Amazon Kindle

My husband, along with virtually his entire family, loves and - more importantly - understands electronics. This is perfect for me because I enjoy having things that make life easier but I have no idea what is out there, much less where to buy it or how to set it up. This is also great for me because it means that I tend to receive amazing, technologically advanced gifts that I never even knew existed. I am quite spoiled in this regard. Although there are quite a few things that I could put in that category (my iPod, laptop and cell phone to name a few...) I need to shed light on one item in particular because I think that expats are really missing out on this delightful piece of technology. The Amazon Kindle.

My 1st generation Kindle

My Kindle was a Christmas gift from my in-laws in 2008 when I was still commuting to work on the train everyday. The Kindle is a product of Amazon (there are others out there by Sony and other companies) that wirelessly downloads books, magazines and newpapers from anywhere in the US in under 60 seconds. The newer versions of the Kindle offer 3G global coverage, making it even more appealing to expats the coverage is good in over 100 countries, and holds a longer charge (up to 1 week of reading on one full charge) than the previous models. This is especially good for those multi-day flights or for the backpacker who won't be near a power source for days on end. There are literally hundreds of thousands of titles to choose from with more titles being added every day. The Kindle also has the ability to connect to your computer using a USB cable for people like me who have the older version and live outside of the country. The device itself is lightweight and easy to use - especially easy on the eyes. The screen reminds me of an Etch-a-Sketch, that matte finish screen that makes the text really easy to read. Oh Kindle, here are the reasons I love thee:

1. For my former commute, I didn't have to carry an enormous book with me on the train.
2. It is small enough to keep in my purse all the time for things like waiting at the doctor's office, taking a lunch break or sitting at a cafe.
3. Before we moved to Buenos Aires, we lived in a relatively small apartment where we barely had enough space for our own things, much less the space to store all of the book that I read.
4. Now that we live in Bs. As. it is hard to find English bookstores that carry the titles I want. Not an issue when you have a Kindle.
5. When I'm out of the loop with regard to current good books, I can go onto the New York Times bestseller list straight from the Kindle. Not only that - but you can download a "sample" of a book before you buy it for no cost!

The downside of the Kindle is that it's not cheap. You pay one price for the device (unless you get it as a gift - thank you Thom and Lornie!) and then pay separately for each book that you download. The book prices vary, but the most expensive I've seen is $9.99 for a new release hardback NYTimes bestseller. Not too bad if you consider that most of those books on the shelf are < $20.00 when they first come out. I have been stopped on the street, on the train and by people in stores to ask if I like the Kindle and my answer is always an overwhelming YES. If you are thinking about getting one for yourself or as a gift for someone else don't think twice. They will love it.

Lost in Translation - Movie Titles

To expand on my TV Show post, one of the first things that we realized when turning on TV was that Argentina loves movies. Whereas only some of the TV shows titles have been translated, nearly all of the movies titles have been. This now makes for hours of hilarity as we turn on the TV and use the guide to piece together the actors, year and what we can understand of the plot - then realize the movie's actual name. I have asked many of our friends here about their thoughts on translated movie titles and it seems as though most of them think it's just as funny as we do. Our friend Juan claims that the guy translating movie titles into Spanish thinks that everyone here must be simple-minded because of all of the obvious information that gets included in the Spanish title. For example, Cloverfield is translated as Cloverfield, The Monster. Anyone who has seen this movie realizes that there is some kind of monster or alien involved, does it really need to be reiterated in the title? Whatever your thoughts on how or why movie titles are translated, here are some that Jon and I find particularly amusing:

• Que Paso Ayer (What Happened Yesterday): The Hangover
• Secreto en la Montaña (Secret in the Mountain): Brokeback Mountain
• Mi Novia Polly (My Girlfriend Polly): Along Came Polly
• Viviendo Con Mi Ex (Living With My Ex): The Breakup
• Expiación, Deseo y Pecado (Atonement, Desire and Sin): Atonement
• Un Lugar Llamado Notting Hill (A Place Called Notting Hill): Notting Hill
• Mi Mascota Es Un Monstruo (My Pet is a Monster): The Waterhorse - Legend of the Deep
• Enamorándome De Mi Ex (I'm in Love With My Ex): It's Complicated
• Amor Sin Escalas (Love Without Layover): Up in the Air
  

We have also gone to a number of movies in the theater, the theater closest to us is really nice, all of the seats are assigned. This is MUCH better than our normal routine at home which is generally to get in line at Tyson's Corner mall among every 14 year old roaming the food court hours before the movie starts, then as soon as the velvet ropes open we run to the theater and pray that someone isn't trying to save a row of seats for their 20 closest friends. The downside to movies in BA - no online ticket sales. You have to wait in a ticket counter line (which is ALWAYS longer than it should be) and then memorize the Spanish title of the movie you want to see. Last weekend we saw An Education (great acting but we wouldn't really recommend) which is called Ensenanza La Vida (Teaching Life). We could not remember these words to save our lives. Not to mention that Jon, the king of online ticket sales, cannot fathom why anyone would prefer the wait-in-line method to pre-purchasing online. The funniest part to me is that we tend to go to the movies "early" here, in the 8:00 - 10:00pm range, so we have been the youngest people in the entire theater by at least 30 years every time we've gone. Last weekend the movie actually started late because the crowd from the movie before ours took so long to leave the theater. The average age of the people we saw was easily 85. God love them for still getting out to the movies, but Jon had me in tears laughing at the pace of everyone leaving the theater, one was slower than the next.