Well, apparently Argentina has taken the Swine Flu worse than any other country outside of Mexico.
Not really sure what to say about this -- frankly, I assume that it's a case of negative variance, wherein Argentina got unlucky. Go read about Power Laws and this should make sense. Alot of people here are blaming the government, but I really don't see it.
But, as often happens in democracies, the governments are going crazy. All schools have been suspended in the last 2 weeks. Churches are mostly suspending their activities, all public (and in Argentina, the majority of private schools are public schools as far as I can tell), colleges and universities are closed. Hand sanitizer is everywhere, surgical masks occasionally in the street and always in the supermarket
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
OK, I dare you
For those of you who think you speak another language, here is a practice exam:
Please explain why electric cars get better mileage in the city, opposed to normal cars. Please be advised that you are talking to your significant other's parents, and may or may not be disagreeing with them.
Enjoy!
Please explain why electric cars get better mileage in the city, opposed to normal cars. Please be advised that you are talking to your significant other's parents, and may or may not be disagreeing with them.
Enjoy!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Los Kirchner a la carcel!
Today is election day in Argentina. That means everything, by law, was closed until 6pm, when the polls closed. This would have been the last day of the soccer season, but I guess it is postponed a week. (Vamos Huracan!)
Voting in Argentina is mandatory. I'm still unclear as to what happens if you don't vote, but a few people mentioned that they'd lost their id cards and had to go swear that they lost their ID cards in order to forgo the penalty. As you might guess, I am strongly anti-mandatory voting, but that's another story.
The big question is how the Kirchners will do. Kirchner was elected president in 2003, handed it over to his wife Cristina in 2007 in the midst of the commodities-boom fueled economic growth, and is currently the head of the Peronist party, as well as the head of one of today's tickets.
However, there is a large section of the Peronists that are not pro-Kirchner. For those of you familiar with Mexican politics, the Peronists are probably somewhat similar to the PRI in the 20th century. That is to say, ideology is trumped by the quest for power in a catch-all partisan label that doesn't really imply much ideologically.
So, instead of the political parties being on the ballot, different tickets are on the ballot. The Kirchner's ticket is "Victory Front," there's another Peronist "It Is Possible Front" (I didn't make this up, I'm thinking that their political consultant overcharged them), the Civic and Social Agreement of the UCR, the PRO, etc.
Two quirks: 1) the Kirchners decided to move the elections to today because they thought it would help them. I think it was supposed to be a few months later. 2) The Kirchners also forced through a law allowing the tickets to put anyone on the ballot...but they didn't have to serve. In other words, Kirchner wanted to put his name on the ballot in the BA suburbs, but he probably will hand over the actual seat in Congress to an underling. Yeah.
Also, nearly 40% of the vote is in the suburbs of Buenos Aires.
I literally haven't talked to anyone who is pro-Kirchner. You may -- but probably don't -- recall that I wrote about a year ago that I hadn't met a single person who was pro-Cristina. To be fair, this was probably the lowest moment of her popularity, as it was during the strikes of the farmers, which was the catalyst for her eroding popularity. After months of searching, I finally met someone at a birthday party who was pro-Cristina. Our conversation went something like this:
Despite what the suggests, people don't really dislike the Kirchners for ideological reasons. Saying that you don't like the Kirchners here is not a way of saying that you think they are too far to the left (or right). I'll mention without comment the disturbing tendency to have members of the educated class who would consider themselves communist or socialist.
Anyway, the title of this post is stenciled in paint throughout various parts of the city. It literally means "The Kirchners to jail!" I will say that it is probably pretty important for Argentina that the Kirchners lose...although I haven't written about it, they have been taking steps similar to Hugo Chavez. The usual despot control the media, etc. In fact, one of the scandals here was that someone was caught bringing a suitcase full of cash from Venezuela. By the way, I read a few weeks ago that Chavez owns 75% of Argentina's debt. So let's hope that the Kirchners lose.
Voting in Argentina is mandatory. I'm still unclear as to what happens if you don't vote, but a few people mentioned that they'd lost their id cards and had to go swear that they lost their ID cards in order to forgo the penalty. As you might guess, I am strongly anti-mandatory voting, but that's another story.
The big question is how the Kirchners will do. Kirchner was elected president in 2003, handed it over to his wife Cristina in 2007 in the midst of the commodities-boom fueled economic growth, and is currently the head of the Peronist party, as well as the head of one of today's tickets.
However, there is a large section of the Peronists that are not pro-Kirchner. For those of you familiar with Mexican politics, the Peronists are probably somewhat similar to the PRI in the 20th century. That is to say, ideology is trumped by the quest for power in a catch-all partisan label that doesn't really imply much ideologically.
So, instead of the political parties being on the ballot, different tickets are on the ballot. The Kirchner's ticket is "Victory Front," there's another Peronist "It Is Possible Front" (I didn't make this up, I'm thinking that their political consultant overcharged them), the Civic and Social Agreement of the UCR, the PRO, etc.
Two quirks: 1) the Kirchners decided to move the elections to today because they thought it would help them. I think it was supposed to be a few months later. 2) The Kirchners also forced through a law allowing the tickets to put anyone on the ballot...but they didn't have to serve. In other words, Kirchner wanted to put his name on the ballot in the BA suburbs, but he probably will hand over the actual seat in Congress to an underling. Yeah.
Also, nearly 40% of the vote is in the suburbs of Buenos Aires.
I literally haven't talked to anyone who is pro-Kirchner. You may -- but probably don't -- recall that I wrote about a year ago that I hadn't met a single person who was pro-Cristina. To be fair, this was probably the lowest moment of her popularity, as it was during the strikes of the farmers, which was the catalyst for her eroding popularity. After months of searching, I finally met someone at a birthday party who was pro-Cristina. Our conversation went something like this:
Me: Cristina is really unpopular. I still haven't met anyone who likes her.
Girl: I support Cristina.
Me: Really? You're the first!
Girl: Of course.
Me: Why, if I may ask?
Girl: I'm a communist.
Me: A communist communist?
Girl: Yes.
Me: A communist communist communist?
Girl: Yes.
Me: Like the Soviets communist?
Me: Ay, patria tuya!
Despite what the suggests, people don't really dislike the Kirchners for ideological reasons. Saying that you don't like the Kirchners here is not a way of saying that you think they are too far to the left (or right). I'll mention without comment the disturbing tendency to have members of the educated class who would consider themselves communist or socialist.
Anyway, the title of this post is stenciled in paint throughout various parts of the city. It literally means "The Kirchners to jail!" I will say that it is probably pretty important for Argentina that the Kirchners lose...although I haven't written about it, they have been taking steps similar to Hugo Chavez. The usual despot control the media, etc. In fact, one of the scandals here was that someone was caught bringing a suitcase full of cash from Venezuela. By the way, I read a few weeks ago that Chavez owns 75% of Argentina's debt. So let's hope that the Kirchners lose.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
This makes me laugh
"It's not you, it's me" in Argentina is "no sos vos, soy yo." Literally translated, that's "you're not you, I'm me."
Try that one next time you're breaking up with someone.
Try that one next time you're breaking up with someone.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
A few thoughts from today's visit to the Bombonera
I went to my first Copa Libertadores game today. That's the South American version of the Champions League (have I mentioned that Champions League has a tendency to ruin my midweek productivity? I do have to say that I do love having a girlfriend who watches soccer with me.)
1. The songs are all different for Libertadores. Weird. Seriously we were in the 80th minute before we sang my favorite song. And I don't think we ever sang my second favorite. Pretty much all the songs were different.
2. Boca has given up on the domestic season. Copa Libertadores is alot more important and we already won 1 this season (there are 2 domestic titles per season...Apertura y Clausura). The last domestic game we rested half of our starting 11. We still have like 35% of the domestic season left...but it's not terribly obvious that any of the games will be worth going to.
3. Que golazo increible! Some of you may already have seen it, as it appears that American Sportscenter put it as their #1 play of the day. Martin Palermo's second goal was a sweet bicyclekick. Gotta watch it...very awesome to be in the stands during that goal. Definitely some hugs in the stands (that's how we roll). Please ignore the fact that the American announcer said his name was "Martin Palermin." Silly Yanks. So...was Adebayor's goal better? On initial blush, I said yes...but on reconsideration, I have decided that Palermo's goal was better. Also, he wasn't that far off from having a bicycle kick goal in the first half too.
4. Palermo is definitely more popular than Riquelme, although I don't think anyone questions that Riquelme is a better player than Palermo. The best analogy for Palermo would be Taylor Twellman. Still, he gets the job done for Boca. He's awesome.
5. I'm pretty sure one of our songs today said some bad words. But not absolutely certain. Man, there was alot of marijuana being smoked around me. Even more than normal. Maybe that's why the section I normally go to is so chill.
6. It got cold. I'm glad the girlfriend has been nagging me about wearing more clothes. The jacket was very key.
1. The songs are all different for Libertadores. Weird. Seriously we were in the 80th minute before we sang my favorite song. And I don't think we ever sang my second favorite. Pretty much all the songs were different.
2. Boca has given up on the domestic season. Copa Libertadores is alot more important and we already won 1 this season (there are 2 domestic titles per season...Apertura y Clausura). The last domestic game we rested half of our starting 11. We still have like 35% of the domestic season left...but it's not terribly obvious that any of the games will be worth going to.
3. Que golazo increible! Some of you may already have seen it, as it appears that American Sportscenter put it as their #1 play of the day. Martin Palermo's second goal was a sweet bicyclekick. Gotta watch it...very awesome to be in the stands during that goal. Definitely some hugs in the stands (that's how we roll). Please ignore the fact that the American announcer said his name was "Martin Palermin." Silly Yanks. So...was Adebayor's goal better? On initial blush, I said yes...but on reconsideration, I have decided that Palermo's goal was better. Also, he wasn't that far off from having a bicycle kick goal in the first half too.
4. Palermo is definitely more popular than Riquelme, although I don't think anyone questions that Riquelme is a better player than Palermo. The best analogy for Palermo would be Taylor Twellman. Still, he gets the job done for Boca. He's awesome.
5. I'm pretty sure one of our songs today said some bad words. But not absolutely certain. Man, there was alot of marijuana being smoked around me. Even more than normal. Maybe that's why the section I normally go to is so chill.
6. It got cold. I'm glad the girlfriend has been nagging me about wearing more clothes. The jacket was very key.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
I have done the paddleboats
I've been wanting to take the paddleboats in the Bosques de Palermo (the park I tend to take pictures of everytime I take pictures...that's not that often is it? pictures require effort...no me gusta) since I first went there
Although Ceci and I have been there a million times (or 5...who's counting?), we finally did the paddleboats last Saturday.* It was pretty amazing. I have no idea why paddle boats on a man-made lake are so fun, but they are. I enjoyed it, and I'd been waiting for a year to go on the paddleboats. I couldn't have asked for a prettier companion.
* It cost $25 pesos for a half-hour (at the current exchange rate, something a bit under $7 USD). At Hermann Park in Houston, it was either $6 or $8 an hour last time. In other words, equal. Wow, Buenos Aires is expensive... this would be like paying more than $25USD for half an hour. Yikes.
Although Ceci and I have been there a million times (or 5...who's counting?), we finally did the paddleboats last Saturday.* It was pretty amazing. I have no idea why paddle boats on a man-made lake are so fun, but they are. I enjoyed it, and I'd been waiting for a year to go on the paddleboats. I couldn't have asked for a prettier companion.
* It cost $25 pesos for a half-hour (at the current exchange rate, something a bit under $7 USD). At Hermann Park in Houston, it was either $6 or $8 an hour last time. In other words, equal. Wow, Buenos Aires is expensive... this would be like paying more than $25USD for half an hour. Yikes.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Two thoughts
1. Ceci and I hung out today, like most days. Also like most days, we brought books, because clearly no one can really have conversations for at least 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. The books didn't really get opened. Always a good sign.
That means we must be talking alot of Spanish. Yes, we are, my spanish is definitely improving. Just as English needs alot of practice to figure out the pronunciations, Spanish needs alot of work to get all the verb tenses right...accents, subjunctive tenses, etc. It's starting to feel more natural, but I still get nervous alot of times when I talk to people. No one teaches you the informal phrases, you just have you stand there, look stupid, and roll with the punches.
I think Ceci's friends all wonder how we communicate, but the truth is that culture is a much bigger barrier than language. And culture just requires a little communication...usually.
2. Which one of you fish put my post on twitter? My traffic went up alot today.
That means we must be talking alot of Spanish. Yes, we are, my spanish is definitely improving. Just as English needs alot of practice to figure out the pronunciations, Spanish needs alot of work to get all the verb tenses right...accents, subjunctive tenses, etc. It's starting to feel more natural, but I still get nervous alot of times when I talk to people. No one teaches you the informal phrases, you just have you stand there, look stupid, and roll with the punches.
I think Ceci's friends all wonder how we communicate, but the truth is that culture is a much bigger barrier than language. And culture just requires a little communication...usually.
2. Which one of you fish put my post on twitter? My traffic went up alot today.
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