Blogs

Things are going well here in Buenos Aires. I have been making good progress in the archives/library, finding lots of useful materials. Thankfully, the staff at both the National Library and the Archivo General de la Nación have not lived up to their reputation as slow and unhelpful.

Written 3/19/2012

I arrived in Buenos Aires on Thursday afternoon. The taxi ride from the airport to my apartment gave me my first taste of life in this crazy city -- the crazy drivers. My well-paid taxi driver was rather careful and calm, but the rest of the drivers on the road were a bit terrifying to watch.

I was ready to get out of Santiago by Thursday, when I flew to Buenos Aires. For my final day in Santiago (Wednesday), the weather climbed back up to 33 degrees (Celsius). It was brutally hot and uncomfortable, much like the first two weeks of my stay in Santiago.

Written: Saturday, March 10

A blog update is overdue, so here goes.

This past weekend (Feb. 25, 2012) saw another enjoyable annual conference of the Southern California and Hawai’i Chapter of the Society for Ethnomusicology (SEMSCHC). This region—whose acronym the UC Riverside students have taken to pronouncing as “some such”—has seen increasing attendance in the past few years.

I have settled into a nice routine at the National Library, and I am enjoying the stability and comfort that comes with a regular schedule. I am starting to feel more settled in Santiago, and have even reverted to some of my old New York ways -- especially when navigating sidewalks and crossing streets in this rather crazy city.