I have never considered language separate from myself; "es decir que" I never considered language a tool, I took it for granted that I could say what I felt. When I arrived in South America, I quickly learned here that my self expression had nothing to do with language -- it couldn't because I couldn't "manejar" (manuever) the language well enough. There were so many days I was beyond frustrated because I wanted the people to see "Megan." However, I was taken out of my zone completely: I couldn't make others comfortable by asking them questions (because I couldn't formulate the questions well or understand the answers), I couldn't voice fun observations about society or carry on a political conversation, I couldn't be comforting when things happened to my family or Argentine friends here... I felt like I couldn't care for people well, or I couldn't be silly or intelligent or interested... because I had no words. I had to depend on others to have patience while I spoke, or ask me questions, or hope we connected in another way...
And I realized quickly that my personality is completely separate from words, and if there were no words, I would still be Megan. My personality would still need expression. My little sisters were the first people who knew me well. Kids don't need words as much -- silly faces across the breakfast table, pillow fights, spontaneous dance parties, and cuddling while watching movies is sufficient. I listen well -- if I can't be sincere and loving with words, I can be that through listening - using my eyes and attention to show people that I do want to know of their lives. I laugh a lot here. I laugh because sometimes I understand things but can't respond quickly enough to be witty, or just because people need to know I'm fun. I dance. -- yeah, tango! By doing something that doesn't require words, my friends know: how I am when I'm frustrated (when I constantly error in a step), how to encourage me, that I don't take things too seriously because we laugh when I screw up, and that I have tons of energy (am "feisty" as one friend calls me). I also had to find other ways of loving people (I'm a big words of affirmation person) -- so being attentive to people through quality time, buying thoughtful gifts, cleaning the kitchen...
In the past three months, my language has improved incredibly. But I still search for other ways of self-expression. It's been stretching, challenging, frustrating, and fun, but I think it's a really beautiful lesson... and if anything, I'm even MORE dynamic now...
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Mullet photo...!!!
Here it is -- the infamous girl mullet!! A bit grown out... but I'm getting a fresh trim Friday and will post the photos soon... so you can see the real funky-ness of it!! haha. I love the fun of life.
Friday, May 4, 2007
Buenos Aires Slang
For those of you who speak Spanish, I want to give you a look into my Argentine slang. Disclaimer: These are not sentences I would normally say but I was trying to construct sentences with slang words... haha. It's translated below. Here you go:
¡Hola, negra! ¿Como andas? Che, recién estaba en bondi y vi un hombre lindo… estaba refuerte. ¡No! ¡Boluda! No hable con el. ¡Boluda! Había otro tipo con el, y el le dijo algo de su mujer… pero estaba confundida porque hablábamos de minas, y de un gato especifico. Que bajón. Pero el estaba refuerte. Bueno. Fui a un café y tome un cortado con dos facturas y una medialuna – era rebarato. Y tuvo buena onda. Pero había un tipo refeo que me dijo, “Gorda, ¡que linda sos!” Yo pensaba, “que feo sos.”
Che, ¿cómo están tus viejas? ¿Hablaste con ellos vos?
Escúchame una cosa – quiero comprarme unas zapatillas. Porque con la lluvia (un plomo ayer, ¿viste?) y con solo zapatos… es un lío. Bueno, tus nuevos zapatos te quedan bien. A ver… ¿qué más iba decirte? ¿Querés salir a bailar rock esta noche? O sé de una milonga -- ¡me cargás! ¿Salís a una milonga esta noche vos? ¡Mirá vos! Tal cual. Dale, si tenés ganas, ¿querés arreglarte y entonces encontrarnos para hacer un asado antes la milonga? O, qué sé yo, ¿ir a una parrilla? No quiero mas carne porque ya comí una milanesa pero comería pollo o algo. Ya compre fernet y Coca para después pero tengo fiaca… no quiero salir a bailar. Voy a quedarme en casa con las nenas y mi cuarto esta hecho un kilombo… necesito organizarme un poco.
Bueno, Ya esta. Listo. Nos vemos. Un besito.
Translated:
Hi term of endearment! How are you? Hey, I was just on a bus and I saw this really cute guy… he was super attractive. No! (Boluda is like swearing, but not… it’s only used between really good friends, or calling someone a boludo/a would start a hardcore fight in the street. In this sense, it means, something like idiot, or… has the sense of, "of course not! How could you think that? That’s ridiculous!”) I didn’t talk with him! There was another guy with him, and he said something about his woman. (When guys call someone their “mujer” it means they’re either married or have been living together for a loooong time. A girlfriend is never a “mujer”.) But I was confused because they were talking about women, and one slut in particular. How annoying. But he was so cute. Well, anyway. I went to a café and drank a tiny coffee and had two pastries and a croissant – it was really cheap. And had a good atmosphere. But there was this ugly guy who said to me, “Gorda! How beautiful you are!” and I was thinking, “How ugly you are.” (Gorda or gordo is only used for someone you are dating.)
Hey, how are your parents? Have you talked with them?
Listen, I want to buy some gym shoes. Because with the rain (was so annoying and frustrating yesterday, you agree?) and with only my cute shoes… it was a mess. Hey, your new shoes look great on you! Let’s see… what else did I want to tell you? Do you want to go to a club with rock music tonight? Or I know of a place to tango… you’re kidding me! You’re going out to a milonga tonight? Look at you! (I can’t really translate tal cual… like a term of being even, of affirmation, of agreement with what the other person said.) Well, if you feel up for it, do you want to get ready and then meet up to barbeque before you go? Or… whatever… we can go out to a (restaurant where there’s tons of amazing argentine meat). I don’t want meat because I had a milanesa (argentine food… breaded steak) for lunch but I’ll get chicken or something. I already bought fernet (national cheap hard liquor of Argentina that is always mixed with Coke) and coke for after. But I don’t really feel like going out tonight. I’m going to stay home with the girls and my room is a mess… I have to catch up on life a bit.
Okay. That’s it. We’ll see each other soon. A kiss.
¡Hola, negra! ¿Como andas? Che, recién estaba en bondi y vi un hombre lindo… estaba refuerte. ¡No! ¡Boluda! No hable con el. ¡Boluda! Había otro tipo con el, y el le dijo algo de su mujer… pero estaba confundida porque hablábamos de minas, y de un gato especifico. Que bajón. Pero el estaba refuerte. Bueno. Fui a un café y tome un cortado con dos facturas y una medialuna – era rebarato. Y tuvo buena onda. Pero había un tipo refeo que me dijo, “Gorda, ¡que linda sos!” Yo pensaba, “que feo sos.”
Che, ¿cómo están tus viejas? ¿Hablaste con ellos vos?
Escúchame una cosa – quiero comprarme unas zapatillas. Porque con la lluvia (un plomo ayer, ¿viste?) y con solo zapatos… es un lío. Bueno, tus nuevos zapatos te quedan bien. A ver… ¿qué más iba decirte? ¿Querés salir a bailar rock esta noche? O sé de una milonga -- ¡me cargás! ¿Salís a una milonga esta noche vos? ¡Mirá vos! Tal cual. Dale, si tenés ganas, ¿querés arreglarte y entonces encontrarnos para hacer un asado antes la milonga? O, qué sé yo, ¿ir a una parrilla? No quiero mas carne porque ya comí una milanesa pero comería pollo o algo. Ya compre fernet y Coca para después pero tengo fiaca… no quiero salir a bailar. Voy a quedarme en casa con las nenas y mi cuarto esta hecho un kilombo… necesito organizarme un poco.
Bueno, Ya esta. Listo. Nos vemos. Un besito.
Translated:
Hi term of endearment! How are you? Hey, I was just on a bus and I saw this really cute guy… he was super attractive. No! (Boluda is like swearing, but not… it’s only used between really good friends, or calling someone a boludo/a would start a hardcore fight in the street. In this sense, it means, something like idiot, or… has the sense of, "of course not! How could you think that? That’s ridiculous!”) I didn’t talk with him! There was another guy with him, and he said something about his woman. (When guys call someone their “mujer” it means they’re either married or have been living together for a loooong time. A girlfriend is never a “mujer”.) But I was confused because they were talking about women, and one slut in particular. How annoying. But he was so cute. Well, anyway. I went to a café and drank a tiny coffee and had two pastries and a croissant – it was really cheap. And had a good atmosphere. But there was this ugly guy who said to me, “Gorda! How beautiful you are!” and I was thinking, “How ugly you are.” (Gorda or gordo is only used for someone you are dating.)
Hey, how are your parents? Have you talked with them?
Listen, I want to buy some gym shoes. Because with the rain (was so annoying and frustrating yesterday, you agree?) and with only my cute shoes… it was a mess. Hey, your new shoes look great on you! Let’s see… what else did I want to tell you? Do you want to go to a club with rock music tonight? Or I know of a place to tango… you’re kidding me! You’re going out to a milonga tonight? Look at you! (I can’t really translate tal cual… like a term of being even, of affirmation, of agreement with what the other person said.) Well, if you feel up for it, do you want to get ready and then meet up to barbeque before you go? Or… whatever… we can go out to a (restaurant where there’s tons of amazing argentine meat). I don’t want meat because I had a milanesa (argentine food… breaded steak) for lunch but I’ll get chicken or something. I already bought fernet (national cheap hard liquor of Argentina that is always mixed with Coke) and coke for after. But I don’t really feel like going out tonight. I’m going to stay home with the girls and my room is a mess… I have to catch up on life a bit.
Okay. That’s it. We’ll see each other soon. A kiss.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Una mezcla
I've learned about myself that when so many amazing things happen and I don't write/tell about them, I freeze and shut down and don't want to tell anything to anyone... and I can't do that! So I'm going to do highlights... you can choose!
1) Perfect Argentine Weekend.
2) Political unrest in Argentina.
3) My new name: Rose.
4) Walnuts and the Country
--PERFECT ARGENTINE WEEKEND. I just had the most amazing weekend. It was Argentine to the max. Friday I was invited out tango dancing!! At TWO real milongas until 6am! And I tango'd! Funny detail: The guy I went with has been dancing for ten years. Last year he was casted as Romeo in a tango-styled Romeo and Juliet. Sooo... I went out dancing with the Romeo of tango! haha. (Too bad I'm just NOT attracted to the guy.)
Saturday I woke after two hours of sleep to ride bikes with the class of my 7 year old sister. Then I made eight tortas with my mom, and that night, we had over 50 people to our house for her 40th birthday. Incredible. There was a DJ in our living room, my mom had been practicing salsa for weeks and put on this espectáculo of salsa (like flipping in the air...), there was coffee and wine and tortas of fruit and chocolate... we danced until 430am. So fun.
I woke Sunday at 3pm and went directly to a bar in my neighborhood to watch the BOCA/RIVER game. I was one of three women in the packed out bar --guys leaned through the windows to see the small TV, and Niko (my cousin here) and I stood in the back, drank beer, and watched the game. It was the game of all games, and people were shouting/jumping/cheering/hitting tables/singing fútbol songs... I loved it.
--POLITICAL UNREST. Last Monday was a "paro" = all the universities/schools, public AND private, didn't hold classes; the public transportation didn't run, and 30,000 people marched through BsAs. Why? The Thursday before, the police shot and killed a professor in another providence during a protest. The country's people were are in an uproar for two reasons: it raised the education issue here (education is free in Arg. at any level, but money is not allocated as it should be), but also raised the issue of the corruption in the police and government. This has been an issue historically, and the police still use violence and torture to enforce power in some areas; a lot of the mindset is still from the dictatorship in the 70s. So to be here during all the politics is so interesting (yeah, sociology!). Google: Argentina dictatorship or go to BBC.com to see what's happening in Arg.
--MY NEW NAME: ROSE. Two weeks ago today, Katie and I visited La Boca. As were were purusing the Caminito of artensans and painters, we started talking with Guillermo Alio. He and his wife are world reknown for their art: they dance tango on a canvas, with paint on their feet. It's beautiful. He is in his fifties, the bridge in La Boca is named after his grandfather, he was invited to Jay Leno, and he wore a tango hat when we went out for pizza. From 3pm-10pm, we hung out with Guillermo and his friend Miguel, who is a world-traveled tango guitarist. They gave us names that only they can call us (Katie-Maria and I-Rose, haha). We drank mate together, conversed about life and beauty and living well, laughed, and they took us out for wine and pizza. If Buenos Aires was in a movie, THIS would be the scene. Things to google: La Boca Caminito, Guillermo Alio.
--WALNUTS IN THE COUNTRY: for Easter I spent the weekend in the country house of my family (el campo). It was amazing. When the Spanish controlled Arg. in the late 1700s, rich Spanish families had their vacation homes in the country... and the tradition continues today: people that can afford it own homes in the country. It was so interesting to be on a farm, collect walnuts from trees, eat asados, and ride a horse...(!) Most of all I loved being barefoot, playing fútbol with my older cousins and being in the country. :)
Sooo... that's my life. haha. Fun, no?
1) Perfect Argentine Weekend.
2) Political unrest in Argentina.
3) My new name: Rose.
4) Walnuts and the Country
--PERFECT ARGENTINE WEEKEND. I just had the most amazing weekend. It was Argentine to the max. Friday I was invited out tango dancing!! At TWO real milongas until 6am! And I tango'd! Funny detail: The guy I went with has been dancing for ten years. Last year he was casted as Romeo in a tango-styled Romeo and Juliet. Sooo... I went out dancing with the Romeo of tango! haha. (Too bad I'm just NOT attracted to the guy.)
Saturday I woke after two hours of sleep to ride bikes with the class of my 7 year old sister. Then I made eight tortas with my mom, and that night, we had over 50 people to our house for her 40th birthday. Incredible. There was a DJ in our living room, my mom had been practicing salsa for weeks and put on this espectáculo of salsa (like flipping in the air...), there was coffee and wine and tortas of fruit and chocolate... we danced until 430am. So fun.
I woke Sunday at 3pm and went directly to a bar in my neighborhood to watch the BOCA/RIVER game. I was one of three women in the packed out bar --guys leaned through the windows to see the small TV, and Niko (my cousin here) and I stood in the back, drank beer, and watched the game. It was the game of all games, and people were shouting/jumping/cheering/hitting tables/singing fútbol songs... I loved it.
--POLITICAL UNREST. Last Monday was a "paro" = all the universities/schools, public AND private, didn't hold classes; the public transportation didn't run, and 30,000 people marched through BsAs. Why? The Thursday before, the police shot and killed a professor in another providence during a protest. The country's people were are in an uproar for two reasons: it raised the education issue here (education is free in Arg. at any level, but money is not allocated as it should be), but also raised the issue of the corruption in the police and government. This has been an issue historically, and the police still use violence and torture to enforce power in some areas; a lot of the mindset is still from the dictatorship in the 70s. So to be here during all the politics is so interesting (yeah, sociology!). Google: Argentina dictatorship or go to BBC.com to see what's happening in Arg.
--MY NEW NAME: ROSE. Two weeks ago today, Katie and I visited La Boca. As were were purusing the Caminito of artensans and painters, we started talking with Guillermo Alio. He and his wife are world reknown for their art: they dance tango on a canvas, with paint on their feet. It's beautiful. He is in his fifties, the bridge in La Boca is named after his grandfather, he was invited to Jay Leno, and he wore a tango hat when we went out for pizza. From 3pm-10pm, we hung out with Guillermo and his friend Miguel, who is a world-traveled tango guitarist. They gave us names that only they can call us (Katie-Maria and I-Rose, haha). We drank mate together, conversed about life and beauty and living well, laughed, and they took us out for wine and pizza. If Buenos Aires was in a movie, THIS would be the scene. Things to google: La Boca Caminito, Guillermo Alio.
--WALNUTS IN THE COUNTRY: for Easter I spent the weekend in the country house of my family (el campo). It was amazing. When the Spanish controlled Arg. in the late 1700s, rich Spanish families had their vacation homes in the country... and the tradition continues today: people that can afford it own homes in the country. It was so interesting to be on a farm, collect walnuts from trees, eat asados, and ride a horse...(!) Most of all I loved being barefoot, playing fútbol with my older cousins and being in the country. :)
Sooo... that's my life. haha. Fun, no?
Friday, April 13, 2007
I did it - do you think I've gone too far?
Yep. It happened. The girl mullet happened. hahah. And I like it!! Thank you for all of your participation and votes... the mullet actually won, but I must be honest: I knew it would happen before I posted that... But here's how it happened: I asked around for the funkiest peluquería in BsAs, and when I got there, "Juan" asked me what I wanted. I only said, "Quiero algo distincto y divertido." (I want something different and fun.) He looked at my face, took out his scissors, and the mullet happened. But let me describe it.
It's not an 80s type mullet - it's fun, trendy-funky, playful, and very high-fashion. It's a mullet in the sense that the longest pieces are just above my shoulders, the shortest pieces on the top of my head are 2 inches long. It complements my curls because he cut it so the long pieces fall in ringlets and the rest is just funky and wavy and natural. I have a few bangs... they are on the L 3/4 of my face and the other 1/4 is pieces of hair that falls in curls. My bangs are really short and piece-y and funky. haha. It sounds crazy, I know, but it's not. So far, all the Americans I've seen really like it. So I think I'm safe.
Some days I like it. Some days I think, "What happened to the soft, classic, Megan style?? This is too much." But in general, it's just fun. I will post photos as soon as possible. For those of you who don't know, I lost my camera... so I have to wait to borrow someone else's! But I will post photos...haha. Oh, how fun this is...!)
(As I titled this, I was singing Dave Matthews... just so you can reference where my head's at. haha.)
It's not an 80s type mullet - it's fun, trendy-funky, playful, and very high-fashion. It's a mullet in the sense that the longest pieces are just above my shoulders, the shortest pieces on the top of my head are 2 inches long. It complements my curls because he cut it so the long pieces fall in ringlets and the rest is just funky and wavy and natural. I have a few bangs... they are on the L 3/4 of my face and the other 1/4 is pieces of hair that falls in curls. My bangs are really short and piece-y and funky. haha. It sounds crazy, I know, but it's not. So far, all the Americans I've seen really like it. So I think I'm safe.
Some days I like it. Some days I think, "What happened to the soft, classic, Megan style?? This is too much." But in general, it's just fun. I will post photos as soon as possible. For those of you who don't know, I lost my camera... so I have to wait to borrow someone else's! But I will post photos...haha. Oh, how fun this is...!)
(As I titled this, I was singing Dave Matthews... just so you can reference where my head's at. haha.)
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
A vote on girl mullets
WARNING: This entry requires group participation - aka COMMENTS.
Soooo... I have to get a hair cut. Girl mullets are hot here. Never again in my life will I be in a place where girl mullets are hot (I don't plan on it anyway). What do you think? Should I aprovechar (take advantage of) the situation of my life?
SHOULD I GET A GIRL MULLET??
Let me know your vote.
Soooo... I have to get a hair cut. Girl mullets are hot here. Never again in my life will I be in a place where girl mullets are hot (I don't plan on it anyway). What do you think? Should I aprovechar (take advantage of) the situation of my life?
SHOULD I GET A GIRL MULLET??
Let me know your vote.
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