Argentina

Buenos Aires, not San Salvador, turned out to be the right choice seeing as El Sal was devastated by a tropical storm, mudslides, and flooding. Thankfully our friends are all right!

Food

Parillas, pizzarias, and confeterias. If you don't like steak, pizza, or coffee, Argentina doesn't have much more to offer. They like meat. Beef is a favorite, but sausage, intestines, and chicken all have their place.

My favorites of the Argentinian food: dulce de leche, which is milk boiled over and over (the way sugar is done to make carmel) empanadas, which are savory cheese, potato, onion, etc filled pastries often used as appetizers, and submarinos. Submarino is a creamy hot milk with a bar of chocolate on the side, which you break up and put in the milk, served with a glass of cold water in case you burn yourself. Brilliant! I always burn myself. I remember one particular instance of burning myself drinking hot chocolate from Brahms right before a singing audition. Bad news…

The dining experience in Buenos Aires was usually a restaurant crammed full of tables with as much tables as could possibly be fit, so there was pandemonium while eating. The waiters are generally friendly enough, but are extremely busy and leave you to your own devices for most of the meal.

Argentines seem to prefer bland/savory to the spicy/hot mix which I lean towards. I was constantly salting, seasoning, mustardizing etc whatever they brought to the table.

Dentist

Well, the last time we went to the dentist was in Macedonia, and so I knew it was time for another visit. I didn't want to go this time, though; I had a bad feeling I had a cavity. Which I sure did. Got it fixed for 100 pesos or 25 dollars. The quality of care was just as good as the US, except the dentist was talking to someone the whole time as she drilled…

I have been to the gynecologist, eye doctor, general doctor (2 times), nose doctor, and dentist (2 times) while abroad, somehow navigating the language barrier. My conclusion is that US healthcare is ridiculously complicated and expensive even as it is high quality, and I see no reason not to participate in medical tourism.

Fun

Argentines like to do the night scene. Even married Argentines like to do the night scene (I heard from a couple of sources that men are practically expected to cheat on their wives here)…Jacob and I didn't do the night scene but if you're into that kind of thing BA is the place to do it. They are up literally until 5 am, I don't know how they go to work in the morning…

Jacob and I went to an amusement park. This was for Jacob mostly. I have a history of losing my cookies after rides, but I did pretty well on this roller coaster. Yes, we only rode one. The lines were incredibly long. We waited an hour and a half for the one. I think this might be the only amusement park in South America. It was surprisingly big, clean, and in a pretty little town just outside of BA called Tigre. We also went on a couple of other little ones:

I did three free tours and visited two museums. Jacob didn't come. He is really getting laid back about traveling. He's never been much of a sightseer, and his favorite things to do, wherever he is, are work and go to the gym. I love that about him :)

I'm thinking about joining him at the gym because I like the way it helps him meet people. But I do NOT have the motivation he has to go every day, especially after walking for hours every day like I do…we'll see. I love yoga, dance, and swimming so if a gym had that I might bite.

I would walk for several hours a day just checking out the city, I'm such a big city girl it's not even funny.

Random Buenos Aires Facts:

BA is narrow streets with hectic traffic swarming through towering aging beautiful buildings. There are bookstores and little magazine shops on every corner; I was impressed at the literacy of these people. The street food consists of yummy candied peanuts. Women and men are equal here so I felt fine walking alone, even if I would get a few "I love you's" once in a while. The weather was usually perfect if sometimes a little rainy. The streets are full of dogs, 6 on a leash to a designated dogwalker.

The park 3 de Febrero is my favorite place to go on a Sunday. You'll find a group of young guys pounding on their drums with girls dancing with swoopy arms and karate kicks. I don't even know what it's called, I just would run into and stop and video it. I'll post one as soon as I figure out why the dang things don't transfer onto my computer...

Church

This ward was not particularly friendly…didn't get to know anyone really except we did take the missionaries out to eat. Two elders from UT, one of whom paid for his mission by entering YouTube videos in contests. He literally won $10,000 from one of his videos. Random, huh…They didn't have a piano player in the ward, just sang a cappella, so after a couple of Sundays I volunteered to play.

Public Transportation

BA is touted as having excellent public transportation, and it does have an excellent bus system…but the metro is like a spider whose legs don't cross. If you go the wrong direction on accident, sometimes there is no easy way to switch and go back the other way. It's pretty limited, in other words, compared to other cities of its size (13 million).

Out the bus window to the Argentinian terrain

Vacation

Via Bariloche lie down buses, dinner and breakfast and movies included

We went on a little trip up to Iguazu Falls in the corner of Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil. We didn't get visas for Paraguay or Brazil because Jacob's passport is about to expire. It was gorgeous!! It's nominated for one of the 7 new wonders of the world. We went on a speedboat right up to the falls; that was definitely the highlight!

Hostel Stop in Puerto Iguazu. It is here I learned Jacob LOVES lava lamps! ha

Butterflies everywhere!

"The Devil's Throat"

Monkeys are actually productive finding food when not in zoos

It is so thrilling standing there...like an offering to the gods

Extras

*I in no way condone the Fort Hood shooting…but think about this for a sec. Who was the brilliant person in charge who was sending the guy to Iraq? I can't imagine sending a Muslim to go kill other Muslims. It would be like giving me a gun and sending me to attack Utah. They're family, you know? The best thing about Islam is its sense of brotherhood. There must be other US soldiers out there who are Muslim and fighting other Muslims but I wonder if they were as blatantly religious as this guy.

*Since the LDS Church had to go all out about passing Prop. 8, I'm very pleased they've at least come out in support of anti­­‑gay discrimination laws to balance things out. Yea for extending a hand of friendship to gay people.

*I had an idea. Instead of sending billions of dollars in aid from taxpayers to poverty-stricken countries, what if the government provided travel vouchers instead? You can visit Niger, Uganda, or Sierra Leone for free. Then what would happen, is that people would visit those countries, and the country would respond by building its infrastructure. New tourist businesses would open, like Sierra Leonean handmade crafts, and people would become economically self-sufficient. Everyone would benefit.

I read a blog about an expat in Columbia who says the natives are angry that Americans keep sending "aid" money because it goes straight to fueling the drug problem in their country. Sending money is not the answer!!! Education and business promoting activities are.

Kiva.org is my new favorite charity for that reason. You can loan interest-free to enterprising people in poor countries, you get your money back, and you've helped a family become self-sufficient.

*Did you know around 72 percent of Afghan people are illiterate? Or that only 12 percent of Afghan women can read? How about educating these people instead of killing them? What a novel idea…

Buenos Aires True Stories

The Casa Rosada, of Evita speech fame

 

As much as I dished on Morocco, I'll give you one thing: it was exotic. No place like it. I'm really glad, looking back, that we were able to go there, although the side effects (food poisoning, no air conditioning, roaches etc) were distracting, the atmosphere was unique. The desert, the clothes, tagines and couscous, Berbers and Arabs.

Congreso is just down the street from us

 

That level of cultural depth is not clear here. But we are enjoying ourselves a lot. It's been nice to finally be somewhere longer than a few days, and we've been able to get back to work again. Jacob has a gym with 10 floors, and I've had my best restaurants list.

But we've been surprised because Buenos Aires is like a beaten up Madrid, basically. It's Spain on a budget. It's younger than America, the first residents were European immigrants, and while the richest city in South America, it can't hide the fact that every night there are mounds of trash with people digging through them on every corner, and mounds of dog poo on the sidewalks (no one picks up after their dogs). But the buildings have a European feel, and you can drink the water.

Peruvian ceviche on our First Date Anniversary

The food is mostly Italian, with a lot, a lot of meat. They are super proud of their steaks. Jacob enjoyed his tonight, and he doesn't normally go for steaks. He let me try a bite...and I spit it out. Not a beef fan.

From Dinner Club 647. Yummy. It's pink from beets.

The Buenos Aires residents, called portenos, unabashedly admit to being arrogant. Nevertheless, they've been friendly enough. Here are some stories from the past couple of weeks:

#1. We had an awesome 13 hour flight from Dallas to Buenos Aires.

The entertainment system was broken. They'd come on the intercom, say, "We're rebooting. No one touch the screen until we say you can, or we'll have to start all over." Then, 5 minutes later, out of the corner of my eye, I see people poking their screens even though we'd been warned. Half the people on the plane only spoke Spanish. It was a lost cause.

We sat in the direct middle of the row. The worst spot, because rather than ask people to get out all the time, you have to wait until they get up to go. If you're polite. Which Jacob was, I wasn't. I just ended up holding it.

It was a long flight.

#2  We stayed in a sweet hotel, not hostel, while deciding on an apartment.

I'll admit, I thought prices would be a little lower here. It's pretty much similar to the US. After the euro, though, we're faring well. We got an apartment from an agency, for $600. It's a studio. Lorena led us there. It's right in downtown. It was 11 am on a Saturday morning. We had our luggage, and were waiting at the door of the building for the landlord when a chubby early 20's dude approached us. Jacob had just returned from an ATM to get cash to pay for the apartment. First the guy asked politely for money. Then, he got more aggressive.

Jacob decided to walk away, since he was carrying 3000 pesos in cash.

There were people everywhere, and this is a main street. He only spoke Spanish, so I didn't know completely what was going on. Nevertheless, I could tell that he was acting like he had a weapon under his sweatshirt, and Lorena was trying to appease him with pesos. He wanted euros. She told him I didn't have any. He wanted my camera. (We'd been told not to carry the camera in sight. But I'd figured since we were at the door of the apartment, it was ok.) I refused. In fact, I got mad and pointed at the sign which said "security cameras." Finally, the door opened as our landlord finally showed up and the guy and his pal, who was waiting for him, decided to scram.

Definitely influenced my opinion of the city from the start.

From then on, I haven't carried the camera around on my wrist, and have to take pictures very discreetly. We only take money out of ATMs that have security guards nearby, and we cross the street when there are shady-looking characters. Which there are many, single men leaning casually against the side of grungy buildings. If people talk to you at night, asking for money, a cigarette, anything, you just keep walking and don't let them get close. And this is supposed to be the safest country in South America?

No, it's safe, but you just don't want to look rich. 

#3. Got my hair cut. I LOVE it! It's finally what I've been asking for but this guy seemed to get the vision (although he didn't speak a word of English.) Every time I get my hair cut, the hairdresser always says, "You have a LOT of hair." Every time. Well, this guy actually did something with it. He cut layers from the very top. So those are about an inch long, and then it just piles on my head and the front pieces are very long.

#4. I'd thought I would maybe go to a Spanish school. But I found the idea of having anything scheduled, where I had to be at a certain place every time, too difficult to handle. That's how spoiled I am. So I'm learning it on my own, and I. love. Spanish. It's soooo easy compared to German, all the rules make sense, and I'm using Jacob's method of learning a language, which as we all know must be a good way since he speaks 4 languages.

That is, focus totally on the verbs. Nothing else. I have a verb workbook and a verb conjugating book, and I can already read uncomplicated stuff pretty comfortably. Speak? Erm, I don't get the opportunity much. I try to avoid talking to people, actually. But I feel confident that if I had a few months in a Spanish-speaking country I'd be able to communicate. Me gusta!

#5. Buenos Aires is loud. LOUD! The city has a sort of franticness to it, a pulse that reminds me more of NYC than NYC actually does. It's what I'll remember most about the city. The buses drive by and you plug your ears they're so loud, but somehow you tune them out when you're riding on them. Protests, daily. Protests of the mothers against the 30,000 missing people from the Falkland Islands War. Protests of one faction of the government against another. Parades, street bombs, explosions, marches, banners, drums. The squeaks of the buses when breaking which sound like the shrieks of a girl. Music pounding from the Latin music stores.

It's pretty loud right inside our little apartment, actually. Good thing Jacob and I are deep sleepers.

#6. Shopping abroad is so overrated.

I know I should be buying stuff, but I hate shopping while traveling. One, shopping is a girl bonding experience. When you shop with a friend, it's kind of two against one, y'all against the storekeeper. I feel pressured when the saleskeeper is there, telling me it looks good, alone. And I like having someone around to tell me what they think.

Two, there's the whole language barrier thing. Makes it really difficult to get across what you want.

I ended up buying a 150 pesos pair of shoes that were uncomfortable albeit cute and trying to return them within 10 minutes and being unable to do it because of these factors.

That's it, I'm waiting to shop in America. What a pleasant experience. Plenty of options, girlfriends, laidback storekeepers, and you can always find a steal of a deal.

Although the street markets here are pretty cool. Authentic, handmade crafts. I'll probably stock up on those, although the idea of bargaining once again doesn't bode well with me. Any requests? Seriously, if you want jewelry, clothes, musical instruments, scarves, paintings, or small carved objects, let me know.