o en un grupo, es menos facil contactar con otros y conocer gente. La gente que viaja sola es, con excepciones, mas abierta. La verdad es que este viaje ha sido muy enriquecedor por la experiencia de conocer tantas y tan distinctas personas de origenes diferentes. Gente en Buenos Aires, en las agencias, amigos, gente por la calle (lease ca'che), en las tiendas, restaurantes, en los hoteles, hosterias, en los buses, gente que se conoce en excursion, los guias, en los aviones, etc... Lo raro de ir a cenar con Fernando, mi amigo de Bruselas, por BsAs...
He conocido gente muy interesante y en general muy simpatica, 'cool' y acojedora. Como esa señora australiana, viajando 4 meses por el sur de suramerica, de unos 60 años, que ya habia estado 15 dias viajando en Antartida (segun ella un sueño de joven que solo ahora habia podido realizar), como esa pareja franco-americana (que nos hemos encontrado cantidad de veces, parecia programado), los 3 chicos mexicanos que conoci en la excursion a los glaciares de Upsala, Juan, Gabriel y Gilberto, muy simpaticos, o Alejandra la chica argentina tambien en esa excursion, unos brasileños de Brasilia que conoci por San Telmo, el grupo del cruce de lagos (Juliana, Massimo y Francine), esa pareja de catalanes que encontré en Bariloche y volvi a ver justo en el puesto de control de la frontera Chile-Argentina en Cerro Castillo (perdido del mundo), Luis el guia super simpatico de Bariloche que habia dejado BsAs hacia 7 años por mejor calidad de vida, Mariana y todos en la hosteria Marianas en Bariloche, esa pareja chileno-colombiana que venia en luna de miel al hotel Explora (que lujo...), Christian el guia super del trekking en el hielo y sus compañeros/as, Hernan el de la agencia Antares en Puerto Natales, Tadeo, el guia de Torres del Paine y el conductor Jorge (desgraciado defensor de Pyñera..), el chico canadiense que estaba por Calafate haciendo un documentario de viajes y seguia para Lima para 1 mes más de vacaciones con su novia (que envidia de un trabajo asi...), el chico mexicano que habia venido a Argentina entre otras cosas para ver a Maria Volonté (que asi he descubierto) y a quien le encantaba Madredeus, la pareja escocesa (Cléa y John) en luna de miel de Torres del Paine, la pareja americana de Denver que habia estado toda 1 semana pescando en los lagos chilenos (que aburrido...), Cecilia la chica simpatica pero un poco tonta de la agencia de BsAs, Sebastián que me ha sugerido lo que hacer por Bariloche, Ariel y otros...
Experiencias muy interesantes y enriquecedoras, por supuesto, pero que al mismo tiempo me dejan un poco - bastante - nostalgico. Se que no volveré a verlas, quien sabe alguna volveré a ver... (seguro la pareja franco-americana que vive en S. Francisco, los voy a ver por alguna calle de ese mundo). Algunas personas si que me gustaria conocer mejor y volver a ver, posiblemente en otras circunstancias, pero quizas eso no vaya a pasar nunca... pero that's life, asi es y seguimos adelante, con muchas ganas de conocer más cosas, más personas, otras caras, otras latitudes, otros costumbres. Por mi parte siempre más enriquecido con todo lo que he visto y la posibilidad de haber conocido tantas personas distintas.
Hasta la vista Argentina...
So today is practically my last day in BsAs... it has been raining heavilly all night and morning, although it is rather warm. Apparently it has been like this here most of the week so this is not a very good summer weather. I wish I could walk around a bit more around Puerto Madero and in some parts in downtown and try some other restaurant I haven't had time to yet... let's see how the weather goes.
Tomorrow afternoon it's back to Europe, to Lisbon, with Varig... yes the holidays are coming to an end. But I certainly hope to be able to come back one day and discover more of Argentina (mostly the north-west around Salta, Jujuy, Tucuman) and maybe Chile's Atacama desert and then maybe further to Bolivia and Peru... some day, another time...
hasta la vista
So today is practically my last day in BsAs... it has been raining heavilly all night and morning, although it is rather warm. Apparently it has been like this here most of the week so this is not a very good summer weather. I wish I could walk around a bit more around Puerto Madero and in some parts in downtown and try some other restaurant I haven't had time to yet... let's see how the weather goes.
Tomorrow afternoon it's back to Europe, to Lisbon, with Varig... yes the holidays are coming to an end. But I certainly hope to be able to come back one day and discover more of Argentina (mostly the north-west around Salta, Jujuy, Tucuman) and maybe Chile's Atacama desert and then maybe further to Bolivia and Peru... some day, another time...
hasta la vista
Ñoqui, mate, parrilla and dulce de leche
The food is very good in Argentina, although many would probably get bored after a while of so much meat... (probably more difficult for vegetarians though). Even the chilean say that food in Argentina is very good and that is something! Of course italian style food is very common (as is spanish type food), lots of pasta of which ñoqui are very special (gnochhi in italian). As a tradition argentinians usually eat ñoqui every 29th of the month... don't know why. Argentinian meat is excellent (and I'm not much of a meat lover). But beef (ternera), cordero (lamb), pork, sausages, chorizos, and even some sort of deer meat (ciervo, which I ate in Bariloche) are excellent. That is the usual parrilla (read parridja, 'cause in Argentina 'll' is read 'dj' or 'tch'), which is charcoal grilled, delicious. I wish we had more argentinian meet in Europe...
Fish is not so common here, except salmon, which is industrially produced in lakes and damms. In the lakes region and in Patagonia especially, salmon and sometimes trout (trucha) is very common. In Chile however, fish and seafood is very common and it seems that they eat it a lot more, although parrilla is also strong. In Chile I had congrio (white sea fish) with seafood, in an exquisite bisque de homard sauce... delicious... and also chupe de centollo, some sort of crab soufflé, in Puerto Natales, which was also delicious.
'Mate' is THE drink in these parts of south America, from South Brasil (Rio Grande do Sul) to the whole Argentina and Chile. It is some sort of tea from local herbs and they're always drinking it, even when travelling. It is drank from a recipient which is shared by everybody, all drinking from the same 'straw' which is usually metalic. It seems that is was already drank by the indigenous people who were here before the european arrived.
As for deserts the dulce de leche is the must here, eaten in different forms and combinations, very sweet, in icecreams (don't miss Freddo icecreams, amomg the best here), with chocolate, etc. And of course the alfajores (biscuits), in particular those from Havanna.
Coffee is okay here, although not as good as in Portugal or Italy, but expresso from Havanna is of the best. And what is funny is that in most places one gets a little glass of sparkling water with it.
In any case in Buenos Aires there are many many good restaurants and a wide choice of varied food. And if you like it there are quite some good fashionable or simply modern restaurants, combining good food with nice atmosphere.
The food is very good in Argentina, although many would probably get bored after a while of so much meat... (probably more difficult for vegetarians though). Even the chilean say that food in Argentina is very good and that is something! Of course italian style food is very common (as is spanish type food), lots of pasta of which ñoqui are very special (gnochhi in italian). As a tradition argentinians usually eat ñoqui every 29th of the month... don't know why. Argentinian meat is excellent (and I'm not much of a meat lover). But beef (ternera), cordero (lamb), pork, sausages, chorizos, and even some sort of deer meat (ciervo, which I ate in Bariloche) are excellent. That is the usual parrilla (read parridja, 'cause in Argentina 'll' is read 'dj' or 'tch'), which is charcoal grilled, delicious. I wish we had more argentinian meet in Europe...
Fish is not so common here, except salmon, which is industrially produced in lakes and damms. In the lakes region and in Patagonia especially, salmon and sometimes trout (trucha) is very common. In Chile however, fish and seafood is very common and it seems that they eat it a lot more, although parrilla is also strong. In Chile I had congrio (white sea fish) with seafood, in an exquisite bisque de homard sauce... delicious... and also chupe de centollo, some sort of crab soufflé, in Puerto Natales, which was also delicious.
'Mate' is THE drink in these parts of south America, from South Brasil (Rio Grande do Sul) to the whole Argentina and Chile. It is some sort of tea from local herbs and they're always drinking it, even when travelling. It is drank from a recipient which is shared by everybody, all drinking from the same 'straw' which is usually metalic. It seems that is was already drank by the indigenous people who were here before the european arrived.
As for deserts the dulce de leche is the must here, eaten in different forms and combinations, very sweet, in icecreams (don't miss Freddo icecreams, amomg the best here), with chocolate, etc. And of course the alfajores (biscuits), in particular those from Havanna.
Coffee is okay here, although not as good as in Portugal or Italy, but expresso from Havanna is of the best. And what is funny is that in most places one gets a little glass of sparkling water with it.
In any case in Buenos Aires there are many many good restaurants and a wide choice of varied food. And if you like it there are quite some good fashionable or simply modern restaurants, combining good food with nice atmosphere.
Uruguay - Colonia de Sacramento
Back in BsAs, yesterday I went to Uruguay, across the Mar/Rio de la Plata (river) to visit the former portuguese 'colony'. To reach it I took a ferry (called Buquebus here) which usually takes about three hours to get there but yesterday took some 5 hours... this was due to the high summer season here. January is like July or August in Europe and most argentinian go on holidays, many of them to Punta del Este or other beaches in neighbouring Uruguay (Punta del Este is something like the local Cote d'Azur). So yesterday there were thousands of tourists and also backpackers, together with some tourists who cross the river to visit Colonia for the day. Luckily the weather in Colonia was very nice, sunny and I had Ariel as a guide, otherwise it would have been boring...
Colonia was founded in 1680 by Manuel Lobo, the portuguese Governor of Rio de Janeiro, and occupied a strategic position almost exactly opposite BsAs. It was a trading post, mostly a source of smuglled items, threatening Spain's jealously defended mercantile monopoly in the region. Some say that is why Buenos Aires grew in importance at the time, to compete with Colonia. The portuguese traded british goods into BsAs and the Rio de la Plata provinces through exchange in the Parana delta. That is why the fortress of Colonia was ofthen besieged by the spanish. Colonia finally passed to Spanish rule in 1777, after a treaty signed in Utrecht for exchange of territories. After that the city's commercial importance declined and Buenos Aires centralised all trade.
Nowadays not much remains from the buildings left by the portuguese, some ruins, a part of the city walls, a gate, some rebuilt houses, a church but which has been rebuilt twice (Igreja Matriz), part of the lighthouse and the cobbled streets which reminded me of those in Brasil's Parati. But the old city is very nicely renovated, very green, with some nice hotels, nice pateos, nice cafes and restaurants. And the Portuguese museum, which is located in a rebuilt 'palace' of the 17th century, co-financed by the Gulbenkian Foundation and inaugurated by the then Portuguese prime minister Guterres in 1997.
All in all it is worth to visit charming Colonia or even spend a quiet weekend (above all for Argentinians from BsAs) but avoid busy periods... luckily the ferry back to BsAs was a luxury, a fast one only taking 1 hours. Thanks Ariel.
Back in BsAs, yesterday I went to Uruguay, across the Mar/Rio de la Plata (river) to visit the former portuguese 'colony'. To reach it I took a ferry (called Buquebus here) which usually takes about three hours to get there but yesterday took some 5 hours... this was due to the high summer season here. January is like July or August in Europe and most argentinian go on holidays, many of them to Punta del Este or other beaches in neighbouring Uruguay (Punta del Este is something like the local Cote d'Azur). So yesterday there were thousands of tourists and also backpackers, together with some tourists who cross the river to visit Colonia for the day. Luckily the weather in Colonia was very nice, sunny and I had Ariel as a guide, otherwise it would have been boring...
Colonia was founded in 1680 by Manuel Lobo, the portuguese Governor of Rio de Janeiro, and occupied a strategic position almost exactly opposite BsAs. It was a trading post, mostly a source of smuglled items, threatening Spain's jealously defended mercantile monopoly in the region. Some say that is why Buenos Aires grew in importance at the time, to compete with Colonia. The portuguese traded british goods into BsAs and the Rio de la Plata provinces through exchange in the Parana delta. That is why the fortress of Colonia was ofthen besieged by the spanish. Colonia finally passed to Spanish rule in 1777, after a treaty signed in Utrecht for exchange of territories. After that the city's commercial importance declined and Buenos Aires centralised all trade.
Nowadays not much remains from the buildings left by the portuguese, some ruins, a part of the city walls, a gate, some rebuilt houses, a church but which has been rebuilt twice (Igreja Matriz), part of the lighthouse and the cobbled streets which reminded me of those in Brasil's Parati. But the old city is very nicely renovated, very green, with some nice hotels, nice pateos, nice cafes and restaurants. And the Portuguese museum, which is located in a rebuilt 'palace' of the 17th century, co-financed by the Gulbenkian Foundation and inaugurated by the then Portuguese prime minister Guterres in 1997.
All in all it is worth to visit charming Colonia or even spend a quiet weekend (above all for Argentinians from BsAs) but avoid busy periods... luckily the ferry back to BsAs was a luxury, a fast one only taking 1 hours. Thanks Ariel.
13 janvier 2006
PEOPLE II
I wrote some days ago about the population in Argentina. Of course I must remark that I was only referring to that population which had come from Europe. Of course an important part of the Argentinian population has its origins from the people who were already here long ago before the european arrived. There were many different groups of people, different tribes, communities. The incas until 16th century, then other people who followed them and speak quechua among other languages, in the northwest, close to Bolivia, the querandi, guarani and others in the north east, close to the Parana river and Paraguay, the mapuche in the center of the country, central Chile and down to north Patagonia, the tehuelches further south in Patagonia... along with the selk'nam and the hausch. Some were living from agriculture and in fixed settlements ('aike' is a word still used for house or settlement), other were semi-nomadic and hunting guanacos and other animals so moving around seasonnaly, some were warriors like the mapuche others more peaceful. In any case, Patagonia was not 'conquered' until late 19th centurt apparently, because some of these people were fighting back the invaders and protecting their lands. When Magellan arrived in south Patagonia they found local people who were very tall (taller than europeans, about 1.80 m) and had big feet (or big mocassins) and one story goes that is why the place is called Patagonia from the spanish word 'pata'... another story says it was because of the Patagón, some monster in spanish...
But with time and from the late 19th century the populations started to mingle more and nowadays a part of the population is quite mixed between locals and the european settlers of spanish origin. According to Argentinian national statistics there are some 100,000 'indians' here, who live in their communities but it's difficult to say, because the population is mixed.
In any case this area is very sparsely populated - Santa Cruz province alone has only 160,000 inhabitants - that is 1 person per sqkm...
I have seen some books and dictionnaries to learn the mapuche language here, so if you like languages... this one is interesting!
Anyway, the mix is great and one can find some very beautiful people, with beautiful eyes.
Viva la mescla!
I wrote some days ago about the population in Argentina. Of course I must remark that I was only referring to that population which had come from Europe. Of course an important part of the Argentinian population has its origins from the people who were already here long ago before the european arrived. There were many different groups of people, different tribes, communities. The incas until 16th century, then other people who followed them and speak quechua among other languages, in the northwest, close to Bolivia, the querandi, guarani and others in the north east, close to the Parana river and Paraguay, the mapuche in the center of the country, central Chile and down to north Patagonia, the tehuelches further south in Patagonia... along with the selk'nam and the hausch. Some were living from agriculture and in fixed settlements ('aike' is a word still used for house or settlement), other were semi-nomadic and hunting guanacos and other animals so moving around seasonnaly, some were warriors like the mapuche others more peaceful. In any case, Patagonia was not 'conquered' until late 19th centurt apparently, because some of these people were fighting back the invaders and protecting their lands. When Magellan arrived in south Patagonia they found local people who were very tall (taller than europeans, about 1.80 m) and had big feet (or big mocassins) and one story goes that is why the place is called Patagonia from the spanish word 'pata'... another story says it was because of the Patagón, some monster in spanish...
But with time and from the late 19th century the populations started to mingle more and nowadays a part of the population is quite mixed between locals and the european settlers of spanish origin. According to Argentinian national statistics there are some 100,000 'indians' here, who live in their communities but it's difficult to say, because the population is mixed.
In any case this area is very sparsely populated - Santa Cruz province alone has only 160,000 inhabitants - that is 1 person per sqkm...
I have seen some books and dictionnaries to learn the mapuche language here, so if you like languages... this one is interesting!
Anyway, the mix is great and one can find some very beautiful people, with beautiful eyes.
Viva la mescla!
Hasta la vista Perito Moreno...
So now it is over with El Calafate... Yesterday I took the other excursion, all the glaciers, Upsala, Onneli bay and Spegazzini... all ending in Lago Argentino. As everything around here it was beautiful and spectacular... the only negative point is that they pack the tourists like sardines in a can in these boats and it's not very pleasant but the people, guides, etc working on the boat, etc are VERY nice and helpful and cool and it is all quite well organised. The landscapes were of course breathtaking... the icebergs beautiful... I guess you'll have to waite for the pictures :-)
I wish I could stay a couple of days more, to go to El Chalten, Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre etc to visit and do some trekking but I guess it'll have to be for a next time, which I hope will be rather soon...
So now es geht los back to Buenos Aires, again back to real SUMMER, hopefully, caude down here in Patagonia I've had all seasons, rain, wind, wind, cold, mild, sunshine... pretty unstable but beautiful!
So now it is over with El Calafate... Yesterday I took the other excursion, all the glaciers, Upsala, Onneli bay and Spegazzini... all ending in Lago Argentino. As everything around here it was beautiful and spectacular... the only negative point is that they pack the tourists like sardines in a can in these boats and it's not very pleasant but the people, guides, etc working on the boat, etc are VERY nice and helpful and cool and it is all quite well organised. The landscapes were of course breathtaking... the icebergs beautiful... I guess you'll have to waite for the pictures :-)
I wish I could stay a couple of days more, to go to El Chalten, Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre etc to visit and do some trekking but I guess it'll have to be for a next time, which I hope will be rather soon...
So now es geht los back to Buenos Aires, again back to real SUMMER, hopefully, caude down here in Patagonia I've had all seasons, rain, wind, wind, cold, mild, sunshine... pretty unstable but beautiful!
12 janvier 2006
Perito Moreno !!! Viva Perito Moreno
Finally I saw the Perito Moreno - the glacier , EL GLACIAR!
This was one of the high points of the tour if not the highest & today it happened... From Calafate, wich is a small town of some 16,000 people (living mostly from tourism coming to the Glaciers national Park), on the border of the Lago Argentino (lake), one drives some 70 kms through Magellan Peninsula (in the lake) to reach the spectacular observation decks. Just amazing... 1 and half hours of pure delight for the eyes and the soul. This is a beautiful planet and Perito Moreno is definitely one of the Wonders of the world. I was very lucky with the weather, mostly sunny but with some clouds bringing in different shades and tonalities to the ice-white. This time of the year the glacier 'touches' land (happens certain years) separating the lake Argentino in two: Now that causes the west arm to have 5 m more than the west one (bigger part, including other glaciers like Upsala, etc). Anyway, there are no words to descrie this wonder, you'll have to wait for the pictures. The glacier is some 45 kms long, in some points 5 kms wide, up to 60 metes high on the border (with the lake) and has a surface of some 220 sqkm, bigger than the area of the city of Buenos Aires. It is one of some 20 or more glaciers which are part of the south Patagonian ice platform (some 15,000 sqkm, some 300 km by 50 km): This region includes many glaciers in Argentina and Chile, some ending in lakes others even in fjords (Chile). This mass of ice and glaciers is due to the unique climatic and relief conditions of this region, getting the humid winds from the west, from the Pacific ocean, which cause rain when hitting these altitudes. Combined with the humidity and high altitudes, the snow becomes ice and stays and forms the glaciers. Most of them are getting smaller except one in Chile (northwest of the area) and Perito Moreno, which is stable. Anyway Perito Moreno is one of the prettiest and most visited, in particular due to its geographical location and easy access to the magnificent views... people come to see it from all over the world.
But why the name of Perito Moreno? If you come to Argentina, you'll see Perito (which means expert) Moreno in many places - there's a park with his name, further north, a lake, river, streets, etc...): He is buried in an small island in Lake Nahuel Huapi, see post above from Bariloche visit. He is some sort of hero in Argentina because he made a proposal to fix the borders between Argentina and Chile (early 20th century) at the highest peaks separating the countries, which are immutable. The chilean wanted to separate according to the water separation line, waters going to the Pacific to Chile, goint to the Atlantic to Argentina. He claimed that man could change the course of rivers but that the peaks were more stable and he saved quite a good piece of land for Argentina, some say some 50 kms more west than with the water line. And at least all the area around San Martin de los Andes remained argentinian. He was a researcher and explorer and lived with the indians (local populations before the european came) and apparently knew the geography and the land very well.
So... now I know what Perito Moreno stands for.. I thought is was 'perrito' which means little dog... silly me.
And I really hope to come back to this area one day... I still would like to do some trekking in the Fitz Roy area around Chalten, further north in the same park.
But it's not over... after the impressive views, I did some trekking on ice, on the glacier itself. That was the best part, really very special. We took a boat to the west section of the glacier, walked some 10 minutes and enteed the glacier some 200 m inland (his is possible because the glacier is more stable and moves slower in the sides), with special metal 'shoes' to grab the ice so as not to slide... a unique experience... great! Wait for the superb photos.... :-).
Tomorrow will be the last day of discovery... :-( it will be a tour to other three glaciers - Upsala (the biggest in this park with over 1000 sqkm), Onneli and Spegazzini (the highest apparently with walls f 100 meters)... I've never seen so many glaciers in my life!
Finally I saw the Perito Moreno - the glacier , EL GLACIAR!
This was one of the high points of the tour if not the highest & today it happened... From Calafate, wich is a small town of some 16,000 people (living mostly from tourism coming to the Glaciers national Park), on the border of the Lago Argentino (lake), one drives some 70 kms through Magellan Peninsula (in the lake) to reach the spectacular observation decks. Just amazing... 1 and half hours of pure delight for the eyes and the soul. This is a beautiful planet and Perito Moreno is definitely one of the Wonders of the world. I was very lucky with the weather, mostly sunny but with some clouds bringing in different shades and tonalities to the ice-white. This time of the year the glacier 'touches' land (happens certain years) separating the lake Argentino in two: Now that causes the west arm to have 5 m more than the west one (bigger part, including other glaciers like Upsala, etc). Anyway, there are no words to descrie this wonder, you'll have to wait for the pictures. The glacier is some 45 kms long, in some points 5 kms wide, up to 60 metes high on the border (with the lake) and has a surface of some 220 sqkm, bigger than the area of the city of Buenos Aires. It is one of some 20 or more glaciers which are part of the south Patagonian ice platform (some 15,000 sqkm, some 300 km by 50 km): This region includes many glaciers in Argentina and Chile, some ending in lakes others even in fjords (Chile). This mass of ice and glaciers is due to the unique climatic and relief conditions of this region, getting the humid winds from the west, from the Pacific ocean, which cause rain when hitting these altitudes. Combined with the humidity and high altitudes, the snow becomes ice and stays and forms the glaciers. Most of them are getting smaller except one in Chile (northwest of the area) and Perito Moreno, which is stable. Anyway Perito Moreno is one of the prettiest and most visited, in particular due to its geographical location and easy access to the magnificent views... people come to see it from all over the world.
But why the name of Perito Moreno? If you come to Argentina, you'll see Perito (which means expert) Moreno in many places - there's a park with his name, further north, a lake, river, streets, etc...): He is buried in an small island in Lake Nahuel Huapi, see post above from Bariloche visit. He is some sort of hero in Argentina because he made a proposal to fix the borders between Argentina and Chile (early 20th century) at the highest peaks separating the countries, which are immutable. The chilean wanted to separate according to the water separation line, waters going to the Pacific to Chile, goint to the Atlantic to Argentina. He claimed that man could change the course of rivers but that the peaks were more stable and he saved quite a good piece of land for Argentina, some say some 50 kms more west than with the water line. And at least all the area around San Martin de los Andes remained argentinian. He was a researcher and explorer and lived with the indians (local populations before the european came) and apparently knew the geography and the land very well.
So... now I know what Perito Moreno stands for.. I thought is was 'perrito' which means little dog... silly me.
And I really hope to come back to this area one day... I still would like to do some trekking in the Fitz Roy area around Chalten, further north in the same park.
But it's not over... after the impressive views, I did some trekking on ice, on the glacier itself. That was the best part, really very special. We took a boat to the west section of the glacier, walked some 10 minutes and enteed the glacier some 200 m inland (his is possible because the glacier is more stable and moves slower in the sides), with special metal 'shoes' to grab the ice so as not to slide... a unique experience... great! Wait for the superb photos.... :-).
Tomorrow will be the last day of discovery... :-( it will be a tour to other three glaciers - Upsala (the biggest in this park with over 1000 sqkm), Onneli and Spegazzini (the highest apparently with walls f 100 meters)... I've never seen so many glaciers in my life!
09 janvier 2006
Parque nacional Torres del Paine
A local agency - Antares - organised a 2-day tour to this park, yesterday and today, and it was just great. This area is certainly one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen - the mix of mountains with special forms, lakes with different colours, vegetation, glaciers, light, a nature still untouched by man... all contribute to make this a very special and beautiful place. That is why it attracts people from all around the world in particular people who like mountains and trekking, because there are some special trails. Yesterday, after travelling the 110 kms north to the park (most of it by gravel roads) we walked (a group of five plus our local guide) for eight hours to reach the base of the actual 'Torres', nearly 10 kms each way to go from around 100 meters above seawater to 1100 meters. It wasn't easy... in particular at the end... stones and stones, 45% inclination or more and no trail anymore... But wow... what a feeling at the end, when reaching the small lake at the base of the three towers (like 3 fingers)... Somehow we were lucky, it didn't rain although it wasn't very sunny, the weather seems to be very unstable here. We only reached the lodge (Tyndall Cabanas) at nearly 11 pm... because the distances within the park are huge and the roads are of gravel... Today the tour continued with a boat tour on Lago Grey and visit the Glacier Grey (beautiful ice rocks with amazing blue colours) all this in a magnificent setting, beautiful lanscapes here, anywhere one looks. And this morning the sun came to say a big hello! Finally I visited some lakes like Lake Pehoe and Nordenskjöld which have different colous and shapes (these two communicate by some waterfalls) and enjoyed some great views. I also saw where Explora hotel is, very well located on lake Pehoe - a very expensive hotel (some 300 US$ a night and they only book for 4 nights...) but the best thing here is nature and it is everywhere you look at. If you have the chance, come here, it will certainly be one of the most beautiful landscapes you'll ever see.
So that's it about today... tomorrow further to El Calafate for another highpoint of the trip (Glacier Perito Moreno) and back to Argentina! :-) This is some 200 kms north of here and is still part of the Glacier region of south Pastagonia. The chilean say they have 80% of the glaciers while Argentina has the other 20%. Let's say what the argentinian say... in any case, they have Perito Moreno, which everybody agress is THE glacier.
A local agency - Antares - organised a 2-day tour to this park, yesterday and today, and it was just great. This area is certainly one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen - the mix of mountains with special forms, lakes with different colours, vegetation, glaciers, light, a nature still untouched by man... all contribute to make this a very special and beautiful place. That is why it attracts people from all around the world in particular people who like mountains and trekking, because there are some special trails. Yesterday, after travelling the 110 kms north to the park (most of it by gravel roads) we walked (a group of five plus our local guide) for eight hours to reach the base of the actual 'Torres', nearly 10 kms each way to go from around 100 meters above seawater to 1100 meters. It wasn't easy... in particular at the end... stones and stones, 45% inclination or more and no trail anymore... But wow... what a feeling at the end, when reaching the small lake at the base of the three towers (like 3 fingers)... Somehow we were lucky, it didn't rain although it wasn't very sunny, the weather seems to be very unstable here. We only reached the lodge (Tyndall Cabanas) at nearly 11 pm... because the distances within the park are huge and the roads are of gravel... Today the tour continued with a boat tour on Lago Grey and visit the Glacier Grey (beautiful ice rocks with amazing blue colours) all this in a magnificent setting, beautiful lanscapes here, anywhere one looks. And this morning the sun came to say a big hello! Finally I visited some lakes like Lake Pehoe and Nordenskjöld which have different colous and shapes (these two communicate by some waterfalls) and enjoyed some great views. I also saw where Explora hotel is, very well located on lake Pehoe - a very expensive hotel (some 300 US$ a night and they only book for 4 nights...) but the best thing here is nature and it is everywhere you look at. If you have the chance, come here, it will certainly be one of the most beautiful landscapes you'll ever see.
So that's it about today... tomorrow further to El Calafate for another highpoint of the trip (Glacier Perito Moreno) and back to Argentina! :-) This is some 200 kms north of here and is still part of the Glacier region of south Pastagonia. The chilean say they have 80% of the glaciers while Argentina has the other 20%. Let's say what the argentinian say... in any case, they have Perito Moreno, which everybody agress is THE glacier.
Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales
So from Puerto Montt I landed in Punta Arenas, right on the Magellan Straight. It's quite an important city, regional centre for the south of Chile - some 160,000 inhabitants. For those who don't know Fernando de Magalhaes was a portuguese seeman who, working for the spanish crown, undertook the first expedition to go around the world. It was in 1519 and it took 3 years to complete. He found this passage to the South Seas which he named 'Pacific Ocean', which is still used by ships, some 500 kms lomg and maximum 40 kms wide. Unfortunately he did not end the trip, being killed in fights againts local populations in the Philippines, so Sebastian Del Cano ended the expedition. In the central square in Punta Arenas, there is a statue to Magalhaes (here known as Magellan) and of course his name is wrongly spellt... Hernando, instead of Fernando. But there's nothing particularly interesting about Punta Arenas, although there are some interesting buildings. So from there I drove up to Puerto Natales, a small town in the middle of the land (but which actually is a seaport because it is in a fjord!). Puerto Natales (10,000 people) is the 'door' to the nearby (well, 100 kms more...) National Park of 'Torres del Paine' (read pá-i-né) otherwise it seems that nothing much would happen here.
So from Puerto Montt I landed in Punta Arenas, right on the Magellan Straight. It's quite an important city, regional centre for the south of Chile - some 160,000 inhabitants. For those who don't know Fernando de Magalhaes was a portuguese seeman who, working for the spanish crown, undertook the first expedition to go around the world. It was in 1519 and it took 3 years to complete. He found this passage to the South Seas which he named 'Pacific Ocean', which is still used by ships, some 500 kms lomg and maximum 40 kms wide. Unfortunately he did not end the trip, being killed in fights againts local populations in the Philippines, so Sebastian Del Cano ended the expedition. In the central square in Punta Arenas, there is a statue to Magalhaes (here known as Magellan) and of course his name is wrongly spellt... Hernando, instead of Fernando. But there's nothing particularly interesting about Punta Arenas, although there are some interesting buildings. So from there I drove up to Puerto Natales, a small town in the middle of the land (but which actually is a seaport because it is in a fjord!). Puerto Natales (10,000 people) is the 'door' to the nearby (well, 100 kms more...) National Park of 'Torres del Paine' (read pá-i-né) otherwise it seems that nothing much would happen here.
Chile 2006
Already at the border, comimg from Argentina, there is a different feeling when entering Chile. The border controls seem to be some remainings of certain past times. Somehow one feels intimidated, even if this feeling then fades away. Then prices change and they go up... nearly to European standards, and quite expensive at touristic places. Even though some 600 Pesos make 1 Euro and all costs thousands (one coffee 500 or 1000 Pesos, one coca-cola 1500, etc) the local currency is not cheap and it has been getting stronger, at least against the dollar. And curious thing, on the border with Argentina, they would not accept argentinian pesos in Chile, which seems good for border relations... Maybe we should export the Interreg programme here, 'cause there doesn't seem to be much 'friendship' between chilean and argentinians. The Lake crossing ended at Puerto Varas, a nice touristic resort on lake Llanquihue. There was some sort of party for the candidate Sebastian Piñeras (rightwing candidate), part of the ongoing campaign for the presidential ellections, which will take place next sunday 15 January (2nd go). The other candidate is a woman, Michelle Bachelet (left), from the party which is in power, apparently already for 16 years. But I'll come back to the ellections, will first end my 1st part of the tour in Chile. From Puerto Varas I moved on to Puerto Montt a rather big city of more than 100,000 people. Certainly not a nice city not to say ugly (the centre full of banks and shopping centres and an uggly architecture mix), a port town and apparently also an important regional industry and service centre, some 200 kms south of Valdivia. In Puerto Montt one does not feel 'safe' at all in the streets, and this was confirmed by the taxi driver, who told me to avoid walking around with valuable things and in certain areas. Anyway the only thing I did was eating some grilled fish with seafood (cangrio) which was excellent, at the 'Clube de Yates' which was the only decent place I found (appart from Mcdonalds & co.) to serve fish & seafood, and which seems to be frequented by the local rich elite. The following day I took the flight to Punta Arenas, with Lan, a big local company which is apparently owned by Mr Piñeiras himself and is associated with American Airlines. The flight came from Santiago, went to Punta Arenas and continued further to the Falkland Islands (or should I say Islas Malvinas?) and was full of british people. The strange thing was that the plane, an Airbus 321, which normally does middle range connections, had a section for exectutive, not the usual business chairs in Europe, but big sofas, very comfortable, allowing one to sleep. Another example of the benefits of the local elite, it seems...
One remark... if you come here avoid Puerto Montt... it rains all the time, some 300 days a year...
In any case, in and around Puerto Montt, one can feel the development in Chile, it seems to be an area which is doing well, growing, good roads, lots of industry... there is a four-lane highway to Santiago - some 1000 kms (and apparently 1000 kms more to the north of the capital) which were apparently completed in the recent years. All this, one must notice, without the support of the european structural funds... So all in all it would seem that the chilean economy isn't doing that bad, which is of course supported by the statistics.
But what do the people think?... There seems to be a general feeling that the government hasn't done enough in recent years, in particular in education, health, even for the poorer classes and there is the feeling that crime (delincuencia) is growing and streets are becomimg unsafer. In this region, according to my contacts, it would seem that Piñeira will become the next president, this despite the fact that Bachelet is well ahead in the surveys (some 42 % against some 30% for Piñeira), with some 12% hesitating who to vote. Some pretend she hasn't done anything while she was in the government as Minister of Defense or of Education. Others say Piñeira will be stronger to defend Chile's interests in the international scene, for instance with Argentina. I sense some 'machist' feelings behind some opinions and it is true that in the surveys the percentage of women voting for Bachelet is much higher that for men. Somehow it is not easy for Bachelet to promise 'renovation' when her party and herself have been in the government so long, but, being a woman and having climbed the political stairs from the people and without economic connections, Bachelet offers a certain legitimacy which is difficult for others to pretend. She promises more equal chances in the government and in public life if she is ellected and also that the new government would not integrate anyone who is presently in the government. This may be a promise difficult to keep but it certainly is positively judged by the voters. All in all, it seems that Michelle will have a hard time to win the ellections (this seems to be a very conservative country, very machist and also homophobic...), the fact that the communist party is supporting her may also scare some voters, let alone the fact that she is divorced and not catholic. Somehow in this parts of Chile people seem to favour a guy who is a millionaire, a successful businessman and a politician, but who in time has supported Pinochet, as many did, because it's good to be close to power if you want to do business... They consider he will be more capable of ensuring the economic push that Chile needs, promote good relations with the USA (which seems to be a strong ally here) and defend the country's interests and even to ensure policies that can bring more social justice. It is true that many years in power can play a negative role for a candidate from the same political area, but to me it seems also difficult that someone who has been a strong supporter of Pinochet can now claim to be a renovator and to change this country. Difficult to judge when one does not know the country well enough and is not aware of all the background, but it will be on sunday a fight between a certain past and a more recent past, between conservative forces and a more modern and democratic way. Next sunday we'll find out to which side the heart of Chile goes.
Already at the border, comimg from Argentina, there is a different feeling when entering Chile. The border controls seem to be some remainings of certain past times. Somehow one feels intimidated, even if this feeling then fades away. Then prices change and they go up... nearly to European standards, and quite expensive at touristic places. Even though some 600 Pesos make 1 Euro and all costs thousands (one coffee 500 or 1000 Pesos, one coca-cola 1500, etc) the local currency is not cheap and it has been getting stronger, at least against the dollar. And curious thing, on the border with Argentina, they would not accept argentinian pesos in Chile, which seems good for border relations... Maybe we should export the Interreg programme here, 'cause there doesn't seem to be much 'friendship' between chilean and argentinians. The Lake crossing ended at Puerto Varas, a nice touristic resort on lake Llanquihue. There was some sort of party for the candidate Sebastian Piñeras (rightwing candidate), part of the ongoing campaign for the presidential ellections, which will take place next sunday 15 January (2nd go). The other candidate is a woman, Michelle Bachelet (left), from the party which is in power, apparently already for 16 years. But I'll come back to the ellections, will first end my 1st part of the tour in Chile. From Puerto Varas I moved on to Puerto Montt a rather big city of more than 100,000 people. Certainly not a nice city not to say ugly (the centre full of banks and shopping centres and an uggly architecture mix), a port town and apparently also an important regional industry and service centre, some 200 kms south of Valdivia. In Puerto Montt one does not feel 'safe' at all in the streets, and this was confirmed by the taxi driver, who told me to avoid walking around with valuable things and in certain areas. Anyway the only thing I did was eating some grilled fish with seafood (cangrio) which was excellent, at the 'Clube de Yates' which was the only decent place I found (appart from Mcdonalds & co.) to serve fish & seafood, and which seems to be frequented by the local rich elite. The following day I took the flight to Punta Arenas, with Lan, a big local company which is apparently owned by Mr Piñeiras himself and is associated with American Airlines. The flight came from Santiago, went to Punta Arenas and continued further to the Falkland Islands (or should I say Islas Malvinas?) and was full of british people. The strange thing was that the plane, an Airbus 321, which normally does middle range connections, had a section for exectutive, not the usual business chairs in Europe, but big sofas, very comfortable, allowing one to sleep. Another example of the benefits of the local elite, it seems...
One remark... if you come here avoid Puerto Montt... it rains all the time, some 300 days a year...
In any case, in and around Puerto Montt, one can feel the development in Chile, it seems to be an area which is doing well, growing, good roads, lots of industry... there is a four-lane highway to Santiago - some 1000 kms (and apparently 1000 kms more to the north of the capital) which were apparently completed in the recent years. All this, one must notice, without the support of the european structural funds... So all in all it would seem that the chilean economy isn't doing that bad, which is of course supported by the statistics.
But what do the people think?... There seems to be a general feeling that the government hasn't done enough in recent years, in particular in education, health, even for the poorer classes and there is the feeling that crime (delincuencia) is growing and streets are becomimg unsafer. In this region, according to my contacts, it would seem that Piñeira will become the next president, this despite the fact that Bachelet is well ahead in the surveys (some 42 % against some 30% for Piñeira), with some 12% hesitating who to vote. Some pretend she hasn't done anything while she was in the government as Minister of Defense or of Education. Others say Piñeira will be stronger to defend Chile's interests in the international scene, for instance with Argentina. I sense some 'machist' feelings behind some opinions and it is true that in the surveys the percentage of women voting for Bachelet is much higher that for men. Somehow it is not easy for Bachelet to promise 'renovation' when her party and herself have been in the government so long, but, being a woman and having climbed the political stairs from the people and without economic connections, Bachelet offers a certain legitimacy which is difficult for others to pretend. She promises more equal chances in the government and in public life if she is ellected and also that the new government would not integrate anyone who is presently in the government. This may be a promise difficult to keep but it certainly is positively judged by the voters. All in all, it seems that Michelle will have a hard time to win the ellections (this seems to be a very conservative country, very machist and also homophobic...), the fact that the communist party is supporting her may also scare some voters, let alone the fact that she is divorced and not catholic. Somehow in this parts of Chile people seem to favour a guy who is a millionaire, a successful businessman and a politician, but who in time has supported Pinochet, as many did, because it's good to be close to power if you want to do business... They consider he will be more capable of ensuring the economic push that Chile needs, promote good relations with the USA (which seems to be a strong ally here) and defend the country's interests and even to ensure policies that can bring more social justice. It is true that many years in power can play a negative role for a candidate from the same political area, but to me it seems also difficult that someone who has been a strong supporter of Pinochet can now claim to be a renovator and to change this country. Difficult to judge when one does not know the country well enough and is not aware of all the background, but it will be on sunday a fight between a certain past and a more recent past, between conservative forces and a more modern and democratic way. Next sunday we'll find out to which side the heart of Chile goes.
08 janvier 2006
... and finally Chile!
So now I am in Puerto Natales, Patagonia, Chile... but let's go back a couple of days. Yesterday morning I did the Andean Lake crossing, from Bariloche in Argentina to Puerto Varas in Chile. From Bariloche (or should I say Barainloche?... 'cause it rained a lot...) by bus to Puerto Pañuelos, also on lake Nahuel Huapi (which means the island of the tiger in local native indian language, maybe 'mapuche' I am not sure). From Puerto Pañuelos by boat further to Puerto Blest, to the west, in the border of the lake, passing by a little island where Perito Moreno is buried (I'll explain later who he was and why so many places have his name), which took more or less 1 hr. From Puerto Blest walking 3 kms through the forest to Lake Frias. Then again a boat to the other end of the lake for 45 minutes, where we did the Argentinian border crossing formalities. There we took a bus through the forest and through a mountain pass at some 1500 meters, the highest point we reached(already a chilean one, now with a chilean guide) to Peulla, the Chilean border crossing where we had the border formalities (and usual luggage check - they made open every single suitcase!). At Peulla, after eating something we took another boat to cross Lago de Todos los Santos or Lago Esmeralda (due to its green emerald colours) to finalise at the feet of imposing Vulcano Osorno, the biggest in the region, still active, with some 2650 m. One can still see the grey/black lava sand comimg down the vulcano and going in the lake. Before reaching Puerto Varas by 7 in the evening, we could still appreciate the Petrohue falls (beautiful) and drive by lake Llanquihue. However, by that time of the day the sky was already pretty grey and the sun had abondoned us a couple of hours ago so it was not as beautiful as it looks in some pictures. Anyway this was a beautiful trip and I can only say that those were some of the most beautiful views and landscapes I ever saw in my life. Adding to that the group was quite nice in particular Juliana (from Brasilia in Brasil), Massimo (from Rome, Italy) and Francine (from Gent in Belgium), who really were great and helped making this an unforgettable trip.
So now I am in Puerto Natales, Patagonia, Chile... but let's go back a couple of days. Yesterday morning I did the Andean Lake crossing, from Bariloche in Argentina to Puerto Varas in Chile. From Bariloche (or should I say Barainloche?... 'cause it rained a lot...) by bus to Puerto Pañuelos, also on lake Nahuel Huapi (which means the island of the tiger in local native indian language, maybe 'mapuche' I am not sure). From Puerto Pañuelos by boat further to Puerto Blest, to the west, in the border of the lake, passing by a little island where Perito Moreno is buried (I'll explain later who he was and why so many places have his name), which took more or less 1 hr. From Puerto Blest walking 3 kms through the forest to Lake Frias. Then again a boat to the other end of the lake for 45 minutes, where we did the Argentinian border crossing formalities. There we took a bus through the forest and through a mountain pass at some 1500 meters, the highest point we reached(already a chilean one, now with a chilean guide) to Peulla, the Chilean border crossing where we had the border formalities (and usual luggage check - they made open every single suitcase!). At Peulla, after eating something we took another boat to cross Lago de Todos los Santos or Lago Esmeralda (due to its green emerald colours) to finalise at the feet of imposing Vulcano Osorno, the biggest in the region, still active, with some 2650 m. One can still see the grey/black lava sand comimg down the vulcano and going in the lake. Before reaching Puerto Varas by 7 in the evening, we could still appreciate the Petrohue falls (beautiful) and drive by lake Llanquihue. However, by that time of the day the sky was already pretty grey and the sun had abondoned us a couple of hours ago so it was not as beautiful as it looks in some pictures. Anyway this was a beautiful trip and I can only say that those were some of the most beautiful views and landscapes I ever saw in my life. Adding to that the group was quite nice in particular Juliana (from Brasilia in Brasil), Massimo (from Rome, Italy) and Francine (from Gent in Belgium), who really were great and helped making this an unforgettable trip.
05 janvier 2006
Is Argentina the promised land?
A friend had told me that the population in Argentina is mainly from three backgrounds, spanish, italian and jewish (from central and eastern Europe). Or that an argentinian is basically an italian who speaks spanish and believes he is french... Well... there seems to be some true to all that... (not forgetting all the other communities here of course, like german, welsh, french, greek, armenian, arabic - remember Menem? - and even portuguese in Patagonia). One sees a lot of jewish names here, many notices in newspapers of deaths from the jewish community, many donours at the MALBA (Museum of Modern latin-american art) of BsAs were jewish, and they seem to be very well represented in the economy, owning some big companies. Even yesterday, the telepheric (?) belonged to a foundation of a jewish familly. And finally, I heard many people speaking hebrew in the streets of BsAs.
So it's not only the USA and NY, Argentina also seems to have been ellected as a promised land. And it is well promising, indeed.
A friend had told me that the population in Argentina is mainly from three backgrounds, spanish, italian and jewish (from central and eastern Europe). Or that an argentinian is basically an italian who speaks spanish and believes he is french... Well... there seems to be some true to all that... (not forgetting all the other communities here of course, like german, welsh, french, greek, armenian, arabic - remember Menem? - and even portuguese in Patagonia). One sees a lot of jewish names here, many notices in newspapers of deaths from the jewish community, many donours at the MALBA (Museum of Modern latin-american art) of BsAs were jewish, and they seem to be very well represented in the economy, owning some big companies. Even yesterday, the telepheric (?) belonged to a foundation of a jewish familly. And finally, I heard many people speaking hebrew in the streets of BsAs.
So it's not only the USA and NY, Argentina also seems to have been ellected as a promised land. And it is well promising, indeed.
04 janvier 2006
Hasta la vista Buenos Aires
Yesterday I left BsAs... well it's a pitty but it must be said that now the best part of the tour is starting... I hope. Everything went fine, plane on time, great flight... perfect. Of course I must thank Ariel for his precious support. If you need a travel agency here he is the guy (Le Martial agency), he's very efficient and also very nice (and not only). Anyway he told me that one should confirm internal flights here, because they may change the departure time and even anticipate the flight... or there may be overbooking and if you do not confirm you may end up in the short overbooked list. I also found out that in internal flights one is only allowed 15 kg (unless you've arrived with Aerolineas to Buenos Aires from abroad). So I had 10 extra kg (I know, should have left shopping for the last days... but the offer and prices are irresistible, as many other things here) and had to pay some 40 $ pesos which is nothing... but the worse is that the previous night I had this nightmare... so they had found out that I was overweight and they made me pay 1 $ for every extra gramm in my body... and believe me that made up a LOT of pesos... Luckily it was just a dream & they didn't make me step on any balance, everything went fine and I arrived safe & sound in Bariloche.
Well... nearly fine... so what happened? the flight was great and the 1700 km between BsAs and Bariloche were smooth... only it was always plain and dry... getting drier as we approached and becomimg nearly desert... so at a time I feared I was in the wrong plane... I thought "I must have taken a flight to Salta or Tucuman"... 'cause in all the pictures I'd seen, Bariloche is by a lake, surrounded by forests and mountains... in some nearby places there are even nearly 300 days of rain each year. But no... it was the right flight and we landed safely. I found out that here is were that sort of desert ends and the Andes start and it all changes.
So yesterday afternoon and today I had the chance to discover some of the magnificent landscapes around Bariloche. It's just amazing, breathtaking. Bariloche stands by the Nahuel Huapi lake which has 500 sqkm and is the 3rd or 4th biggest in Argentina, surrounded by mountains (usually called cerros) such as Cerro Catedral, Tronador (the highest with some 3500 m), etc. And Cerro Campanario, which is a small one, close to Bariloche, where one goes up taking these "aerosillas" (like in skiing places) and from where one is suposed to have one of the best views of lake Nahuel Huapi... Maybe... 'cause this morning there was such fog and low clouds that one couldn't see further than 10 meters (that was the "Circuito chico" excursion but I've renamed it circuito niebla. Pitty 'cause I'll probably never come back. Luckily there are plenty of postcards to show how it is supposed to look like (don't worry I will be well documented as usual) - that's the postcards I'll send to some friends... Reminds me when I went to Neuschwanstein in Bavaria (Ludwig's fable castle), ages ago... couldn't see anything either further than 5 meters. But yesterday I went up Cerro Otto with a teleferico (Austrian made) and the views were fantasticas. And today discovered Lake Gutierrez and did some trekking (up the hill...). Tomorrow will do the 7-lake-tour which is a classic here going up to San Martin de los Andes and back.
And that reminds me this lake district here around Bariloche is one of the reasons I wanted to come to Argentina in the first place. A couple of years ago I saw an argentinian film called "La vida segun Muriel" and in the film Muriel came to this region and we saw beautiful scenes and landscapes... Asking my friend Fernando, who is half argentinian but lives in Brussels, I found out it was somewhere in this region. I've tried to find the movie to see it again... in vain, looked in BsAs, nothing. Only to come here and finally find it... well in vhs support, but great! It's not a great movie... but it's somehow special.
So here I am finally in that region expecting to find Muriel at some hut by a lake.
So back to real life, tomorrow as I said it will be 7 Lakes and after the crossing of the Andes - Lakes crossing or "Cruce de Lagos" as they call it here, crossing the mountains by boat and bus, through three lakes (Nahuel Huapi, Frias and a third one already in Chile) arriving at Puerto Varas in Chile. More details in a couple of days, meanwhile check the website. And some pics from the website, 'cause I couldn't yet upload my pics...
Meanwhile this evening I might "discover" some of the local specialities, like Sauerkraut and Bier, because this is an area of german immigration. Tchüss.
Portugal vs Argentina
Well... there are more common points between Portugal and Argentina than one could think... The most obvious one is footbal... even though (amazingly) they seem to be here much more crazy than in Portugal. Football is a religion and there is a wide coverage of football issues on TV (even some football-only chains...). Let's see who'll get further in the World cup this year in Germany.
Another one is literature and poetry... the argentinian also have poetic-souls... and also... yes... tango! we have fado, but despite the fact that one does not dance the fado, it's also impregated by a similar nostalgia and sadness.
But that's not all... yet another similarity is that argentinians (well at least the bonaerenses) also seem to like croissant with ham & cheese for breakfast... did they copy us or was it the other way around?... well here they don't call it croissant but medialuna.
And there are other issues, like Colonia do Sacramemto, a portuguese trade point in Urugay just opposite BsAs and hoz it may have been decisive to the growth of the city, but I will come back to that at a later stage, if I manage to find a place in one of those overcrowded ferries crossing the river de la Plata...
Well... there are more common points between Portugal and Argentina than one could think... The most obvious one is footbal... even though (amazingly) they seem to be here much more crazy than in Portugal. Football is a religion and there is a wide coverage of football issues on TV (even some football-only chains...). Let's see who'll get further in the World cup this year in Germany.
Another one is literature and poetry... the argentinian also have poetic-souls... and also... yes... tango! we have fado, but despite the fact that one does not dance the fado, it's also impregated by a similar nostalgia and sadness.
But that's not all... yet another similarity is that argentinians (well at least the bonaerenses) also seem to like croissant with ham & cheese for breakfast... did they copy us or was it the other way around?... well here they don't call it croissant but medialuna.
And there are other issues, like Colonia do Sacramemto, a portuguese trade point in Urugay just opposite BsAs and hoz it may have been decisive to the growth of the city, but I will come back to that at a later stage, if I manage to find a place in one of those overcrowded ferries crossing the river de la Plata...
Argentinian politics...
So Argentina has paid its debt to the IMF. Some 9,530 million US$ directly out of the country's financial reserves. Most analysts here consider it was a positive move which will bring more independence for the government. That way, Kirchner & co. should be able to improve the economic policies as they want without interference... although a few consider it changes little and the country could continue to pay while keeping its independance and use that money better by investing in the countries development. All in all, economic stability and low inflation seem to be a concern for the government.
There is also an important economic growth and a growth in the tax money collected by the government (some 40% in relation to the same period last year). So there is considerable optimism and a positive economic climate. Over 50% of people in a survey believe that 2006 will be even better than 2005, which was already a good year... Of course some 20% say it will be worse, but there are always some pessimistic (as well as "some" left behind...).
At the same time the new anti-american governments in South America got a new ally, Bolivia. Things go well to Kirchner who is now said might be a candidate for the next ellections in 2007.
However there's some disappointment here in Argentina over the fact that the new Bolivian president has not included the country in his first world tour (and what a tour that will be, including Europe, Asia and Cuba, Venezuela and Brasil!). Well, will that become the new southern American front? from Cuba to Buenos Aires?... happens what may, I bet Fidel couldn't have dreamt of a better scenario a couple of years ago... so, let's see what will happen...
So... back to argentinian economics... is growth coming from foreign investment, exports, internal consumption?... most likely a bit of all but strongly from internal consumption... and it could be better, had the southern american gone further in building the Mercosur... so the next couple of years will tell whether the economy will continue to grow in a stable way.
But let's hope the present situation is not "fake" or "artificial" as a taxi driver put it... which somehow means that the people are not yet totally sure about the future and that the bad days of the crises are over and better days are here to stay.
Meanwhile the summer is here (not so much in Bariloche though) and argentinians are flocking to the beaches, leaving BsAs massively on holidays, maybe not yet so much to Europe or the USA as before, but travelling inside the country and to neighbouring countries like Uruguay & Brasil. Internal flights are nearly sold out and the ferry connections to Uruguay are collapsing due to the many thousands willing to reach Punta Del Este, the local Cote d'Azur... Bariloche also is packed with local tourists and mostly a young crowd. Anyway, the summer is here, January is here what August/July is in Europe and the good economic prospects allow to spend without much concerns.
So Argentina has paid its debt to the IMF. Some 9,530 million US$ directly out of the country's financial reserves. Most analysts here consider it was a positive move which will bring more independence for the government. That way, Kirchner & co. should be able to improve the economic policies as they want without interference... although a few consider it changes little and the country could continue to pay while keeping its independance and use that money better by investing in the countries development. All in all, economic stability and low inflation seem to be a concern for the government.
There is also an important economic growth and a growth in the tax money collected by the government (some 40% in relation to the same period last year). So there is considerable optimism and a positive economic climate. Over 50% of people in a survey believe that 2006 will be even better than 2005, which was already a good year... Of course some 20% say it will be worse, but there are always some pessimistic (as well as "some" left behind...).
At the same time the new anti-american governments in South America got a new ally, Bolivia. Things go well to Kirchner who is now said might be a candidate for the next ellections in 2007.
However there's some disappointment here in Argentina over the fact that the new Bolivian president has not included the country in his first world tour (and what a tour that will be, including Europe, Asia and Cuba, Venezuela and Brasil!). Well, will that become the new southern American front? from Cuba to Buenos Aires?... happens what may, I bet Fidel couldn't have dreamt of a better scenario a couple of years ago... so, let's see what will happen...
So... back to argentinian economics... is growth coming from foreign investment, exports, internal consumption?... most likely a bit of all but strongly from internal consumption... and it could be better, had the southern american gone further in building the Mercosur... so the next couple of years will tell whether the economy will continue to grow in a stable way.
But let's hope the present situation is not "fake" or "artificial" as a taxi driver put it... which somehow means that the people are not yet totally sure about the future and that the bad days of the crises are over and better days are here to stay.
Meanwhile the summer is here (not so much in Bariloche though) and argentinians are flocking to the beaches, leaving BsAs massively on holidays, maybe not yet so much to Europe or the USA as before, but travelling inside the country and to neighbouring countries like Uruguay & Brasil. Internal flights are nearly sold out and the ferry connections to Uruguay are collapsing due to the many thousands willing to reach Punta Del Este, the local Cote d'Azur... Bariloche also is packed with local tourists and mostly a young crowd. Anyway, the summer is here, January is here what August/July is in Europe and the good economic prospects allow to spend without much concerns.
01 janvier 2006
BsAs... Buenos Aires...
It's HOT, very hot... humid (and people say it can get worse...) and the city is fantastic...
Imagine you got a raise of salary of 200%... that's more or less the feeling in BsAs... prices nearly 3 times cheaper than in europe. And a wide choice of eveything... restaurants, nice shops... etc etc... I guessI'll need one (or more) extra suitcases when going back home. It's a permament temptation... and that is not limited to local shops... if you know what I mean.
The city is a great mixture, not only as regards the people (from italian, spanish, jewish from central europe, arabic, local native and other backgrounds) but also as regards the architecture and urban styles. There are very different neighbourghoods, Recoleta looks like Paris, 25 de Mayo looks like Madrid... Santa Fe like New York), some parts have the more colonial touch like San Telmo, other are unique loke Boca (could be some italian port though...). Some areas look like New York, San Francisco, even Miami and judging by the weather... this looks pretty tropical to me...
And yet... there's no sea... I mean, there must be... but one does not see it. I was at Puerto Madero, a dockland which has been renovated, with fancy restaurants and hotels and chic apartmemt areas... it smells to sea... but that was the closest feeling I got. Or the boats at Riachuelo at Boca. That is a pitty... one misses the sea and water... Maybe I should venture in one of those public swimmimg pools by the Rio de la Plata, but they're probably too crowded.
Anyway, there's a lot to see and do and time flies, so I'd better take advantage.
The city is very developed, there's everything, modern shops and fancy cafes and restaurants, fancy fashionable areas, like Palermo Viejo (with its Soho and Hollywood areas) with nice fashion and design shops and modern restaurants, always bustling with a nice young crowd (and the inevitable tourists of course...), but also nice shopping malls like Palacio in Florida street (the main mass shopping street) and Pateo Bullrich in Recoleta which would make some european shoppings looking like 3rd world ones, especially in Belgium...
Yet it is far from perfect... then one sees all the many police in the streets and particular around public buildings and areas (very young people), people searching the waste for valuable things and some areas of San Telmo or Boca, 'conquered' by new immigrants from the interior or other neighbouring southern american countries and the economic and social situation (despite higher crime rates apparently) seem to be much better than a couple of years ago, although people say they survive... living by the day. Yet some peopel are travelling abroad, having two jobs and struggling. One is hit by mixed feelings about this city... of admiration, surprise, delight, some blurred feelings yet it is noticeable the fighting character of the people and their willingness and struggle to progress... move on, improve.
In a magazine a journalist writing on BsAs wrote that one "feels continuously as a party crasher, never unmasked, but in a party of the elite"... and there's certainly some true to that... although here there aren't only elite parties... and one can feel that in the streets. But one can get what one is looking for in BsAs and make it our own BsAs... or at least try to.
All in all, the most interesting about a city (yes even more than the architecture) is its people. And here people are usually very friendly, in the streets, in shops, restaurants... very warm & welcomimg... yes this is Southern America... or just America.
Well I'd better go and check it out there... there are 13 million people out there and many square meters to be discovered... for pictures of the city look up at google... sorry...
mario
It's HOT, very hot... humid (and people say it can get worse...) and the city is fantastic...
Imagine you got a raise of salary of 200%... that's more or less the feeling in BsAs... prices nearly 3 times cheaper than in europe. And a wide choice of eveything... restaurants, nice shops... etc etc... I guessI'll need one (or more) extra suitcases when going back home. It's a permament temptation... and that is not limited to local shops... if you know what I mean.
The city is a great mixture, not only as regards the people (from italian, spanish, jewish from central europe, arabic, local native and other backgrounds) but also as regards the architecture and urban styles. There are very different neighbourghoods, Recoleta looks like Paris, 25 de Mayo looks like Madrid... Santa Fe like New York), some parts have the more colonial touch like San Telmo, other are unique loke Boca (could be some italian port though...). Some areas look like New York, San Francisco, even Miami and judging by the weather... this looks pretty tropical to me...
And yet... there's no sea... I mean, there must be... but one does not see it. I was at Puerto Madero, a dockland which has been renovated, with fancy restaurants and hotels and chic apartmemt areas... it smells to sea... but that was the closest feeling I got. Or the boats at Riachuelo at Boca. That is a pitty... one misses the sea and water... Maybe I should venture in one of those public swimmimg pools by the Rio de la Plata, but they're probably too crowded.
Anyway, there's a lot to see and do and time flies, so I'd better take advantage.
The city is very developed, there's everything, modern shops and fancy cafes and restaurants, fancy fashionable areas, like Palermo Viejo (with its Soho and Hollywood areas) with nice fashion and design shops and modern restaurants, always bustling with a nice young crowd (and the inevitable tourists of course...), but also nice shopping malls like Palacio in Florida street (the main mass shopping street) and Pateo Bullrich in Recoleta which would make some european shoppings looking like 3rd world ones, especially in Belgium...
Yet it is far from perfect... then one sees all the many police in the streets and particular around public buildings and areas (very young people), people searching the waste for valuable things and some areas of San Telmo or Boca, 'conquered' by new immigrants from the interior or other neighbouring southern american countries and the economic and social situation (despite higher crime rates apparently) seem to be much better than a couple of years ago, although people say they survive... living by the day. Yet some peopel are travelling abroad, having two jobs and struggling. One is hit by mixed feelings about this city... of admiration, surprise, delight, some blurred feelings yet it is noticeable the fighting character of the people and their willingness and struggle to progress... move on, improve.
In a magazine a journalist writing on BsAs wrote that one "feels continuously as a party crasher, never unmasked, but in a party of the elite"... and there's certainly some true to that... although here there aren't only elite parties... and one can feel that in the streets. But one can get what one is looking for in BsAs and make it our own BsAs... or at least try to.
All in all, the most interesting about a city (yes even more than the architecture) is its people. And here people are usually very friendly, in the streets, in shops, restaurants... very warm & welcomimg... yes this is Southern America... or just America.
Well I'd better go and check it out there... there are 13 million people out there and many square meters to be discovered... for pictures of the city look up at google... sorry...
mario
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