Argentina

Nueve Reinas

Nikki — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 19:30:17 +0000

Title: Nueve Reinas (Nine Queens)
Released: 2000

Plot Summary

This mainstream Argentine film stars Gastón Pauls and Ricardo Darín who play two con artists trying to heist some rare and valuable stamps. Full of Argentine slang and quirky humor, this film is among my favorites. It provides some interesting plot twists and keeps you guessing who's really getting conned.

Language Learning Notes

The Spanish is a little tough to understand because of the slang and the characters speaking quickly, but is a good opportunity to learn some Argentina-specific phrases and expressions.

Federico Aubele

Nikki — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 18:35:51 +0000

Although his music in undeniably influenced by his home, Buenos Aires, Federico Aubele describes his own sounds as a hybrid of music throughout the Americas, inspiring the title of his 2007 album Panamericana. His music is nostalgic and tranquilo, often featuring the haunting voice of Natalie Clavier against flamenco guitar, tango bandoneón, and electronic beats. His music offers wide appeal, and if his YouTube comments are any indication, his listeners are not defined by a single language. I truly don't know how you couldn't like his music.

Argentina Breakfast - Cafe con leche, medialunas, agua con gas

admin — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:37:25 +0000

XXY - Argentine Film About Gender in the Modern World

Nikki — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 21:20:02 +0000

Title: XXY
Released: 2007

Movie and Plot Summary

Being different is rarely easy, especially if you're a 15 year old hermaphrodite. This Argentine film deals with teenage angst and how the decisions we make alter our path.

Fifteen year old Alex faces having to make a decision about her gender when her mother invites a plastic surgeon and his family to stay at their family home by the sea. Alex's father resents the surgeon's presence, and accepts Alex completely as she is. Witnessing the difficulty Alex faces in personal relationships, her father comes to understand the complexity of the situation and society's inability to accept the undefined.

While certainly an interesting film concept, I would recommend XXY to people who like fringe independent movies, not Hollywood moviegoers.

Spanish Language Learning Notes

High Altitude Wines of Cafayate, Argentina

Nikki — Sun, 25 May 2008 22:22:00 +0000

Visiting northern Argentina

Ever since a trip back in 2000 to the north of Argentina, I've been hooked. With its indigenous culture, beautiful red mountains, and tranquilo vibe, the only thing that could make the north better is wine. Oh wait, wine there is. Wineries in Cafayate have long been famous for making the best Torrontés available, but the quality of its reds are quickly improving as well. Bodega Mounier/Finca las Nubes is a favorite winery in Cafayate, but we visited some other interesting ones as well. Interestingly, most wineries in Cafayate are producing Tannat, a varietal made famous by Uruguay and seldom found in the rest of Argentina.

Splurge-worthy wine recommendations from Argentina

Nikki — Thu, 22 May 2008 21:08:27 +0000

What is a splurge-worthy wine?

It seems that one reason many people are attracted to wine from the Spanish-speaking world--Chile, Argentina, Spain, and Uruguay--is because they are generally extremely economical. You can get a great bottle of wine for $10 and even less. Since most people want to spend around $10-$15 for a bottle of wine, I'm defining a splurge as anything above $15. While there are some that are significantly more than that, the most expensive bottle I'm recommending is $50.

Price to quality

Sure a $100 bottle of wine is probably good. It's probably great. But is it worth the price? Is it really that much better than a different $25 bottle, will you really get $75 more enjoyment out of it...which would take 20 hours of teaching English in Argentina to pay for?

Argentine blends

Finca las Nubes: Wines from Bodega Mounier

Nikki — Thu, 22 May 2008 13:11:57 +0000

Visiting Finca las Nubes

First charmed by Mounier when tasting its incredible Torrontés in Mendoza, we jumped at the opportunity to visit the winery, known by both Mounier and Finca las Nubes, and located in beautiful Cafayate in the north of Argentina.

Eleven years old, this boutique winery makes affordable and wonderful wines. The only drawback for North American consumers is its export ratio: 90% of the production remains within the country while a tiny 10% is exported. Since the winery makes a mere 50,000 bottles annually, not much ends up on wine shop shelves in the US.

Wine from the end of the earth: Patagonian reds

Nikki — Sun, 18 May 2008 19:04:10 +0000

Wineries of Patagonia: Dino Vino

A relatively new wine industry is cropping up in Neuquén, Argentina, a province making up the north of Patagonia, known for its dinosaur bones. The three wineries we visited, NQN, Bodega del fin del Mundo, and Familia Schroeder, are all relatively large wineries with decent advertising budgets. Their success has been notable outside of Argentina, perhaps due to the allure of drinking a wine from an area thought to be exotic and uncontaminated. The wines, however, are not just enjoyed abroad: a recent article reported residents of Neuquén consume more wine than milk in their diets.

A Family-Run Boutique Winery: Bodega Sottano

Nikki — Mon, 12 May 2008 20:43:12 +0000

Bodega Sottano's story

On the same road where you'll find Séptima and Ruca Malén, relatively new winery Sottano is making some great wines and is opening its doors to winery tours. The winery is a shared project of the three Sottano brothers, natives of Mendoza with Italian heritage and a family history of bulk winemaking. The winery building was designed by the brothers with the goals of fitting into the desert landscape of Mendoza and on the inside, being able to see all aspects of the winery from one place: the cellars and barrels, the tanks, the vineyard, and, of course, the beautiful Andes mountains that provide the water runoff that makes grape-growing possible in Mendoza.

Bodega La Azul

Nikki — Sat, 10 May 2008 20:43:12 +0000

La Azul Winery

This enormously cute winery in Valley de Uco of Mendoza, Argentina, La Azul is one of the smallest production wineries we've visited. Perhaps their size allows the focus and attention needed to produce some incredible wines. Like many wineries in Mendoza, Azul is a relatively new winery in Argentina with its first wines produced in 2003.