An account of cholera in Buenos Aires

May 31, 2007 | Filed Under Argentina | No Comments

The delightfully well-written and stimulating blog Cocktail Party Physics provides a history lesson about cholera epidemics and, along the way, highlights the account of an 1868 cholera epidemic in Buenos Aires as described by one Charles Darbyshire.
Darbyshire’s fears proved well-founded when an epidemic broke out in the summer of 1868, brought about (he believed) by Brazilian ships tossing the bodies of those who had died from cholera into the River Parana, thereby contaminating the water supply. People in the cities fled to the countryside, bringing the disease with them, and Darbyshire soon found himself in the position of a public health leader, advising his neighbors on removing themselves from unsanitary conditions, not drinking water unless it was boiled, burying all refuse, keeping floors and patios clean. The 12 people in his own household did not contract the disease, which probably lent credence to his his advice. Despite all […]

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mais uma vez

May 31, 2007 | Filed Under Argentina | No Comments

Arrival in a big city to do a guidebook update can be intimidating… about one-third of the Rick Steves Portugal book is dedicated to Lisboa, & it’s a lot of material to confirm. Questions run through my mind every year: where the heck do I begin? will holidays or weekends get in the way? how much reader feedback do I have? It takes a lot of organization. But since I arrived late from Madrid, I didn’t do anything the first evening except get some grilled chicken, take a few photos & wear a grin because I was back in one of my favorite places.

The next day was a little hectic, but I acomplished muito. For once, I didn’t feel like they hadn’t scheduled enough days for me to cover everything well. Four days would be plenty. While running around, I noticed that one of the larger banks in Portugal had […]

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Affordable Web Hosting with Site5

May 31, 2007 | Filed Under Argentina | No Comments

Okay, this has nothing to do with Buenos Aires……
I’m occasionally asked about good, cheap, affordable, low-cost hosting for Web sites. There are a lot of providers out there on the market. Before establishing this site, I did a lot of research on various hosting companies and ultimately selected site5. I’ve been with site5 for over two years and have never had a problem. So, site5 is the web hosting company that I recommend.
The backend controls and tools to manage your site5 account are very nicely designed and easy to use. The company has an active forum for technical support and other issues. Many people know that I’m a librarian but may not realize as a librarian I managed Internet technologies for 15 years and was a Unix sysadmin, so I have very high standards for a Web host. I have no plans to change from site5 at anytime.
Site5 always […]

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NPR profiles Kirchner

May 31, 2007 | Filed Under Argentina | No Comments

NPR* has a quite lengthy post from yesterday on the completely unexpected level of economic recovery in Argentina under President Kirchner (…con audio para practicar tu inglés!)buenos aires yanqui mike politics hugo chavez venezuela economy south americaAs a former addict of the network and it’s affiliate WBEZ, I can say that long print pieces like this used to be rare on their website. So I was surprised after a couple of years abstinence to find this detailed profile.
Surprised because I slowly weaned myself from my habit when I realized that they were never going to give Bush the same treatment they gave Clinton. This article, however, paints K broadly in the Argentine center with emphasis on the Peronist enigma of being difficult to peg as left or right. Previously, saying anything good about K was considered tantamount to criticizing GWB. With Bush’s polls at an unbelievable […]

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Mindless Thoughts……….

May 31, 2007 | Filed Under Argentina | No Comments

I feel like writing but I don’t really have enough to say to make one post.  Sooo, I am going to write the answers to the emails I get.  Some days I get 20 or more emails.  I try to answer all of them, but with my crazy schedule I cannot always do so.  So here goes my notes - from Novitz…
MY HAIR and the hair of others…My hair has always been radical.  It has been every color you can imagine - blue, green, purple, and sometimes a mixture.  I wanted to change my hair and I went to the sites of the best known stylists and hair care products to see what they were doing in the U.S. and Europe.
Buenos Aires is a fashion capital to be sure.  We have our own designers.  We have our own sense of style.  People often on how well dressed they think […]

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Parque las Heras, a Little Palermo-Style Downtime

May 31, 2007 | Filed Under Argentina | No Comments

If your idea of a good time is laying out under the sun for a couple of hours, then you and I could be good friends. Nothing is more relaxing than plopping down in comfortable and clean park with a picnic of empanadas and dozing for a couple of hours with some new tunes from my iPod playing in my ears.
And this is what you see every sunny day at Parque Las Heras, located on Avenida Las Heras between Colonel Diaz and Salguero. Literally hundreds of Palermo residents, from teens to the elderly, bake in the sun at Parque Las Heras every day, in order to achieve that famous Buenos Aires tan. Don’t worry if you come without food or drink, because friendly street vendors constantly pass through the park with sodas, water, ice cream, and other inexpensive palate pleasers.
So if you are looking for a little […]

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Leaving the United States for an Expat Experience

May 30, 2007 | Filed Under Argentina | No Comments

The Decision-Making ProcessDeciding to move out of the United States actually came pretty easy for us. We knew that it would be an adventure. My husband had lived in Venezuela for a few months during college, and had the wonderful experience of learning about a new culture and making life-long friends in the process. Several of our friends and family have lived for varying periods of time in many different countries. So, we knew it was doable, and we knew what an adventure it could be. We’re in a place where we’re ready for a change of scenery, a change of pace, and we’re ready for the personal growth that comes with moving out of our comfort zone.
Why Argentina?Argentina stole our hearts the first time we visited. Not only is it a beautiful country, its people posses a passion for life that is unique and inspiring. Buenos Aires is like […]

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Quote du jour 05.30.07

May 30, 2007 | Filed Under Argentina | No Comments

“I thought we were going to learn the tango?”
“The tango? You’ve got to earn the tango.”
Antonio Banderas to a student in Take the Lead
¿has anyone even seen this movie?

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Just say no

May 30, 2007 | Filed Under Argentina | No Comments

I`ve heard that Starbucks is coming to Buenos Aires. I don`t like them. I don`t like those big chains where you have to order the coffee at the counter. I hate that they use those plastic glasses and that you can take the coffee and drink it while you are walking. I don`t like that they all look identical and that they make their staff wear those stupid uniforms. Besides, with all the nice, interesting places we have here do we really need places like Havanna or Aroma? This is against our porteño laid back nature. This places take away the pleasure of being sited for 15 minutes (or 3 hours) just drinking your coffee, looking through the window or reading the newspaper (and in some cases cruising with the rest of the coffee drinkers).

One of the worst things is that the interesting crazy people don`t drink their coffee […]

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Greetings from North America

May 30, 2007 | Filed Under Argentina | No Comments

We arrived home wthout any problems. The plane was on time and we moved quickly throught Customs and Immigration. Our friend, Charlie, was waiting for us outside the international terminal to drive us home the 50 miles from Dulles International Airport to our home in Maryland. It is almost summer here. It was over 90 degrees today. Our house, yes, there is a house there in all those trees, was in good shape, but there was a lot of late-spring cleaning to do.Yesderday, I stopped by work and checked in on my office. It was pretty clean, just like I left it. Everyone at work was happy to see me. The neighbor were happy to have us back too. That’s kind of nice: the people in Argentina were sorry to see us go ( and we were sorry to say goodbye) and the people in the USA are happy […]

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