Verbum’s BLOG site

Last Friday we went to have dinner to Xalapa, a Mexican restaurant located in Palermo.

This is one of my favorite restaurants , because the food is very tasty, is very lively and really unexpensive. It is like a piece of Mexico in Buenos Aires.

I recommend to make a reservation before going, because there are many people!
It is located in 4800 Salvador st. (the corner of Salvador and Gurruchaga) and the phone is 4833-6102

Linda, Liesbet, Martijn, Rinaldo, Gerhard, Philippe, Hano, Ashil, Marina, Luis, Rebekah,  Bram and Jasper.

Here you can also see Sophie at the head of the table.

I want to thank specially Rinaldo (from Brazil) who sent me these photos, so that I am able to write my restaurant´s reccommendation. Thanks Rinaldo!

Here I want to share with you some nice photos sent by the students:

Boukje y Jeanette in Bolivia forest

Edwin and Olga at the school

Joy Haynes in Perito Moreno Glacier

Joy with the penguins in Patagonia

Mark Juhas in El Bolsón (Patagonia)

Mette Elfving in Norway

Fernando´s dog with her puppie. It is very sweet, isnt´it?

Thanks for sending photos and sharing them with us!

Marina

We want to thank all the students who send us Happy New Year greetings, cards and e-cards.

We wish you all a wonderful new year 2008!

Fireworks in Buenos Aires at New Year´s night.

Simon, one of the students of Spanish, take a trip to north Argentina, Bolivia and Peru and sent us some cards.

Here I share them with you all:

La Paz (Bolivia)

Peru

Thanks Simon! Hope you are enjoying your trip!

Marina

Many students want to know what mate is. I have written a short text explaining it and here I share it with you all.

Mate  is a caffeinated infusion prepared by steeping dried leaves of “yerba mate” in hot water. It is the national drink in Argentina and Uruguay and a common social practice in Paraguay and parts of Brazil but in Paraguay they use cold water and call it “tereré”.

Mate is the container where the Yerba Mate and the hot water is served. It is called like the drink itself and bombilla is a metallic straw that helps you drink the hot water in the Mate.

Introduced to the world by the Guarani Indians of South America, Mate contains ingredients that help keep its drinkers healthy and energetic.

Mate drinking is a ritual which is often shared with friends and family. One person prepares and tries the Mate. He then passes the prepared Mate for someone to enjoy. Each person drinks the mate until there is not more water in it.

The way of preparing mate is to put some Yerba Mate in the Mate (3/4 of yerba mate), pour some hot water in it and drink it through the Bombilla. When you feel there’s no more hot water to drink, you pour more hot water in the Mate and drink… and so on.

This water is usually carried on a tea kettle, pava in spanish, or in a thermo bottle.

The first times that you drink mate you may say it has a reallly bitter taste but it can be served with sugar to make it a little sweeter.

In Uruguay they are really fanatic. Part of the new, more informal way of life in Uruguay includes having people drinking Mate while on walks, sporting events, at work, and it is extremely popular among many student activities.

We want to share some new writings… Simon Emeric, from Austria, wrote a poem. Each verse starts saying “Si yo fuera…” (If I were…) using the past tense of the subjunctive. Here it is: 

“Si yo fuera presidente de Argentina,

yo abogaría  por los argentinos.

Si yo fuera un argentino,

yo tendría piel morena y ojos café,

yo hablaría castellano perfectamente

y vendería algunas cosas en el subte o en la Plaza de Mayo.

También yo tomaría mate todo el día.

Si yo fuera un mate,

yo sería de madera y no de cuero.

Tendría una bombilla elegante de plata.

Si yo tuviera mucha plata[1],

compraría una hacienda en Argentina,

tendría muchos caballos y muchas vacas.

Si yo fuera una vaca,

yo comería todo el día y no haría nada.  

Si yo no hiciera nada,

yo sería presidente de Argentina.”

 We are still thing about the meaning of the last verse of the poem. What did he want to say…? Christian Sharp, from the United States, wrote a poem more “politically correct”: 

“Si yo fuera una llama,

comería y dormiría todo el tiempo,

pero olería como un roñoso[2]

y nadie me amaría.

Es mejor ser un animal limpio,

como el delfín.

Si yo fuera un delfín,

podría ser la estrella de un show

en un parque de diversiones,

pero me pregunto si los delfines toman agua o no,

porque cuando estoy nadando nunca tomo agua.

A veces me gusta tomar un vino bueno.

Si yo fuera un borracho,

me quedaría en mi casa sin molestar a nadie.

 In the center of the photo are Simon and Chris. Here in a trip to Tigre with Natacha (teacher) and other students.

[1] Dinero

[2] Sucio

A wireless hotspot enables users with wireless-enabled laptop computers to access the Internet, without the need for any networking cables or any other additional equipment.

Lycos offers a service to locate the closest hotspot in any place of the world: http://wifi.lycos.es There you can download a program which enables you to find ,even when you are not connected, more than 180.000 hotspots in 130 countries.

Although many hotspots are not free, specially the ones offered in hotels, airports or restaurants, it is also possible to find a free or really inexpensive wifi connection, such as that offered by http://www.fon.com “Foneros” share some of their home internet connection and get free connection to “FON spots” worldwide. To join it is necessary to buy a “fonera” or special modem. It is a directional antenna that sends the WiFi signal further, boosting the coverage of the FON Community by up to five times. When “Foneros” install it, the whole Fon’s community benefits with much greater WiFi coverage for everyone, everywhere.

Last year more than 100.000 internet users joined Fon and you can find the Fon spots at http://maps.fon.com

In case you are not a Fon user, you can also use it but, in this case, the owner of the hotspot decides if he/she offers it for free or not.

You can also look for information in a directory. An important directory to search hotspots anywhere in the world is http://www.jiwire.com

You can also search the directory http://www.hotspot-hotels.com specialized in hotels with wifi access.

Another option is to go to a cybercafé or internet café. Some websites with information about cybercafés are http://www.latinworld.com/special/cybercafes.html which offers information for Latin America (there is a similar one with information for North America: http://www.internet-cafe-guide.com ). Other websites are http://www.netcafes.com with information about 141 countries and http://cybercafe.katchup.co.nz/search.asp

Ricardo (from Brazil) sent me this recipe. He and other students from Brazil cooked it for all of us (teachers and students) last summer and I liked it a lot. Because of that I want to share it here…

They cooked it without bacon because some of us are vegetarian.

Feijao, pronounced fay-szong, is a Brazilian staple, and appears on every restaurant table throughout Brazil. Brazilians simply can’t get enough of the stuff. Why? Well it tastes good, and provides them with boundless energy.

Feeling listless, tired, and sapped of energy? Eat some beans!

Beans are high in protein and iron, and provide lasting energy throughout the day, which makes them a fantastic alternative to meat as an energy source.

Arroz (rice) com Feijão is rich in protein and is generally eaten with a wide variety of side dishes.

The combination of rice and beans contains all essential amino acids. For this reason, the combination of rice and beans is eaten in many cultures. This is a matter of survival for poor people who cannot afford meat!

Arroz com Feijão is easy to make. The inhabitants of Rio de Janeiro prefer black beans, whereas the brown bean species feijão carioquinha or feijão carioca is more and more used in the rest of Brazil.

Before serving this meal, you can serve a caipirinha as an appetizer. “Caipirinha” is a mixture of lime juice, sugar and “cachaza” a strong liquor derived from sugar cane.

Ingredients (serves 6)

· 500 g (1 pound) feijão (small, dried black beans or feijão carioca).

· 150 g (5,3 ounce) bacon

· 2 finely chopped cloves of garlic

· 1 chopped union

· 2 bay leaves

· salt to taste

· pepper to taste

· baking oil

Preparation
Rinse the beans thoroughly. Remove the discoloured beans. Soak the beans overnight.

Put the beans and their soaking water in a pan. Add water (double the amount of the beans) and let it cook. Boil rapidly for 10 minutes and let it simmer. Add boiling water when necessary so that the beans do not dry out. The beans are ready when they are tender: if you take one between your fingers, you can crush it to paste. This will take 2 to 3 hours but if you use a pressure cooker you can do it in 30-45 minutes. Do not add salt in this stage as it hardens the beans.

Sauté the garlic and the onion with some salt in a frying pan (use a large frying pan as you will add the beans later!). Add the bacon and fry until crisp.

Add your beans and their liquid to the onions in the frying pan. Bring to a boil and allow to cook for about 15 minutes, until your liquid thickens because of the crushed beans. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with rice.

The students from Brazil who cooked Feijão for all of us and me at the school´s garden.

We went to have dinner and enjoy a tango show at El Balcón, in San Telmo neighbourhood.

El Balcón is on a first floor of a old house and from its balcony (balcón in Spanish), you can see Dorrego square. There are colourful paintings and faint light.

The show was very good and, unlike most places, you don’t have to pay a ticket for the show.

El Balcón  is located in Humberto I° 461.

Ethan, a former student who is photographer, sent me some very nice photos.

 this is the stage….

 Stella (teacher) and Ethan (always very serious ;))

 Anne, Luis and Marina at El Balcón

Marina, Luis and Matthias

  A couple dancing tango at the stage

You can see more nice photos at Ethan´s website at http://www.ethansalwen.com

Today, 9^th of July, is our Independence Day - 9 de Julio. Althought it is a holiday, we had classes at the school and celebrated it eating something typical of Argentina, a sweet potato cake.

Establishing a free nation in 1816 was very important, but today another new also took a very important place in the newspapers. Today, for first time after 89 years, it snowed in Buenos Aires. We were so surprised that we go out to the school´s garden to see the snow and take pictures.

Around 3 pm, I saw a few flakes fall outside the window but I thought that it couldn’t be snow. It doesn’t snow here. Sometimes the students ask me: “Does it snow in Buenos Aires?” and I always answered: “No, it never snows here”… About every 5 minutes, I’d see another flake. Then it let loose. From that moment until now, it’s been snowing.

It’s the first snowfall here in the capital since 22th of June of 1918 and only the second snowfall in the city’s history. Thousands of Argentines cheered and threw snowballs in the streets of Buenos Aires. And so do I!

Anything is possible in Buenos Aires. Even snow.

Marina, Jannes (Netherlands) and Olga at the school´s garden

Snowing in the Congreso building…

Snowing at Obelisco in 9 de Julio Av. and Corrientes Av.

Snowing in San Martín Square