YES!!

Posted on July 5, 2014 by noruegaenargentina

Argentina is in the semi-finals!! Hooray!

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Posted in Buenos Aires | 3 Comments

Book Recommendation: Contemporary Argentinean History

Posted on July 2, 2014 by noruegaenargentina

554633c0It is rather an understatement to say that contemporary Argentinean history is  complicated. Even living here, reading newspapers, talking to friends, and having had general knowledge of and exposure to the region for years, it can be really difficult to grasp. So here is a book recommendation that can help you understand at least up until 2010. Luis Alberto Romero is a professor and researcher with an impressive bibliography, and his “Breve historia contemporánea de la Argentina – 1916-2010” is a fantastic resource. I have the original version, in Spanish, but a friend has it in English, and I think I would have preferred that. Although I have no problem reading Spanish, I still prefer reading in English or Norwegian. I bought mine in a bookstore here in Buenos Aires last year, and I believe the English version is available here as well, if not, Amazon has it. (The English version actually goes up to 2013.)

Posted in Books, Politics | 5 Comments

Norway “in the World Cup”

Posted on June 29, 2014 by noruegaenargentina
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Cristian Gamboa of Costa Rica/Rosenborg

Norwegians and especially Norwegian media will do anything to make connections between famous people and Norway. We have an expression, “Norgesvenn”, which literally means Friend of Norway, which we bestow upon people who speak highly of our country or otherwise have some kind of relation. The World Cup is no exception – while Norway has not been in a World Cup since 1998, the press is doing anything it can to relate the current games to our fair country. The big news this time is that Costa Rica, who today beat Greece and will meet Holland in the quarter finals, has many players who have played in the Norwegian top league, Tippeligaen. Norwegian football blog Fotballdirektoratet has done us the favor of listing all of the World Cup players who have spent time in the Norwegian league. Here are the ticos (Costa Ricans) among them:

Christian Gamboa – currently plays in Rosenborg

Giancarlo González – Vålerenga 2012 season

Roy Miller – first Bodø/Glimt, then Rosenborg, until 2008

Diego Calvo – Vålerenga currently

Michael Barrantes – currently plays for Aalesund

Christian Bolaños – previously of IK Start

Celso Borges Mora –  previously of Fredrikstad

Randall Brenes – Bodø/Glimt, then Kongsvinger, 2005-2009

Posted in Norway in Argentina | Leave a comment

Guiso de lentejas – Lentil stew

Posted on June 25, 2014 by noruegaenargentina

guiso-de-lentejas-390x412This is for my friend, la argentina en Noruega, Aymará! She asked for my recipe for guiso de lentejas, or lentil stew. It is really quite simple to make, and delicious to eat in the winter. Here in Argentina, lentil stew is usually made with some pancetta and some chorizo, but mine is vegetarian (vegan, actually) and I try to add some extra flavor through spices. This version has more vegetables than most, but I like the taste of all the vegetables mixed together. Some people add zucchini too, so that is an option.

Ingredients:

  • 200 grams lentils (I usually precook them for 20 minutes but it is probably not necessary)
  • 1/2 a red or green pepper
  • 1 onion
  • Some celery
  • 3 carrots, one finely chopped, two chopped in cubes
  • 3 potatoes in small cubes
  • Some butternut squash in cubes
  • A vegetable bouillon cube
  • Salt, pepper, garlic if you like, whatever spice you use for heat – I like crushed red pepper (aji triturado in Argentina) and Tabasco sauce with Chipotle flavor
  • 1 can of tomatoes, chopped (I use my kitchen scissors to cut them up)
  • Quite a lot of water

Finely chop the onion, the celery, the pepper and one of the carrots. Sauté these for 5 to 10 minute in some olive oil. Add the lentils, either already cooked or still dry. Add crushed red pepper. Give them a little fry and add some water. Then, add the other vegetables, the can of tomatoes, more water, and the bouillon cube. Make sure there is plenty of water covering all the vegetables.

Let the stew cook until all the vegetables are soft. I let mine cook for at least an hour, often more. The butternut squash disintegrates more than the potatoes and carrots and creates a nice flavor and thickness to the dish. And it is definitely a stew and not a soup – I make it very thick and hearty. Add salt, pepper, other spices if you like, and make sure it tastes to your lighting. Enjoy with fresh bread!

Posted in Uncategorized, Veggies | 3 Comments

A Wonderful Organization – Canales Asociación Civil

Posted on June 22, 2014 by noruegaenargentina

I mentioned in my “Moving to BA” post that I had several projects in the works but that I couldn’t really talk about them yet. Some are still in progress, but I wanted to share one of them because I am so happy to work with such a great organization. I am working freelance/independently for the first time in my life, and it is both scary and nice. It is scary because I have to sell myself, get clients, and prove my expertise outside of an established organization, and because I have to manage my time to give the best I can give to the different entities I am working with. But it is also nice, for instance, the flexibility and the way I can structure my own day. I love being able to exercise in the middle of the day, or go to a museum mid-week, or work all day Sunday to free up a Monday for other things. Oh, and working mainly from home means I can cook most of my own meals – I love that! I do have quite a few meetings downtown but usually not all day.

However, maybe the best thing about working freelance is that I have been able to join one of my favorite NGOs in a professional capacity as a part-time project supervisor. I have known the organization since about 2010 and always been very impressed with the way they work, their clear focus, the excellent products they create and their professionalism. CANALES Asociación Civil works to improve the education of deaf children in Argentina. Here, as in many middle or low-income countries, many deaf children do not have access to quality education in their natural language, sign language. CANALES works to change the educational paradigm so that deaf children’s right to learn in their natural language is respected, using a bilingual educational model with Argentine Sign Language (LSA) and Spanish. CANALES also stands out because it is made up of deaf and hearing professionals working together, where the deaf adults serve as linguistic models and assure the correct use of LSA.

One of the organization’s most well known programs is the “Videolibros en Lengua de Señas Argentina“, which promote a love for reading through books read in LSA, with the original illustrations as the background and a voice in off so that the books can be enjoyed by all, deaf and hearing alike. The first collection included 15 children’s books by Argentinian authors, then four classics (such as Little Red Riding Hood) and there are currently another 12 being developed. Check out my favorite one, Tener un patito es útil. So cute!

Posted in Norsk i Argentina, Noruega en Argentina, Personal | 5 Comments

Estudiar noruego en Buenos Aires

Posted on June 21, 2014 by noruegaenargentina

ISA

[Where to study Norwegian in Buenos Aires] He mencionado anteriormente que se puede estudiar noruego acá en Buenos Aires, pero lo quería volver a repetir ya que últimamente me han llegado búsquedas sobre el tema. El Instituto Sueco-Argentino es la única escuela dedicada a la enseñanza de los idiomas nórdicos. Enseñan sueco, noruego, finlandés e islandés, siempre con profesores nativos. El instituto fue fundada hace 11 años por dos profesoras suecas, y hasta ahora han tenido su sede en Tacuarí 147, en la Casa de Suecia. Sin embargo, la semana que viene se están trasladando a San Telmo, donde primero van a estar en los locales de la Iglesia Nórdica (Azopardo 1422), antes de instalarse en sus propias oficinas en la misma cuadra. En agosto arrancan con nuevos cursos en todos los niveles – mandales un email si te interesa: suecoargentino@gmail.com. He tenido el placer de conocer algunos de los alumnos de los cursos de noruego y me impresiona su nivel de dominio del idioma!

Posted in Buenos Aires, Comunidad noruega, Noruega en Argentina | 3 Comments

Not a happy camper

Posted on June 20, 2014 by noruegaenargentina

I have been an Italy fan for years, and sometimes it is fun (World Cup 2006) and sometimes it is embarrassing (World Cup 2010: Italy came last in their group of Paraguay, Slovakia and New Zealand) or just sad. Today, it is sad! I am embarrassed that I feel this down from a football match… In general I am thrilled with the Latin American teams and their fabulous job so far in this World Cup, but today I wanted Italy to win. Booooh! 😦 To feel better I have baked bread, cheese rolls, and brownies to take to a dinner party tonight, where I plan to drown my sorrows in wine. The Italy-Uruguay game on Tuesday will be extremely tense but Uruguay is playing very well so I am not optimistic. Sorry that these guys did not play better today.

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Posted in Personal | 1 Comment

World Cup frenzy

Posted on June 17, 2014 by noruegaenargentina

It seems almost redundant to write about the fact that Argentina and Buenos Aires are going crazy about the World Cup, but hey, it’s fun! Personally I started the World Cup with a glance at the Brazil-Croatia match, but saved the real viewing for the (to me) more exciting games. Saturday night we joined my Italian friend to watch the Italy-England game at a bar in Palermo. I pretended to be Italian (sort of a hobby of mine – and here it is not that hard, as my Italian is pretty good) and had a blast. The poor English fellows on the next table over were less excited… Then Sunday, I went to watch Argentina-Bosnia with my adopted Argentine family here in the neighborhood. I got there right at 19:00 and there was not a soul outside! No cars, no people walking, everyone was watching TV, either at home or in a bar. It was so much fun watching the game with them, although nobody was particularly impressed with the way Argentina played and they will definitely need to step it up if they want to advance. I was happy for Messi, though, since he broke his no-goal curse of the last World Cup. I finished the weekend Monday night, joining some American friends for a viewing party at the Hard Rock Café – I had never been there but it was the perfect place to watch a game.

Here is a guide to where to watch the different games in Buenos Aires, by the lovely Sorrel.

Posted in Buenos Aires | 1 Comment

Ninina Bakery

Posted on June 12, 2014 by noruegaenargentina

P1150890In the on-going series “We Love Carbs”, I have checked out yet another bakery, this one located in Palermo Soho. Ninina Bakery opened earlier this year and is a delicious addition to the neighborhood, with all sorts of baked goods, pastries, sandwiches, salads and smoothies. We went for Sunday lunch with Norwegian-Argentine friends and while there was a wait (20 minutes or so) it was definitely worth it. The place is huge so things were moving pretty fast. We had the choice between outside and inside and decided to sit inside; it was warm but not that warm. I loved the open, airy space, you can see the kitchen further in and they even have a private dining room with view of the kitchen.

P1150894For our lunches, I had the veggie burger (really good – great toppings, great fries, my only complaint would be that I would have liked more fries) and my friends had the prosciuttto and burata salad and the salmon sandwiches. Everything was delicious! One of my friends also had the raspberry and avocado smoothie and it was fantastic! For dessert we shared a piece of cake, I think it was called Perdición and it was so good – it had merengue, chocolate mousse, cream, and strawberries. The service was good to begin with but then sort of fizzled out – our waitress disappeared and it seemed nobody had been assigned to our table so we had to try to flag down other waiters to help us. However, this was a minor issue (I see quite a lot of bad reviews on their service but we were fine until the second half of our meal and by then we had almost everything we wanted.) Highly recommended!!

P1150895Ninina Bakery, Gorriti 4738 (between Armenia and Malabia), Buenos Aires 1414

Posted in Buenos Aires, Restaurants, Veggies | 4 Comments

Will there ever be Norway Havaianas?

Posted on June 8, 2014 by noruegaenargentina

P1150926I just got back from a quick trip to Sao Paulo to visit friends. It was lovely hanging out with them and catching up with a dear friend, although Sao Paulo is a little overwhelming! It is just so big… Of course preparations for the World Cup were at full speed, since the opening game takes place in SP on Thursday. (One day we saw that they were using gigantic hoses to push trash into the river… hm… there has to be a better way to clean the city?) The metro workers started striking on Thursday, and it is still going on today, Sunday, affecting millions of commuters and of course freaking out authorities since metro is the best way to reach the stadium.

At the flagship Havaianas store (the famous Brazilian flip flop brand), each country has its own flag flip flop, how cute is that! I will share the Swedish ones, and hope that one day Norway will be back in the World Cup (1998 was the last time, what gives??)

Edited to say: Sweden and Denmark are NOT in the World Cup – how come they get their own havaianas??

Posted in Travel | 2 Comments