Lollapalooza Argentina: Rock & Recycle

Argentina certainly knows a thing or two about rock. As far as music festivals go, Porteños, inhabitants of Buenos Aires, are up there with the best when it comes to putting on a good show.

The weekend before last, Lollapooloza Argentina, only the second one to be held in BA, lived up to expectations. With a top notch line-up - from Jack White, former lead singer and guitarist of White Stripes, and UK-rock band Kasabian to Pharell Williams, the mood was unquestionably happy. Over two days, San Isidro hippodrome, in the north of the city, was heaving with rocksters, from tots being ferried around on their parents’ shoulders to 60-year old hippies.

While Porteños can be counted upon to rock their hearts out, what they’re not so good at is the other word beginning with R – recycle. Many northern Americans and Europeans complain that us Brits are green luddites, which may be fair game, but I’ve been horrified with the amount of litter in BA.

A few weekends ago we were walking around Puerto Madero, a wonderful waterfront regeneration project in central BA, when we saw a woman litter the pavement with foam packaging. Even worse, she encouraged her son to do the same. Not quite the look that Puerto Madero hopes to portray I’m sure, but sadly so many Porteños do it.

I’m not exactly an eco-warrior but even I get upset about rubbish strewn everywhere. The biggest challenge, however, is educating people about green policies and changing attitudes. 

St George's College (where my husband Alistair teaches), for example, is a forward-looking institution and has set up an ESD (education for sustainable development) committee, which Alistair now heads. As many as 80 kids are involved and are committed to recycling and separating rubbish appropriately. The problem though, is when the council comes along to collect the rubbish and simply puts it all back together again. 

 

The paper paradox

Funnily enough in some ways Porteños are green do-gooders because of this strange situation where inflation reached 40% last year (someone please explain how this works). Therefore, prices of goods tend to rise incrementally throughout the year, not least that of paper.

In institutions or workplaces paper is guarded for dear life. Photocopying appears a lucrative business in Argentina, with shops dedicated to just that. At St George’s College, the photocopying machine is locked away in a special room that can only be opened by the keeper of the key. Hikes in photocopying charges can easily push department budgets into the red by the end of the academic year.

On the other spectrum, I had a full roll of kitchen roll at the start of the day (I’m not overly precious about kitchen roll but it’s paper all the same) only to find that it had disappeared by the afternoon. The only person who had been in was the cleaner. Maybe she had stolen it (although I’m sure pocketing some loose pesos would have been more profitable). Anyhow it had transpired that she had used an entire roll to wipe the backdoor windows.

“The poor trees,” I said. She looked at me blankly. She hadn’t known that paper came from trees.

From festivals to cleaning windows, Lollapooloza Argentina was not just a great musical experience, but also a marvellous initiative for encouraging and making it easy for people to recycle their waste. Unfortunately, only plastic is being recycled, but for now that’s enough to make me happy. 

Football fervour: Latin passion runs high in the stands

In a nation that breathes and sleeps fútbol, having produced the likes of Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, watching a football was high on our Buenos Aires to-do list.

We managed to get tickets for our local club Quilmes, incidentally also set up by the very priest who set up St George’s College. Ok it wasn’t quite Boca vs River, but both Quilmes and Vélez are in Argentina’s Primera División (equivalent to England's Premiership) – in 19th and 11th place respectively of a league of 30 teams.

Quilmes vs Velez, we're in!

We had already broken Rule # 1. For the first football match you should be accompanied by a local. Oooops

Rule # 2 - If you don’t know where you’re going, take a taxi (We did and it hit a moving car... only here)

Rule # 3 - If you can’t speak pretty much perfect Argentino/Castellano, keep your mouth shut and smile.

Vamo(s) Quilmes

The stadium was tiny compared with some of the more well-known stadiums, with capacity of about 20,000 people. Away fans have been banned from football matches in Argentina since mid-2013 in an attempt to curb violence, so the entire stand opposite us was empty.

As we entered the stadium there was a full police presence, including riot police. While this was similar to England it somehow felt more ominous. Every man (and even a dog) had come to watch Quilmes play – men with young children, mothers with babies, teenagers and their grandparents alike. You could hear drums beating left, right and centre; it felt like we were still in Carnival season. I was in Latin America all right!

The match was unseated so we could sit anywhere on the white-washed concrete steps. People were up on their feet before the match had even started and were already chanting the Quilmes songs (I understood about two words, including the ref is a son of a b**** song).

The Aftermath: match summary in Clarin

Football amiss

I’m hardly a football expert, but even I can tell when a game isn’t great. The actual play looked more like a Sunday morning kick-around. Nonetheless, Quilmes won 2-1, having scored in the first half and was then awarded a penalty in the second half with minutes to spare. Vélez was given a penalty soon after the start of the second half, but none of their fans were there to cheer them on.

While the quality of play was unconvincing, the experience was amazing. Passions were running high, but unfortunately the mood of the crowd also reflected the uglier side of football. In the second half, all eyes turned to the lower stands. A fight had broken out among home fans. Minutes later the ref stopped play as fans charged each other on the other side of the stadium. 

Violence is undoubtedly still a problem in Argentina (a subject for another time perhaps). However, a couple of days after the match it was interesting to see an interview with Gustavo Grabia, a journalist specialising in soccer violence, in the Buenos Aires Herald, an English publication. "Only in a country plagued by endemic violence in soccer can a journalist specialize in this issue," he says.

Quilmes’ unspectacular victory was met with muted responses. “Questionable penalties, protests, friction and serious fights in the stands,” was how Clarín, a national Argentine newspaper summed up the match.

While not quite up to the flair and skill we had expected, the experience more than made up for the lack of play. The boys done good.

Teaching English in BAires: A rough guide

My lady of leisure status has officially come to an end, dios mío. Last week I embarked on a new vocation – providing English tuition to some students at St George’s College. St George’s is a bilingual international school, set up in 1898 by a British priest, for children aged three to 18 years. The school is beautiful, values its English heritage – it even plays cricket – and prepares students for a rigorous education, culminating in the intellectually challenging International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum.

St George's College Quilmes - I wish my school had looked like that

Luckily my kids are 16+ so I don’t have to start teaching English from scratch, it’s more of a mentoring role to help them sharpen their language skills. Bear in mind though, they are studying the IB in English. The IB is pretty demanding for native English speakers, so I dread to think how tough it must be for students for whom English is a second language. 

I’m thrilled at the prospect. I finally feel like I'm doing a job that is meaningful and has a purpose to it. I’ve taught English before, in La Paz, Bolivia as it happens, but not as part of a formal education programme at one of Argentina's finest schools. Yikes.

Undeterred, I scoured the library to arm myself with suitable English material other than Teaching English for Dummies, which is all very well but probably not the best way of instilling confidence. Do I start with grammar from a textbook? Should I read up on the Royal Family, although most articles seem to be about the Duchess of Cambridge's latest attire. Or should I entertain them with YouTube videos? I don’t even know what 16-year olds are into… Argh.

I’ve taught a few lessons now and I'm enamoured with it. I’m fortunate that I’m at an established school where kids learn English from the moment they arrive and where it is considered essential to their education. In a funny sort of way I also like the pressure, knowing that I'm supporting their academic and personal development.    

For anyone thinking about teaching English, in Argentina or elsewhere, I'd definitely recommend it. Kids are great and can be a lot of fun. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist (that may not help anyway) and while a course would be useful, from my experience so far, I would give the following advice:

1. Remember No.1 = the student. Find out what he or she likes, their weaknesses and in which subjects they need help
2. Ask to see their work
3. Ask for an assignment schedule – Focus on the tasks on which the kids will be examined 
4. Keep a teaching diary so you don't repeat work 
5. Over-prepare – always take in more material than you need
6. Nitty gritty – a Canadian friend at the school has been great and lent me some textbooks full of grammar exercises. Might sound dull but an essential resource
7. Look around – there are so many places/sites now where you can find useful exercises, tips and support. Also Like or Follow @BritishCouncil, @CambridgeUPELT, @TeachingEnglish, @onestopenglish, @TEFL etc   
8. Be firm – If a student doesn't turn up, make it clear they cannot mess you around
9. Rates - Charge what you think you're worth without being exorbiant
10. Try not to overthink it. See where the lesson takes you and have fun! 

On the edge: An adventure begins

Bienvenidos!

Exactly this time a month ago, I and my husband Alistair landed in Buenos Aires with four suitcases and a bike. We have just moved from London as Alistair had got a job as Head of Science at St George's College, a beautiful international school in Quilmes, south of BA. I quit my job in PR and am excited about my new role as a professional BA explorer.

AR$20 peso note - I thought the picture was fitting  

The name of the blog was inspired by Alistair. One evening we were sitting out on the balcony of our seventh floor flat listening to the wind howling across the city. "Doesn't it feel like we're on the edge of a continent..." he said. 

BA's geographical position is fascinating. From the skies, the city looks as if it is spilling into the sea (actually the River Plate, not to be confused with the football team), and enveloped by it on all sides. On its right, is the vast River Plate as far as the eye can see. To the north, south and west BA is surrounded by a sea of pancake flat, empty grassland, stretching well beyond the horizon. When a storm brews, there is no shelter from the wind in BA, hence the feeling that we're on the edge of a continent.

For me, the Edge symbolises more than a geographical or literal location. At any given moment, Argentina's economy and politics seem to be on the verge of collapse yet they continue to stubbornly chug along. 

The Edge also represents where I am – on the edge of a new culture, living on the edge of a city, unsure where everything fits in. Conversely, I'm extremely lucky and grateful that I can choose where I want to go and what adventures I want to experience, from the remarkable to the bizarre to the downright ordinary.

More to follow, please stay tuned. Chao.