In my pre-teen years, a radio program called “Between the Sheets” ran out of Philadelphia. It was less dirty than it sounds. People could call in and request songs for their significant other, and tell a 20-second-or-so story about why said significant other was the best. Michael is just the best boyfriend ever. He tells […]

Watch movies in Spanish and read the local paper. This is the mantra of practically everyone here who has learned the language, and I think it’s good advice. This morning I woke up too late to get the paper, so I decided to try out a (non-children’s) movie at the theater up the street. You […]

“And my traveling companions Are ghosts and empty sockets I’m looking at ghosts and empties But I’ve reason to believe We all will be received In Graceland.” – Paul Simon

Hello, I’ve missed you. I haven’t posted for a few days because a) I was traveling, and b) as some of you on Facebook know, I was sick as a dog. My parents adorably, dutifully read this blog and also are on high-swine-flu-alert, and so I didn’t want to worry them. (I won’t lie, though, […]

Inundacion. That’s the Spanish word for flood. I learned it tonight, when my bathroom flooded, inundated me with water, some might say.

The past few days, I’ve been feeling pretty good about my Spanish. I had drinks out several times this weekend, I ordered food with no problem (I didn’t necessarily get exactly what I wanted, but it was tasty anyway), I had a few fairly substantial conversations with taxi drivers, and I even did some shopping. […]

My love of outdoor markets is bursting here. Today, I went to two of them, and they were great, and both really different from one another. I headed first to La Boca, which is a neighborhood in the far southwest of the city. It sits right on the Riachuelo river, but apparently most of the […]

The rumors are true: Buenos Aires knows how to party. It’s been a great weekend. Last night I went to a great, enormous bar called Acabar with a bunch of folks from my Spanish class (and their girlfriends and friends). The place had super cheap food and a great wine and beer selection, and games. […]

Years ago, when it was already way uncool to like Michael Jackson in the U.S., I spent an evening at the friend of a friend’s place in a little town in France. The only phrase the girl knew in English was, “I love Michael Jackson,” which, honestly, didn’t need to be said. Every inch of […]

You walk into the Cine Café because you’re hungry—really hungry. You’ve been in class all morning and just walked 35 minutes in thick crowds, and you see empty tables, so you jump on it. Huge, unframed posters of Laurel and Hardy line the walls. Everything else is yellow, soothing, almost gold, and the place smells […]