Buenos Aires and Other Adventures - A Retrospective

Here I am in the Tango Backpackers hostel in Palermo in Buenos Aires. It's christmas eve. Strange. We've got no snow here. We've got rain instead. It's been really hot lately. So hot in fact that I couldn't sleep the other night because the AC was broken in my room. I haven't written anything in this blog for over a month. What happened? Well, the short story is that I took spanish and tango classes in Buenos Aires. Then, inspired by all the travelers in my hostel I decided to go backpacking. I ended up on the beautiful beach in Punta del Diablo in Uruguay, outside the hot town of Mendoza enjoying the vineyards and the mountains, and finally cooled down on the beach in Vina del Mar in Chile.

In the beginning of my trip I was firmly based in the Art Factory Hostel in San Telmo in Buenos Aires. I was there for over three weeks. Many of the evenings I could be found drinking Quilmes beer or read wine on their roof top terrace. That was nice and all and I enjoy the social aspect of hostels very much. It hadn't been much more than a week though until the hostel life and the pulsating city was taking a toll on me. I felt I needed to escape. What kept me hanging around was my ambition to learn spanish and tango. My first day of Spanish was at the Ibero school. I was disappointed with the school so on the second day I impatiently switched over to a school called Academia Buenos Aires. Academia turned out to have the same traditional teaching approach but in smaller classes (maximum of five students) and better organization and teaching material. It's debatable if those improvements could motivate the price difference from 100 to 200 USD though.

I got frustrated by the group classes pretty quickly. Going to class can be really boring. It's just like how going to school used to be. This is a problem for me regardless of whether it's an evening class in Sweden or an intense class in Buenos Aires. I very much preferred the private classes where I was able to pause the teacher and ask any questions I wanted and proceed at my own pace. I'm deeply fascinated by the pedagogy of Michel Thomas whose spanish classes I've been enjoying on my mp3 player. He has a gentle way of introducing vocabulary and grammar that makes you feel confident and gives you an illusion of simplicity. He also knows to introduce parts of the language in order of importance. In the spanish classes we had loads of untranslated vocabulary thrown at us and this was distracting us from the grammar which was supposed to be our focus. I think computers could have improved the classes with interactive exercises, faster dictionaries etc. I would like to have a fast dictionary on my computer that can recognize all words in the language, regardless of whether they are in their basic form or not. The dictionary would be triggered by clicking on or hovering over any word. This would allow me to better read and learn from articles and newspapers etc. Of course, Google Translate can serve this purpose pretty well too.

After two weeks of spanish classes I decided to quit and I spent the following week taking tango classes instead at the excellent DNI school. The DNI school is bubbling with positive energy. Their teachers are friendly and relaxed and yet highly professional. I've never really seen a dance school like it before. There is a schedule of group classes at different levels that run every week that you can drop in to. They have maybe 10 or more teachers that give private classes every day, many of them to tango dancers visiting from far away countries. They will give you a study plan where you take a private class with a senior teacher followed by one or more practice classes with junior teachers where you practice the theory that you learned. That system makes a lot of sense. I made some progress, I certainly did, but in the end I get a little frustrated by the difficult technique required in tango. That's what usually happens when I try to learn it. I intend to continue dancing tango in Stockholm though.

After my tango week I was finally able to escape the city. I took the ferry over to Colonia (Colonia Express, 50 minutes) and from there the bus to the famous beach resort Punta del Este (about five hours). Unfortunatly, and as expected, I didn't really like the place. It has a lot of bars and restaurants where rich people go to be seen. However, it was off season so it was just a bunch of closed restaurants and empty high rises. I did get a beautiful sunset there though and the beaches are good. Luckily through a tip from some american backpackers I ended up going to Punta del Diablo instead. I love Punta del Diablo! I'm not sure how to describe the place but it's like a small fishing village with nice colorful houses and great beaches. I found my peace and quiet there at the Diablo Tranquilo hostel. Highly recommended! The last night I went running on one of the beaches in the sunset. I was home.

My next destination was Mendoza. I took the Andesmar first class bus (cama suite) there which was great. Had the bed been just a little bit longer it would have been perfect... A comfortable leather seat, two bad Hollywood movies, bingo, a three course meal with good red wine and champagne. All of that can really make you relax. Mendoza reminded me of a more quiet version of Palermo in Buenos Aires. Less trafic and less people. Nice trees along every street. It doesn't have the architecture or culture of Buenos Aires of course but it's a great base for outdoor activities. I started with a wine bike tour. We visited three wineries and an olive oil manufacturer. The next day I went on the high Andes tour and saw the highest mountain in America. The Andes are amazing!

I took a night bus across the Andes to Vina del Mar in Chile. Taking the nightbus turned out to be a bad idea as we had to go through immigrations and I didn't get much sleep. Also, I woke up by ears hurting from the drop in altitude going down the slopes in Chile. The trip went well though and I arrived early morning in Vina del Mar. I checked in at the Che Lagarto hostel which is quite nice. They have the best beds of any hostels. Some beds down here seem to be designed for dwarves. They are maybe 190 cm long so they don't really allow me to stretch out. The climate in Vina del Mar is very interesting. Cold nights and mornings and hot and sunny afternoons. The peak of the day seems to be at like 5 in the afternoon when people are at the beach. Valparaiso is a picturesque city and the beaches in Vina are great. The waves of the pacific are gigantic but the water is cold.

I made my way back from Chile to Buenos Aires by bus and I arrived reasonably rested. Unfortunately it turned out that I couldn't get a bus to the Iguazu waterfalls since it was close to Christmas. I really hadn't anticipated that problem. That's what happens when you don't book your trips in advance I guess. Buenos Aires was really hot and I didn't feel like staying. I contemplated returning to Punta del Diablo but that would have meant two additional days of traveling and I was tired. I decided to stay in Buenos Aires and fly home early, on the 25:th of december. I tried to get home in time for Christmas. I could have made it to Stockholm but not all the way up to Umeå so it wasn't worth it.

An interesting anecdote is that I got about 1000 pesos worth of fake bills from an ATM here in Argentina. I talked to the bank (Santander Rio) about it and they didn't seem to care. At least not the two young girls that I tried to speak spanish to. They were not even going to report the problem. I've contacted SEB in Sweden now to see if there is something they can do.

Buenos Aires - Weekend

Friday night I was back at the hostel taking it easy and drinking beer with Christian from Germany. There was even some live music at the hostel which was nice. The band was presented as a funk band and they sounded very much like Manu Chao at first but then the music varied quite a bit. The band was good but I felt very unimpressed, probably because I was in the mood for salsa and have been spoilt by some of the best salsa musicians in New York. That gave me a bad conscience. It was a good night though.

Saturday morning I was freezing on top of the Buenos Aires yellow sightseeing bus listening to a robot-like and humor less speaker in the headphones. The good thing about it was that I got to see a little of La Boca which seemed like a pretty nice part of town. It also gave me some kind of orientation and overview of the main tourist attractions.

On saturday evening I had my first tango class with Jonny at the DNI tango school. It was truly awesome and great fun. They started with leading basics and then quickly progressed to more advanced steps. Very cool. I'm definitely coming back for more lessons.

Saturday evening I was finally able to hook up with Charlie from Sweden. It was a birthday party at the Newbury bar on the Honduras street in Palermo. It was amazing to see the number of bars on Honduras and the nightlife in Palermo. Latin americans are very good at partying and welcoming new people and making them feel at home in a group. That's something to learn from.

On sunday we took the train further up the river to Tigre with Charlies room mates from Holland, Germany, and England. It was very nice to get out of the city for a while. We took a boat tour along the river which was nice. A perfect lazy sunday excursion.

Today is monday and the start of my spanish lessons. Very excited about that!

Buenos Aires - Day 1

At around midday I ventured out of the safety of the youth hostel and into the chaos of the city. I took pictures with my iPhone as I went and there a lot of views to take in - beautiful parks and purple trees in bloom, huge buildings, and nice architecture. It's really hot down here now with peak temperatures at around 27 degrees celsius and I'm enjoying that although it can get tedious later in the day. The city appeals to me quite a bit and I think I can see where the comparison with Paris comes from.

I got myself a local cell phone number and I registered at the Ibero spanish school.

In the evening there was a BBQ on the rooftop terrace in the hostel with a lot of wine and meat. Very Argentinian and very nice.

Today I think I'll try the subway and visit the tango school and arrange for some private spanish lessons. Also, I'm curious to see what Palermo is like, the fancy uptown neighborhood.

First Impression of Buenos Aires

After a looooong flight with Lufthansa from Frankfurt I finally landed safe and sound in Buenos Aires. We flew past Dakar in Africa and over the big country of Brazil. All in all it took about 13 hours and 45 minutes and we arrived on time. That's almost twice as long as the SAS direct flight between Stockholm and New York! I was trying desperately to kill time on the plane, watching a handful of movies, listening to spanish lessons and reading spanish books, but still, it was hard. Note to self - bring a very exciting Dan Brown type of book next time.

The vibes I have been getting so far here have been friendly, relaxed, and yet organized and modern. The Art Factory hostel in San Telmo is very artsy and cool! A lot of paintings and nice decor, a roof top terrace with a grill, and all the practicalities you need.

My goals for today are to go check for a local cell phone and try to make first contact with the spanish and tango schools.

I'm very excited to be here!

Highlights from my Last Week in New York

A friend came to visit me on the 22:nd of October - my 35:th birthday. We had 20 degrees and sun on this day. We started with a latte from Starbucks on Times Square. Later on, the banana bread from Starbucks became a favorite. We had dinner at Union Square Cafe - rated most popular restaurant in New York by Zagat guide. The food was excellent without being too fancy or stylish and the same can be said of the place itself and its atmosphere. Great service, nice decor, but yet simple, relaxed, and functional. We took a taxi home. It's a nice feeling to ride a taxi on Manhattan and it's cheap too.

We had lunch at Sushi Yasuda - supposedly the best Sushi restaurant in New York. It was really upscale and authentic and if you are a sushi fan willing to open your purse it may be worth a visit. It was definitiley something very different from your average Sushi restaurant in Stockholm. On friday lunch Sushi Yasuda was full (you need to book a table there) and so we ended up at Michael Jordans steakhouse in Grand Central station. I really like that place. It's an upscale steak house in a beautiful setting. Great stakes! Pricey though, of course...

We tried some shopping at the Disney Store, Victoria's Secret, Bloomingdales and Macy's. Friday evening I enjoyed an amazing piano concert with Murray Perahia at the Carnegie Hall. It was one amazing piano piece after another. The composers covered were Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, and Chopin. It was an orgy in beautiful piano music and Perahia delivered it beautifully. According to my room mate Erik who studies classical piano at the Manhattan School of Music it doesn't get much better than this. I can't disagree with that. We were sitting way up on the balcony of Carnegie Hall. The concert piano looked like a small instrument from there. But the acoustics were amazing and the hall had a beautiful ambience. This was probably the best classical concert ever for me. It was a big experience.

We did some shopping at the spectacular Evolution Store in SOHO. Unfortunately we forgot to return there to buy the Shark in a Jar...

We wanted to see a Broadway musical and we chose the Lion King. It was quite an experience, especially for the dancing, the music, the decor and all the costumes. A lot of work and money must have gone into a Broadway show like that. The plot and the dialog didn't do much for us though and we would have preferred more music and dancing... I was most impressed and moved by Tshidi Mayne - a great african singer performing "He Lives in You".

My stay ended with a magical dinner at the Gramercy Tavern. This restaurant is top rated in Zagat and we were very happy with it. Nice dark and fancy decor, great service and food. We had a three course menu and the whole evening was a great experience.

The trip home went really well, so well in fact that we got upgraded to business class - massage seats that can be converted into beds, three course meals with port wine and liqeur. Nice! :-)

Being back in Stockholm felt great. Fresh air streaming through my lungs walking through a beautiful city. In many ways, Stockholm may very well be the most beautiful city in the world. However, after only a few hours or so the cold and the darkness was starting to get to me... I'm very fortunate then to be leaving for my next adventure soon - Argentina!

What if Now is All There is... Then What?

I just had a shocking and scary realization and it is that life is merely a series of "now" moments. It's as if up until now I has somehow assumed there would be something more, some alternative place or dimension that would be better than "now". In this other place things would magically happen for me and I would be happy. I have many times been taught about the importance of living in the present. For some reason though it's only now that it's sinking in with me what this really means. Because we have no choice really. We have to live in the present. Why? Because the present is all there is!

Let's Go Knicks

I was at the Madison Square Guarden arena last night and saw the New York Knicks beat the Boston Celtics (a few photos are here). It was an experience just to be in such a huge arena. I was impressed with the logistics of how are they are able to quickly get so many people in and out of there, but also that they put on such a show and really try to entertain the audience with various games and music and dancers and what not. I think the game itself was so so, but it was fun to see. I haven't seen an NBA game in a long time.

Before the game I had dinner at Cornelia Street Cafe. There were two Norwegian guys there interviewing the owner of the place with a camera. There had been three film crews there that day. Apparently it's quite a famous place that was founded in the seventies and it seems popular with songwriters and poets.

After the game I swung by Swing 46. It's quite a cosy place with a long history. There was a small crowd there of which at least a few were dancing to the live music performed by George Gee. The band was good and the female vocalist was excellent.

Last night I was a little sick and the american food (I blame the nachos I had at the game) that I had stuffed myself with came up again... Today I'm feeling a lot better. I've spent the day at home doing laundry and shopping. I want to be rested for my birthday tomorrow...

A Good Week in New York

I saw a great concert with Jimmy Bosch at the intimate Milk Lounge in Spanish Harlem. Jimmy was celebrating his fiftieth birthday (the big five-oh). The crowd was quite small and Jimmy was talking about how in Europe he'll play in front of thousands of people and in his backyard he plays in front of just a handful. The bongo player - Ray Colon - was very cool. He had a sort of heavy and very distinct style of playing. When he hit the macho drum the sound really penetrated the room.

I've spent more time in the Village, some Pizza at Johnny's and at Joe's and delicous sorbet at L'Arte del Gelato. I really like the village and I discovered last night that seventh avenue around fourth street is very nice. Lots of nice restaurants there and the Village Vanguard Jazz club is close by.

The weather has been really awful on some days, in particular when I was on the village/SOHO food tasting tour. I thought I was going to die (!) in the rain and cold. A friendly american came to the rescue and lended me a poncho. As usual I didn't have an umbrella. I have now acquired an umbrella after having lost one that I never used...

I was also an a shopping tour in the Village. Much needed for me since I suck at shopping. There are truly some amazing stores down in the Village. A lot of them are mostly for the eyes, but I did find at least two stores to go back to for clothes. I particularly liked Uniqlo - japanese brand.

On saturday I was on a Brooklyn Brewery beer tasting and culture tour which was really nice. Afterwards I hooked up with Maja from Stockholm and had a good burger at a nice restaurant out in Brooklyn. Brooklyn seems like a nice place to live too at a nice commuting distance. Expensive? No doubt. In the evening I went up to Bronx for the first time and visited Lehman Center where I got to experience a big concert with Eddie Palmieri and Giovanni Hidalgo. Two super stars of afro-cuban music and salsa. I'm a big fan of Eddie Palmieri and this was a great experience. Issac Delgado impressed me a lot as the lead singer. He has such a beautiful versatile voice and he can do everything from a Bolero to a fast salsa-dura perfectly. I recognized a lot of the musicians such as Jimmy Bosch on trombone and Andy Gonzalez on base.

Sunday was a really good day for me. I spent the afternoon at the Guggenheim museum with Maja enjoying the building itself and the Kandinsky exhibition. Afterwards we took the train to the Village and had tapas (Empanadas, Calamares, Croquetas, and Chorizo) at Cuba and drank Mojitos. Very nice. We sipped some sparkling wine at Centro Vinoteca. Maja had to go home to Brooklyn but I went on to the Comedy Cellar for some outrageously funny stand-up comedy. Great night!

Yesterday I checked out the Brookly Bridge. Marvelous! Very nice experience to walk across that bridge in the sun. I had some pizza at the famous Grimaldis and ran into a nice canadian couple.

A lot of good stuff coming up this week, like an NBA game and a piano concert at the Carnegie Hall...

New York Photos

I've finally uploaded my New York photos to Picasa. I still have my earlier photos on Flickr.

Enjoy!

New Yorks Best Pizza - Neapolitan Style

I totally fell in love with the West Village during the food tour and so the day after I had to return there. First I grabbed a slice at Joe's Pizzeria (of Spiderman 2 fame) and then while walking down Bleecker street I stumbled upon Keste - a newly opened pizzeria with some delicous pizzas - the best I've had so far even (and I was recently in Rome so that's saying something). I had the Keste pizza with parma ham, arugola and mozzarella. There was something special about the crust (the bread). It was super tasty. Also, it was much softer than what I'm used to from other pizzerias. I don't know what the difference is or how they do it, but it was great.

I was fortunate to have some great company at the pizzeria - I was joined by Joey, a New Yorker who works at Freewheel. We had a very interesting conversation about work and life. Afterwards we had some delicious italian ice cream and then he showed me around to some spots I would never have seen otherwise. We walked along the piers off of the west village with a view across the Hudson river to New Jersey. Then we strolled uptown along The High Line - a sort of pedestrian path above street level.

At the Harbor Conservatory (my music school) Steve Lopez has been doing some serious and much needed work on my bongo technique. A better technique means better ergonomics, sparing my fingers and shoulders, and of course, a better sound.

Today I stayed home and did some much needed maintenance work, cleaning up and shopping some groceries (finally found a nice store for vegetables) and even venturing to the local laundromat (first ever laundromat experience for me).

I've organized my photos now and started uploading them to Flickr, which will take a while since I'm on a slow and flaky connection. The upload seems stuck at the moment, but hopefully tomorrow I'll get most of the photos uploaded. Flickr seems to be flipping my photos around 90 degrees, but why!?

New York - Lindy and Food Tasting in the Village

On thursday I checked out the Frim Fram Lindy Hop social dance at the You Should be Dancing dance school. The dance studio was nice and had a bar, the atmosphere was good and it got pretty crowded. I ended up going there on friday as well for a salsa social organized by Frankie Martinez Abakua dancers. Before that I had taken a cha-cha workshop with Lori, an amazing dancer.

The biggest experience lately though was the Greenwich Village Food Tasting Tour. I really cannot recommend it highly enough! There are so many amazing restaurants (a lot of them italian) around Bleecker street in the West Village. I never would have really appreciated the Village if I hadn't gone on this tour. Ice cream, pizza, cheese, pastries - all of the highest quality. The whole area is so picturesque too. I was in paradise! On the tour I met Peter and Josefin from Malmö in Sweden and it was great spending time with them.

Day #10 in New York - A little Tango Matinee and then Salsa in El Barrio

Yesterday afternoon I saw the argentinian tango musical Tanguera at the New York City Center. Eventhough the musical featuered an amazing singer and the two lead dancers were beautiful together, me and my friend Tasleem were both quite critical afterwards. We thought the love story was weak and unoriginal and the whole musical too showy and commercialized - not quite true to the original tango spirit somehow. Also, I think they should have mixed it up more between dancing and acting, and between different styles of tango dancing.

I filled up my stomach with baby back ribs at Shake Shack by Madison Square garden after having picked up "The How of Happiness" at Borders.

I had another great bongo class with maestro drummer George Delgado of Spanish Harlem Orchestra fame. He taught me some new nice Martillo variations and a cool bell pattern. Afterwards I checked out the Julia de Burgos Cultural Center on Lexington avenue in Spanish Harlem. It was quite a cozy place with live salsa music, a lot of older latin american people who were dancing and having a good time. It was sort of a bit like the Buena Vista Social Club. Nice.

Day #9 in New York - Mambo Mama

Lat night at at a salsa dance at Iguana on 54:th street I was introduced to the Mambo Mama. She is an old-timer on the New York mambo scene and was kind enough to share some tips to a newcomer like me. According to her the citys (i.e. the worlds) best salsa record store is Casa Latina on 116:th st in Spanish Harlem. Another great tip - tonight famous timbalero Jimmy Delgado is having an event with live music at the Julia de Burgos Cultural Center at Lex Av (between 105:th and 106:th) from 6pm til midnight. I'll try to be there as soon as my Bongo class at the Harbor Conservatory is over.

Day #8 in New York - Eddie Torres!

I found a great place to go jogging here in New Jersey down at JFK Boulevard east by the water front with the Manhattan skyline on the other side of the Hudson river. Wonderful. I also ended up in a notably richer residential area with some beautiful houses.

I had a BLT Bagel at Murray's Bagels and went over to Jamba Juice to use their bathroom but walked away with an absolutely delicious blueberry/banana smoothie. Nice! I think Jamba Juice is great and I definitely think there is a business opportunity for a chain like that in Stockholm. Why isn't there one, or have I missed it?

I had my daily visit to the Harbor Conservatory and sat in on their beginners salsa workshop led by Ramon Gonzalez. There was another guy playing bongos and I didn't feel like interrupting him so I left after a while. It was beautiful to just sit there and enjoy the Mambo though. I forget the name of the song, but the mambo part was great.

Thanks to a tip from my new friend Tasleem I dropped in at an intermediate Mambo workshop with the legendary Eddie Torres himself. I have been dancing salsa for over six years and been to hundreds of workshops probably. This time though it was special. I haven't taken salsa classes for several years and I really enjoyed it! It was nostalgic and new at the same time. Eddie Torres and his wife Maria created such a friendly, playful, energetic atmosphere and made us do lots of fun moves. It was a blast! After the class Maria insisted that everyone go up and introduce himself to Eddie. Eddie said he had a great time in Sweden and is coming back to visit. There were other international visitors in the class as well such a couple from Poland. Great experience. Also, I think for me, great to be able to change from *trying* to be a musician in an orchestra to going back to being a dancer. Not sure where I belong. Why choose?

Dag #7 i New York - Soligt i Chelsea

Igår var solen och värmen tillbaka. Det var latinamerikansk parad här ute i North Bergen vilket var lite festligt. I mitt utforskande av downtown kikade jag på Chelsea som är väldigt mysigt och lite pittoreskt. Jag skulle kunna tänka mig en lägenhet där faktiskt :-) Mycket trevliga restauranger och barer och utomhusserveringar. Jag fyllde kistan med Baby Back Ribs från Rub BBQ - Righteous Urban Barbeque som ligger nära Chelsea Hotel på 23:e gatan. Jag hittade Murray's Bagels i samma kvarter som ser mycket lovande ut. Jag har varit på jakt efter ett bra Bagel ställe.

Klockan fem på eftermiddan var det så dags för Jimmy Antons Social - den bästa och mest kända salsa dansen här i New York. Som vanligt var jag för tidigt ute, man ska nog komma dit vid 6. Dansen var bra som vanligt, packat med duktiga dansare, bra musik och trevlig stämning. Kanske blev jag lite besviken för sist jag var där tyckte jag att det var ännu bättre. Men så är det ju alltid med danser, man vet aldrig exakt hur de blir på förhand. På vägen hem fikade jag med Tasleem Rajwani, en indisk tjej från Vancouver och hon berättade en fascinerande historia om hur hon blivit allvarligt sjuk och sedan lärt sig uppskatta dansen och livet mer och har förverkligat drömmar om att resa och skriva. Inspirerande.

Dag #6 i New York - Hemmakväll

Idag storhandlade jag på Apple Store på 5:th Avenue. Vägen dit var lite besvärlig. Jag kom in med buss 154 som vanligt till Port Authority och tog sen Subway nummer 7 till Grand Central Station. Jag hade tänkt mig en trevlig promenad därifrån, men jag missbedömde avståndet (från 42:a till 59:e gatan), gick åt fel håll och dessutom spöregnade det. När jag väl tog mig fram köpte jag en liten midi klaviatur med bara med bara två oktaver (M-Audio KeyStudio 25). Jag tänkte att den är perfekt att ha nu när jag är ute och reser för den ryms i resväskan. Tyvärr upptäckte jag när jag kom hem att tangenterna är rätt dåliga. Men den får duga.

New Yorks intensitet och två utekvällar i rad med sena nattbussar till New Jersey har lite tagit musten ur mig och jag bestämde mig för att vara hemma igår kväll. Jag installerade om och börjar äntligen få ordning på min dator. Jag såg på Saturday Night Live och sen gick jag och la mig. Gud vad skönt det är att vara hemma ibland!

Dag #5 i New York - If it's not Perfect, Let me Know

"If it's not perfect, let me know and I'll redo it", sa barristan till mig på Starbucks när jag fick min latte. Den repliken är talande för vilken service man ofta får i USA och vad företagen här är beredda att göra för sina kunder. Jag pratade med en kille från Syrien som har en mobiltelefonbutik här och han sa att här i USA är det tufft, det är inte som i Europa, man jobbar hårt för att klara sig. Han jobbade sju dagar i veckan och hade bott här i tio år.

Det kryllar av elektronikbutiker i theater district och jag gick in i en butik på Broadway för att jag behöver ett par nya hörlurar. Försäljaren rekommenderade ett par Sony MDR-V150. Jag försökte förklara att jag inte var redo att köpa man han bet sig fast och vägrade ge upp. Till slut hade han själv prutat ner hörlurarna från $189 till $100. Jag vet inte, jag kanske borde ha köpt dem, trots att jag känner att jag vill undersöka marknaden först. Jag behöver träna på att bli mer av en "satisficer" snarare istället för en "maximizer". Följande artiklar förklarar vad det handlar om:

- "Research shows that Maximizers Do Better, Satisficers Feel Better."

- “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”

Igår kväll tog jag mig äntligen ut och dansade här i New York på Mambo Fateegz Salsa Fridays at Dance New York. Dansen föregick ett stenkast från Broadway och Times Square i vad som såg ut som en kontorsbyggnad. Det fanns inga skyltar eller andra tecken på att det fanns salsa där. Städaren förklarade för mig att salsa var i en annan uppgång (nummer 244) och att jag skulle ta hissen till femte våningen. Sen visade det sig att jag var en timme för tidig. Folk dök inte upp förrän vid 10 och det höll på till klockan 2. Det var en stor dansstudio och dansarna var duktiga och alla etniciteter fanns representerade - svarta, latinos, vita, och mycket asiater. Musiken var mycket bra, det var klassisk NYC salsa/mambo i högt tempo blandat med cha-cha. Dansvänligt och precis sådan musik som jag gillar. För första gången dansade jag on-2 nästan hela kvällen vilket jag är stolt över :-) Man blir lycklig av att dansa!

Dag #4 i New York - Latin Jazz

Jag gick förbi NYSC (New York Sports Club) och tänkte att jag skulle titta in där för att kolla priserna lite snabbt. Jag hamnade förstås i händerna på en ung och käck säljare som i och för sig var duktig och sympatisk, men jag kunde inte sluta tänka på att han var som klippt ur en Hollywood film. Hur som helst, han visade mig runt i gymet och presenterade mig för alla "personal trainers", frågade mig om mina träningsmål, vad jag äter osv. Gymmet verkar bra, de har swimming pool, pass osv. men det blir ganska dyrt eftersom de har en startup cost på $49 och sedan en löpande månadskostnad på $69 (liknande vad jag betalar på SATS i Stockholm). Frågan är om jag vill spendera min relativt korta tid här i ett gym, jag vet inte.

Jag försökte ta mig lite mer downtown på Manhattan idag mot The Village (tänk Södermalm) och hamnade till slut på Union Square som är ett trevligt ställe. Där finns en enorm ekologisk matvarubutik som heter Whole Foods Market. Det var ett trevligt ställe faktiskt och det märktes att det var mycket populärt. Det här med Whole Foods verkar vara en stor grej här, säljaren på gymmet pratade också om det och rekommenderade det till mig. Jag har nog inte helt greppat vad det är, men det låter bra :-) Vad kallar vi det i Sverige?

Jag var på väg till Union Square Cafe som enligt Zagat Guide är New Yorks bästa restaurang men tiden tillät inte det. Istället hoppade jag på Metro nummer 6 uptown till 106:th street vid third avenue i Spanish Harlem. Där fick jag mig en utmärkt stek i baren som jag sköljde ner med Negra Modelo (mexikansk öl), träffade på Jackie som jag mött tidigare på musikskolan och lyssnade på en fantastisk Latin Jazz konsert ledd av George Delgado som jag tar bongo lektioner hos. Musikerna var overkligt bra och det var ett fyrvererik av rytmer. Ricky Gonzalez på piano, legendära (tydligen) Andy Gonzales på bas, Luisito Quintero på Timbales (grym!!), George Delgado på Congas (de senaste två är båda från Spanish Harlem Orchestra), och ett inhopp av Santanas trummis Karl Perazzo - "best percussionist on the west coast". Det var en inspirerande kväll och det var en upplevelse att kunna sitta så nära musikerna.

Jag kan rapportera att huvudnyheten här i USA nu är att David Letterman har haft sex med någon av sina "coworkers". Uppenbarligen av stort allmänintresse.

Jag har en amerikansk mobil nu: +1 (917) 250-0145

Min adress här är:

Peter Marklund
C/O Eddie Govea
6201 Meadowview Ave, Apt 1
North Bergen, NJ 0704
USA

Dag #3 i New York - Hösten Knackar På

Sista septemberdagen här i New York var kylig och ruggig. Uteserveringarna lockade inte längre. Desto bättre att sitta på Barnes & Noble vid Lincoln Square och äta soppa och lära sig läsa musik. Barnes & Noble har complimentary wifi access från AT&T också. Jag har märkt att det finns gott om Wifi:s här i New York och en del är oskyddade vilket är lite överraskande.

Mina skuldror var inte alls glada över att jag släpade runt mina bongos tvärs över halva New York igår för att sedan inte få användning för dem. Jag försökte ta mig in på Metropolitan Museum men de ville inte släppa in mig för att jag hade ett instrument med mig. Det är ju en uppenbar säkerhetsrisk det här med instrument... Jag var inne en sväng på överfulla Apple Store på fifth avenue och sen hängde jag i central park för att döda lite tid. Jag köpte en notbok med rytmövningar på Juilliard bookstore och jag satt och pluggade notläsning tills huvudet inte orkade längre. Det kändes lite som att vara tillbaka på universitetet.

Jag fick tips igår om en latin jazz concert ikväll på Fonda Boricua där min trumlärare George Delgado ska spela. Den ska jag nog kolla in för jag älskar latin jazz.

I New York - Mina Drömmars Stad

Nu har jag alltså anlänt i New York äntligen! Det här är en resa som jag sett fram emot länge. Jag har varit tjänstledigt sen första september men det var den 27:e September på planet till New York som det kändes som min tjänstledighet verkligen började.

Mitt beslut att ta tjänstledigt har mötts med förundran, avund, men också mycket stöd hos mina vänner. Jag är kanske inte typen man förväntar sig ska ta ledigt en längre tid men ironiskt nog är jag kanske precis det. För är det inte när jobbet tagit allt för stor plats under allt för lång tid som man har det största behovet av att vara ledig? Tanken att ta en timeout började bli konkret när jag låg hemma med en förkylning och läste boken "The Four Hour Work Week". När jag sedan såg en video med den danska coachen Sofia Manning som handlade om hennes brors plötsliga död och hur vi ska ta vara på livet och inte låta oss stoppas av våra rädslor, ja, var jag redo att ta steget...

Resan till New York gick smidigt. Det tog ca 8.5 timmar med SAS direktflyg plus försening och lite strul med väskorna när vi kom fram till Newark. Innan jag åkte hade jag genom Craigslist (USAs blocket) bokat ett rum i ett kollektiv i New Jersey. Eddie som skulle hyra ut rummet hade lovat att hämta mig på flyplatsen. Tyvärr hade vi inte utväxlat telefonnummer och han hade dessutom förlorat sin telefon, men som tur var stod han där och mötte mig när jag kom fram trots att jag var så sen.

Området som jag bor i heter North Bergen och ligger väster om Manhattan på andra sidan Hudson floden. Det är ett latinamerikanskt och ganska fattigt område. Men jag skulle inte kalla det för ett getto och det går bra att bo här. Det kan vara lite omständigt att ta sig till och från Manhattan men i New York verkar det som man måste betala *väldigt* mycket pengar om man ska ha ett både centralt och fräscht boende.

Första kvällen här i mitt sjabbiga rum kände jag mig väldigt ensam och vilsen. Jag undrade hur jag hamnat här tusentals mil från min famlij och mina vänner och vad det egentligen var jag skulle hit och göra. När jag lyckades ta mig in till Manhattan med bussen morgonen därpå och promenerade in bland skyskraporna vid Times Square kändes det betydligt bättre. Det var magiskt. Det blev en hel del besök på Starbucks under dagen och lunch på Fridays bla. Sen var jag på visning på Carnegie Hall vilket var en upplevelse. Jag ska se en pianokonsert där i oktober. På eftermiddagen kom jag slutligen fram till Harbor Conservatory i spanish harlem, själva destinationen för min resa. Där fick jag prata med skolans ledare Ramon Rodriguez - en charmig man med ett ganska speciellt utseende. Min ambition var att få spela med i en av deras salsa workshops (salsa ensembler) och han lovade att jag kunde få komma och göra det redan samma kväll. Problemet var att han krävde att jag kunde läsa noter vilket jag erkände att jag inte är så bra på. Den kvällen fick jag ändå spela två låtar med ett salsa big band och det var en stor upplevelse. Jag hade svårt att hänga med i noterna men det är fantastiskt att de låter mig få vara med ändå. Jag spelade en låt som heter Bilonga bla. Senare spelade bandet "Parece Mentira" av Roberto Roena och det svängde riktigt bra.

Andra dagen började jag med att jogga runt kvarteret. Jag fixade lite med min dator som har strulat en del efter att jag bytte hårddisk. Sen blev det take away lunch från Pret a Porter i Bryant Park. Det är en idylisk park med massor av bord och stolar mitt bland skyskraporna. Efter det kom jag med på en guidad tur i New York Public Library. Till sist var det dags för min lektion i notläsning och jag hamnade hos en mycket excentrisk musiker vid namn Johnny Almendra. Det var en jättebra crash course jag fick och det var oerhört inspirerande att lyssna på Johnny. Han har spelat i evigheter med de största namnen såsom Mongo Santa Maria, Tito Puente, Willie Colon, Hector Lavoe osv. Han tycktes ha ändlösa kunskaper om allting som rör musiken och inte minst dess historia. Han kunde prata hur länge som helst... Han tipsade om två böcker för notläsning som jag ska införskaffa idag.

Jag ska försöka lägga upp lite bilder ikväll. Hittills har vi haft ca 20 grader varmt och sol men idag är det lite mulet och kyligt tyvärr. Vi får se hur länge jag stannar på de här breddgraderna innan jag åker längre söderut... :-)

Quote of the Day: Look to the Present

"Look to the present. The great disease of 'I will be happy
when ...' is sweeping the world. You know the symptoms.
You start thinking: I'll be happy when I get that ... BMW ...
promotion ... status ... money. The only way to cure the
disease is to find happiness and meaning now." - Marshall Goldsmith

Friendliness in Big Cities and Small

I was visiting a web conference in London (@media 2009) the other week with my colleagues at Newsdesk. We had a great time, both on and off the conference. One thing that struck me about people is that they were quite friendly and polite, even in such a stressful place as the London underground. If I bumped into someone they gave me a smile back, if a corridor was too narrow they let me pass first, and when I needed some change to visit the bathroom a stranger offered it to me. We spent one evening on Brick Lane - a very multi cultural street with lots of activity, great atmosphere, and friendly people.

In New York I've also found people to be surprisingly helpful and friendly. On both occasions when I've been walking on the street on upper east side with my suitcase a car has stopped and I've been offered a lift. In the subway a young man stood up to offer my girlfriend a seat. When we were on the street reading our map people would take initiative to help.

Interestingly in Sweden I've found the change from Stockholm to smaller cities or the country side to be quite nice as people are less reserved there and much more likely to greet you. I guess that makes Stockholm a reserved city in a reserved country. Too bad...

Let's Dance 2009 - Får folket att dansa?

Jag har varit sjuk i helgen och hade därför nöjet att från TV soffan beskåda hur muskelberget Magnus Samuelsson i en apliknande dans slog ut ballerinan Laila Bagge i finalen av Let's Dance. Kontrasten mellan finalisterna kunde inte ha varit större eller mer skrattretande. Till en början var jag väldigt förvånad och besviken, liksom vissa andra bloggare, men ju mer jag tänkte på saken desto mer positiv blev jag och jag skrev ett liten kommentar på DNs artikel som jag återger här:

"Det stämmer nog att utveckling snarare än dansförmåga ligger närmare tävlingens filosofi. Men det är inte hela förklaringen. Laila har kanske utvecklats minst lika mycket. Att döma av Magnus är receptet för att vinna snarare att vara en charmig och folklig låg-oddsare som vågar utmana. Juryns kryptiska danstekniska kommentarer bidrar tyvärr till att man ibland inbillar sig att tävlingen är seriös och handlar om att välja den bästa dansaren. Magnus klumpighet och stelhet sticker allt för mycket i mina dansvana ögon för att det ska vara njutbart för mig. Men jag beundrar hans mod att ställa upp i tävlingen och trotsa alla stereotyper. Man får se folkets röst som en hyllning till devisen att alla kan dansa. Om Magnus kan få fler att börja dansa så har han gjort en insats för folket!"

Welcome to my personal blog

Hi!
I've been doing a lot of blogging over at marklunds.com but it's mostly been about my work as a software developer and the target audience has been fellow programmers. I figured it's about time that I set up a private blog for sharing thoughts on non-work related stuff so that people can choose to subscribe to what they are interested in. I'll probably be writing in both swedish and english here depending on the topic. I haven't started a blog since 2002. Wow, this is exciting!