mgedwards – Page 120

A Paraguayan moment

Dear Reader, I haven’t added a new feature to World Adventurers for a long, long time (mainly because I haven’t written much at all!). Tonight I introduce you to "Moments." No, I’m not referring to some sappy Korean drama; I’m talking about sharing snippets of those unique moments that truly define a culture. Think of an "American moment." What’s an American moment…a moment in time that it uniquely American? I really can’t think of any at this moment because I am down here in Paraguay.

So here is a Paraguayan moment for your to contemplate; a moment to ponder whether your own culture should adopt this habit or custom that is unique to Paraguay. Tonight, as I drove home from work, I saw a couple riding on a motorcycle. The man drove the bike; the women was seated behind him. The man, displaying a courageous act of chivalry, gave his helmet to her and drove helmetless. They stopped at a stoplight next to me, and what did my bewildered eyes behold? I saw the woman pulling out her mate tea jug and pouring some mate tea into the mate cup and hand it to the man. The man drank his mate tea quickly at the stoplight and then handed the cup back to the woman. The woman lovingly put away the cup and the jug, and then they sped away when the light turned green. An intimate Paraguayan moment of sharing mate on a motorcycle at a stoplight. Only in Paraguay.

Working out the videotaping kinks

Tonight I was inspired to download the video footage I took of my son’s birthday party and from Buenos Aires to our computer; however, it’s a much more involved process than I have time for right now. We have one of those fandangled Sony Handycam video camcorders that record directly to mini-DVDs, you know, the one everyone seemed to buy last year for Christmas. After finalizing the DVD-R in the camcorder, I popped it into our computer to play it. Easy enough, right? Hardly! Windows Media Center launched and told me that it doesn’t have the files needed to play the DVD. OK, well, what about Windows Media Player? Yes, they played, but the video quality was uneven, indicating that Media Player too is having issues with DVDs. I’ll have to visit Microsoft’s Web site to figure out why Windows Vista isn’t playing my videos properly.

I haven’t even tried editing the video footage–that’s an entirely different challenge. With time and inspiration, I plan to upload the video footage to my computer and edit the footage, eventually burning it to full-size DVDs for posterity. It will be easiest to upload and manipulate the newer, DVD-based video footage–the mini-DV and VHS formatted video footage from years past will be an even bigger challenge because I’ll need to upload it using my older mini-DV camcorder and VHS video recorder. I could save this project until I retire and have hours to devote to it, or I’ll do it little by little…before the older tapes disintegrate from age.

Blog note: Cordelia, thank you for the wonderful message you sent me today. Messages like yours are very encouraging. Life is better now for me. I wish you all the best as you pursue a career with the Foreign Service. There’s no other job like it on Earth, which is why it can be so rewarding and frustrating at the same time. I am by no means an expert on Buenos Aires, but I did have the feeling after visiting many other large cities around the world that its cuisine is somewhat less diverse. That said, its barbeque and Italian cuisine are superb, and the quality of life is primo.

Ethnic Cuisine in Buenos Aires, Argentina

We returned yesterday from a five-day trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina. We had a good time visiting what some call the “Paris of South America.” We were most impressed by the architecture and generally affordable and excellent quality of life we saw. Perhaps our perspectives have been influenced by living 11 months in nearby Paraguay, but it still struck me as a good place to live. I can see why Porteños (residents of Buenos Aires) are proud of their city.

Buenos Aires is a no doubt world-class city. However, I was struck by its lack of diversity. This city with approximately 12 million residents seemed overwhelmingly of European descent with a dearth of other races, including immigrants from Africa, Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. Our difficulty finding ethnic cuisine confirmed this. There are no Greek, Indian, or Thai restaurants in Paraguay, and we searched from throughout Buenos Aires to find these cuisines. I finally found restaurants for each cuisine, but it was a bit of an undertaking. Each offered excellent food at moderately expensive prices (by Argentine standards). Here they are:

Mykonos Greek Restaurant, Olleros 1752, Buenos Aires. For reservations, call (54-11) 4779-9000 or visit http://www.mykonostaso.com.ar/

Kathmandu Indian Restaurant, Av. Cordoba 3547, Buenos Aires. For reservations, call (54-11) 4963-1122.

Empire Thai Restaurant, Tres Sargeantos 427, Retiro, Buenos Aires. For reservations, call (54-11) 4312-5706 or visit http://www.empirethai.net/

If we had had more time, we also would have liked to have eaten Japanese and American food. The good news is that as a large city, Buenos Aires has a wide variety of restaurants. In fact, Empire Thai restaurant owner Kevin Rodriguez — an American from New Jersey — told us that Empire Thai is one of the only Thai restaurants in Latin America. Amidst all of the “Parrilla (grill), pasta, and pizza” — as he put it — you can find a great selection of cuisine in Buenos Aires.

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