Thanksgiving Argentine style

Thanksgiving in Buenos Aires, whats an expat supposed to do? Host the meal at my home in Las Canitas. My friend, Katie called in for reinforcements, her dad, Wayne came in from San Diego to prepare the turkey. My friend Terry ordered one from his restaurant (www.club647.com ).
Its not so easy to find the staples in Buenos Aires needed to prepare such a feast. However, we made do and it was probably one of the best Thanksgiving dinners I have ever been to.

My friends all brought a dish, candied yams, mashed potatoes, salad, a green veggie, apple pies and ice cream. My friend Chris (americanlifeba.blogspot.com) made an amazing fruit salad from our local produce. We started the event off with empanadas and picada plates, we are in Argentina after all! I made cupcakes in horor of Katie and her dad's respective birthdays this week. We all sang Happy Birthday and Feliz Cumpleanos respectively.

It was not an exclusively American affair either. There were the spouses and partners of friends who are all Argentine. There were guests from New York and San Diego. The sun was bright for that day and the party lasted well into the evening and there were even some leftovers. We did not have the requisite football games to watch but no matter, it was a festive event. I will certainly miss my friends here in Buenos Aires when I return to the USA .

Tracking down a Turkey

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Buenos Aires has loads of Americans here who also want to celebrate it. This year, I took the leap and decided to host Thanksgiving at my home. This is no small task, you do as Hilary Clinton said "need a village." First, I am vegetarian so I had to put the meat issue aside. Second, I live in Argentina where cow rules and alas turkeys are uncommon. Yes, you can get turkey (pavo) at Jumbo supermercado but its difficult to find a bird for 15 people.

Unlike my hometown of New York City, there are no indications whatsoever this fabulous holiday is approaching. Alas, why would there be? There were no Pilgrims landing in Puerto Madero. I put ou the word about "project turkey" to mis amigos and was amazed at the response. One friend had definatley spotted and eaten pavo at a Tenedor Libre in Almagro. Another friend, he owns a restaurant here, Club 647 offered to track down a bird. In theory, he has the best connections to getting one. It looks like he was able to procure it but confirmation will be needed.
In the meantime, I have seen no turkeys in Disco supermarket, or other food shops.
TO BE CONTINUED.

CHE in Cordoba

ट्रिप तो Cordoba

On election weekend, we went to Cordoba, the second largest city in Argentina and a lovely 9 hour bus ride. We went "cama coche" or basically a seat that folds out and you can sleep on it. It was a long ass ride.
Cordoba is much smaller then Buenos Aires in many ways, it does have more colonial buildings (see pretty pictures) and loads of students, so loads of the amazing stencils I see in BA (see pix again). There are also loads of artesans sellings crafts too.
Probably the best part of Cordoba are the beautiful Sierra de las Cordobas located about 20 km from the city. We went to General Paz, a huge Argentine tourist trap where my neighbor, Florencia de la V (see "Argentines most famous transgender" post) performs in theater in the summer.