The Fat American Lady

Hola! Hope this finds you all well on this lovely Tuesday evening (well, it is lovely here, at least).

I am sitting in the internet cafe, and there´s a live recording of "It Must´ve Been Love¨playing. So funny. The American music they choose to listen to here. They´re about 20 years behind. Although, I did notice in the music store today that Amy Winehouse, Radiohead, and James Blunt were all on their best-seller list. So they must be somewhat plugged in.

Actually, the level of plugged-in-ness down here (plugged-in-ness to American culture, that is) is something I think about a lot. We take so many things for granted, as Americans. So many things that we can´t even think of because that´s how terribly we take them for granted! Having a culture of cinema and music in your own language, for example. You walk into a music/video store in Argentina, and the vast majority of media they´re selling is originally in English, sung by Americans, acted by Americans (obviously there are exceptions - they´re not ALL Americans).

I remember my first week here, in Buenos Aires, seeing the Simpsons on TV, hearing crap American music everywhere, seeing posters for American movies, and thinking, "How boring. Can´t they get some stuff of their own?"

It also occurred to me how strange that must be for the Argentinian. For the teenagers who are finding themselves in the sounds and voices of American musicians. Wouldn´t it be odd, growing up, living your life, and constantly being assaulted by media that wasn´t in your native language?

I brought this very subject up to my friend Juan Manuel, who is actually studying cinema, and he said it´s a subject frequently discussed in his classes. The lack of identity in Argentinian movies, music, etc. I am not saying that Argentinians don´t have their own culture or that they are trying to be like us - not at all. Just simply that the entertainment industry, in particular, does not have a very strong voice here. It get drowned out by that fat American lady.

Anyway, next time you turn on the TV and watch that re-run of Friends or Sex in the City or whatever, just think about it. What if everything on were originally produced in Chinese? How would your outlook on the world be different?

Could I please sound more like a high school English teacher? Aack. 250 words on that topic, please. Typed. Double-spaced.

All´s well here. I had a very quiet weekend. We had an asado (a bbq) on Saturday night to say farewell to Denise, another student who has been living with us (she´s from Suiza), and it was great fun. I looked out my window an hour or two before dinner and found Manuel chopping wood. That´s what I said. Chopping wood. For the grille. If you´ve looked at the most recent picures, you can sort of see what the grille looks like - more or less like the ones we use - but he used a wood-burning fire to cook the meat instead of a coal-burning one. And I could taste the difference! It was amazing. Yum.

We ate out in the backyard as the sun was going down. So nice. I just love this family. And of course, Ana Maria had created this unbelievable torta, cake, for dessert.

I spent a great deal of the weekend on the computer, debating my next move, and I did manage to make some plans. I now have a bus ticket to El Chalten, which is the jumping off point for Torres del Paine. I also have reserved 4 nights in a hostel there, but that is where the plans end. I decided that I wanted to have a few more days in Bariloche after I get this cast off to run around here and do some of the things I haven´t been able to do, so I am not leaving until the 7th, which is next Friday.

So hopefully, next week will be spent doing lots of hiking and camping and whatnot. I will let you know.

And, the sun´s coming out tomorrow, my friends! I am heading back to the ole hospital for the removal of my cast. I am terrified of that blade they are going to use, but I guess if I lose my arm, I will already have learned to brush my teeth with my left hand.

Just kidding...

Happy last week in February! You can make it!! Love you all.