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08/31/2007
Repercussions of High Crime
Thursday, August 30, 2007: This afternoon I went to walk a dog in a nice neighborhood. He was rescued by animal activists and they raised enough money for him to live temporarily in a doggie hotel. The dog had one of his legs amputated and gets tired easily. When I brought him back to the pensionado, I asked the man if I could go inside and sit with the dog for a while. The man looked stunned and pointed to a park nearby. I told him that the dog was tired. In fact, the dog sat there on the sidewalk and would not move.
A few years ago, I would have been invited in, specially since I know the animal activists who rescued the dog and have gone to the pensionado with them. But now it´s like you can´t trust anybody. Argentina has changed very much in the last few years and this one of the saddest changes I have noticed.
01:52 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
08/29/2007
Letter to Francis Ford Coppola
Eugenia Maria Renskoff
Website: www.differentflags.com
August 10, 2007
Francis F. Coppola
Zoetrope Productions
USA
Dear Mr. Coppola,
I have admired you for many years. I was very young when The Godfather came out in San Francisco and it instantly became one of my favorite movies. I saw The Godfather II and Godfather III as well as some of your other movies. Everything about them is superb.
Now I am temporarily living in Buenos Aires, where I understand you will have a production company called Zoetrope Argentina. I also read in the paper that you will be making a movie here with Matt Dillon, Javier Badem and a local actress.
A few years ago I wrote a novel called Different Flags. The story takes place in Argentina, in a fictional city called San Vicente. Ani, the protagonist, is a young woman who has traveled from San Francisco to Argentina in order to take care of her widowed aunt. Ani has spent most of her life in the U.S. and it is hard at first to get used to her native country again. While she is doing this, she falls in love with a young Catholic priest. This is when Ani starts to wonder where she really belongs. Her life back in California was not the kind of life she would have wanted and the trip to Argentina has given Ani a chance to be exposed to a different culture and to know love for the first time in her adult life.
I think the main theme of the novel is a quest for identity. There is a subplot having to do with the eviction of Ani´s aunt. In a way, this mirrors my protagonist dilemma. She has led a sheltered life back in San Francisco and now she is faced with real life problems.
Ani´s love for the priest is also important because he brings out the woman in her. In spite of the fact that he is supposed to be Forbidden, she experiences all the feelings that a woman in love feels. Padre Luis and her Aunt Esther become, in Ani´s mind and heart, the new family she wants to have.
I would like for you to read my novel as I think it would make a good character-driven movie. Please feel free to visit my website at www.differentflags.com.
Here in Argentina I am an English teacher. I also do translations.
I hope to hear from you.
Sincerely,
Eugenia Maria Renskoff
03:33 Posted in Film | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Ejercicio de Literatura: La Deuda La Deuda Ejercicio de literatura: La Deuda
La Deuda
Por Eugenia M. Renskoff
27 de Agosto 2007
Relato de una mujer que, por primera vez en su vida se encuentra sola y con una deuda importantísima.
--Ana, por favor, decime la verdad. Sabes exactamente cuanto es que debo?
--Realmente no sé, pero pienso que es mucho. Ayer llamaron acá, y sinceramente, no me gusto el tono de la voz del tipo.
--Ya les di tanto! Gracias. Después te llamo. Voy a ver como soluciono esto.
¿Ahora que iba a hacer? ¿Que podía vender pronto? Cuando había comprado su auto, el primer auto, andaba bien en el trabajo. Todos le pagaban a tiempo y nadie llamaba para cancelar a ultimo momento. Pero desde hace unos 2 meses, muchos daban cualquier excusa para no darle lo que cobraba por hora. Le costaba mucho pagar sus cuentas y comer se estaba convirtiendo en un lujo. Estos hombres eran peligrosos. Vera sabia que no la iban a esperar. Querían su plata ya.
Se levanto de la silla y fue a su dormitorio. Busco largo rato hasta que encontró un cofre en el estante de arriba. Ahí estaban la cadena y la pulsera de oro que le regalo su Mama hace ya tantos años. La idea de deshacerse de estas cosas no le gustaba para nada. Cerro sus ojos y vio a su madre tal como era ese día. Su sonrisa le iluminaba la cara y la abrazo bien fuerte. Había hecho un sacrificio enorme para juntar la plata, pero era el cumpleaños de su hija, y su hija merecía lo mejor.
Vera sacudió la cabeza, y secándose la cara con su mano derecha, se puso el tapado.
En pocas horas, obtuvo lo que esa gente querría. Necesitaba pensar que su madre, si estuviera viva, no le guardaría rencor.
Mejor voy ahora, antes de que pierda el valor, se dijo. Cuando llego al lugar de autos usados, el vendedor se mostró sorprendido.
--No señora, nosotros no la llamamos. No se acuerda de nuestra conversación? Podemos llegar a un arreglo, siempre que usted este dispuesta a pagar algo por mes.
--Si, por supuesto que me acuerdo. Pero, mi amiga me dijo que alguien le hablo con muy mal tono.
--Le repito. Nosotros no fuimos. No tenemos porque llamar a su casa y hablar mal con nadie. No nos manejamos así.
Vera le dio las gracias. Si Ana le mintió, cual era el motivo? A veces se llevaban bien, a veces no. Ahora no podía volver al local donde le habían comprado las joyas. Estaban perdidas para siempre y la plata que había recibido por ellas le molestaba. Parecia estar envenenada.
03:25 Posted in Books | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
08/21/2007
Garage Sales
Tuesday, August 21, 2007: Garage sales are all the rage in Buenos Aires. The neighborhoods where people can find bargains and some unusual items are: San Telmo, Pompeya and Palermo.
19:03 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
08/20/2007
Crummy Student
Monday, August 20, 2007: Once, about a month ago, I went to a student´s house for an English lesson. When I got there, she wasn´t home, so I left a message with a neighbor for her to get in touch with me. When this student, by the name of Rosana called, she was most apologetic. I told that that I would have to charge her for the lesson, since she had not informed she was not going to be home. No problem, she said. Can we meet next Thursday instead of Saturday? Yes, I answered. We were supposed to meet at 7:30 P.M. But she wasn´t there and I rang and rang the bell until finally a woman about to walk her dog came out. I explained that I was Rosana´s English teacher and she let me go up to put a note by her door. Sweet Rosana never got in touch with me. If she did not want any more lessons from me, why not say so? Why have me go all the way to Villa Crespo, about an hour from her I live by bus? Obviously these people need to learn manners, among other things. I cannot waste my time, knowledge and skills on them. Simply not worth it.
20:04 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
08/17/2007
Out on Bail
Friday, August 17, 2007: Carlos Carrascosa, the man convicted of cover up in the brutal murder of Maria Marta Garcia Belsunce, will spend the rest of his 5 and a half year sentence in almost complete freedom. His friends have paid the 100,000 pesos(about $33,000 U.S. Dollars) bail set by the court. His new home will be the posh house of a friend living in a gated community. With friends like these, who needs justice? And who cares, who will ever discover, why Carrascosa´s wife was killed?
19:13 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
08/13/2007
To George
Monday, August 13, 2007: I appreciate your reading the blog and saying it is interesting. No, I am not angry. In fact, I am going back to my country soon. There are good things about Argentina, but there are also plenty of bad things. Read the papers and you will see. I am pointing out what needs fixing so we can all enjoy the good ones.
19:23 Posted in Sports | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
08/12/2007
No Football
Sunday, August 12, 2007: Because several club authorities have received death threats, the game between River Plate and Newell´s that was to be played this afternoon has been suspended. Authorities fear that after Gonzalo Acro´s murder eatlier this week, the violence between the rival club gangs will escalate. It is also said that the River Plate gang is no friend of the Newell´s barra brava.
In the meantime, Jose Maria Aguilar, River Plate´s president, has decided that the best place for him to be is Europe.
21:10 Posted in Sports | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this
Children´s Day
Sunday, August 12, 2007: Today is Children´s Day in Argentina and to celebrate the occasion, toy prices have gone up between 15 and 25%. People still buy stuff for their kids, nephews and nieces, grandkids, but consumer protection organizations are filing complaints.
21:05 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
08/10/2007
Mafia Style
Friday, August 10, 2007: Earlier this week Gonzalo Arco, the 29 year old member of a barra brava, a Hooligan gang, was gunned down as he was walking down the street with friends. He was the right hand man of a River Plate Stadium gang boss. His death is a vendetta and today, at his wake in the traditional barrio of Villa Urguiza, reporters and photographers were beaten and injured by gang members. His friends have vowed that Arco´s death will be avenged and they are saying so all over the Internet. In the meantime, Jose Maria Aguilar, the President of River Plate stadium, denies any knowledge of anything having to do with the gangs. Funny because if he doesn´t know, who does?
18:50 Posted in Sports | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
08/07/2007
Señor Chavez
Tuesday, August 7, 207: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has come to Buenos Aires. He arrived yesterday, where he was received by his counterpart Nestor Kirchner with great joy. They are very chummy and will do business together.
06:32 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
08/03/2007
Old Kids
Friday, August 3, 2007: There is a new trend here in Argentina. Some grown up kids don´t want to leave home. Even if they are working, they prefer to stay with Mom and Dad. Mom washes their laundry and cooks for them, while Dad keeps paying the bills.
There are cases where kids go back home with their own children and let Mom support them. All very convenient and a far cry from the days when kids could not wait to leave the nest.
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