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Random Thought I Wanted To Share

Posted by Dominick on Mar 2, 2010 in Old Blog Posts | 1 comment

I really wish someone had not liberated my camera from me a few

weeks ago. I really would like to have some pictures to write a blog

entry around…

We are all fine here

Posted by Dominick on Feb 27, 2010 in Old Blog Posts | 0 comments

This morning there was a 8.8 magnitude Earthquake in Chile. This is the 5th most powerful Earthquake in the whole world since 1900. It has caused much damage and and many deaths in Chile. Seeing as we are about 1,500 miles from where the quake hit however, we were spared from any noticeable effects here in Buenos Aires. My roommate Jon did tell me that this morning his water bottle fell of his dresser and landed near his head, waking him up, during one of the aftershocks. But other than him we all slept right through any of the effects we had here. I did not hear about the quake until we were at lunch this morning and i saw it on TV. However, the three Colorado guys, headed out to Mendoza (Which is on the Argentine side of the Andes about 100 miles from Santiago) this morning, and have bus tickets to Santiago for tomorrow…they missed the Big One by a matter of hours. Talk about Time and unforeseen occurrence. Currently they are waiting to see if they will even be able to go over into Chile or if they will have to wait in Mendoza.

Our thoughts and Prayers go out to the brothers there of course.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100227/ts_nm/us_quake_chile

Rio de San Telmo

Posted by Dominick on Feb 20, 2010 in Old Blog Posts | 4 comments

So we have been having this crazy weather here in Buenos Aires the last few weeks. It has been so crazy that even Mommy all the way back in California emailed me to ask if i was ok (like normal i got back to here 18 hours later a new record) On Monday we had a downpour during the meeting that lead to us all going home quite soaked. No one wanted to leave the hall since i was raining sideways. And the fact that a good number of people had forgotten their umbrellas (myself included) only managed to make the problem worse. Thankfully for me and Jon we live two blocks from the subway so we were atleast able to make it home with dry underwear. Some of the others did not make out so well. The three Colorado guys when they got near to their apartment in Palermo, had to take off their shoes and roll up their suit pants past their knees to walk through the streets to get home. Their dry cleaners also flooded causing it to close for repairs leaving them without their laundry for about 5 days.

If Monday was a downpour, then Friday was a Monsoon compressed down into about 3 hours. The city here recorded 10 centimeters (3.9 inches) of rain in only one hour. Needless to say that caused many parts of the city to shut down (Think of 3 feet of snow in that amount of time). All and all we came out ok by us. In other parts of the city the fire engines were driving around with little boats tied to their bumpers so that the could pick people up In some spots the water level in the streets was above the waist of a normal person. This little video i managed to capture on my roommates camera (remember mine got nabbed – see earlier blog entry for details). It shows how at the peak of the rain storm, our street was transformed into a ranging torrent. The water level in the middle of the street was about up to my knees; so im guessing maybe 2 feet? During this time no cars or buses were able to drive up our street because of the water. You will see my feet in this video standing on the edge of a ledge, that is the step that leads into our building. Even though we are on the second floor the thought that the building was about to start flooding was quite sobering.

However as fast as the river formed, did it also abate. Within a span of 10 mins the street completely drained and was back to normal for the rest of the storm. So some may say that it was a bad

day, flooding, missed service, and we were without power for most of the day, and half of the next day. But we managed to make the best of it. Me and Jon walked down the street…i mean river to the corner and got some beer, our buddy Bret joined us after work as he could not get home on the subway, and we simply sat down and enjoyed the show.

Free Concert…always good!

Posted by Dominick on Feb 18, 2010 in Old Blog Posts, Tales From a Faraway Land | 0 comments

Last Saturday we decided to take advantage of the fact that in the summer here there are so many things do that are open to the public for free. One such event that was sponsored by the city was a series of free concerts in a Futbol stadium. After losing a few people at the last minute, me Jessica, and my roommate Jon boarded the bus bound for the stadium.

We got there in time to see the second band, Zoe from Mexico playing the last half of their hour long set. The poor guys. Their music was something reminiscent of U2, The Rolling Stones, Green Day all rapped together. They

played a half way decent show, but the crowd of Argentines’ general dislike for any Spanish speakers other than Themselves and Spaniards lead to there being quite a subdued atmosphere while there were playing.

That all changed as soon as the headlines took the stage. From our seats in the upper sections (See Pictures) i saw the large huddle mass of people begin to come to life as they waited to hear their hometown favorites. As the roadies tore down the last bands gear and brought out the closing act’s gear, the previously static mass of human matter that was the crowd, began to move ever so slowly up and down, side to side, almost in a pulsating manor as if they were a heart pumping throughout the body life giving blood. This is exactly what the band did for the crowd when they finally made their way out on to the stage.

The closing band goes by the name Catupechu Machu (Gibberish it has no meaning in Spanish). This band has gone through many different sounds in their career, ranging from Hard rock, to Alternative, to Acoustic rock and much much more. As soon as they took to the stage the crowd sprang to life. During certain songs the entire floor area of the stadium was swaying to the melodic sounds, during others they were full of passion as they jumped up and down, thrashing from side to side with the heavy rythmic grooves being formed by the Drums, Bass and Guitar. I was quite please with the level of showmanship that was displayed by the band, the lead singer/guitarist in particular. During the entire show this man held the people in the palm of his hand, with his passionate playing, energetic presence, insightful guitar work, and moving lryical performance.

After about an hour and a half long set list that included many of the bands hits (which was a treat for me since i have their last album and know all of those songs) they retired from the stage leaving a very happy, and satisfied audience of whom i was a member.

-A movement that i have called the backwards toilet flush

Some links to videos of the band…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yca5KerTkoE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVjbqdm_JVI&feature=related
http://www.catupecumachu.com/

Is this the bronx, or Buenos Aires? Shootout on Callao y Corrientes

Posted by Dominick on Feb 17, 2010 in Old Blog Posts, Tales From a Faraway Land | 0 comments

Today after we had finished service, we decided to go get some coffee before we headed over to the meeting. As we were walking to the major intersection near the hall we noticed a huge crowd formed around the subway exit. As we went into the coffee shop we naturally started wondering what was going on. However from where we were it was impossible to see what exactly was going on as the police had taped off the area around the subway entrance, and people were all around. Seeing as i tower above everyone in this country however it was no problem for me to walk up, push my way through the crowd, and look over everyone, and see what was going on. They had a few shell casings laying on the ground circled in chalk and numbered. Tons of police were around, and the capos (from Italian meaning Captain also a very commonly used slang word here) in their suits were investigating what happened. As we were already running late for the meeting we did not have time to hang out and find out exactly what happened.

Now that i have come home from the meeting, i had time to look up the news and i found out what it was that happened. Apparently, three men had robbed a store on the block the Kingdom Hall is located at (A Polleria aka a place that sells chicken…i know right). They were chased by the police to the Subway entrance, where the police fired their weapons wounding two of the guys and hitting on in the throat, brought about his death right there on the steps of the subway entrance. The very same entrance that i walk up every single time i go to the Kingdom Hall. The very same entrance that me and my friend normally would have walked out of today. Did i mention that me and my friend Tallon were coming up from the subway right around the time that this shooting took place?

This is not a normal thing in Buenos Aires. Unlike good ol’ Estados Unidos, its very hard for people to buy guns here. As a result, gun violence is not a common occurrence. However it is not unknown for these things to happen. But where the Kingdom Hall is located at, where this shooting took place is not a bad part of town by any means. Corrientes is the largest street in the city, and is full of stores and restaurants that never close. So for this to happen here is very uncommon. It would be like someone being shot in the middle of time square in New York, or in the loop in Chicago. Either way it lead to an interesting sight for all.

P.S. I would love to post some pictures of the scene however seeing as last week someone liberated my camera from me, i am without any means to take photos at the moment. But i have included links to the story from the local papers. One in English, and one in Spanish. Enjoy!

http://www.buenosairesherald.com/BreakingNews/View/25537
http://www.clarin.com/diario/2010/02/17/um/m-02142276.htm