How about doing something outdoors and on weekends

[BAJoe]

Lets welcome Spring by the river´s edge
How about doing something on weekends and outdoors surrounded by nature!!?
It´s a weekly Talktime we do out in Martinez. Now is the best season of the year to come out and join us.
Check out this link:
http://american.meetup.com/6/boards/view/viewthread?thread=2214012&lastpage=yes#5185232
Hope you come this and every Sunday. If you have some extra time to spare come early so we can mingle until beginning time.
Cheers, Joe

 

[Natasha]

Hey Joe, this sounds like a brilliant idea. Chris and I had a walk around today, the weather was perfect....unfortunately for us we're stuck right in the middle of BsAs and although there are great parks to walk to, theres always the traffic in the background reminding us that we're not in the country.........whats this place like, if its peaceful we'd love to come one Sunday!

 

[BAJoe]

The place is great check out this link and pictures,
http://american.meetup.com/6/boards/view/viewthread?thread=2214012&listpage=60
I can mail more pictures by request. It´s only a 30 min ride from Retiro and you´re in another world. I take it for granted, I live out here, but if you guys come, you´ll see a nicer side of BA that even many Porteños miss out on!!
Joe

 

[JG]

The costanera Sur is great on the weekends, and weekdays too (read my previous post on it).
Would some people like to meet this Sat. at 1pm and walk down with me to the fair at the costanera and the nature reserve? the weather looks ok and as i said its always a lot of fun. send me a private note and ill send you my phone number. Also post here so others have an idea how many are coming.
I think meeting sat. at 1pm on the steps of the Engineering school on Paseo de Colon (between E.E.U.U. and Ave. Independencia) is a good idea. quite a few bus lines coming from the north stop there. you will get off at the Shell station coming form the n. and walk across the street.
So, let me know if you plan on coming. ill be sitting on the steps, you cant miss me. This is one of the fun things to do outside in buenos aires.

 

[JG]

Let me know if you want to meet this Sat. at 1pm to go to the fair at the costanera sur. always lots of people and lots of fun.

 

[bigbadwolf]

It´s a weekly Talktime we do out in Martinez. Now is the best season of the year to come out and join us.
Check out this link:
http://american.meetup.com/6/boards/view/viewthread?thread=2214012&lastpage=yes#5185232
Hope you come this and every Sunday. If you have some extra time to spare come early so we can mingle until beginning time.
Cheers, Joe

I presume this is the one presided over by Phillippe, the founder of Talktime. The location is indeed salubrious: it's far from the noxious fumes of the city. Igor and I have been over a couple of times: we hopped on a train from Retiro. The discussion, unfortunately, always degenerates into Argentina-bashing and extolling the virtues of the United States. Admittedly, there is much to criticise about the country, but it becomes tiresome after a while. There should be some interesting topics to discuss (not the school debating society type that invariably get trotted out), and they should be pre-chosen so that people have time to think, read up, and establish carefully defined positions.

 

[chris]

I have never attended this group but Mr Wolf would seem to have a point. Why not select a weekly moderator. The moderator can select an article from a newspaper and send it to everyone to read in advance. After summarizing the article, the moderator can begin a discussion. If there is to be Argentina ¨bashing¨ it should be within an informed context.

 

[bigbadwolf]

I have never attended this group but Mr Wolf would seem to have a point. Why not select a weekly moderator. The moderator can select an article from a newspaper and send it to everyone to read in advance. After summarizing the article, the moderator can begin a discussion. If there is to be Argentina ¨bashing¨ it should be within an informed context.

This might be something to do at the weekly "Talkarama" in Puerto Madeiro, about which I despair at times. Or at the monthly expat meets. An informed and fluent discussion is beyond the reach of most of the Argentinians who attend the various Talktime sessions: they have neither a firm grasp of English nor are they au courant with what's happening in the world outside. Indeed, that's why they come to the Talktimes: to practice a second language. I don't mean to be disparaging by saying this.

 

[chris]

Is the Martinez group more informed? Why wouldb't my proposal work there?

 

[bigbadwolf]

Is the Martinez group more informed? Why wouldb't my proposal work there?

Nope, it's not more informed. There were one or two foreigners on the two occasions we were there, but most were Argentinian, with a shaky grasp of English and virtually no understanding of what's happening in the world.
The best Talktime is probably the one held in the Coffee Store in Puerto Madeiro on Saturday at 7:00 pm. And this because the number of foreigners is high.
In fairness to the locals, even expats go to seed in Argentina. Without access to books and journals and without access to invigorating discussion and debate, this has to be expected.
Generally speaking, I've seen that backward countries are not just backward in economic development and social equity but also backward in terms of cultural vitality, in the production, exchange, and consumption of books and ideas. I'm not sure which is the chicken and which is the egg. Perhaps a country needs a vibrant and dynamic marketplace of ideas in order to be economically and socially advanced.