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.