Día del Niño

                                                     

                                             Flyer from the Refuout pharmacy volunteer day

Hello amigos. It’s crazy to think that my fellowship is rapping up very soon and I don’t have demasiado tiempo left in Argentina...where did the time go?! 

Baby Help

About two weeks ago was Día Del Niño, "Kids Day" so there was a celebration at Baby Help. The teachers put on a skit, there were games for the kids such as an astro jump, arcade games, art, building blocks and more. There was an evening tea and at the end each kid received a present. The event was really cute and it was great to meet the parents and see the kids with their families.

LeDor VaDor

September 7th at LeDor VaDor will be a game day for the residents. To be honest I’m not sure what it will be like or what I’ll be doing, but I know I will be helping out somehow, whether that being accompanying a resident or helping to run a game. Whatever it is, I’m happy to do it because it’s such a pleasure to be there.

Hebraica

Last Friday night was Pancho Music Festival at Hebraica. It’s a fundraiser to raise money for a Mitnadev program because in September, the kids from Mitnadev will be traveling to rural schools in Cordoba, Misiones, Santa Fe and Corrientes to donate food, clothing, supplies (school supplies, generators ect.) to these schools. All of the money is going towards these schools and to help finance the trip. The performers at Pancho Music Festival were Mitnadev kids and people danced, sang and played instruments. The show was a success and hundreds of kids went.

Last weekend, Hebraica celebrated Día del Niño at its Pilar location. I went to help out and to see how the celebration would be. There was a rotation of activities that the kids participated in such as sports, art projects, obstacle courses and they got to ride el tren de alegría, a colorfully painted train where Pepe, the Argentine version of Barney was dancing and singing with the kids. At night there was a music/lights/acrobatic show, very Las Vegas style for all the kids and their families to see and it was enjoyed by all.

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is still its good old self filled with tons of activities, cultural events and kilombo. I attended a Menora lecture lead by a professor from the University of Chicago. The topic was about how science is now proving that how the torah says the world was created is in fact scientifically true, and that we live in 10 dimensional world and not 3. He then started to go into string theory and although the lecture was in English (!) string theory really confused me and I was lost. If anyone understands it, please explain it to me in non-scientific words.

I also attended an after office party run by Menora, exclusively for Menora members. They rented out a bar for a night and there was kosher food, drinks and Nintendo WII video games. It was my second Menora after office and I enjoyed it a lot.

     August was declared the month of tango in Buenos Aires so starting from mid August until the end of the month, the government of Buenos Aires sponsored free tango classes, shows, documentaries about the history of tango and more. I didn’t go to any of the events because since they were free, the lines were a million miles long. Plus, one of the great things about Buenos Aires is that everyday there are people dancing tango in the streets, so no reason to wait in line for hours to watch a free show. For those of you that have never seen tango, it’s a very beautiful, elegant sexy dance, and I love the dresses and heels. Check it out, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXhQNRsH3uc

    The Refuout pharmacy had a huge volunteer day on the 30th. Hundreds of people, including Danielle (my friend and JSC colleague) and I, helped organize, mark and put into the database the donated medicines to be shipped off all over the country. It was so great to see so many volunteers, so many people supporting the pharmacy. Coincidently there was a guy at our table from the US that spoke very little Spanish so we spoke in English, our treat for the day.

Danielle and I have been talking about what we are looking forward to upon our return to the US. I talked about how I’m excited for the fabulous San Diego weather (never never again will I have to be in winter!) and the beautiful beaches. I was expecting Danielle, born and raised on the Upper West Side, to say that she was excited for the museums, having the subway be open 24/7 (in Buenos Aires it closes at 10:30PM), eating crumbs cupcakes (my favorite!) or something very New York City-ish but she said something that completely caught me off guard. She told me and I quote “Ariana I’m excited to go apple picking”. As you can imagine, I was surprised to hear this from anyone, especially a NYC native. I explained to Danielle how at my house in San Diego, we have many fruit trees such as pomegranates, apricots, lemons, oranges and even apples and that apple picking really isn’t that cool. She was very excited to hear this so she is planning a trip to San Diego, just to pick fruit in my backyard and when she has time she will hang out with me ;-) Danielle, I hope you do plan a trip to San Diego, mi casa es tu casa, mi fruta es tu fruta.

Continuing with this subject, I thought of a few more things that I’m looking forward to in San Diego.

1.   1. Thai food

2.    2. Crumbs cupcakes. I don’t think there’s Crumbs in San Diego but I know there is one in Beverly Hills, but close enough!

3.    3. Being able to buy things. Many things such as shoes, clothes and groceries cost more in Argentina than in the US

4.    4. Surfing

5.    5. Rubios (whoever is picking me up from the airport please have ready for me upon my arrival a Rubios bean and cheese burrito with guacamole inside. Thanks in advance).

6.    6. Seeing Gramma Lily

7.    7. Cheese Cake Factory

8.    8. Fashion Valley

9.    9. San Diego Padres (dad can we please go to a game?!)

    10. Masters swim class at Arbolitos

However, I will definitely miss Argentina too, despite the kilombo and it will be hard to adjust to life in the US again. A list of things I’ll miss…

1.    My friends. I have an amazing group of friends in Buenos Aires, some that I already knew from last year and new friends that I made this year.

2.    The kilombo. It’s a love/ hate relationship, depending on what type of kilombo it is.

3.    The kids at Baby Help. No matter how sad, tired or “sin ganas” I am, the kids at Baby Help can always cheer me up by their cuteness and their endless hugs and kisses

4.    The buena onda at Hebraica, my colleagues, being surrounded by inspiration, millions of people all the time and watching a million activities happen at the same time

5.    The abuelos at LeDor VaDor. They are so cute and I love hearing their life stories, meeting their families and being a part of their life, even if 2 minutes later they forget who I am which can happen.

6.    The nightlife. Buenos Aires has some of the best nightlife in the world. Katina, I hope you’re ready for what’s to come

7.    Alto Palermo and Av. Santa Fe, aka my neighborhood. Alto Palermo is the mall right by my house where I would go to walk around to kill time if I arrived at Menora early (I know, I’m like an 80 year old woman that lives in Boca). Avenida Santa Fe is the big Avenue right by my house. It’s also one of the main avenues in the city, with tons of buses, subways and people walking around 24/7 and it’s really nice to walk on and great for people watching.

8.    Menora. I’ll miss the people and having constant Jewish activities to look forward to on a daily basis.

9.    Empanadas 24/7. The best snack at any time of day, especially when one empanada costs U$S1.

       10. Castellano. Not español, castellano

Buenos Aires Fashion Week!

Buenos Aires Fashion Week, August 10th 2011, Wanama Runway Show

 Hola a todos. Everything is just fine and dandy "barbaro" in Buenos Aires. Heres what I have been up to since I last left off...



 Baby Help

I proposed two ideas to Viviana and the head of the volunteer department of LeDor VaDor of how to have more engagement between the residents of LeDor VaDor and the toddlers at Baby Help. Unfortunately, I don’t think it's possible to do any of them due to timing, and for health reasons (physical and mental). I’m glad that I tried though and that I shared my ideas.

LeDor VaDor

How do the abuelos do it? How are they just so darn cute all the time and sweep me off my feet everyday? I love going to LeDor VaDor and chatting with the residents, having them show me family photos, meeting their kids and grandkids and really becoming a part of their life. I love randomly seeing them within LeDor VaDor, outside of Ocupational Therapy and getting to know them on a deeper level in another setting. Next week will be very busy, because LeDor VaDor will be moving some residents and rearranging a few rooms so I will be helping out with that. Not sure specifically what I’ll be doing, besides “dando una mano” but it’s always such a pleasure to be there, because it has “buena onda”

Hebraica

As I’ve said before, there are always a bajillion things happening at Hebraica all at the same time. I’m now creating a brochure in English geared towards the foreigner. My boss totally understands how and why I am confused a lot at Hebraica so she told me, "Ariana, why don’t you create a brochure for foreigners explaining to them how you view Hebraica and how it could be understood by foreigners, Hebraica told from the foreigners point of view". I thought this was a brilliant idea, so that way the next time a foreigner comes (maybe the next JSC fellow?!) they will get off to an easier start than I did, having something concrete that they can take home with them that really explains what Hebraica is so they understand, and literally written in their language.

In addition to creating a brochure for the foreigner, I am hoping to translate the youth blog into English, so the youth department can globalize and create a strong link with BBYO, something they are really striving for. 




I’m also compiling all the pictures, schedules, activities and reviews of each winter camp and putting it into a database.

I’m still working on the BBYO connection but recently its been slow due to winter vacation here and summer vacation in the US. 

Shortly after staring to work on the BBYO connection, my colleagues presented me with an idea, to create an international online network with Jews between the ages of 23 – 30 talking about global Jewish issues such as assimilation, kosher, Shabbat and so on and to learn how these issues are in other countries and how they are dealing with them. At first, communication would be done via email, Gchat, facebook, Skype or any other method and the ultimate goal is to one day have everyone meet up and have a weekend seminar talking more in depth about issues that were previously discussed online and new ones as well. I really liked the idea of the project and have been spreading the word, sending out tons of emails to my JSC colleagues and to friends and family all over the world hoping to create a base so we can get started, and soon! As of now there are people from Paris, Kiev, Boston, New York, Pennsylvania and Argentina interested in participating, off to a good start I think! If anyone has any suggestions of how to help my colleagues and I further develop this project, to spread the word and find people interested in participating please let me know, hint hint hint...

Every friday I still participate in Mitnadev, the social justice program for teenagers. We continue to do activities for the kids in the shantytown and it amazes me every time that although we come from different backgrounds and are on different economic levels, in the end we all want the same thing, to learn, to grow and to have fun. As a group, Mitnadev and the kids combined, we thought of a name to call ourselves that unites us even more, “los valientes de Carrillo”, “the courageous people of Carrillo”. 

Each wednesday I have attempted to do a 30min English conversation class for the madrichim talking about Jewish topics such as Jewish food, the 8 levels of tzedaka, tikun olam and so on. Out of the 8 classes that I attempted to do, people only came to 4 of them. The problem is that the madrichim come to Hebraica to plan an activity or do one for the kids. I’ve been looking and paying close attention, and I can’t figure out when they would have free time at Hebraica or when they would be able to come besides planning. I expressed my concerns with my boss and she understood, and was equally as stumped as I was. We will discuss this more in depth with the other directors at next weeks youth department meeting. If we come to an agreement that I should cancel the English class, the truth is, I wouldn’t be upset at all. I am really glad that I tried and I had a really good four classes. And from those classes, I had the opportunity to speak with madrichim that I didn’t know before and learn more about them. This fellowship, for me at least has been a lot about trial and error, presenting ideas and succeeding as well as getting shot down, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Even if it’s decided to cancel the class, I still view it as a success and am so glad that I was able to do it.

Buenos Aires en General

Just like at Hebraica, in Buenos Aires there are a bajillion things happening all at the same time, and the “kilombo” never stops. 

Menora

Last friday night I went to a Shabbat dinner with Danielle at Menora just for girls. I really enjoyed the dinner, the food, the lectures, the “onda” and the people are always so warm and welcoming. If anyone ever goes to Buenos Aires, even if it’s just for a few days, I highly recommend you go to Menora because you will be treated like a rey and reina. 

Refuout Pharmacy

Since working in the pharmacy in Cordoba and learning bits and pieces about the central Refuout pharmacy in Buenos Aires, I’ve had a strong desire to visit it and last Wednesday I did. The pharmacy is not at all how I imagined it would be, It’s very small and crammed with boxes of donations, medicines to be shipped out, medicines to be organized and so on. It was so incredible to learn how the pharmacy functions, solely on donations and they supply for free medicines to hospitals, individuals (Jews and non-Jews) and organizations throughout Argentina. For more information on the pharmacy check out http://www.tzedaka.org.ar/en/contenidos_tzedaka.php?idp=2&categoria=64

BA Fashion Week

Last night I went to Buenos Aires Fashion Week, which was so cool! I’ve been wanting to go ever since I studied abroad in Buenos Aires in 2008. Although I really enjoyed it, I pictured it differently, but not in a bad way. I was expecting it to be super fashionable, pretentious and fabulous, Sex and the City style with sticks trying to appear as people walking around in flashy, expensive, ugly clothing with globs of makeup on their faces and pounds of gel in their hair, but no, it wasn’t like that at all! People from all over, all walks of life, fat, skinny, pretty and ugly people attended. I was also not expecting to see ice cream and fried cheese sold at the fashion show…I wasn’t expecting food to be sold at any fashion show, except maybe raw celery. I went to the runway show of the Argentine brand Wanama (pictured above), a style which is a mix of Anthropology and Urban Outfitters. I had a good time at the show, it was a great place for people watching, great to see another cultural aspect of the city and Argentine culture, and it’s something that I’ve always wanted to do and would do again.

Menora Conference

Next Tuesday I’ll be attending a conference that Menora is doing which I’m really looking forward to. The guest speaker is Professor Nathan Aviezer from the University of Chicago. The conference will be in English (!) [ :-) ] and the subject is Kabala, Science and the Creation of the Universe. In the next blog I’ll give you the details

El Fin

And finally, because this blog is demasiado long, I’m looking into tickets to go back to the US, which has gotten me thinking about what I’m looking forward to. Here’s my list so far…

1.    1. Watching movies without subtitles

2.   2.  Watching movies that are not dubbed in Spanish

3.    3. Mexican food that’s spicy

4.    4. Spicy food

5.    5. Being a native

6.    6. Beach!

7.    7. That beautiful California sun 365 days a year

8.    8. Going on long runs and not worrying about stepping in dog poop

9.    9. English!

df  10. Seeing friends and family