Mystery Presented, Mystery Solved

This post is going to have a "today I learned" theme running through it. But first a mostly irrelevant story.

I have a friend named Abdul, though I generally call him Ab. I met him my first day of tenth grade. I was new to the school. I was new to the state. I had just moved to Florida that summer from a small city in Iowa. Ab was also new to the school. He had moved over the summer from a small city in New York. One of our early conversations, though I don't think it was on that first day, had to do with being Jewish and the necessary conditions for being Jewish. This was not a heady philosophical discussion. No, the characteristic that Ab had in mind was having eaten a knish.

Not only had I never eaten a knish, I didn't even know what a knish was. Ab was incredulous, telling me I couldn't possibly be Jewish if I had never eaten a knish! I think there was a catastrophic flaw in his reasoning. I think having eaten a knish or even knowing what a knish was indicated coming from a place where they had knishes much more than being a member of any particular religious or ethnic group. More geographic then demographic.

I assure you, no one sold knishes in small town Iowa when I was a kid. I doubt anyone sells knishes in small town Iowa today. There just wouldn't be enough demand. I'm not sure you can buy knishes in Des Moines, and that's the biggest city in the state. Maybe you can in Des Moines today, though I suspect knishes would have been conspicuous by their absence back in the 1980s.

Today I learned that the Spanish word for "knishes" is "knishes." How did I learn it? Because I saw it on a sign at a shop selling knishes, along with empanadas and other more traditional Argentinian fare. You see today we walked to Villa Crespo which is one of the neighborhoods in Buenos Aires with the highest proportion of Jewish residents.

Buenos Aires, today I learned, has the highest Jewish population of any city in Latin America. Now, aside from the place selling knishes, I didn't see a lot of evidence of Jewish life in Villa Crespo. I'm sure it is there, just not where I was.

But I did see a lot of other interesting things both in Villa Crespo and on the way there. There was a shop selling little cushions you hold in your lap while you are sitting to watch television. And these cushions have voids for you to place your cup or your snacks in.

Are those cup holders Stitch's breasts?

Yeah, that was disturbing.

We passed a bakery (which was not selling knishes) having some sort of promotion today. And how do you best sell it? With a clown on stilts. Note, I don't say clown in a derogatory sense. I mean it literally. He had a red nose! I don't know why stilts promote a bakery. Maybe because bread rises? I also don't know how clowns promote a bakery. But a clown promotes a fast food chain, so maybe there is nothing clowns can't shill for.

Makes me want to buy baked goods!

In Villa Crespo, I saw a statue and monument honoring Osvaldo Pugliese. Today I learned that Pugliese, (I won't say Osvaldo as I feel I am not yet on a first name basis with him) was an Argentinian composer who wrote tango music. He didn't invent the tango, but he is credited with developing concert-style tango music. You know how in the United States, Carnegie Hall in NYC has a reputation as being the place that means you made it. If you play Carnegie Hall, wow, you really made it in your art. Well, in Argentina, that place would be the Teatro Colon. And Pugliese made it! He got to perform a concert of his tangos at the Teatro Colon.

That's Pugliese and behind him, I guess, his band.

We passed through Parque Centenario. This is a very nice park. It has lots of playgrounds for children. There is an amphitheater. There is a lake with fountains and koi and all around it are geese.

Big geese with little goslings. Aww!

Also pigeons.

Big geese with smallish pigeons. Not so much aww.

The park has some interesting statuary. One of the statues led to a little mystery.

This one is called Aurora which means Dawn. Not sure I get dawn from this.

This one had no title, but all those people in a box, doesn't it feel like Oppression should be the title?

Why doesn't it say who you are?

Who is that man sitting in a chair which is on top of books? What is he holding in his hand? Why is there no plaque anywhere on this monument or around it to tell us who this is?

Here's the good news. Today I learned who that is. But let me get there.

This triceratops outside the front door, its tail moves!

It's amazing that they found complete fossil saber tooth tigers who died while fighting and stayed in that posture!

On the north side of the park, there is the Museum of Natural Sciences. We decided to visit and had a great time. This building was built to be the Museum of Natural Sciences. And it is there in the details. The reliefs on the outside of the building show various people groups and animals. The rainspouts look like the heads of rodents or reptiles. Check out the door. Check out the cornice.

I love the spider in the web as the door decor

Good thing bats are holding up the ceiling, wouldn't want it to fall

The exhibits were very good. Most of the explanation was in Spanish, but I got a lot out of it. And their collections of various fossils, casts, shells, taxidermy species, skeletons, specimens, and minerals was impressive. I love to learn new things at museums. Today I learned something new about mollusks. Mollusks evolved in the oceans. Some mollusks then evolved to live in fresh water. And descendants of those fresh water mollusks evolved to live on land. But there was another group of mollusks who evolved right from the sea to live on land. And then their descendants returned to the water, but fresh water this time, evolving to live there. One group goes ocean, fresh water, land. The other goes ocean, land, fresh water. I'm probably over-explaining.

That's called a Rococo Toad. It's the world's largest amphibian.

Today I learned also, in that same exhibit, that the Spanish phrase for "fresh water" is "aqua dulce" which more literally would translate as "sweet water." But from context I figured out "sweet water" doesn't make sense and "fresh water" does. Aren't you proud of my inferential skills?

That's the jaw of a right whale, though my picture is from the wrong side because it's facing left.

Then, we came into a room and guess what sculpture we found inside the museum?

Hi again!

That's the same guy we saw in the park? The same chair on top of books. Holding something in his hand. But this time it was low enough that we could see it was an animal skull.

And there was a plaque with his name. Today I learned this is Hermann Burmeister. He was a naturalist and a director of the museum (though before it was in this building.) Actually, his name was all over the room. But sometimes it was spelled Hermann and sometimes it was spelled German. In Spanish, that G at the beginning would sound like an H in English. So I don't think they were saying he was German, though Burmeister could sound like a German name.

Could have been a Jewish name too! I wonder if he knew about knishes?

Nearby Naked Neighbor

Today is Sunday. And on this particular Sunday, we went for a small explore. Mainly we stayed near where we live. We saw some shops, some restaurants, and probably most interesting, the Parque Rivadavia.

Dedicated to Simon Bolivar

It is here that our nearby naked neighbor lives. If you look in her direction from the street, she is mooning you. But if you go into the park, you can see her bent posture is not meant in disrespect. She seems to be intent on drawing water out of an empty well. Alrica, as you might expect, is very jealous that I show any interest in the nearby naked neighbor. But there's little to worry about. The neighbor won't even look at me. She just ignores me with stony indifference.

She must find it much warmer here in October than I do

The Parque Rivadavia is really interesting for a variety of reasons. There is an arch in the center dedicated to Simón Bolivar. And on the west end of the park are these green shacks that sell books. Not all of them sell books, some sell music and some sell magazines and some sell comic books too. But these shops get a lot of traffic.

Magazines for sale

Great place to get your comics (in Spanish)

The book Dynamic Mathematics was such a hit, it needed a sequel!

Records hanging from the fence along with instructional material

Those shops seem to be open most days. But on Sundays, there were white tents with a craft market in the middle of the park. And near the green shacks, there was an entire crowd milling about. We wondered what they were doing. They were trading football cards!

Just one small section of the card trading crowd

By football cards, I mean, naturally, soccer cards. People had big decks of these cards with soccer players or team logos. Some families had lists of cards they were looking for. People interacted with one another to make trades or possibly sales. It was fascinating how many people, including some very young and some very old, were here and engaged in the trading.

Those are football cards in his hand

To be honest, I don't know if the soccer card traders (or the craft fair) is an every Sunday thing or if it was just this particular Sunday. This is my first Sunday in Argentina. But it was very interesting to see.

Something that we find surprising is that Buenos Aires is more expensive than we expected. Looking at the cost of living calculators, we expected it to cost more than say Lima, but not more than Florianopolis. But it does cost more. I would say a modest meal out at a restaurant here is running us about 15 USD per person. That's comparable to what the USA was like when we left it. But it just seems high compared to everywhere else we've been in South America so far.

This brings me to the question of shoes. So far, my shoes are doing well. But the tread is rubbed reasonable thin, the insoles are somewhat shot, and there will come a time I need to replace them. But shoes here are not a great price.

From what I've read, Santiago, Chile is much better and prices are lower, plus they have basically no tariffs on imports. I guess we'll see. But it inspired me to write this song (to the tune of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, which is itself a parody as I noted in my previous blog post from Harpers Ferry, WV.

I could buy in Buenos Aires where the shoes will cost a lot.
If I wait for Santiago, I have heard that they will not.
I did not buy shoes in Lima, or Medellín, or Brazil.
Now my shoes are hanging on, but I doubt they always will.
Last I bought them in Malaysia.
Now, I'm far away from Asia.
Here, the prices shock and phase ya.
Please, shoes, keep hanging on.

Which Continent am I in?

I do know the answer to the question posed in the title of this post. I am in South America. Zooming in, I am in Argentina. Zooming in again, I am in Buenos Aires. And that is what leads to the question.

So excited! With blistered toes.

If you've been to Buenos Aires before, you may understand what I mean. If you haven't, let me explain. When you walk around Buenos Aires, the architecture feels like you could be in Vienna or Paris or Athens. True, all the signs are in Spanish, so maybe it feels more like Madrid. But my point is that the facades and shapes of many buildings feel like they were ripped out of Europe.

Love the rounded end

In fact, one of the nicknames of Buenos Aires is "The Paris of South America." I have thoughts. On the one hand, I get it. Buenos Aires has some very wide avenues, much like Paris. There are perpendicular streets, but also ones coming in at a diagonal, much like Paris. And the architecture has a very similar aesthetic to Paris. Buenos Aires also enjoys its cafes, again, like Paris.

Love the triangle shape

But Paris is not the only city with these characteristics? Why don't we call Buenos Aires the Belgrade of South America? Why Paris specifically? And there are a lot of cities called the Paris of (fill in the blank.) Is this just our Western Europe bias? Or is Paris the only city that comes to mind when comparisons are being made.

Love the intricate stone work. (So much love!)

Our first two days in Buenos Aires, we were in the historic district near the Plaza de Mayo. This is a square in the city around which likes the Casa Rosada (which is where the President works, but not where the President lives), the National Bank of Argentina, and the Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires.

Monument in the Plaza de Mayo

The Casa Rosada

The National Bank of Argentina

The Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires

We went out exploring in the day and again in the night. The city is quite beautiful.

Oh, is the building feeling blue?

Dark windows

Lit windows

The following day was rainy, but we visited the Museo Moderno, the Museum of Modern Art. I didn't take any photographs of the art, but I found it very interesting. One of the pieces was a small desk with an old tower computer under it which is running. The screen shows an early version of Microsoft Word in which work has been typed out. There is also a printer and a long scroll of printer paper hanging down from the printer with various things printed on it, including what is showing on the monitor. I was wondering, does the museum have to forever maintain this very old computer and its monitor? It wouldn't matter if the printer doesn't work anymore, but the monitor needs to. Do they turn it off at night or does it just stay on eternally? Won't that monitor one day break down? I just couldn't fathom the maintenance logistics of this particular piece.

Obelisco (obelisk)

The Teatro Colon

Other discoveries we made included the BSAS Booth. I am sure some of you know what I mean by the TKTS booth in Times Square. Here, just a few blocks from the Teatro Colon, you can find the BSAS booth. It's the exact same idea. You stand in line and get discounted tickets to the shows going on that night in Buenos Aires. I don't know why it is BSAS. But I never knew why the one in New York is TKTS. I assumed it was short for tickets, but I could be wrong. My best guess here is that BSAS is short for Buenos Aires, because the word for tickets is boletos, which has only one S and no A in it.

Says Tickets in English, but still not TKTS

While I said there is a lot here which reminds me of Europe (and apparently New York City), understand that there is also a lot which is not like Europe or anywhere else I've been. There are different species of birds.

What are these green birds that hang out with pigeons?

There are protests involving the rights of animals.

I'm guessing that McCain processes chickens in ways of which these people don't approve

There are varieties of coffee I haven't seen before.

I like KitKat! Still don't like coffee.

There are street signs that are unfamiliar.

What would your guess have been?

I did find out what that one means. It is school crossing. I guess the thing the girl is carrying is a book maybe. Not sure what's she's doing with her legs.

We stopped in a bookstore and it was fun to see how some classics have their titles translates, but some can just stay the way they are.

Perfect when your title was just numbers anyway

Like my friend in the picture at the top of the post, I give Buenos Aires a rousing hooray. Two toes up!

If You're Going to be Delayed

Nobody likes having their flights delayed. We are no exception. As I write this, I should be onboard a flight that took off from Florianopolis, Brazil and is heading toward Buenos Aires, Argentina. But, as you probably guessed, I am not.

The Bridge we stayed near, all lit up at night

Our flight as supposed to leave at 7:45 PM, Monday evening. When we arrived at the airport, we learned that it won't leave until 1:50 AM on Tuesday morning. That's over a six hour delay!

But I will say this: If you're going to be delayed, Brazil is a good place to do it. Many places now have Passengers' Rights, in which airlines have to give passengers various benefits if they are delayed by various times. Brazil has some of the strongest laws in this regard. And the airlines don't gripe or grouse. They just give it to us.

This cow is a gift from the staff of the Zurich Airport to the staff of the Florianopolis Airport. Did you know airport staffs (or is that staves) give gifts to each other?

With our delay, we were given a meal voucher. If the flight had waited until tomorrow, (meaning more tomorrow than 1:50 AM tomorrow but like 7 AM tomorrow), they would have had to get all the passengers hotels and cover transportation to and from the hotel.

We have rights to ask for a different flight (but there isn't another one that is earlier) or a full refund. We have a lot of rights.

Also, there are worse airports to be stuck in than Florianopolis. True this is not the high tourist season, so maybe that makes a difference, but the airport, while not huge, is also not crammed with people or loud. And the chairs are reasonably comfortable. And there is decent wifi which you can use for as long as you want.

We won't get to Buenos Aires until after 4 AM. We are, no doubt, going to be very tired. But life throws curveballs at you, and hopefully you don't strike out swinging. Or maybe it's better to strike out swinging than just watching the pitches go by. I'm losing this metaphor like an outfield trying to find a ball that's lost in the sun. But, desperately clinging to my baseball imagery, we will round the bases and get home. Home, in our life situation, is metaphoric too.

The Other Side of Floripa

Our last two days in Floripa (which is what the locals call Florianopolis) are being spent on a different side of the island. We've been on the Atlantic Ocean side most of our time here. But our time in our place ended two days before our flight, so we are staying in Florianopolis proper for the last two days.

O! O! It's Alrica! (Sou bem means "I'm doing well.")

Here, we are on the west side of the island, very near the bridges that connect the island to mainland Brazil. The water here isn't called the Atlantic Ocean. Instead, it has names that do not show the Floripans at their most clever. The water is separated into two parts. The water north of the closest point from the island to the mainland is called the North Bay. The water south of the closest point from island to mainland is called the South Bay. Clever right? But wait, what about the water that connects the two, the strait that goes under the bridges? They call that the strait.

View of the North Bay

But uninspired names notwithstanding, it is a beautiful area. We took a good long walk this afternoon and got to take in a lot of the beauty, as well as some interesting curiosities.

When I was at summer camp as a boy, we used to sing about three chartreuse buzzards sitting on a fence. These are not chartreuse. Nor buzzards. Nor on a fence. I don't know why I brought that song up.

The traffic lights here have the big red light or green light. But beside those, there are five smaller lights (again red or green) and they serve as something of a countdown. When the light first turns green there are five small green lights beside the big one. As time goes by, this drops to four, then three, and you get the pattern. This also holds true for the red lights. But not the yellow ones. No smaller side yellows.

Three side green lights, halfway there.

Only two green lights now. Get moving!

I saw some interesting products in the grocery store. Alrica said she had heard of Coke with Coffee before, but it was new to me. As for the Disney Princess lip balm, I just found it amusing that they don't look exactly like the princesses in the movies themselves. (And Mulan isn't a princess, right?)

Espresso Coke? Doesn't sound like an improvement to me.

I have a whole hypothesis on why each princess goes with her particular flavor. Ariel with watermelon because she lives under "water". Mulan with cherry because China and cherry both start with "ch" (though not in Portuguese.) And Cinderella with vanilla, well, I'll let you fill in the rest of the rationale.

Here is the Harry Dog Sculpture. Note, this dog isn't particulary hairy, so I think it really is Harry Dog, like his name was harry. Or someone kept pestering him.

He doesn't look particularly happy, so I could believe he was being harried.

I loved the symmetry of these flowers.

It is like a flower in a flower in a flower.

And I'm not sure what Velma is doing here, but someone must like the Scooby-Doo gang.

Jinkies!

There is a lot to love about Floripa.

And a sign to prove it