The sale

Australia is a consumers paradise but I like to think it's not as over-the-top as the USA.  For me it strikes a balance in between the US and Argentina.  There are lots of individual retailers, from one off boutique stores, to chain stores that are all over the country.  We don't really have the mega-store here, which cater for high turnovers and big numbers of everything and fall into the cheap and nasty category.  And nearly all retailers know how to have a sale and retain their customers, which really goes a long way.  Memberships and mailing lists give regular shoppers discounts and a more personalised shopping experience. 

I recently joined the Borders (bookshop) VIP club, which is free to join and they give you a $20 credit on your card when you sign up.  Twenty dollars to spend in their store for free, just for signing up!  And every week they email you a coupon for a special deal, such as '30% off cookbooks', or 'buy 2 fiction books get 1 free'.  I have never actually seen a book shop have a sale in Buenos Aires, and there are so many book shops that if one of them was to offer discounts and VIP deals, they would attract more customers and make more money. 

Sales and special offers make it so easy to spend money, but you don't have to spend as much of it, and it's definitely a more rewarding experience.

Inflation Time in Argentina

In the last few weeks I have started realizing how much prices have been going up. Food, clothes (not that they were ever cheap... or good quality), and even my building expenses risen.

Examples:
1. I got coffee with my friend Nikki this last weekend. We went to a cool cafe in Palermo. I understand that there are some chic cafes to go to and I should not have expected reasonable prices, but I got a cafe con leche and it was 13 pesos! It came with a tiny bar of choclate and a glass of water, but I cant believe that I am willing to pay that. Also, it was super tiny because it was in a tiny teacup. Here is a picture:



I remember when I could get a cafe con leche and three medialunas for 5 pesos.

2. My building expenses have never been over 200 pesos. I live in a smallish studio apartment and most of the expenses go to the salary of our encargado, who is super nice and cool and really good at his job. This month I got my bill and it was 230 pesos, which is 50 pesos more than it was last week. Does that make sense? They didnt spend money on fixing anything big in the building. I cant figure out why it went up so much.

3. This last weekend I wanted to buy some shorts. I saw two pairs and each one was 250 pesos. All I want are some shorts for the summer, but I would never spend that much on some shorts that I could get for 15 dollars at Old Navy in the U.S. I guess I will be hot in my pants all summer...


Anyway, so this has been a complaining entry, but the inflation has seriously gotten ridiculous.

The even more distinct

When most people get off the bus in Adelaide they say thank you to the driver.  Enough said.

The distinct

Apart from the outrageous humidity in Buenos Aires, the weather there is actually pretty much the same as the weather in Adelaide, Australia.  Which is why in these days of 16 to 25 degree weather, I am flabergasted to see so much skin and skimpy clothing around when in BA they are still in winter coats and bitching about the cold wind.  On the one hand it's great that there are no (or few) uber-pervy men around, so you can wear skimpy clothing without getting too much attention, but on the other it's quite odd considering it really isn't warm yet.  Even nastier are the short-short wearing types who really should cover themselves up a little because nobody wants to see that.  I even saw the butt-cheek of a girl the other day whose shorts were clearly too short, except for maybe a day at the beach, but she was in the city shopping. 

The best part would have to be that at least there are no Argentinians whinging about how cold it is: while even I am in a jumper, there are plenty of people wandering around in shorts and a tshirt.  I am the 'hot' one no longer*.

*Hot is referring to the temperature because in BA I am always fine or hot when others are cold.

Marriage Certificate in Argentina

So I recently went to a wedding and got a close look at what an official marriage certificate in Argentina looks like. Not so surprisingly, there is some weird stuff in it. Apparently it is like a "family planning" guide as well.

Here are my favorite parts in pictures:

The Cover



Space for Birth Info for 12 Children (luckily)



Vaccination Calendar For Babies (the natural result of marriage)



Cavity Prevention

The Food Difference: Australia vs Buenos Aires

There are things I love and hate about both of these countries but when it comes to food it's Argentina the bad and Australia the good.  It's not that you cannot eat good food in Argentina because you totally can, but it will cost you.  My hands-down favourite thing about my birth country is that even if you don't have a lot of money, you can still eat a huge range of beautiful fresh produce.  You can buy this food at the supermarket, or if you want it even cheaper you can go to a market for even more amazingly cheap and beautiful food.  Point in case recently at the South Melbourne markets where close to the end of trading on a Sunday I bought an avocado, a punnet of strawberrys and two bags of mushrooms for $4.50. Food is one of my favourite things, but aside from that it's a basic necessity and shouldn't consume your entire pay for the month.  Last night I enjoyed grilled salmon with a goat's cheese salad and couldn't be happier in the land of affordable food.

Facturas! (No, Not the Sweet and Delicious Kind)

It is the end of the month and my bills have arrived. This makes me feel so grown up that I now have to pay the electricity, gas and other bills that get pushed under my door. Here in Argentina they are called "facturas", which is suspiciously the same word for sweet pastries sold at the bakery around the corner. My favorites are "vigilantes" that are these long doughy things that have cream and glaze on top.

Anyway, the other kind of "facturas" are probably a headache for most people in Argentina as no one has any money. For me, however, it is fun because mine are actually really low for a couple of reasons. One, I live alone and do not consume much. Two, most utilities are hella-subsidized by the state. Even though I guess this is considered personal information, I thought I would include my bills for the month.

Electricity - $11.20 (less than 3 dollars)
Gas - $16.79 (a little over 4 dollars)
Telephone - $17.25 (a little over 4 dollars)*
Internet, Cable and other Telephone Combo - $156.51 (less than 40 dollars)

*I do not use one of my phones, even though I pay for it. My apartment contract states that I cannot disconnect it, and it is cheaper to pay for it and get a different package of internet, cable and telephone than anything else. Who else do you know how two phone lines in Argentina? No one!

So my total comes to $201.75 (or about 50 dollars), but keep in mind that the majority of it is my special internet/cable package.

There you have it. My monthly utilities bill in Buenos Aires. If you compare how much I make (which I won´t state here) to how much the bill is, it is pretty ridiculous, but I like to think about it in dollars because it makes me feel better.

P.S. They play Ghost Whisperer waaaaaay too much here. Do people watch this show?

the bad

If there is one thing that would make me not live in Buenos Aires for a really long time, it would be the buses.  And more specifically, the fact that buses are always full, and not just full, but jam-packed.  So one would think that when all the standing room has been taken, no more people can fit on the bus, but this doesn´t seem to be the case here.  People make it their mission to squeeze, sometimes push and sometimes shove their way past you until they get to the back, so more people can get on.  But more often than not, there is not enough room to squeeze past people because the space is already taken.  This does not deter some, as they literally rub their whole body, genitals and hair included, past you, even when there is not room to do so.  This is particularly bad in the summer when it´s 40 degrees and still happens, but at any time of year it irritates me immensely.  One time I even had a little fight with someone as they said their permiso to shove past me and I said "Where exactly do you think you are going to go?" which was not received well. Lesson to all Argentines: If the bus is full, other people can wait for the next one.  I don´t want you on top of me.

The Good - Thinking You Are From Here

Speaking Spanish is hard. Getting good at Spanish is hard. Any foreigner who lives here can relate to various situations where people talk to you like you are stupid because they think you won't understand or where you are in a group of Argentines who are all talking fast and it is hard to add anything to the conversation.

Luckily, those types of sitations do not happen to me that much anymore (now that I have lived here for awhile).

The best feeling in the world is when someone THINKS you are from here. To give a specific example, last night I went to a birthday party and I was talking to a 12-year-old girl about overalls (yeah, that's right!). She wanted to know what they were called in English, so I said, "overalls", and then she asked me (in Spanish), "how do you speak English so well?"

When I told her I was from the United States she was confused and surprised because I "didn't talk like other foreiners".

Even though this was the opinion of a 12-year-old who probably doesn't have a lot of experience talking to foreigners, it was still pretty great! It made my day :).

the good

Armenian restaurant Sarkis in Palermo/Villa Crespo (Sorry Murph, we went without you!).  The food is spectacular, and it´s no secret, as arriving anytime after 8pm will see you waiting in a long line of people for a table.  I cannot belive I have been here 2 and a half years and have only just discovered it.  There are not a lot of options for international cuisine in BA that won´t cost you a fortune and is as authentic as it should be, and Sarkis is spot on.  I plan on going back next week for more! The icing on the cake was the Copa Sarkis, a HUGE icecream sundae consisting of vanilla and  chocolate icecream, chocolate syrup, some sort of liquor and walnuts, delicious!  Muy bien BA for keeping this restaurant affordable and not just for the people with dollars.

the good

Gay marriage and adoption in Argentina!

Enough said...

the bad/the ugly

The last time I checked, the correct thing to do was to cross the road when the light for the cars and the pedestrians turns green.  I am not saying that I always cross the road at the lights, but usually I do, not wanting to be another casualty of the dicey road system they have here.  But recently some particularly angry motorists have taken it upon themselves to give me a blast of their horn if they need to wait 5 seconds while I cross the road with the pedestrian light IN my favour.  Really people, is it necessary?  Are you so angry with your life that you need to show your anger in a situation where I am doing the right thing, and you are using your warning device in a way other than was intended?  Somebody needs to teach these motorists a lesson in etiquette, patience and manners or I may just ruin mine by accidentally kicking your car the next time it happens...

the bad

The prices and the attitude.  Apparantly, the more expensive the experience, the worse the service (or at least that´s the way they seem to fly in BA).  I had lunch at a cafe near work called Mua the other day, or at least I took my salad away because it cost an extra 6 pesos to sit down and eat it (cubiertos: this is what they charge for the cutlery for your meal).  So I bought a 33 pesos caesar salad and my friend bought a 38 pesos bagel with salmon and cream cheese.  And to top it off, they put a measley drop of dressing on the salad and served up a whole lot more attitude when my friend asked for more.  The cafe itself was lovely; a nice big open space with mismatching furniture, high ceilings, lunching mothers with babies and money.  But if you are going to charge me 33 pesos for a salad, at least dish it up with a bit of service, not just greens... Mua can mwah my culo...

the bad (or the frustrating really)

I like to walk everywhere, and try to avoid taking buses and the subway if I can walk somewhere.  Buenos Aires being the big and populated city that it is, is often short of footpath space and there is nothing that I find more frustrating than when someone is walking at the same pace as you, and you cannot pass them.  You have no other choice than to walk with them or painfully close to them, and then they keep turning around because they are paranoid about being robbed.  Usually I speed up my walking pace to overtake them but this morning I was wearing-in some new shoes and they were in the process of giving me blisters, so speeding up was not an option.  And the guy infront of me was in his own world AND walking all over the place.  Is it too much to ask that you walk in a straight line and if at all possible, not at MY pace?

the bad

Stubborn, ignorant, racist, sexist, arrogant Argentinians, who think that all people of asian decent are "chinos" (chinese), don´t give a shit about the environment and think recycling is a joke, who also laugh at saving instead of wasting water, who think it´s ok to objectify women, and ok to call people "gordo" (fat) or "negro" (black) as their nickname.  It´s time to move into the 21st Century and out of the 1950s.

the good

Weekends, public holidays, being at home with my cats, my boyfriend playing the guitar, reading, watching Kustarica movies, drinking tea and seeing the shadows on the buildings from the afternoon sun.  The good.

the bad

Magazines in Argentina are generally bad.  They are overpriced, you usually cannot flip through them because it´s pretty much forbidden to even touch one at a quiosco if you are not going to buy it, and more often than not they are covered in plastic just to make sure that you cannot get a sneak peek at what you are paying for.  Last week I bought the magazine DD, an interiors magazine.  It cost me 20 pesos and I honestly think if you gave me a week I could put together a better spread that is more innovative and isn´t just advertising.  I don´t want to poo all over every magazine they have here, because some are quite good.  My favourite is Barzon, which features art, culture, lifestyle, fashion and interiors in an innovative way.  It does cost 32 pesos though, which limits my desire to purchase it often.  In general however, the quality of magazines available in Argentina upsets me.  DD magazine, please take a look at Australian Inside Out or Vogue Living and pull yourself together.

the good

The passion that Argentines have for their team in the World Cup is good.  The city is on crack at the moment in the excitement of everything, and with a win in the first game they are feeling festive and confident.  I don´t have a television in my apartment, but I don´t really need one because when Argentina score the whole building errupts with cheers and all the cars toot their horns.  We can even take time off at work to watch the games!  Let´s hope they keep doing well to keep the festivites going...

Trámites - the Good and the Bad

This word in English doesn't exist. We could say the translation is an "errand" or "paperwork", but both words sadly do not fully express what it is. A trámite is any sort of errand or paperwork or thing on your to-do list. It could be getting your passport, paying a bill, signing up for classes, or getting something notarized. It is a term so generic that people use it to mean just about anything. Apparently, we can also legally ask for a day off to do trámites (I think the limit is once a month).

The Good: At work it is great because you can say, "I have a trámite" and since it could mean ANYTHING, no one will know exactly what you have to. You could be going to pick up some x-rays, cashing a check, or even interviewing for a new job! (True Story)

The Bad: In general, trámites in Argentina suck. They mean waiting in a never-ending line, getting signatures and stamps, waking up hella early to go wait in said line, and generally stressing people out. Basically they mean a lot of bureaucracy.

I am in the middle of renewing my work visa and it is a trámite from hell. For three days in a row I have had to get up at 6 am in order to go stand in various lines to get the proper paperwork to finish the renewal. On Thursday I will be getting up even early to get to the Immigration office at 6 am to stand in line for a couple of hours in order for them to even see me.

To give you an example of long lines in Argentina, here is one of people waiting to get into the national congress building:



I am not sure what they are waiting for, but it is definitely not worth it.

the good

This coming Tuesday the 25th of May, marks the 200 year Bicentenary of Argentina.  The government is putting on a manic array of activites to celebrate, and the icing on the cake will be the re-opening of one of the most beautiful theatres in the world - The Teatro Colón.  I have not had the chance to visit this theatre yet, as it has been closed for restaurations since I moved here two years ago.  I am super excited that it is re-opening, and I think it´s a great way to culminate the celebrations of 200 years of independence for Argentina.  Vamos!

Photo: www.buenos-aires.ws

the ugly

Disgusting pervy Argentinian men.  More specifically, old men.  Just imagine your grandpa eyeballing women in the street and saying things like "you are so tasty" in a dirty voice as they walk past... ew.  It leaves you wondering why there are so many horny old men in Argentina, and why they feel they need to share their opinions with you when you pass by.

The other day, an old man was walking towards me and we almost crashed into each other, but then he stopped, looked me up and down and as he passed by he whispered "que rico que sos...." (the tasty thing), and I looked back at him and said "que asco" (roughly translated as "how disgusting").  It´s time these macho viejos were told to shut their mouths, and if it´s me who has to do it, then God dammit I will.  The women of Argentina will not be sexually objectified any longer! (Yeah right).

The Good - Shots Come in 3 Varieties

If you haven't had a shot yet, you haven't lived. And, in case you were confused, I don't mean tequila or any other type of alcohol. I am referring to a small bar of chocolate with almounds.

One might wonder, why is a bar of chocolate something so "good" about Buenos Aires? Well, you should taste the chocolate around here. It kinda sucks. There is, however, a rather cheap Kraft product called Shot that is great. Selling for around 3 pesos, it makes a crappy moment into a blissful, orgasmic gorgefest.

But Wait, There's More!

Shot comes in three forms!

1. A small bar of chocolate with almounds
2. Bite size chocolate-covered almounds
3. Shot Alfajor - a new product

I recently had the third option and was pleasantly surprised. It maintains its ties to the other two products, yet rebels against conformity and has an original texture and taste. My mission in the near future - buy all three and eat them all at the same time and then die of happiness.

the bad with a touch of good

Angry and impatient bus drivers are super bad.  The good ones play music and sing out loud, the ok ones smoke and talk on their mobile phone and the really bad ones can`t even be bothered to stop the bus when you are hailing it and just drive straight past you.

This particular one got his knickers in a twist because the lady infront of me got some of her money eaten by the ticket machine, and took longer than usual to buy her ticket, thus delaying the bus from being able to leave the stop.  He was huffing and sighing and being really quite rude when it was HIS MACHINE that was causing the problem.  The good was that the guy behind me offered the lady the remaining 30 cents that the machine ate so that she could buy her ticket.  What a good samaritan.  General public good, bus drivers bad.

the good

Yesterday I walked past two guys that were selling things on the street.  It is very common that people sell things on the footpath here, like socks, fake havaianas, power adapters, sunglasses etc.  One of these guys is always in the same spot every day, outside the supermarket a couple of blocks from my apartment.  Yesterday, when I walked past him, he was dancing and singing with another guy who was selling stuff next to him.  And I thought wow, that´s really cool.  I´m sure he doesn´t make a lot of money selling 2 pairs of knee length socks for 15 pesos (I bought some last year from him), but at least he is enjoying himself.  Maybe not all day, every day, but yesterday he was.

Small Spaces - The Bad

Compared to all the gigantic houses in the United States, apartments in Buenos Aires tend to be quite small. Even my friends who live with their whole family live in with just the bare essentials space-wise. They don´t have dens and basements and craft rooms. This is the same for the actual rooms they DO have. Bedrooms are smaller. Kitchens are way smaller. Space in general is small.

My bathroom, for example, is pretty small. Not super small, but pretty small. The other day I had a small flood from the toilet and as I was trying to fix it, I hit my head on the bidet, which hurt super bad. Then, as I was standing up, I hit my lower back on the sink. The rapid head and back pain left me in a delirious rage. Why does everything have to be so close together? I created this picture/diagram for you to better understand.



P.S. I wrote the word "small" a lot in this post.

the good

Tom Ford´s first feature film A Single Man is good.  The cinematography, sets and 60´s style are a visual treat.  Colin Firth and Julianne Moore are great, and the narrative is moving.  It was a little surprising that the cinema was full of older people, especially since it was about a gay man (this subject is still quite taboo with many older Argentines).  I wonder how many of them actually knew what the film was about before it began, as the old man near us remarked to his wife after the first 5 minutes "I think he (Colin Firth) is gay".

the bad

 Something that I just cannot get past in Buenos Aires is inflation.  Every time I go to the supermarket things cost more.  You can´t even buy 200g of butter in my supermarket for under 6 or 7 pesos, and when I first arrived here two years ago it cost less than 3 pesos.  The problem is, you need to buy food to live, every day, so this reality is constantly hitting you in the face.  It´s in the newspapers, the government deny it, everybody talks about it and it´s enough to be a downer in your otherwise quite pleasant day.  I hardly ever buy cheese anymore because it´s basically a luxury item.  Good for my figure but not so good for my taste buds. 

In the supermarket about an hour ago, the people in front of me were putting their 300 peso grocery bill on a credit card of three payments.  If you can´t even afford to pay for your groceries in one shot, what hope is there?  Maybe I am being dramatic but for me, inflation is a big concern and a huge BAD on this blog.

the good

Today, Emiliano rescued a kitten that has been living under a car infront of our apartment for the last two days.  It has been crying the last two nights, and we tried to catch it before, but it was too scared to come near us.  Somehow, he was able to catch it today, and it is currently sleeping inside the case of his guitar.  Our cats are not happy about it at all, they are making hissing noises but I think they will come round, after all, they are usually pretty relaxed and well-loved.  Tomorrow we will take the kitten to the vet for a check up and a clean (it´s a he), and see if we can find a new home for him.  For now we call him "the tiny one" as I fear that naming him will only make it harder to distance ourselves when the time comes for him to leave us.

the bad

BAFICI.  This time, a Japanese film charading as a post modern, arthouse masterpiece was really a glorified porno.  Do I really need to see a vagina that close for 20 minutes?  And oysters were not meant to go there, well if they were, I was certainly not meant to see it.  Up close.

the ugly

Last night at 10pm I walked past a homeless woman pooing on the footpath.  Whilst being horrified I also thought about what it must be like for her, having to do that.  Definitely ugly no matter which way you look at it.

the good

The international independent film festival BAFICI is good.  Well actually, more than good.  There are over 400 films to choose from, in just under two weeks of cinema madness.  My favourite part is that the director is often there to talk about the film and answer questions afterwards, brilliant!  The other day I saw a film called Cooking History in which the cooks who fed the soldiers during many European wars as far back as World War 2, talked about their experiences whilst recreating the meals they used to cook, where they used to cook them.  These people were full of personality, amazing characters in a story that was very real.  The film ended with a man who used to cook on a military submarine that sank, cooking on the edge of the water.  As he cooked and told his story, the tide came in and rose so high that eventually, it swept away the food, the table, everything, and the man was left standing in the water alone.  He survived 14 hours in the water after the sub sank, and was the only one to make it.  A very moving and at times funny; visually and culturally rich film that takes a completely different perspective of war.