Eloisa Cartenero

La Boca is another land contrasted to its neighbor, San Telmo. Grand romantic facades and cobblestone in the heart of tangoland awe the tourist in you, but walking along Brandsen st. in the heart of working class Buenos Aires, it is hard to deny that life is lived with passion and pain close at hand. The starch contrast of the two communities is a thing itself. Needless to say, real life is a strange and beautiful thing; precisely the thought process strolling along the street, until edifice 647. One might notice it without the number; it is the one with wheat pasting and paint, and graffiti. It is the one called Eloisa Cartonera.
Stumbling onto this place might be an independent mover and shaker’s wet dream. The inside consists of (how’s your Spanish?)- carton: cardboard, lots of cardboard; cardboard books; cardboard art; cut up cardboard; new and old cardboard. There is also a printing press, and there are people. Six community minded people, who have run the colorful cardboard cooperative since 2003. Not all began with the Coop, but presently there is an equally colorful staff (all brown) of Argentines, a Chilean, and a Columbian. Inside, these community minded folk turn cardboard into art and inside they provide the city’s Cartoneros with a more stable income. Cartoneros are the people that you see, at night or in the morning, collecting carton. Not the garbage-men but individual people often on bicycles, roaming the streets in search of this specific waste. Suffice it to say a hard, if not inhuman mode of survival. Eloisa Cartenera buys the cardboard at $1.50/kilo, a much higher rate then most other purchasers, and uses it for art and book making.
As it turns out, there is an international culture of Cartenero books and literature all across South America. One of Eloisa’s goals is to expand awareness of South American literature. They print the text and paint creative cardboard bindings, as well as display a library of cardboard art and books “hecho” in other countries. Of the many implications behind this project, the most striking is the creation of a community supported space of art and sustainable living. The project began in 2003 within the context of the previous economic collapse, with an art exhibition by Alberto Franco, an artist of Eloisa. Their solution was to build a cyclical process of support in the community with an emphasis on artistic production. Eloisa provides a means for the Carteneros, while beautifying the space in which they all live. They buy the cardboard and what is not used is given back to the Carteneros to sell elsewhere. The books and the space are used to spread awareness of the plight of the Carteneros and proliferate South American concepts and ideas in literature. There are over 200 titles available at Eloisa Cartenera and the cooperative nature means any and all ideas are welcome and appreciated.
So, put one foot in front of the other and stroll down La Boca, soon you will find yourself in an active world of vast creativity concerned with the box-man that is rarely noticed and embodies an invisible side of Buenos Aires to the not so attentive eye. So perk up, and pop in, to a space that is trying to deal with one of Buenos Aires’ many problems from the bottom up, leaving colorful skid marks (or prints) in those hard to find, and usually more worthwhile places. Eloisa Cartenera is open Monday through Friday 9:00-19:00 and Saturdays 14:00-19:00, located at 647 Brandsen, La Boca. More info is available, in Spanish, at there website www.eloisacartonera.com.ar/eloisa/home

Charly Garcia is teaching me spanish

Have you ever awed at the statements, "the Beatles taught me English," or thought it pretty damn cool that music in English is responsible for a global spread of the language since the proliferation and liberation that trends in music brought about from the 60s on words? Revolutions around the world have always, or at least often, incorporated artistic creation as a means to fuel the diluted souls of the oppressed. From Eastern Europe, to Brazil, to Cuba, language in melody, in harmony with ideas, has taught and educated. I would venture to guess that nearly every person I have encountered from another country has at some point expressed to me, if the topic of language comes up (which is rare that it does not, for obvious reasons), that music or movies in some way has improved their English. Take notes people. For the last two weeks or so, whenever I play music, whenever I retreat into my perceptual escape of the pod; my pod, the ipod. I refrain from those comforting tunes that remind me of home, or those exotic beats of cumbia or Brazilian jazz or prog rock, or samba or forro, and I unleash the frazzled furry of Charlie Garcy.

So do like everyone else does, and put a little creative pazang into your Spanish studies, find activities that you like, that you can do in Spanish. Listen to Argentinian music; whatever you like, rock, tango, folk, cumbia. Charlie Garcy is a classic Argentinian rock musician, classic. Like standard, he and another musician, Luis Alberto Spinetta are primarily responsible for the beginning of Argentine rock. Garcy is crazy. His first band Sui Generis began in the early 70s as a folk rock, psych rock band. In the mid 70s the band broke and he began a second band that never received the same popularity. Later he escaped to Brazil do to the administration of the of the time. In Brazil he lived the life of a Hunter/Gatherer with his Brazilian lover. In 1979 he returned to Buenos Aires and began the project Seru Giran which he eventually spent small jail time for lyrical content. And now, no more on Charly Garcia, but rather find his music and be charmed, and learn Spanish. Funny how some things of an English nature tend to breed global similarities, that's globalization for you, and while there are many negative elements to that, including the cultural destruction that comes with a homogenized global English, there are ways we can learn from putting our own language out there. Not only will you find some fabulous art, but you will start to understand that language that has been the cause of many awkward nights and small-talk catastrophes.

The Day After Spring Day

Monday afternoon; it is the day after the first day of spring, and if this were a ten second spot for the next blockbuster, I might use phrases like, "Springtime in September. Buenos Aires, the off season romance" or the like, and it would be all frills and thrills. Being much more profound than that, the day after spring day is a time for a little reflection, or more goofing off. Spring day in Buenos Aires is the first day of spring, September 21. Or if you would like a little relativity, the first day of fall in most northern hemisphere nations; that means you guys, U.S. and Europe. Spring Day in Buenos Aires is a good deal more than the welcoming of the new season, the first sign of birds flirting with the air, and sweet sweet pollination. Spring Day is also Student Day, a real holiday, and the youth of the city take off their fashionable coats to reveal fashionable shirts and go riverside, or amidst any and every patch of grass Capital Federal and beyond can offer. The River along Vicente Lopez was crowded with passer-byers and cyclists, young kids, futbol, and games.
So, welcome the first day of spring, and welcome the energy of Buenos Aires to turn such days into holidays and youth days, and concerts in Plaza Francia. Its getting warmer, pay attention to city events, park concerts and outdoor activities will start crowding up the byways. Have fun, and remember, its probably winter where you come from!

ways to move

The many ways to move around the world are constantly evolving and changing. The communication mass, the heinous world of invisible broadcast and wavelengths, or in the words of Seneter Ted Stevens-a series of tubes that you can´t just dump stuff into, anyway you break it down, the world is getting smaller because it is expanding. Moving through different time zones, climates, altitudes and types of beans, you might have noticed the many options available to cozy up at the end of the night in your temporary residence. There are hostels, hotels, posadas, casa y camas, cheap places, expensive places, am I forgetting any? Each one offers a different type of experience to differing needs at variable prices. And with each one, you tend to know what you will get, or go there on purpose looking for something, and you can find just about anything; Argentina has Telos if you are really the adventurous type.

Allow me to propose one more option to your notes: couchsurfing. Couchsurfing surely needs no introduction as a concept, and has existed much longer than the digital boom has granted it a certain proliferation. It is indeed proliferated in the Internet era by virtue of Hospitality Club, and couchsurfing.com . I am a member of both but have only used couchsurfing.com and as a basic concept the online forum is much the same as your myspace or facebook or Brazilian counterpart. With one exceptional difference, you befriend people and come face to face with them in person, on foreign beds, or your bed (or couch, or floor) in near every nook and cranny the world has to offer. With nearly 530,000 couches available,

¨CouchSurfing is not about the furniture, not just about finding free accommodations around the world; it's about making connections worldwide. We make the world a better place by opening our homes, our hearts, and our lives. We open our minds and welcome the knowledge that cultural exchange makes available. We create deep and meaningful connections that cross oceans, continents and cultures. CouchSurfing wants to change not only the way we travel, but how we relate to the world!¨ (www.couchsurfing.com)

Lets just say, in Buenos Aires there are approximately 3,000 members alone and the community stages a wide array of activities, parties, fun and educational events, and a plethora of personal experiences of travel spectacular. Check out the site, ask people for their experiences. I have couchsurfed in about 10 different countries spanning Kosovo to Brazil, and many horizontally and vertically in between, including hosting many people at my past homes in the U.S. If it is still at all unclear what the site does, it provides an alternative way to travel through a place by staying with or meeting people you find on the site or offering your accomodations for a traveler. So you see, there are many ways to move, expand yours.

.elia

The Big Bang

...And one day there was Buenos Aires. Stoic there, waiting, along the Rio Plata, strategically located right along your path of travels. You thought to wonder, the frequency with which reputations live up to their titles. Deliberating over the footwork of Tango or the verticalness of Obelisco, you arrived. You saw the masses of travelers line the streets of San Telmo on Sunday afternoons. You saw a tango show, right? But you are traveling along a different path, more consumed with the habits of old Portenos, sitting street side, or in a cafe. You want to follow your nose, and hound dog your way amidst the hidden streets and the places behind closed doors. Smell your way through Capital Federal, or touch, or hear, or you know the others, either way, the city lacks neither art nor culture, nor sport or politik. Whatever you want to put in the pot, Buenos Aires will cook it up all spicy like.
Now, as this marks number one, for the SAE blog, it seems proper to start at the beginning. Which means, the entry point, the "where are you from, how long have you been traveling, I just got to Buenos Aires" beginning. One thing a recent arrival might gather about this city, is just how long it goes. In fact, it doesn't seem to stop. Necessarily, and quite wonderfully, public transport in Capital Federal is quite regular, quite vast, and generally effective. Between the subte and colectivos one can get just about anywhere they intend to go. To adequately traverse the labyrinths of public transit, find el Guia"t" (for around 8 pesos you will get a city map guide complete with each and every bus, its rout and locations-in pocket or notebook size). Such vastness adds the sort of dilemma children often find themselvs in candy shops, so my fellow children, where to go? True to word you will find the "authentic" locations (or whatever that word means these days) but the idea is to discover Buenos Aires, and not the all inclusive paid vacation. So, leaving your destinations up to yourself (or the binders and leaflets and endless suggestions here at SAE), walk the streets, the collectivos, the parks, the cafes, but remember to keep one thing in mind, the goal is to uncover that special place hidden behind the facade. So when you find it, love it and cherish it, be that respectable traveler you call yourself. Buenos Aires is full of Argentinians, full of Latino and European culture, when you find your little piece, share it, but not so much it is lost of the reason you went there to begin with.
That truly is the mission of an independent traveler: to discover, to see, to participate, and to keep intact what wonders have been untapped. Remember this city will offer you everything you could possibly want, but be mindful that you are privileged for that opportunity, and many Portenos do not have the all night party lifestyle the place is so well known for. Life here is hard, and it is beautiful. The SAE blog will in that vain provide you with little bubbles to hold gently in your hand, or to pop, just know which is which, and you will be fine.
-elia