Leaving the Big City

Today Brian and I are packing for our big move to El Hoyo, Argentina-- a rural area in Patagonia, at the foot of the Andes Mountains. We got involved with an organization called WWOOF last month,  that helps people find farms around the world that they'd like to volunteer on. The place we're are moving to is a 15 organic ha organic farm that sustains an herb garden, walnut orchard, fruit tree orchard, and some other ...things. The plan is to help the owners with their gardening, fruit harvesting, building, and cooking, while not forgetting to participate in the monthly circle dances. Yeah... I PROMISE to put up pictures as soon as I take them. Oh, and free Kool-Aid at these dances too, i guess. Awesome. 

Last friday was my last day at work, and it was pretty tough saying goodbye to my students. Some of them turned into friends that I just happened to get paid to hang out with, so leaving them was pretty tough. Two of my favorites let me borrow their tent and sleeping bag for my trip so i wouldn't have to buy one. Did i mention that I will be sleeping in a two person tent for 5 weeks? Brian is going to stay for 3 extra weeks, while I meet up with my brother in Chile for another big adventure. If all goes to plan Andrew and I going to Easter Island for 5 days, then trekking around Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay before meeting up with my family in Buenos Aires just before Christmas. All six Mazzottas are flying into BA for Holidays!! AHHHHH!! I can't wait. 

More to come. 

Chaos.

Last weekend, Brian and I went to Tigre, a community north of the  city that operates almost completely by and on water. Boats go up and down the river streets, and people get their food, gas, and sometimes their educations, from passing boats. While considering whether or not to take a pricey boat tour of the town, Brian and I noticed a big tour bus pull up to the dock, and watched as passengers filed onto the boat for their next activity. With our heads low, Brian and I jumped in line with the tourists, got our pictures taken, received some delicious treats on board, and saw Tigre for free. After we were positive we weren't going to jail, we started really enjoying the beautiful catamaran ride-- eating and drinking our way all around the little town. While returning to the dock, about an hour an a half later, my happiness came to a quick end as I saw a puppy, floating in the river. Dead. I did not take pictures of it. 

Food poisoning. Yup. Got it last week. I exploded for 32 hours of non-stop volcano fun in both my bathroom and bedroom, and vow never to eat eggs again. Without going into too much detail, I will just say this: the human body is amazing in its effort to reject food. It's ability to rid itself of contents from different sources at the same time is just plain effective. 

Brian and I moved into a new house this week in a neighborhood called Caballito, which means "pony." The house is a 1920's French Style home with hardwood floors, high ceilings, and several terraces outside to read on. We live with a girl from Canada, a guy from the US, and three girls from Buenos Aires. The first night we stayed there, the owner (a 26-year old from Maine, who bought the house to restore as an investment) threw a huge fundraiser for a big volunteer organization here called Help Argentina, which he helps run. We met great people from all over the world, and pretended the party was a housewarming event. Below are two of my favorite/two of the creepiest pictures ever. 

In other news, the pilot that I acted in a few weeks ago got picked up, and they chose me to do the full DVD series. YAY! And if that wasn't cool enough, a representative from a tv show here contacted me about doing an Argentine spin-off of The Office. Obviously this would be low-budget nonsense, but the idea was pretty funny. Both projects sound really fun, but I don't think I will do either. Right now I am reminding myself of the reasons I moved down here, which are do not include being in movies and tv shows, but rather, traveling the country. I am quitting my teaching job in two weeks to begin a spanish-intensive course to prepare for a possible trek out to Patagonia. So a much poorer, but much more spanish Liz is in the works. 

Phone Number!

Yay! I now have a somewhat local phone number! Brian and I signed up for an unlimited phone plan through Skype that lets us make and receive calls from anywhere in the US. It's (845) 605-4555. The number is out of downstate New York, so it costs the price of a regular call. 

This week I saw a really cool South American custom that I think the US should adopt. This Saturday I was reading my book in the park, when I heard a bunch of people behind me start clapping. I looked around and saw a man with a little girl on his shoulders, and  figured it was her birthday or something. More and more people in the park started to turn around and clap, (even though they were completely engulfed in their own conversations and park activities) and then at once the clapping was over. I asked my students the next day what that was about, and they told me that when there is a lost child in the park, an adult will put the kid on their shoulders and start clapping. Everyone here knows the drill, so when people hear one person clapping, they start doing it too until the whole place is doing it. When parents hear clapping they look for their own kids, and if they notice them missing, they can see if he/she is on a pair of shoulders. Really cool. 

 

Week 7

Just when I thought my days (okay, minutes) of fame were over, I was asked  by Jorge Aragon, a photographer here in Argentina, to do a photoshoot! WOO HOO! Mustering up everything I remembered from the 30+ hours of watching America's Next Top Model this spring, I strutted my awkward stuff, and went home with some pretty cool pictures.  Go to www.flickr.com/photos/31204538@N04/?saved=1 if you want to see a few of them.

In an effort to keep his soul safe from the Devil, Brian quit his fancy financial job which apparently too closely resembled the movie Boiler Room, and now is teaching English to bankers at HSBC and American Express. Work, for me, is still going well. It's beginning to be Spring here in Argentina, so I lure my students outside for lessons, and we all talk in the sunshine together. 

The highs and lows of this week, both included animals. The low took place yesterday when I literally walked into a dead pig. I was turning the corner on the way back to my home, and I ran into a pig carcass being brought into a deli. I was upset, the pig was clearly upset...not good. 

The highlight of my week was short and sweet. Well actually, big and furry. Near my favorite cafe I saw the biggest white and gray sheepdog of my life. I swear to God, I could have ridden it home--It must have been over 200 pounds. Nothing like a big ol' furry dog to put a smile on your face. 

Movie Star!...for a day.

So three weeks ago, Brian told me about an audition he read about on craigslist that was calling for native English speaking females for a real-estate commercial that would be shown on the internet and American television. Clearly I went to the audition (even though Brian said he was charging a finders' fee of 15% if I got the part) and did a pretty good job. I got a call a week later from the casting director saying "it's now down to six girls, and your one of them." CRAZY! Then the next week, "down to three," and this last week, "it's between you and another girl." While still going to my english lessons (and hoping daily for some temporary fame) I got a different call from a big Argentine company who had randomly seen my audition tape, and wanted me to audition for their DVD series that teaches English to foreigners. "Umm.... Yes, I would love to come to your audition!" This company is huge in Argentina, so the pay would be incredible--I would make more in one day of filming than I could in a whole week teaching! So once again, I showed off my rusty/non-existent acting skills, but this time against more than 70 people, instead of just 10. eeeeek! Unbelievably, a representative of the agency called me two days later and told me the producer wanted to meet me in person! Was this a joke? I barely made the role of chorus girl in Guys and Dolls in high-school!  I went in the next day, shaking like a schoolboy, and met with the producer. 

Big, fancy producer: "Well, the reason I called you in today was just to meet you, and see what you are you like in person"

Me: "Yeah? Great. I..."

Big, fancy producer: .."because i'm offering you the part... And we are shooting the pilot in two days". 

After I changed into a clean pair of jeans, and wiped the drool off of my face, I processed what I had just heard. Ahhhhhh, I was going to be a movie-star!!

THE PILOT

So I showed up at this big fancy studio in the city, hair undone, no make-up, wearing a white tee-shirt and jeans and stepped into what could easily be mistaken for fashion-week, Buenos Aires. As I walked into a gigantic room filled with 20 super trendy, dark haired, Argentine beauties I immediately felt like my getting the part was a mistake. Were these my fellow actors? Why did they all look so professional? Just as I was about pretend to be a janitor, lost on my way to clean up a spill in the staff room, someone spotted me, and let everyone there know that I had arrived. Unbeknownst to me, all of these people were there for me! A woman for my make-up, one for my hair, two for my wardrobe, two men to bring me food, sound people, light people, a woman to discuss my ideas on the script! WHAT?! Was this a joke?

While changing in front of semi-circle of women who all stared at me, heads cocked, deciding if my waist looked good in this, my arms looked okay in that, I felt a sudden air of confusion as I changed into a different shirt. "Where is your other bra?" they said, concerned. "Oh.." I said, "was i supposed to bring one? I.."  "Where is your push-up bra? Why aren't you wearing a push-up bra?"  I didn't know how to communicate that padded bras weren't really being sold in bulk in Canton, New York, so i just kind of laughed and looked around at the 4 perky pairs that were staring back at me. Finally, the Argentine boob secret revealed!! 

After 12 wardrobe changes, and about an hour of hair work, ("no this curl has to be closer to her head," "no, this part of her bangs is slightly asymmetrical") we started to actually shoot the pilot, and it was incredible. I entered a room about 100 by 100 that was bright white, with all the corners rounded off to diminish any perception of depth. I delivered my lines for close to 3 hours to about 15 people who taped, held lights, monitored sound, reapplied my makeup, cut my hair, brought me food, changed props, etc., It was unbelievable. The pilot is being marketed to an big South American company that is looking for an English Language learning aid, that would make learning fun, and put a fresher look on outdated videos that are almost comical to watch. I'm not sure if my performance was any more realistic than the one's I watched in high-school, but it was so much fun to do, and getting paid in cash, 6 minutes after the final take was awesome. 

 

Work and Play.

I've finally gotten into the swing of things at work, and my classes seem much shorter than they used to. I asked for a raise last week, and got it, along with some positive reviews from my students, which is fantastic. All but two of my students are incredibly easy to work with, but the two that aren't drive me nuts. I think about pulling some of my Mortal Kombat moves (most notably the scissor grab, and shadow kick) on their faces at least four times a lesson. Most of my students really just want to sound more like Americans, so we work a lot on pronunciation, idioms, general expressions, and intonation. Others, however, want to work on somewhat drier material, like verb tenses, conjugation, and grammar, which makes me consider suicide for the last half of the lesson. Needless to say, I like my conversation classes MUCH more. 

I partied with a new group of Argentines this weekend, and had terrific time. Great drinks, English speaking Argentines, and chocolate cake = loads of fun. After we drank, danced, and ate at a beautiful apartment belonging to the Mayor of BA's nephew, we headed out to a rooftop party with a live band that played until the early morning. The only bad part of the night was the disturbing number of braided rattails I counted at both parties. I think men should be mandated to put little bells on the end of them so we girls know what we're getting into before starting in on a conversation. 

Sunday, Brian and I went to Puerto Madero to hike around the ecological reserve, but it was closed due to rain. I guess they didn't want the grass to get wet. Instead we enjoyed a festival that celebrated the first day of spring (yay!)  which was so much fun! We watched some traditional dancing and drumming, and consumed some of the best fresh-squeezed orange juice I have ever had. There were about 10 different kinds of bands (Peruvian, rock, Argentinean, etc.,) that lined the mile and a half strip of land, and people were having a great time break-dancing, eating meat by the slab, and drinking beer out of well-disguised Sprite bottles. After getting into the swing of things with work, Brian and I (and our American friends) are getting out more, and seeing more of the Argentine

 culture. It seems like every weekend there is something to celebrate here, which I think is a pretty great way to look at life.

Drunken Disc.

This weekend was a blast. (A blast? Yes, I'm ninety).  Because the majority of the people I work with are Americans in their early twenties, I received an instant group of friends as soon as I got here, and they all pretty much love to travel, like to teach, and love to have to have fun. We had a big get together on Friday night (the first hour of which my gaze did not stray from the bowl of home-made peanut butter balls on a table in the center of the room), which was filled with late night dancing and delicious beer (the night.. not the peanut butter balls). One of my students at FOX invited me to a bar called "Liquid," so we brought the party there, and in my broken spanish I explained that we were on Birthday Guest List. Note: broken spanish = huge smile repeating the phrase "feliz brithday," and pointing at my friends. After we got in (which I must say was solely due to my ability command a security guard's attention like no other),  we listened to some modern Salsa music and danced the night away. So much fun. Saturday morning, Brian and I, and our friend Kyla, took a 35-minute bus trip to a University on the outskirts of BA, for a full day of ultimate frisbee. I can't believe how many people play here! Although it took me about an hour to get the hang of it, the 4 hour-disc session was really fun. We ran drills for about an hour, and the men there were pretty serious about it. I particpated in the first ever all-female disc game in Argentina, and by the end of the day pretty much knew all the rules (minus the one about disc not really being a contact sport...whoops). All in all, it was a fantastic weekend.