Daniel Cowel: A Tribute

It still doesn't feel like Dan's gone. We haven't seen our new housemate at home yet since we just got back and it feels like one of those stretches where I wouldn't see Dan for a whole weekend and then Monday afternoon he would come strolling in around 2 and we would catch up and then he would go to sleep. But Dan officially left last Wednesday, and he's been in our lives here long enough for a tribute.
When we met Dan he was living with two Colombians, one of them dating my friend. We stayed in touch because a mutual friend came to town, and he pretty quickly became one of the gang. Then he moved in with us and it was all cemented. He was an integral member of Casa Cochobamba for about seven months, and he brought with him a love of music, cooking, Spanish, and la fiesta. You could always count on Dan to speak in Spanish when one Argentine was in a room full of x-pats, and you could always count on him for key phrases and translations. He loved playing music and having people over, surfing the web and he loved to cook big, gourmet meals that could feed all of us two times around.
Like all people do who live together, there were times when we butted heads. But more important to me, and what I'll remember, is what he taught me. He taught me how to be more generous, a good host, and while I'll never love electronic music as much as him I like it a lot more now. Most importantly, Dan is a really good friend, and for that I will miss him the most. You better be on skype Dan!!!!!!! Talk to you soon!!!!

urgently uruguay

with four days left for my visa, we fled to uruguay with our newly arrived guest - señior patrick.
we´ll be back on monday. until then...

Buenos Aires Bits

I noticed you've all stopped commenting on posts...but I'm assuming the moms are still reading at least so I here I go.
Nothing crazy has been going on, just the average normal adventures of life in BA but I thought I'd update you on a few little things.
Let's see...Dan's leaving tomorrow!!!! One of the guys we have know the longest is leaving! He's not only been a friend but a housemate and its been a while since anyone left, so I'm sad and also I think a little stressed because it reminds me of my own impending departure date that looms in the background of my daily life. Dan has enjoyed a year of the strictest of schedules. Pretty intensive Spanish study nicely mixed with a party regimen that even the staunchest Argentine boliche attendee would admire all sprinkled with some volunteer work. I have to say I've been jealous of his freedom at times, marveled at him at others, and I never stopped admiring his uncanny ability to find something great to do on any night of the week here. He's even better than Jessica was and that's saying something.
To send him off we all went to Pacha on Saturday night and danced on the outdoor patio until the sun rose and then we danced some more. The breeze was deliriously delicious and the choppy waters of the Rio Plata and the tall palm trees made me feel more like I was at an island get away and not at home in BA. We left when they turned off the music, something I've never even done before. It was crazy!
We also went to Diego(our capitain)'s house for his 36th birthday. It was just us (Felipe, Nick, Josh, and me) and his family which was pretty much the coolest thing ever. I stuffed myself on empanadas and mil hojas cake (a cake made with crunchy pancakes layered with dulce de leche and topped with marangue). Yes I felt sick afterwards, but I felt so special to be there.
Manzi has officially become an almost house broken dog.
The rainy season is back and it is humid as hell on a hot summer day.
We are eating copious amounts of watermelon which feels both hydrating and healthy but might not be either.
But really the biggest piece of news besides Dan leaving is that Patrick is coming on Friday!!!!
Finally, Patrick is coming to BA and he is really the luckiest visitor so far because I finally feel fully equiped to show someone the city, and not just a more touristy side. You can all look forward to lots of photos starting with our little trip to Montevideo, Uruguay on Friday. Until then, asado tonight for Dan, and then maybe a date or two with Josh before Patrick invades our room for ten days.

Ultimate Finals - Spring League

On Sunday we woke up at the crack of eight to catch the 29 so we could ride it till the end. At the end awaited beautiful and green Parque Sarmiento, and on the way we picked up numerous people from the Ultimate community. We were all headed towards the moment we'd all been waiting for: the Spring League Finals! Having not won more than one game (if that) this whole season, we were set to play the undefeated Big Red first at 11 am. I didn't have much confidence about this game until we were up by three points! The hard core practice we'd had the day before, and our new zone defense combined with strong winds worked in our favor. It was a good game and we fought hard, but in the end they ended up pulling ahead and winning 10-7. We almost had 'em, and if we hadn't run out of time...who knows?
The second game was against Aqua and I knew we could win, but I knew they could win too. To make a long story short, we were winning and then we were falling apart. So I stopped the team as we returned to the end zone and had us all take a deep breath and said, we can do this!! And we did!!! We pulled ahead and we won!!!

It was awesome...

In the finals Discosur gave Big Red a run for their money and were up until the second half where Big Red proved themselves once again and made history. Undefeated Champions!!!! They proved themselves to be the best team yet again when they swept every single award in the post game ceremony except the spirit award which went to Discosur.

After it was all over and as usual something was stolen (Kyla's bag) in a attempt to ruin all the good onda left in this world, we headed to a Kiosco for some much deserved cerveza.

Here I will put two notes from Diego and Felipe sent the day after:

Y la estrella brilló!!

Me siento orgulloso de este equipo, este Domingo jugamos como Cadillacs.

El partido contra BigRed fué muy intenso, empezamos ganando 3-0, nos fuimos al descanso ganando 5-3 y luego no pudimos cerrarlo, pero los números no dicen todo, los que estuvieron ayer saben porque lo digo, los Cadillacs ofrecieron una digna batalla, jugamos Ultimate de verdad, pudimos implementar las practicas del entrenamiento, jugamos como equipo, los sentí conectados, concentrados, con hambre, fue increíble, este partido nos demostró de que estamos hechos y que cuando queremos...PODEMOS.

El partido contra Aqua fue muy importante porque se jugaba por el honor y tambien fue muy intenso, empezamos arriba, luego nos sacaron una diferencia de 3 tantos faltando poco tiempo, y la estrella volvió a brillar anotando 5 tantos seguidos y quedandonos con el tercer puesto, que para nosotros significa MUCHO.

Quiero agradecer a todos los Cadillacs por este año, a los históricos por dejarnos su espíritu vivo, a los que vienen a entrenar siempre a pesar de las distancias, el trabajo, la familia y demas compromisos, a los que no pueden venir pero saben que los estamos esperando y los que van a llegar.

Gracias a PIPE, porque sos mucho mas que nuestro Coach, por la entrega de ayer, por injectarnos de energía y por TODO lo que le das a este equipo (también por contener sus gritos)
Gracias a Julia por ponerse el equipo al hombro cuando nos ve caídos, a Pao por estar siempre aún cuando no pueda jugar y a todas nuestras chicas.
Gracias a Josh y a Nick por ser tan buena gente, son dos pilares fundamentales de los Cadillacs, you know Dogui.
Gracias a Antonio, porque deja todo por este equipo y lo va a seguir haciendo porque sabe que su sangre le da mas color a nuestra estrella.
Gracias a Agustín porque es nuestro futuro y ayer se dió cuenta todo lo que tiene para dar.
Gracias a todos nuestros muchachos, desde Special K hasta Seba Riano, ustedes saben quienes son y porque los necesitamos.


Ayer nos dimos lo que tenemos que hacer para brillar:
ENTRENAR CON SERIEDAD Y CORAZON
JUGAR CON INTELIGENCIA Y PASION
Y DISFRUTAR CON UNA BUENA CERVEZA

Vamos por mas Cadillacs, vamos a seguir brillando, vamos a seguir entrenando, jugando y disfrutando, por nuestro deporte, por nuestro equipo, por nuestra historia.

CON MUCHO ORGULLO, su capitán.
##00

hey locos....

Hoy es lunes y tengo que decirles que tengo un poco de cansancio por las finales de ayer...por ahi no camino tan rapido y cuesta trabajo levantarse de la silla ajaja...deje todo en la cancha por mi equipo y me siento muy orgulloso al ver que todos hicieron lo mismo....dede el primer minuto hasta el ultimo gol con que derrotamos a AQUA vi en los oijos de cada uno de ustedes la pasion, entrega y ganas que tenian por jugar ultimate frisbee y hacer que nuestra estrella brillara en lo mas alto.....no quieor extenderme mucho en palabras porque siempre hablo mucho aja, solo quiero darles las gracias por una liga y por casi 3 meses de momentos increibles, entrega total y pues miles de pases en la cancha...la liga termino y auqniue no somos campeones creo que al final cumplimos el principal objetivo que era jugar como un verdadero equipo y cerrra el ano de la mejor forma...como dije hay mil maneras de jugar, a veces se gana y a veces se pierdde, lo importante no es solo eso porque lomas valioso que te dejan partidos como el de ayer es que haces parte de un equipo y dejaste la piel en la cancha, dejaste el 100% en cada punto...
Cadillacs para mi es mas que un equipo y representa mi familia en un pais que nos ario la puerta a todos, que espeor sea lo mismo para ustedes y al partir sean conscientes de lo importantes que son porque le dieron el color que tiene en su camiseta y le dieron brillo a esa estrella que tiene en el pecho..mantuvieron el disco volando y sin duda alguna hicieron parte d ela historia en un deporte que se hace cada vez mas fuerte en este pais de futbol , cerveza y choripanes....
La cancha se vuelve un pequeno espacio al que espero recorrer con ustedes ahora y en el futuro que nos viene a todos en diferentes paises, el disco nos unio todos en este equipo y espero nos amntenga unidos por mucho mas tiempo...s
siempre he pensado que puedes jugar ultimate frisbee con quien quieras,jugar en en un equipo te ayuda a conocer muchas personas y te da buenos historias por contar......ser un cadillac para mi fue entender que la amistad sobrepasa cualquieir idioma y haces parte de una verdadera familia de amigos...asi los considero a todos ustedes por ahcer parte de nuestro equipo..
abrazo a todos y esto no acaba aca....todo gran equipo cuerra con una muyy buena joda llena de baile, cerveza

felipe/01

I'll give the none Spanish speakers a quick overview:

There is a lot of talk of shining stars. I don't know if this is a Spanish thing or what, but they both love the shining stars.
Diego talks about how proud he is and then goes over how we were losing but pulled it together to beat Aqua, and how it doesn't matter that we didn't beat Big Red. They fact that we could have is what matters. Then he thanks everyone for their dedications and gives a few shoutouts:
To Felipe for his teaching, being the coach and for containing his yelling.
To Me for putting the team on my shoulders when we were falling.
To Josh and Nick for being great guys and for being the pillars of the team.
To Antonio for always leaving it all on the feild and something about the color of his blood (which is VERY RED).
And to Augustin who is the future of our team.
And then:
We trained with heart!
We played with intellegence and pasion!
And we enjoyed it with good beer!!!

Felipe talks about how he left it all on the field yesteray, so he is having a hard time walking today. He talks about the game and thanks us for an amazing three months together. He tells us that we are much more than his team. For him the Cadillacs are about friendship and family. We are family that will be bound by the disc no matter where we go. It doesn't end here. And then something about the nightlife and how we will dance and drink lots of beer.

I have to say that while it comes out somewhat cheesy when translated, they couldn't have said it better. For me the Cadillacs has been like a family from day one, and it has invited me into a worldwide comminity. More importantly, like Felipe said, it has opened doors for me here in Argentina starting with Diego's in our first month here. I know that if there was anything I needed in a time of trouble I could turn to Diego or Felipe or Nick or Antonio and they would be there The best thing is they are also there in times of joy, and they are always there to have fun with, to eat choripan with, and to drink an ice cold Quilmes with. The fact that those two games might have been our last with the Cadillacs is not something I want to dwell on. Hopefully the summer league will start before February. If not we'll cross that bridge when we get there. I only know that I will never forget these people that have come and gome, and the team that has been a constant for me since our first week. The team that had faith in me when I couldn't even throw a disc, and that celebrated my improvement in Spanish and Frisbee, and the team that I will be most sad about when I leave. Va a quedarse en mi corazon por siempre Cadillacs.

La Marcha Orgullo Gay - The Gay Pride Parade

When Uli told me about the Gay Pride March I was excited for two reasons. The first was that I had missed it last year, and the second was that I really never have been to a Gay March before. I think I was working during the last one in DC. I've only attended the Drag Queen race that happens every year around Halloween in DC. I left Frisbee right after practice to get back in time to shower and change and then Fanster and I headed to the Plaza de Mayo where the march began. Like a lot of other marches in BA, the march began at the Plaza de Mayo and headed down Avenida de Mayo until the end where the majestic Congresso stands. This means that 9 de Julio, one of the biggest avenues in the world, is blocked off for an extended period of time and traffic patterns are messed up and confused until the march comes to an end.
We met up with my friends Rachel and Maddie and walked around the little fair where all kinds of rainbow paraphernalia was being sold. We ran into our friends Ilene and Noel, and sat with them until we were ready to start marching.

Many trans people were dressed in wild costumes just like the drag races in DC

These pants are so Argentine, I love to hate them.

Maddie and Me

Trans Cops


My favorite transsexual: this older person did not try to hid her masculinity or her package or whatever was under there. She totally rocked.


The lesbian float didn't get much love seeing as is came after a float filled with mostly naked transsexuals...


Let others be normal

These boobs were fake, but also made of plastic. There was no end to real fake breasts as girls showed off their plastic surgery to no end.

The Bears and their sweeeet Bear Flag parachute

The Bear Flag

Stef and Rachel

Stef, Rachel, Maddie

We later ran into our friend Analia (pictured above), and if you remember your blog trivia she is the one whose dog bore Manzi. At this point we were feeling really cool that we had run into two groups of people we knew by accident. Then through the use of cellular phones we found Uli, and Coy (this amazing girl/owner of the sweet camera that took many of these and the Halloween photos that Dan introduced us too). Coy was with two friends, and soon we had a big group going and marched with the end floats who had the best DJ's on board.

Marching with Maddy

We finally found some Leather Daddies!!!

The above photo is impossibly limited in showing you how cool this night was. Here we are in the middle of 9 de Julio where there are normally around six lanes on each side full of buzzing traffic. Tonight it was empty and we were dancing in the middle with the Obelisco in the background.

La Barbie, aka the largest Argentine we've seen to date, perched on the hood of the Amerika Float (Armerika is a Gay Club in BA)

Dancing on top of a newspaper stand with a Quilmes

The Amerika float

Unlike parades or marches in the US, there was no barrier between us and the trucks. There were security men walking back and forth every so often to ensure a "safe" distance between the people and the truck, but I really couldn't believe how many drunk people were dancing wildly so close to those giant wheels. I of course would think this seeing as I hadn't a drop to drink because the Frisbee Finals were the next day, but I tried to push away thoughts of people being crushed to death and danced wildly to the music being played by DJ's on board. I even got to climb on board one for a bit where it was nothing but love. People were kissing and loving and very happy. It was like the biggest happiest, gayest boliche (club) in the world. There were thousands of people dancing and moving slowly forward singing and screaming at the top of their lungs. We'd been marching/dancing for at least two hours when we arrived at the Congresso and the plaza in front was filled to the max with people and speakers were shouting into microphones about marriage and gay rights. Uli stayed to see the bands play, but Stef and I headed back. I couldn't go out at night because we had to wake up at 8 to get to our Frisbee finals, but I didn't mind because I felt like I had already gone out to the biggest party of the year!! I'm not sure how other cities do it, but BA certainly has set the bar.

Halloween '09

I took a nap the evening of Halloween and woke up grumpy. I almost didn't go. But then I thought about the fact that our friends Algy and James were performing at Jeremy's party and I thought I'd better support them. So I cut long triangles out of a magazine cover, donned my green top sheet and I was ready in no time. Josh threw on some soccery stuff and so was he. Dan donated the cab fare and we were on our way.
The party had been moved to an indoor location at the last minute due to heavy rains, and the house was old and amazing. It was perfect for a party.

Dan went as a Cool Cuts employee (the salon where Uli works). He loves shine.

So the night was a grand success, Joe Booty (Algy and James' group) was a big hit as far as I'm concerned, and we danced to the DJ until Alé (Fanie's fling) drove us home at sunrise.

So as you look over the photos from the night (taken by Coy's artsy camera and shot by Uli) listen to one of our favorites by Joe Booty in their Julia's and Josh's Adventures in South America debut:

Brian and Camilla

Alé, Brian, my mustache, me

Me and my mustache

Fanie went as a Teletuby, and in this moment she had a wicked uni-brow

Alé, myself, Fanie

The Sultan of Suave himself: Mr. Uli Coco and myself

Dancing with mi chico

Chatting at the window with Nick and some fresh air

Jeremy and his tiger suit

Nick and me

Fanster-Flex-Alot

James singing some Joe Booty greatness

Joshua

So turns out that foreigners are way more into Halloween than we are. Most of us had pretty homemade costumes, Alex even brought a basket and a red sweatshirt in his attempt to portray Little Red Riding Hood: the mustache edition. But he was shamed into removing his sweatshirt by a British Hotty in a rented Little Red Riding Hood costume. In fact, all the foreigners had sweet rented costumes, painted faces, and a general hardcoresness that comes with not having celebrated this holiday every year of one's life. It was refreshing and funny. Anyway, hope all of you had a great Halloween. I know I did!!!!

Getting The Led Out

A local rock station in Jersey (could be Phily) has a session where they Get The Led Out. I will never forget this, because our painter (Rob) was incredulous that I had no idea what it meant to "Get the Led Out." It wasn't until Sophomore year that I started listening to Led Zeppelin, but it also wasn't until tonight that I heard Led Zeppelin music live. Nick H-S invited us to a Led Zeppelin cover band on Corrientes and having nothing better to do we headed over.
It had just been a little flier he barely noticed on the Subte, but it was the greatest of nights. The venue was below a bookstore on Corrientes in the Theater District and as usual the doors opened late. As you entered you passed a bar on the left and then the room opened up into a small space filled with wooden tables and chairs ending with a stage that was about a meter or two off the ground.
The room quickly filled with long haired Led Zeppelin t-shirt wearing people and the show had sold out by the time the band had done a warm up number. They played two songs and then took a brief pause to allow the singer to do a costume change, and he returned in tight bell bottoms, shiny black motorcycle boots, and a button down shirt tied at the bottom.
The lead singer opened up with a wail and the band joined in with Immigrant Song. They rocked. The bass player and his handle bar mustache, the guitarist with his long hair, and the smiley drummer with his long hair and bottle of Quilmes were rocking it hard as the singer pranced around the stage engaging the audience and singing in English with a funny accent that led me to believe he did not understand half of what he was saying. He even had the feminine performance style that Nick informed us was typical of Robert Plant.
As the collection of empty bottles grew on our table they band got better and better. The singer sounded more and more like Senior Plant (at least in my ears) and the bass player got funnier and funnier as he got more and more inebriated and gave shout outs to his son. The fact that he is a dad made him that much cooler.
At one point I remarked to Nick this this performance in English still managed to be so Argentine and it prompted me to shout "I love this country!!!!!" Nick responded "Me too!! That's why we're here, that's why we're staying. Wait, you're staying right?" There is never a good time to break news like this, and I realize that we haven't even broken it to the blogging world yet so here it goes. "No," I responded. "Actually we are leaving mid February." It startled us both. Normally when people ask I throw a probably for good messure. People know Josh is applying to Law School, but that hasn't exactly translating into a leaving date until just now. So there it is. The big leaving date. Its set. We leave around February 12th and begin an epic journey around South America which will finally help this blog reach its full potential moving the adventures into the continent of South America as promised and not just Argentina.
So then they started playing Stairway to Heaven which always reminds me of sitting around the family room after school in high school while Kenny played his guitar and made up funny songs in Spanish and then sang Stairway to Heaven every time my mom requested it which was every day. And I thought about making adult decisions you don't want to make, and I started hysterically crying. It was kinda lame and cheesy, I know, but I was overwhelmed for a moment.
The show ended and we headed outside for some air. We talked about life, Argentina, and such things, and then decided that yes, we would head over to the Costanera Sur for some Bondiola completa sandwiches from the best parilla ever que se llama El Rey. And yes, he is the king of the Bondiola. Siempre estoy feliz quando puedo encontrar un neuvo lugar de sandwhiches tan circa de mi casa!!! I am always happy when I find a new place to buy sandwiches so close to my house!!!! And so we went to sleep full of bondi and with the amazing riffs of Led Zeppelin in my head.

Me Picas Mucho!!!!!

The Mosquitoes and the humidity have descended upon us simultaneously. Last night at practice they boldly landed on legs, arms two or three at a time, and even bit through shirts as the sun set and the lights came on. As the swine flu scare recedes into the background, old flu prevention signs are covered over by dengue prevention tips.
As I walk around the city today (finally in a dress) sweat rolls down my torso and I'm wishing I had brought my sunscreen with me so I could reapply. The heat should break soon with the promised thunderstorms of tonight that also promises to potentially ruin any Halloween plans. Last year there was no rain on Halloween weekend. It was my first month in BA and we went to the Halloween party at the Road House where Nick works. We went because everybody we knew (all seven of them) where going to attend. I'll never forget my conversation that I had with one x-pat as I waited for my friends to arrive. Even though I had already left my hostel and settled in an apartment he smugly told me I was still a tourist and not the x-pat I had already begun to think of myself as while I slowly navigated this new city with it's ever increasing obstacles that time and time again kept me from arriving on time where ever I went. I felt like I had been rejected from this club I had been so excited to join. The next day was my second weekend at Ultimate where I was happy to find smug free people who accepted me even with my limited experience at both Ultimate and BA.
It is like being in a relationship or having a baby. After the first year you stop counting months. When people ask how long I've been here I casually reply, "Over a year." and not "A year and one month." I hear someone else respond, "twenty days" and I remember those first twenty days and how nervous and excited I was. At this point, I've tried hard to never be snoody and to give advice without sounding smug that I've already done this, or that I already know that. But as this holiday and landmark comes up I can't help but think or say aloud, "Oh, this time last year in BA I was....." It’s almost thrilling to be able to think, "Oh, the Mosquitoes are back earlier than last year." Sometimes I feel like I really know this city now, and then sometimes I get lost in a part I know really well. And when Marina told me of her twenty-minute commute that turned two hour traffic jam due to some Malvinas veterans, I wasn’t angry that our class had started an hour late. I realized that I had my own horror stories to share about being stuck on buses taking debtors through the villas and what a nightmare things can be here when a few people decide to protest something even though it probably won't make a difference. That was pretty cool.

Maniacal Mustache Madness

Mustaches abounded at the first annual mustache competition here in Casa Cochobamba, Argentina. The six competitors came together to show the fruition of their efforts over meat and beer. The weather was beautiful, the parilla downstairs, and the mustaches were ripe for the judging. Here are some photos and comentary from the night.

We watch the LSAT books burn....they strangely resemble an accordion - the saddest of the instruments

Willy arrives and reveals his newly groomed stache

It has many nicknames: the fish hook, the snake bite, the J...we could go on and on... all I know is I'm hooked/obsessed

Uli, a late arrival to the competition would totally have won if he had stayed for the judging!

Boys will be boys...mustaches will be AMAZING

Amazing Rayban glasses that Uli bought second hand

Santi is sad because he doesn't have a mustache

So are we...

And now to meet the competitors:

Willy J

Mike Foster

PJ

Alex Ferrari

Joshua Henry Rolf

Nick H-M

We sat around with Hot Toddies and then beer and waited for the food to cook. We ate our Choripan and Morcilla and then as the Vacio cooked the judging began.

Each competitor had to give a one minute speech on their mustache, outlining the process, choices made about style or grooming techniques and how their mustache made them feel.
Willy decided no words were necessary and whipped off his shirt to show off his mustache in its natural state.




The explanations were amazing, and most competitors had come to the same conclusion. Life is better with a mustache. After their speeches Kyla, Fanie and I went into the dining room to do the judging. We judges based on four points: grooming, respect to the mustaches that came before, texture and thickness, and onesness with the mustache. Each competitor also got an individual title.

Nick: the boy next door stash
Alex: Dirtiest/pedifilia stash
Josh: Porn star/Ron Jeremy stache
Mike: El classico
PJ: Best natural geometric form
Willy: Miss Congeniality

Second runner up: Josh
First runner up: Mike
First Place: Alex

Happy judges: best night ever - stachetastic if you will

And now a new more informal competition has been started. Longevity is the name of the game, and the man who keeps the stache the longest is the winner. However, the real winners are Stef and myself seeing as we can't get enough mustache action. We hope they stay forever.