I got the meat
Trip Start
Jan 02, 2011
1
6
Trip End
Feb 07, 2011
Chicago, Illinois
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
I have mentioned in previous entries feeling consistently sluggish, even though I'd been drinking a lot of water and staying out of the intense sun. But then I heard from K.'s Spanish teacher, Carina, about the tap water. It's drinkable, but in order to clean it, they put in quite a bit of chlorine. The effects of drinking chlorine include feeling bloated and dehydrated, as it actually must be processed by the body. So we switched to bottled water for the last week or so, and lo and behold, we had a lot more energy. So my suggestion if you're in Buenos Aires...don't drink the tap water, or boil it.
Even though we had more energy, though, we didn't "do" a lot. One potential trip to La Boca was thwarted when, walking through Puerto Madero, we noticed a giant plume of smoke rising into the air in the distance. Alexander, being the developing photographer, suggested we go over and see what it was (I like his instincts). What it was was the ecological reserve on the edge of the city, lining its port along the river mouth. The dense marshy area, with cattails growing probably 10 feet tall, was on fire, with bright flames spewing smoke both dark and yellowish into the sun. The fire department arrived eventually, looking unsure of what to do at first. They sprayed some dinky hoses at the fire, whose flames were leaping 10, 20 feet in the air. It would be under control for a few minutes, and then flare up higher than before, freely swallowing up the marshland. The mingling crowd was everywhere, held back by no barrier from the carnage until much later. The absurdity of the situation became apparent when an ice-cream seller came on the scene, wandering straight-faced through the crowd with his call of "heeee-ladooooo." I heard boys on the scene more than once try to chat up whatever girl was near them by saying something to the effect of, "Pretty sweet fire, huh?" Birds swooped out of the trees one by one as the fire advanced, spewing an endless stream of corkscrew-shaped grass ashes that resembled burnt corn husks. Eventually, after a couple of hours, things calmed down, more or less. It was a bit heartbreaking to watch, and I shook my head thinking, of course this fire had to happen here. In such an already polluted city, smoke spewing into the air and turning a whole neighborhood grey. In one of the only naturally beautiful areas in the place, teeming with undisturbed wildlife, a fire swallows up part of the landscape. Families milling around to watch the destruction, breathing in the smoke. K. noticed one daughter watching with her father's shirt over her mouth, covering his own mouth with her hand.
What started the fire? I have no idea. But I hear a lot of the plants in the marsh were pretty resistant, being well-watered. Although the tops of some grasses are charred, things appear to be intact.
The final cap on the trip was an extremely generous Saturday-night asado (barbeque) at the home of Carina, K.'s teacher, and her husband Sergio in their ivy-lined backyard. It was a nice crowd, and great conversations were had. But the truly amazing part was the food and wine. They say Argentine wines are standouts these days, and I have to agree. Everything we drank was fantastic. The star of the show was the huge cut of lomo--the back of the cow, usually considered the best part--was completely perfect and satisfying. I literally cannot imagine it being better. Of course, there was more--red pepper halves with a sunny-side-up egg cooked inside, which is more tremendous than it sounds. And delicious chorizo, which is very different in Argentina from the Mexican kind we're used to. It's not spiced there unless you add spices to it, which are usually garlicky and herby. It's eaten in the casing, usually on a bun (called a choripan), and seems only to have in common some type of meat with its Mexican counterpart. They also had some excellent morcilla, which is blood sausage--something we don't have a whole lot of in the States. But this was delicious, and much milder than the blutwurst I tried from the German grocery store in Chicago. I could have eaten this all night...
So I got the meat I was looking for on that cool windy night with great company. Can't really ask for more.
And then I got off the plane and it was snowing, and I had to literally lift my bags over piles of shoveled snow as I navigated the sidewalks home.
Glad to be back.
Comments
Welcome back!! I enjoyed your writings as always. All the snow has melted down here. :( Now to follow Alex.