Día Nacional de la Memoria por la Verdad y la Justicia

Today is a memorial day of sorts, translated to Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice. An Argentine's Facebook page looks like a ghost town today - everyone has taken down their profile pictures in remembrance of the 30,000 Argentines who disappeared during the Dirty War. Going Local Travel also blogged about this Facebook phenomenon here. NPR ran a recent story on on the war's continued effects here.

The holiday is new, created a few years ago, but I wonder if it's enough to really prevent those human rights violations from occurring again. The day's motto 'Nunca Mas' (Never Again) is, I think, misleading. While the holiday might serve as a reminder and a warning against mass atrocities, it's commonplace to find such on a smaller scale in daily life. I've complained about the overwhelming feeling of distrust for the police and justice system in this country, and the Argentine Post recently reported on the high level of corruption that Argentines believe is inherent in the political process. The outcome of this attitude is complete disrespect for government and authority, and sadly, for the holiday itself. Many Argentines hit the bars and clubs last night, taking advantage of the chance to sleep in. I know this because the streets were full of drunk, disrespectful, shouting people throughout the morning.

To really translate the message of remembrance into Argentine life would involve demanding truth and justice today. We need to replace Argentine cynicism with expectations. We should EXPECT more from all levels of government and stop ignoring the injustices that occur so frequently around us. We have to stop letting ignorant and abusive people and companies take advantage of us. We have to reclaim the right to walk down the street without being robbed, beaten, sexually harassed, or electrocuted by faulty power lines. I wonder what those 30,000 'disappeared' would have thought about the current situation here. They were a threat to the dictorial state because they read, they had ideas, and they knew the difference between right and wrong. Don't ignore the wrong Argentina! Pretending that you or your friends weren't robbed is today's equivalent of pretending that your neighbor didn't disappear. I know of one situation in which a person was robbed at gunpoint and then recognized the robber as a security guard at a grocery store - the robbery was not reported. Today's situation can easily escalate again to great injustice.

Today is meant to honor the memory of the disappeared - to do so, we have to protect our small, seemingly miniscule rights. Silence is not going to save you Argentina, it's smothering you.

Eat, Drink, and be Green!

image from drinks are on me

This year I'm taking it easy on the green. Just a simple day with Irish Car Bomb cupcakes (and beer) to celebrate. I've found two amazing, similar recipes from Smitten Kitchen and Drinks are on Me that each feature a yummy Guinness-based chocolate batter.

I also came across the Working Holiday Agreement, which allows students and recent grads from Ireland and the US to live and work in each others' country for a year. Wish I would have known about this sooner! Still, thought it would be nice to pass along today.

Saint Patrick was a gentleman,

Who through strategy and stealth,

Drove all the snakes from Ireland,

Here’s a toasting to his health.

But not too many toastings

Lest you lose yourself and then

Forget the good Saint Patrick

And see all those snakes again.

Beannachtam na Feile Padraig!

Permanent Residency Remains Temporary

Well, the immigration office's 'system' is apparently functioning again. I know this because they printed out a fee page which required me to pay 10 pesos to renew my temporary permanent residence status for another 3 months. Of course, in order to pay the fee I had to go stand in a line at a bank and then return to the immigration office. We were really upset that they charged us a fee to renew this crappy status when they openly admit that we committed no wrongdoing. It's up to the Argentine police to check my INTERPOL records, but they're busy and haven't gotten around to it. However, when we said that this was unfair they blamed me for being American - "Your country is the only one that doesn't sign police records, so..." - so what?!? So I deserve this delay and additional fee because you ask for things that you won't accept and you blame me for your process?? And they said that I would have to pay the fee for each renewal, hinting at the fact that I probably won't be getting permanent residency in 3 months either. Thanks Argentina. You're a real pal.

Permanent Residency Update

Bureaucracy in this country is a pain in my ass. Listen, I know that it's a pain everywhere so this isn't just me venting about Argentina - I'm simply passing my experience along.

As I mentioned, upon complete submission of my documents and proof of marriage to an Argentine I was issued a temporary version of permanent residency - which seems to be of absolutely no use since I couldn't even get a Carrefour credit card without a DNI. Well, being temporary, it's expiring and I should have been issued the permanent version by now. We've checked with immigration several times and they finally admitted that the FBI record requirement is a hoax. Since the FBI doesn't sign the Good Conduct Certificate, it's unacceptable to this country. However, they KNOW that the FBI doesn't provide a signature but they still make you go through the hassle of getting the information anyway. Really, they're checking my INTERPOL records to verify that I'm not an international criminal and apparently this is the job of the Argentine police. However, it seems to take a very long time for someone to enter my name into the online database to do this search so they're going to issue me another temporary permanent residency for 3 months. However, we've been twice this week and their system has been 'down' so we'll just have to go back next week.

Why does this matter? It matters because I can't apply for a DNI - the Argentine equivalent of a social security number - without permanent residency. And without a DNI (or proof of starting the DNI process) I can't file a Petition for Alien Relative (the first step in the US immigration visa process) at the US Embassy in Buenos Aires. I'd have to file in the States. (According to the 'attached eligibility requirements' link on the embassy's site.)

In addition, we're having trouble getting a marriage book - it's like an ID for proving your nuptials - that everyone has to pay for and have. Above is a picture of us posing with a prop marriage book. Apparently, they've been out of stock for, oh, several years now. Every now and then they'll get a shipment but it seems these are usually doled out to friends of the Registro's workers. Guille went in and confronted them about this today. They said that they're first come first served. Not in the order that you get married, but in the sense that if you happen to pop by one day when these rare surprise shipments arrive then of course they'll give you one, if there are any left. I mean, why would they bother to let you know that something of importance that you paid for was available? Or, better yet, why would they bother to actually mail it to you? These are questions that are, honestly, silly to ask.

C'est la vie...or rather, Es la vida.

Tears in my Beer

What can I say? I've got restaurants to talk about and recipes to post, but it's hard for me to continue my ex-pat blog when I really just want to re-pat myself. It's not like Argentina lost it's charm - there continue to be many facets of life that I love here - but the gritty bits seem to be taking over the good. I feel like everything and everyone is corrupt. It's second nature to constantly watch your back because you're likely to be taken advantage of at every turn. And I'm glad that I'm not the only one that realizes what a sham it is to live like this. The Argentine Post recently discussed the lack of trust in this country. But when everyone - from the guy who insists that you pay him for 'watching' your car to the president - will jump at the chance to screw you over, it's hard to deal.

Why am I so down? Last week Guille was attacked on the street while out for a run. (He's okay now - I'm so glad) But the police wouldn't come and the hospital didn't have any ice to stop the swelling. We've had to get a lawyer in order to get the situation in front of the justice department. You'd think that we're doing the right thing. Trying to have a criminal prosecuted. But people have warned us against doing so. Argentineans are so reluctant to stir the pot that they ignore their best interests and turn a blind eye to the worst injustices. The police will warn you against pressing charges. They'll tell you that the criminal will come after you as soon as they're released from their 2 hour stint in jail. And it's a real travesty of Argentine society that this is allowed to happen.

And so, what can I do but go out in search of some sense of normalcy. An Antares brew pub opened in Rosario recently, with good food and tasty beer - though, of course, it isn't without it's hiccups. (I imagine that it's tough to develop continuity in an Argentine restaurant chain.) The 18 peso sampler is a fun way to try all 8 brews - you get a shot of each.

The food is reasonably priced and the sandwiches are huge. Gui and I ordered a spinach, mushroom, blue cheese pizza. Once we bit into it we realized that it had no mushrooms. We debated whether or not it mattered enough to cause a scene, but I couldn't be screwed over again. We asked the waitress who took the uneaten portion of our pizza back to the kitchen for mushrooms. 10 minutes later she admitted that there were no mushrooms but that someone had gone out in search of such. Right. At 11pm on a Saturday. But she gave us a free cheese plate. Another 10 or 15 minutes later we learned that the search was unsuccessful - would we like to choose something else from the menu for free? No, we just wanted to finish what we'd started. And so we got our re-heated pizza back.

Our waitress insisted that we order something else so we ordered a brownie for dessert - which came with a shot glass of complimenting beer. Nice. Although not quite enough to make up for the sting of reality. I'm exhausted. I hate that everything is a fight, a constant struggle. But I'm glad that someone finally solved the "beer or ice cream? dilemma." One thing at a time.

A Box of Chocolates

For Valentine's day, I got to pick out all of the gorgeous chocolates that I wanted - thus eliminating my usual need to bite into every chocolate and abandon half of the box. I still forgot what was inside some of them, but I knew it would be delicious.

While February isn't exactly the best time (weather) for chocolate, I managed to eat these before they melted. Absolute deliciousness.

Find them at Cacao del Sol (Italia 557) - prices are reasonable for fancy pants chocolates. Happy hearts day.

A Domestic Sell-Out (aka Pudding Cookies)

I feel like an American housewife from the 1950's who has just discovered how to cut corners with a secret little box. Of course, coming out of an era in which everything was made painstakingly from scratch without due credit, it's easy to imagine how ready-made little secrets began to penetrate traditional baking. Adding Jell-O pudding mix to cakes and cookies made them moist and fluffy, who cares what those funny sounding ingredients are! Preservatives? Bring 'em on! Of course housewives embraced a faster, easier way to cook. They were expected to slave away in the kitchen all day without recognition. Today, a cake made from scratch gets a round of applause...who even knew they still made those?!

But can you imagine the revolution of food that took place? It ruined wholesome consumption and created the unfortunate system of eating today, but it must have been so liberating for women. Here's how it plays out in my mind:

1950's dude - "What's for dinner tonight honey?"

His cool wife - "Your salisbury steak dinner is in the oven and there's a cake on the table - I'm going out for drinks with the girls!"

So, I realize that processed food was once considered a good thing. But I had mixed feelings about using a boxed pudding mix in my own homemade cooking (you have no idea how much I loathe 'semi-homemade' - like it's okay to lie to your friends so that they think you're some kind of Donna Reed. Who pretends to cook something from scratch?? Perhaps someone who wants other women to feel envious of her homemaking skills, or rather her ability to find a chemically-engineered secret). But aside from this rant, I had a box of chocolate pudding that my mom brought down so I thought I'd put it to the test. And it worked. Those housewives found moist fluffy goodness in a tiny box. I'm not sure how it works and I'm not sure what all of those ingredients are but it made a lovely cookie (aside from the distinctive alkaline flavor).

(photo from my new iPhone cam...now I can work from anywhere...eeeee...mixed feelings)

Still, I felt guilty so I looked up the ingredients on FoodFacts, which gives you the pros and cons of food. How funny is it that it says 'This product contains controversial ingredients"??? That's exactly how I feel about all processed foods. Controversial. Is BHA a bad thing because it's potentially cancerous or a good thing because it's an antioxidant and it keeps food from spoiling? Honestly, science hasn't been able to answer these types of questions about our food. So should we stop eating it? Maybe. But here's the recipe in case you feel like throwing caution to the wind!

Chocolate Pudding Chip Cookies

adapted from Nestle Toll House

• 1 c. flour
• 1 package (4 servings) instant chocolate pudding mix
• 113 g. (1/2 c.) butter, softened
• 1/2 c. packed brown sugar
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg white
• 3/4 c. chocolate chips or chunks (original recipe calls for 2 cups, which just seemed ridiculous)
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts (my addition)

Combine flour and pudding mix in a small bowl. Beat butter on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Beat in brown sugar and baking soda until well combined. Beat in egg and egg white. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chips. Drop dough by rounded teaspoon 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 180C, 350F for 10 to 12 minutes or until set. Cool on baking sheets 2 to 3 minutes, remove to wire racks to cool completely.

These are best eaten immediately, while the obvious flavor of Jell-O pudding mix is less noticeable than when completely cooled. Also, if you put these in an airtight container they'll lose their outer layer of crunchiness so it's best to leave them out.

I feel that many women today are trying to find something that was perhaps lost in American cooking over the past 50 years. Something that our grandmothers replaced with quick fixes in order to take back their own lives. Before the world changed, cooking was mandatory for many housewives, whether they enjoyed it or not, at the expense of a woman's precious time. We can't blame Betty Crocker for making 'homemade' a thing of the past because it set a lot of people free. Rachel Ray probably doesn't want to admit this, but it's nearly a full-time job to feed your family 3 home cooked, unprocessed meals every day. Not just to prepare and cook it, but to schlep to the store often enough to have fresh produce on hand.

As American women re-enter the kitchen by choice we can't blame our mothers for a lack of organic recipes and neither should we be pretentious about our choice to be more in tune with nature. Instead we should understand why this gap exists and seek to fill it ourselves. Our mothers and grandmothers made it possible for us to have fulfilling and successful careers. What we can craft for our children is a balanced method for incorporating food into life.

Will I make these again? Sure, with organic pudding mix. We'll see if the proof is really in the pudding or in the chemical additives. (PS - yeah, I can't actually buy organic pudding here so someone else will have to try it and tell me how it goes!)