Exploring the Streets of Buenos Aires
I was excited today to find the English-language blog Buenos Aires, City of Faded Elegance today; I’ll be traveling to Argentina in September as part of a trip with the International Honors Program, and I’ve been trying to wrap my brain around what’s been going on down there in the past few years. My Spanish isn’t the best, so it’s always great to get information in English.
Jeff Barry, who runs the site, left Miami in 2005 to take a break from his career as a librarian, and moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina. He recently spent a month exploring in-depth the city’s biggest literary giant, Jorge Luis Borges.
Calle desconocida is an early poem by Borges that captures a particular feeling about wandering the streets of Buenos Aires:
En esa hora en que la luz
tiene una finura de arena,
di con una calle ignorada,
abierta en noble anchura de terraza,
cuyas cornisas y paredes mostraban
colores tenues como el mismo cielo
que conmovÃa el fondo.Todo -la medianÃa de las casas,
las modestas balaustradas y llamadores,
tal vez una esperanza de niña en los bacones-
entró en mi vano corazón
con limpidez de lágrima.
In that hour when the light has the fineness of sand,
I happened on a street unknown to me,
ample and broadly terraced,
whose walls and cornices
took on the pastel color of the sky
that nudged the horizon.
Everything — the drab houses,
the crude banisters, the doorknockers,
perhaps the hopes of a girl dreaming on a balcony –
all entered into my vain heart
with the clarity of tears.
Stay tuned for more on Buenos Aires in the coming months.
All images of the Argentinian sky are from the Buenos Aires Flickr pool.
4 Responses and Counting
It’s great here. We also moved here from Miami this year. It’s a great place to be right now.
I’ve posted lots of info as well, all in English, with lots of links that you could find useful as well.
p.s. Love your blog design…
Laura
http://movingtoargentina.typepad.com
I’ve always loved that poem.
Nice Find with the BA blog(s). I’m hoping to get there this autumn sometime, and these will be great resources.
Looking forward to the next post!
[quote comment="233"]It’s great here. We also moved here from Miami this year. It’s a great place to be right now.
I’ve posted lots of info as well, all in English, with lots of links that you could find useful as well.
p.s. Love your blog design…
Laura
http://movingtoargentina.typepad.com/quote
Thanks for reading, Laura. Your site looks like a great resource. I’ll be sure to check back often before and during the trip.
This site uses WordPress and it’s theme was designed by Derek over at 5thirtyone. All praise should be sent his way!
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