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
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