Greetings Earthlings!

Last Friday many of you attended our Gallery Hop in San Telmo. When I've got them looking spic and span, I'll post a couple of the pics on our pictures page so you can reminisce. I managed to snap a fair few while you were all deep in thought or conversation and having too much of a good time to notice!

I mention again that we have a new system regarding our clubhouse events and that for 20 pesos you can have an Event Voucher (see below) that lasts for a month and allows you to come along to any event within that time period FOR FREE! (This offer is only applicable to members, but if you join SAE we’ll give you your first voucher FOR FREE!)

Last chance for cinema request! …. There are a couple of films out at present well worth a look and we’re willing to organize another cinema event here at the Clubhouse so that we can go out and enjoy a good flick together, with some grand coffee to follow. So…CAN YOU LET US KNOW WHAT DAY IS BEST FOR YOU ALL, WHAT TIME (ie: 3pm, 5pm or and evening deal) AND WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING FILMS YOU’D RATHER SEE???

Once we get an idea of the majority’s availability, we’ll let you know! So, email me at buenosairesclubhouse@saexplorers.org

Take care
Tracey

SPANISH CONVERSATION CLASS* (EVERY) Wednesday.
Next lesson: Wednesday 1st July at 3:30pm @ the clubhouse.
Learn how to string your words together! Join us every Wednesday for an informal conversation class with a teacher from ELE BAIRES. RSVP encouraged.
FREE for members and $8 pesos for non-members.
Email us at BAevents@saexplorers.org to reserve yourself a place.

________________________________________________________________

FREE Truco Afternoon (Argentine Card Game)
Wednesday 1st July @ 4.30pm in The Clubhouse (straight after conversation class)
Do you know how to play the Argentine card game called 'Truco'? It's a very cool game, full of subtle looks and signals between the different players that makes for an entertaining afternoon. Amauta Spanish School are sending some of their experienced representatives to the BA Clubhouse to teach you all. It's going to be a fun afternoon - delivered in Spanish, so more practice for you (with us on hand to translate as always) - and the best thing is that we've organised this activity to run directly after the Spanish conversation class on Wednesday. That means that you don't have to find time to come to the Clubhouse on another day and your Spanish will be nicely oiled to participate in the game too. How can you resist?!
Please RSVP by sending an email to BAevents@saexplorers.org and reserve yourself a place.

_________________________________________________________________

5 pesos for members
10 pesos for non-members

The above price includes the free beer tasting and all the info provided in the talk. Please RSVP by sending an email to BAevents@saexplorers.org and reserve yourself a place.

__________________________________________________________________

5 pesos for members
10 pesos for non-members

Email us at BAevents@saexplorers.org to reserve yourself a place.

ADVERTISING WITH SAE!!!!
We are at present focusing a lot on advertising. This is because we have a new publication coming out (a guide book that we will be selling here in the Clubhouse) which will be full of tourist and expat advice that can’t be found in other guide books, because we’re writing it! It is first-hand knowledge, written by real expats who live here in BA and is therefore the most up-to-date information that can be found. If you want to advertise with us, making yourself known to expats and tourists who pass through our office or who live in BA, contact our Marketing Manager, Jessica Dufresne at baadvertising@saexplorers.org

_____________________________________________________________
Do you have a product you would like to sell?
Our Clubhouse here in BA is a good place to sell stuff. Why???? Because people pass through here all the time. We are willing to set up an agreement with anyone interested in selling something (for example, if you make great bags, jewellery or you want to sell some art) whereby we take care of the sales for you in exchange for receiving a small percentage of the purchase itself. Interested??? Email us at baclub@saexplorers.org

_____________________________________________________________

Storing Luggage at The Clubhouse
Please remember that if you want to store or pick-up luggage you need to make an appointment with us beforehand via email. This is because we store all luggage at a different location and we will need to organise a time to meet. Email all luggage correspondence to baclub@saexplorers.org

_____________________________________________________________

Poke us, befriend us.
Please visit our facebook page because it includes lots of stuff about events, contact details (that are up-to-date!) and more. Find us online at

_____________________________________________________________

WE HAVE TELEPHONE CONNECTION!
Finally, the powers that be here in BA have managed to get around to connecting our telephone line and so you can now call us from anywhere the city on 5275 0137 (+54 11 and then the number if you're calling from outside Argentina or if you're using skype to call us). Also, if you need to make a local call to any landline here in the city you can do so from our office for FREE.

Music - La Bomba De Tiempo
Monday 29th June @ 7pm – Ciudad Cultural Konex (Sarmiento 3131)
Cost: 10 pesos
A group of percussionists from Argentina will be playing live at the above address. The sound of La Bomba de Tiempo is raw and tribal and they’re a group that practice improvisation in composition and rhythm. The audience are also invited to dance during the evening’s festivities.

_____________________________________________________________

Theatre - “Stererotipos a Ciegas”
Wednesday 1st July @ 9.30pm – Centro Argentino de Teatro Ciego (Zelaya 3006)
Cost: 25 pesos
‘Stererotipos a Ciegas’ is a theatrical performance improvised entirely in total darkness based on a humourous radio program that focuses on satirising films, public campaigns, sports celebrities and much more. The idea behind the group who create this theatre is that the spectator experiences everything as though they were completely blind. Therefore, the use of touch and sound suddenly becomes even more important.

______________________________________________________________

Art - Gaston Caba
Friday 3rd July @ 9.30pm – Turbo Galeria (Costa Rica 5827)
Gaston Caba is an artist that arrived to Buenos Aires from Patagonia and now works and lives in Palermo. His work is influenced by Asia, in particular its customs and cultures along with the style of comics for which part of the continent is so famous for producing.

Persicco (various in the city)
Persicco may be famed for its ice-cream (of which I am yet to try) but it is also a good place to have a coffee and even a good place to have breakfast or merienda. Why? Because they serve ‘cafe o te libre’. Yes....with two types of orders in particular ‘Dolce’ and ‘Leggero’, you can sit in this comfortable little chain of outlets for as long as you like, consuming cup after cup of your favoured beverage for a set price.

When you order a set merienda that includes either some medialunas or tostadas, there is a choice between unlimited coffee or free tea to accompany your snack. Therefore, if you’re planning a quiet afternoon with a book or a newspaper and you just want somewhere comfortable to sit and relax, Persicco may well be the spot for you.

In terms of ordering anything else from the cafe, I wasn’t too inspired by the cakes, muffins or the scones. Primarily because the servings seem to be a little small for the asking price, but also because they look full of refined sugar and it seems as though the taste really wouldn’t be that good. (Not when comparing with some of the muffins you can buy at The Natural Deli or other health food shops/cafes in the city, where the flour is integral and the ingredients are really wholesome, incorporating nuts and honey and the like). However, there was one little treat that caught my eye that I will recommend.

It’s recorded in the menu as a type of cereal bar and so at first I thought it simply was a type of health food bar in a packet that I could easily buy in a 25 hours for example, particularly as it only cost 6 pesos, one of the cheapest items on the menu. However, this was not the case. This naughty little snack is a huge bar made up of cereals, large fresh almonds (Mmmm!) and a forest fruit filling, served with a forest fruit coulis on the side. The only problem was that it was incredibly difficult to eat. I was given a knife and fork, but the bar is actually quite hard and so every time I cut into it I did have the fear that it was going to zoom off of my plate in a way similar to that of Julia Roberts’ snail when she is dining with Richard Gere and his business associates in Hollywood’s 90s flick, ‘Pretty Woman.’

Picking the thing up really wasn’t the way to go about things and so I preserved as delicately as I could and am glad to report that the whole affair passed without any embarrassing food-flying episodes. However, it didn’t take away from the fact that I enjoyed the fresh tastes and so recommend that you try for yourselves, if only to experiment with how to eat the damn thing with more ease and then report back to me!

Coffee or tea until you explode, comfortable surroundings, a forest fruit treat that’s not too devilish and an establishment that can boast a 3am closing time every night!

(Also, please do check out the website http://www.persicco.com which is one of the most unnecessary things I have ever seen in my life. It’s like going to watch a performance at the theatre there is that much to see and do and interactive with!)

Plaza Serrano and Honduras Shopping (Palermo)
Plaza Serrano is officially referred to as Plaza Cortazar (and by ‘officially’ I mean on maps and the like). However, it is more commonly known as Plaza Serrano amongst all porteños and is located at the cross-roads between Serrano and Honduras in Palermo. It is home to a small market, where they sell bags, accessories and Argentine trinkets, and is also the place where you go to shop if you have a lot of money to spend.

The boutiques that run along the length of Honduras are nothing but spectacular. Indeed, my vice is footwear and some of the shops focused specifically around the idea of decorating our dainty little feet, filled me with wonder. Unfortunately, my funds will not stretch so far as to buy myself a pair of jewelled beauties, but it was enough to be in the sheer presence of such work to make me feel like I’d been able to treat myself anyway. Everything is just displayed with such care and attention that it’s hard not to fall just a little bit in love.

There are other more specialised shops in this up-market area too. For instance, for all those stationary lovers out there (we know you exist!) Papelera Palermo is an organizer’s dream. It is full of different diaries, types of paper, pens, bookmarks, paintings, boxes, notepads, the list is endless. On entering, you walk through a gravelled area – a little like what you might stroll through if you were visiting some ornate gardens or the like, (only very brief....let’s not be misguided by the grandeur of my words here) – and then the inside is made up of very high ceilings from which various items for sale are hung and simply call out ‘buy me!....look how well I hang!’

Lingerie shops, shops for the home, international labels and independent clothing abound. On top of all this, in Plaza Serrano itself there’s a vast number of restaurants and bars from which to enjoy some food or an early evening drink after a hard day with that badly burned credit card. So, if Buenos Aires is perhaps one of your final stops in your South American adventure or if you’re an expat about to return home to work for a while, why not treat yourself and take advantage of the price of the dollar against the peso and spend a little cash? particularly if you’ve been curbing those purse strings for a while.

Argentine Father’s Day: Asado, Mate y Dulce de Leche
A couple of weekends ago, I was invited by a friend to enjoy a typical Sunday asado in her home with all the family. However, this invitation was a little more special than perhaps it normally would have been because I was invited to share the day with them on El dia del Papá (Father’s Day). I felt really honoured and got a real insight into the way in which three of the most important elements of Argentine fair, asado, mate and dulce de leche, are typically enjoyed as part and parcel of those special family occasions.

I had always thought that Argentines ate their asados really late (10pm for instance) as that seemed to be the routine for dining out in the evenings here in Capital Federal. However, when I made the trip to my friend’s house in Caseros, one of the provinces within Buenos Aires, I was told to arrive for a midday dinner. It became clear that there are in fact many similarities between the family asado and the rituals for eating a good Sunday roast in England with the family.

The meat was cooked to perfection on the family’s parilla outside (a parilla is basically a very large BBQ) and for the first part of the meal, we were served a typical Argentine chorizo, red in colour and eaten in crusty bread, called choripan.
(It’s actually become my favourite part of the Argentine asado now). Next came the beef – the real meat injection into the meal – and there were obviously different cuts to choose from, eagerly explained to me by all around the dinner table.

Lomo (steak – no fat, no bones and very tasty)
Vacio (no fat, no bones, located across the back of the cow)
Costilla (the ribs – little fat, one large solid bone and a little tougher than the vacio)
Bife de chorizo (taken from the buttocks of the cow and so very tasty and cut in the shape of a large sausage, hence the ‘chorizo’ title)

This list is not exhaustive, but forms what I was gratefully offered on Father’s Day and therefore what I have first hand (reliable!) knowledge of. My favourite actually was the vacio and was cooked so that the juices were still flowing (nothing worse that dry meat!) but without any blood. I’m not really a fan of meat cooked that way and so was glad to see that the family cooked the meat thoroughly too. To accompany the meal, there was a simple salad of lettuce and tomato with a lemon and olive oil dressing that I was told was the traditional way to enjoy an Argentine asado. Having anything more, like potatoes for example, simply was unnecessary.

I also learnt that matambre is part of the cow which is commonly served cold. It is a flank steak (the lean and thin stretch of meat directly underneath the skin on the back of the cow), rolled with boiled egg, olives and red pepper and then sliced. Unlike other cuts of meat, you can’t ask for a kilo or two kilos of matambre in the butchers. You have to buy the matambre as a whole piece of meat. Therefore, the butchers generally sell different sizes of matambres (large, medium, small) already prepared for you to take home and feed the thousands with. However, in some cases it is sold in the same way as a sliced order of bologna.

After enough meat to last me a life time, we enjoyed some ice-cream and then waited until the late afternoon to sup the all important mate. Two mates were made, one sweet and one bitter, and over two or three hours, we shared the famous Argentine drink with a very large and devilishly crafted cake of dulce de leche and chocolate. It was the perfect way to finish the day – conversation, a warm drink and a high calorie snack.... Argentina in a nutshell, for me.

Gripe A Update
Last week, The Health Ministry of Argentina registered 97 new cases of Gripe A in the country. In total, this brought the number of infected people up to 1,488, 22 of which have died from the disease with another 75 who are undergoing continual medical treatment. The ministry also revealed that there are another 1,092 suspicious cases that are at present still undergoing analysis and therefore it is possible that this figure could rise even further.

How does this affect us here in Buenos Aires? At the time of writing, the confirmed cases of Gripe A in the Gran Buenos Aires province had increased to 330 with six fatalities. In the city of Buenos Aires, 580 cases had been confirmed and one person had died from the disease. The remainder of those people infected had been cited in Cordoba, Chaco, Chubut, La Pampa, Misiones, Neuquen, Salta, San Juan, San Luis, Santa Cruz, Tierra del Fuego and Tucuman. In short, the whole country, pretty much, has seen a little of the disease and therefore shared in the worry.

Clearly this information is not to startle you and certainly not to put you off from travelling anywhere in the country or remaining here in BA. However, it’s always good to be aware of the situation at present and considering that the news seems to have reduced its coverage about a topic still very much alive, I thought it might be useful to write something for you here in this bulletin. If you are concerned about your health at any time, please get yourself checked out to make sure.

Atacado /Atacada is an adjective Argentines use when they want to say that they feel agitated or stressed. Hopefully, you won’t ever feel the need to use it yourself during your stay.

--------------------------

--------------------------

LAST WEEK’S QUESTION........ What is ‘Zucca’?
‘Zucca’ is a fantastic small chain of shops here in Buenos Aires that sells some fantastically groovy accessories and, more importantly, some of the best handbags I have ever seen. (Sorry boys. This one is for the ladies!) They have two outlets on Santa Fe and once you’ve had a look inside, you will want to buy something.

--------------------------

--------------------------

THIS WEEK’S QUESTIONS.......What is ‘Faina’?

Answers to: buenosairesclubhouse@saexplorers.org

Next week, I'll publish the answer....Ooooo!

This week we received something a little different and while the title of this slot is ‘Photo Competition’ I’ve decided that we can let this one go through. One of our regular contributors Maraya Loza-Koxahn sent me an email to say that she had, as part of a creative project in the past, written a poem that accompanied Hank’s Patagonian Princess (featured again below) and that it was more than a pleasant surprise when she saw the photo appear in last week’s newsletter. Therefore, I’ve decided to publish Maraya’s poem alongside Hank’s picture this week as a tribute to days gone by. Enjoy!

Land and See
Brilliant beautiful warm glistening ocean

Opening up to the possibility of becoming
completely hydrated
she ponders the possibiliy
of eternity

Land and sea, land and see
him and me
Will she be satisfied with wet feet?
Is it preferable to submerge?
to converge?

The everlasting
ever distant future
Out there so far out there
She can only see
nothing
Land and sea
nothing
The glare reflects back
off the surface of the water
hurting her eyes
furrows her brow
back to the now
ever present effervescence

Walking shadow on the beach
Stalking sand with each foot's reach

Sand and sea
Stand and see
Merging waves lap
lapping more
sand and sea meet on shore
meet me, meet me, meet me more.

To enter our weekly competition, simply send in your pics to my email address buenosairesclubhouse@saexplorers.org (please put PHOTO COMPETITION in the subject heading) and be sure to include a little info about the photo along with your details so that we can give you credit.

Interested in putting a classified ad in this e-newsletter? Our e-newsletter goes out to over 2500 people weekly, in and around Buenos Aires. Contact SAE’s Jessica from the BA Clubhouse at baadvertising@saexplorers.org for more information.

______________________________________________________________

Learn Spanish with AMAUTA SPANISH SCHOOL
Finally in Buenos Aires! AMAUTA brought over 12 years of experience in Spanish Language and cultural study from Peru to Argentina. Exacting standards and engaging teachers put AMAUTA at the top of its class. Beautiful location with garden and terrace. Amazing discounts for the opening of the new locations ánd, we give away THREE ONE WEEK SPANISH COURSES per week, totally for free! Write now and you might be the lucky one. Till June 30th only. Also special discounts at our Cusco location.

www.amautaspanish.com, info@amautaspanish.com, www.spanishschoolsblog.com

or visit us: www.facebook.com/people/Amauta-Spanish/1500927779?sid=0&ref=search

______________________________________________________________

FOR SALE
The SAE shop has expanded! Guide books from $15 pesos to $80 pesos (Lonely Planet South America on a Shoestring $60 pesos), Hiking Maps of Patagonia and road maps of Buenos Aires are now available. Come by to see more, or email us: baclub@saexplorers.org

______________________________________________________________

EXPAT INFO
www.livinginargentina.com is an online publication for expatriates in Argentina. It is written in English, Spanish and French. It covers almost everything that an expat might need to know and offers some interesting articles to read at the same time. Check it out!

______________________________________________________________

LANGUAGE CLASSES
Learn Spanish with Elebaires!!!
We offer a variety of intensive Spanish courses for all levels in both private and group classes! All Elebaires teachers are university accredited and will do everything they can to help you meet your linguistic goals. Contact us via email at info@elebaires.com.ar or visit our website: http://www.elebaires.com.ar.

______________________________________________________________

TOURISM
BA: Mallory Outdoors - Located in Palermo, Mallory offers a plethora of camping and ski equipment as well as custom knives and outdoor clothing. Stop in and browse the selection and receive a 10% discount on any purchase with your SAE member card. English and Spanish spoken.
Open Monday-Friday 10:30-21 and Saturdays from 9-15