back to the babies (and bubbes) of buenos aires

I had a very special opportunity to return to Baby Help, the center I volunteered at last summer. Baby Help is a JDC daycare for at-risk youth aged 0-3 in Buenos Aires and provides them with a safe place to be while their parents work within a Jewish context. I entered the center and was greeted with many of the same smiling faces of teachers and children that I had worked with last year. The teachers (morot) at the center are lovely, they are so dedicated to what they do, treat the children as if they were their own, and really believe in Baby Help's idea of creating a better future for these wonderful children. After taking a quick walk around the center to see if anything had changed (it was pretty much exactly as I had remembered it) and talking to the teachers about why I was back and what I would be doing in Buenos Aires for the year, I learned more about the activity that would be happening that day.

Baby Help Indoor Playground

Baby Help holds special programs for the families around the Jewish holidays. Today they were having a celebration for Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot and were grateful for the extra help. Baby Help had invited all of the children's grandparents to come to the center for the afternoon to celebrate the Jewish holidays with their grandchildren. The first step was to transport the 30 children to the rooms where their grandparents were waiting for them. My favorite part of this part was watching the babies faces brighten up with recognition as they ran into their grandparents arms. Next, the children divided up by age for activities including decorating Jewish holiday calendars with their grandparents.

Afterwards, all the children and their grandparents joined together in the Sukkah. Baby Help is located in Ledor Vador, an elderly Jewish home in Buenos Aires, so the Sukkah is shared by Ledor Vador and Baby Help.

 

In the Sukkah we shook the lulav and etrog, played Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot themed games, sang, and danced. I had goosebumps on my arms as the children shouted out all of the different objects used for Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot during one of the games; these babies certainly knew their Jewish traditions! Each class also performed a piece they had put together: 

The babies (with the help of their grandparents) showed off their shofar blowing skills

while the 2 and 3 year-olds performed songs and dances about baking challah and constructing sukkahs that they had prepared for their grandparents.

Luli had her 2nd birthday when I
was there last summer and now is 3 1/2 wow!

The grandparents were overjoyed to spend time with their grandchildren and celebrate the holidays; there were smiles all around! I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to return to the center and most importantly, take part in this special intergenerational celebration with the children and their grandparents. Baby Help provides a Jewish connection for these children and their families; a place they can celebrate their religion and traditions together as a community. The center provides a valuable service while simultaneously instilling Jewish traditions and values into the children; it's a win-win in my eyes. I can't wait to go back again; these babies always put a smile on my face!

sucas alrededor la ciudad / sukkahs around the city

Chag Sameach! Celebrating Sukkot means Jewish organizations and families all around Buenos Aires have constructed sukkahs for the week. Check out some of the sukkahs I have visited this past week:

Where do you build a sukkah in a city? In the lobby of course!
At Hebraica, a Jewish Community Center with over 7,000 members! 

Beautiful Sukkah at the Hillel of Buenos Aires 
I enjoyed an asado, Argentinian BBQ, in Hillel's sukkah 
with 70 young people from the community!

Sukkah at Hebraica in Pilar, an hour outside of the city
Hebraica is a Jewish Community Center with two locations, 
one in the city and the other outside the city, and over 7,000 members!

Sukkah at L'dor V'dor Elderly Center in Buenos Aires
The Baby Help program in Buenos Aires had a program
with the babies and their grandparents to celebrate Sukkot
and Rosh Hashanah in the sukkah at L'dor V'dor!

¡un mes aca! / one month here!

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don´t stop and look around once in awhile you could miss it."

-Ferris Bueller

WOW! I can't believe it...I have officially been in Buenos Aires for one month and am quickly on my way to becoming a porteña (Buenos Aires native)! It seems like yesterday I was being picked up from the airport and driven to my new home for the year, not thirty days ago! While I have enjoyed updating my blog regularly, there are a few things I have not talked about that have happened this month:

I bought (and have gone for a few rides on) a used bike on "meracdo libre", something like eBay, in order to get some exercise and explore the city in a different way... 

This past week I started my work with Hebraica, a JCC-like organization here, in their youth department. More to come soon about my work at Hebraica...

I have eaten ice cream at least once a week. Buenos Aires ice cream is DELICIOUS. In my opinion, it is a mix between ice cream, gelato, frozen yogurt, and it is super sweet! I have gone to a few of the popular chains (Persicco, Freddo, Volta) and have decided my favorite combination so far is a scoop of cheesecake with maracuya and a scoop of dulce de leche with brownie from Persicco NOM. 

Conversation Club at Hillel

I have also gone to Conversation Club at the Hillel here, a group of Buenos Aires natives wanting to practice their English with English native speakers. The group now consists of about four English native speakers (2 from London and 2 from America) so we have been speaking in a mix of English and Spanish. We meet once a week to converse, usually eat dinner, and get to know each other...it has been super fun!

Vivi, JDC in Arg. welfare services director

I love getting to know people, learning about who they are, why they do what they do, and what their outlook is towards life. I've had some insightful conversations with my wonderful co-workers throughout the month and have started to get to know them better. 

Jessi, Hebraica's youth director

Also, remember "the rules" I set for myslf at the beginning of this crazy adventure?  I think I'm doing pretty well so far; this month I´ve made mistakes, had lots of "little wins", stayed in touch, said yes, and I believe did some good however  I would like to add one more rule to the list for the rest of my time here:

Rule 9: Maintain balance.

I found myself in a precarious situation this past weekend because I had no clean clothes left and was supposed to be working both days. Luckily the event got cancelled on Sunday so I had time to do laundry, but I don't want this to happen again. As my schedule gets busier, I want to make sure I´m finding enough "me" time and balancing it with time spent on work and a social life. All in all, I had a wonderful month and I can´t wait to see what this next month will bring.

1 month down, 11 to go!

buenos aires market: orgánico y natural

Food. Food. Food. This has been the theme of my time so far in Buenos Aires. Have you been to a parrilla (Argentinan steak/meat restaurant)? Have you tried dulce de leche (caramel)? Have you had a medialuna today (sweet delicious croissants)? What is your favorite type of empanada? etc. etc. So when I saw a friend post on Facebook about the Buenos Aires Market, I had to check it out!

Buenos Aires Market is a two-day food market that happens twice a year at Barrancas de Belgrano, a beautiful park in my neighborhood. Over 70 vendors taste-test and sell over 600 products that are all supposedly organic and/or natural. The whole healthy, organic, natural eating thing has recently become more of a trend in Buenos Aires but in general, one has to seek out places to buy these types of foods so I was very excited that it would all be in one place!

Vendors sell everything from honey to vegetables, beer to muffins, lentil burgers to basil plants, granola to cheese, quinao pasta to banana bread, and more. I only had an hour to spare and it was not nearly enough time. I wanted to stop at every stand to try all the delicious food and beverages and talk with the vendors. My favorite things I tried were the lentil burgers, a "natural" blonde beer, and fresh raspberry jam. It was a lovely hour and I can't wait for the next Buenos Aires market in six months ;)

  

lengua es cultura / language is culture

Español. Spanish. Castellano. Yes I have to speak it here! AKA why all my titles thus far have been in Spanish and English. But first lesson...although the language is Spanish, the "Buenos Aires Spanish" is called Castellano. Most of the differences are within the way it is spoken and "vos" is used instead of "tu". (If you didn't understand that no worries!).  I´ve made a couple EXTREMELY embarassing mistakes and because I love you all, I will share a couple: 

• At one of the Rosh Hashanah dinners I went to, they had delicious meatballs and I of course wanted more. I could not remember the word for meatballs (la albóndiga) so I went for the literal translation, "¿Me pasas las pelotas de carne?" I got blank stares that turned into the person laughing in my face...I had asked for "balls" of "meat" ah!
• I realized I had forgotten to bring a comb so I went to the local pharmacy to find one. Figuring it was easier to just ask where they were located, I asked someone ¨¿Dónde están los penes?" The worker had a huge look of surprise on her face and quickly said ¨¿De dónde sos?" (where are you from?). I said the US and her reply was "sweetie, I think you are asking about "los PEINES" (combs) not "los PENES" (penises). I don't think my face could have been more beet red. I will definitely not be making the same mistake again.

At this point, 85% of my work here is in Spanish; I am fully immersing myself and pushing myself to only ask for an English translation when I absolutely do not understand. Yes, there are times I find myself being spoken to and nodding my head "yes" when my brain is saying "what are they saying? please slow down! and what does that word mean?" but I have generally been very surprised at how well I have adapted back to the language.

Whats my secret? The better question is...Who´s my secret? 

The answer: ROBERTO

I met Roberto when I was in Buenos Aires last year, took classes with him last year, and even ended up renting a room in his apartment for about three weeks. When I found out I'd be heading back to Buenos Aires, I immediately emailed Roberto to let him know and ask him to continue giving me Spanish lessons. Currently, I have lessons with Roberto three times a week for three hours each time. Lessons include grammar, vocabulary, verb tenses, themes, conversation, and more however all the lessons are extremely interactive. For example, one lesson was playing chess to go over all the vocabulary, movements, and verbs used in the game of chess and another was listening to an Argentinian song, writing down all the lyrics while they were being dictated to me; and then having to read them back with the correct pronunciation. 

My favorite class so far included going to the grocery store, buying food, making stir fry, and then eating it with some yummy wine (¡Buen provecho!). The amount of vocabularly, phrases, and verbs I learned was overwhelming but wonderful; and most importantly I can now correctly walk someone through opening up a bottle of wine in Spanish woo! Roberto makes the classes fun and interactive because he knows that living and using the language is the best way to learn. With Roberto I have been able to immerse myself in the language, ask lots of questions, and through this, begin to understand the culture better of the people surrounding me. 

As for the random fact of the day, my favorite Spanish phrase to say so far is "Etiquéteme" meaning "Tag me" (on Facebook).