something cute and something funny

i imagine most of you are at home enjoying a lovely thanksgiving weekend with the fam, or like me are in a country that does not really have a translation for the word thanksgiving
i am attempting to write a last big paper but it is proving difficult
a. because it might just be the most beautiful day since i arrived here, 80 and sunny - not a cloud in the sky
b. (this is the something funny) I am writing this essay on a computer lent to me by program because my mother took my laptop home. This laptop i am using has an american keyboard but it is programed as a Argentine keyboard. So whatever the keyboard says is NOT what it will type. For example where the key says ";" it really does "ñ". the most frustrating of these is that the key that says "(" acutally does ")", this is very frustrating when you are writing a paper with many cited quotes. oh argentina...
c. because my mother took my laptop i have no music to listen to as i write, but after tearing apart my apartment i found a delicious bob dylan cd thats really bringing me back to urban school essay writing moods.

the something cute is my new favorite form of procrastination:
www.cutethingsfallingasleep.blogspot.com
i recommend sleepy kitty 30

besos. sar

Thanksgiving in Argentina and time winding down

This has been quite the busy week, in the most wonderful way! My wonderful, amazing, beautiful mother came to visit me, which was the best thing ever. Although the weather was only so-so and many things did not work out as planned (because argentina is confusing and says things will be open when they are not) we still had an amazing time. I now finally have photos of the city, using her swanky and sleek camera, however, they are with her back in san francisco so that will have to wait until later.
Also my favorite holiday happened. Thanksgiving has been my favorite holiday for a while, although it is infused with imperialism and colonialization, for me it has always been an amazing day. I like that it is not associated with religion or presents. The only thing you have to do is hang out with your family and eat really good food. Also, in the bluestone tradition we attempt to play soccer against many 6 foot something men who always knock us over. So due to my love for this holiday i attempted to recreate it here in buenos aires. This was difficult for a few reasons, primarily because turkey is nearly impossible to find and if you do its ridiculously expensive. So we ate chicken instead (i must add that it was some of the best chicken i have ever eaten in my life, thank you dani). Second, the sweet potatoes here are white not orange and have a very different flavor and marshmellows, another bluestone tradition, were not even worth attempting to find. So we had a make-shift thanksgiving with chicken and mashed potatoes, my moms stuffing that she brought me all the way from san francisco (she really is the best), ratatouille, mac and cheese, salad, brownies and apple crumble with home-made custard. eclectic.
the other fun thing was that my friend anna has never really celebrated thanksgiving, because she lives in singapore
a funny thing about doing thanksgiving in argentina is that dinner is usually eaten around 10pm here, thanksgiving is usually eaten around 4pm to give the body time to digest. we ate thanksgiving dinner at 10pm, i woke up with lots of food in my belly
anyway, it was a lovely night but it certainly made me miss home and family and all of our traditions
i am currently sipping on some mate getting ready for a long night of essay writing about sexual education in argentina. this is my second to last final. my time is certainly dwindling, i am within the three week marker of leaving buenos aires and i feel like i still have so much to see.
also im very excited to welcome ben master on dec. 7th, so maybe he can help me finish up all my exploring
thats all for now
missing all my people all around the world
beso grandote
sar

Looks like Argentina is more progressive that the United States

This week, the Argentine Congress ruled it unconstitutional to refuse marriage rights to a couple of the same-sex

"La Justicia le dio el sí al matrimonio gay: en un fallo iné-dito, una jueza declaró inconstitucional el impedimento para que dos personas del mismo sexo puedan casarse y ordenó al Registro Civil porteño que celebre la unión de la pareja homosexual que inició la demanda. La sentencia es de primera instancia y previsiblemente será apelada por el gobierno de Mauricio Macri. No obstante, crea un precedente que excede el ámbito judicial y brinda un espaldarazo insoslayable a la campaña para instaurar esa figura en el país en un momento donde un proyecto en ese sentido se debate en la Cámara de Diputados."

"The Justice gave a yes to gay marriage: in an unprecedented decision, a judge declared it unconstitutional to impede two people of the same sex to be able to get married and ordered the Registro Civil porteño to celebrate the union of the homosexual couple who initiated the lawsuit. The ruling is the first instant and it is foreseeable that there will be a fight by the government of Mauricio Macri. Nevertheless, it creates a precedent that surpasses the judicial field and supports an unavoidable recognition to the campaign for founding this image in the country in a moment where a project with this meaning is debated in the Cámara de Diputados"

I didn't do the best translation possible but you get the idea
There is not yet a law that allows gay marriage but it has been declared unconstitutional to deny the right to marry for same-sex couples
YEEEEE
Get on board United States!

UPDATE: The mayor declared that he is not going to fight this ruling

a heart in my lunch

today i was eating lunch at one of my favorite spots
its called Inka
it is peruvian food
it has this amazing lunch deal thats 13 pesos ($3.40)
with this lunch deal you receive a wonderful soup that always has noodles and some type of meat and carrots and potatoes, a fresh juice that takes like some mixture of apple cider and barley tea, and then your choice of one out of three entrees.
it is always delicious and absolutely absurd the amount of food you get for your money, i usually leave feeling like ive accidentally robbed them

anywayyyy i was eating there today with my dear friend sonia
sonia got her soup first which today had chicken in it
this was very exciting because usually it is some very ambiguous meat type thing
when my soup arrived the type of chicken i had looked like the neck or the spine, whatever it was it was slightly unnerving but ok because i just sort of avoided it
and then
i spooned some broth and carrots and what appeared in my spoon was a HEART
A HEART
A CHICKEN HEART IN MY SOUP
it was terrifying, i could see the pulmonary artery
i hid it beneath my bowl but i had a hard time finishing that soup knowing it was flavored by a heart!!!

La Marcha de Orgullo, Gay Pride in Buenos Aires

Yesterday was the 18th annual gay pride parade in Buenos Aires. I was expecting something small and endearing but when I arrived to Plaza de Mayo it was packed with people. There were people giving speeches, booths of all sorts of organizations, floats with people dancing on them, more naked trans people than I have ever seen in my life and just so much love. I felt like I got into the subway in buenos aires and got out in the mission district during gay pride weekend in san francisco. It felt like a totally different community, a community that is hidden during everyday life in Buenos Aires. Once we started marching there was music and dancing and singing and, clearly, I was in heaven. I felt my faith in humanity being restored. That is until my wallet got stolen and my friend's camera got stolen. For me it was not such a big deal as I only had 40 pesos, but it was the principal of it all, that during this wonderful march of gay pride and love and community someone was out there stealing!
Anyway, here are some photos, there are more on facebook.
Enjoy!

There were some amazing looking costumes





I was very very happy:





"No to transphobia"



A christian group in support of gay rights:



Marching in front of a church...



The crowd:



Besos :)

The rest of my semester...

I have been getting very down lately cause I feel like my time here is vanishing so quickly and before i know it im going to be getting on a plane to go home, which is not something im looking forward to.
However, there are many things im looking forward to before I have to get on a plane
here is what the rest of my time looks like
I have 2 weeks of classes left
Starting the week of november 16th i have soooo many finals (including my tango show! we are doing a casino scene and i am the owner of the casino!)
November 20th- my mom comes! 5 days!
Around decemeber 4th, 5th, or 6th - Ben master comes! many days here!
December 7th - final exam in my Universidad de Buenos Aires class, a little scary cause its an oral exam in spanish, and my research paper for my gender class is due, but this is very exciting because hopefully starting tomorrow I am going to be helping with the organization that is creating programs to implement a law on sexual education i schools in argentina
December 14th- last presentation
December 15th- Rosa and I get on a bus and start our journey
December 15th-28th - Rosa and I travel around northern Argentina, Bolivia, salt flats, la paz, and lago titicaca where we cross over into peru
December 28th - Rebecca Dewitt arrives in Peruuuu!!! We meet in lago titicaca and then go to cusco and hike macchu picchu, rosa goes home sometime in the first week of january and then becca and i travelllll
January 15th - I go home

So although i have very little time left, my remaining time is going to be so amazing
When my mom leaves she will be taking my laptop with her because I dont want to backpack with it through bolivia and peru so I may be less available in the cyber world but I will try to keep this blog updated at least

besos.
ps. gay pride parade is this saturday! get excited about some photos....

A day in el campo

This weekend Mati turned 29! So we went out to her cousin's farm. This farm was about an hour outside of buenos aires. This farm was beautiful, they have horses, cows, and chickens. They sell their cows as meat, the are producing some of Argentine's amazing meat.
It was soooo lovely.
Here is some of the meat we ate for lunch



Some of their cows



Old machinery they used to use on the farm



The beginning of a beautiful sunset



Then I got on a horse and rode in the sunset



This is what it looked like at its best