the good

Customer service from a drag queen.  Best ever in Buenos Aires.

the bad

The state of things, the organisation and essentially, the tramites or paperwork.  Today was exceptionally bad, even by Argentine standards.  It started with a trip to the public hospital to do a blood test, which is a tramite you have to do 1 week before you get married, apparantly at any public hospital.  Arriving at the public hospital of our choice at 7am, we were told it needed to be a certain type of public hospital, not just any old one.  So getting a bus back to a hospital near our house, we arrived at the second hospital.  After lining up, more lining up and then more of it, the doctor who is extracting our blood starts having an argument with another doctor while he has the syringe in my boyfriends arm, not actually looking at the syringe, and yelling at the other doctor.

We leave the hospital and go home.  I am working at home because I am waiting for another tramite, a certificate that verifies my address in order to renew my visa.  The process is that you go to your local police station and ask for the certificate.  They take your details and tell you they will come past your place in the next 48 hours between the hours of 8 and 2pm.  So what happens if you work?  You have to stay home, because someone has to be there to show your ID to receive the certificate.  So I stay and work from home for 2 days.  The certificate never arrives.  I call the police and they tell me that the postal workers have it, and will deliver it either Saturday morning or Monday morning.  I tell the police officer that I will not be waiting any more time in my house, as I already did that and nobody came.  He tells me that after Monday, I should just go back to the police station and pick it up from there.

The proof of address certificate is possibly the most puzzling of all tramites in Argentina, because theoretically, you could just hang out in a friend´s apartment and say that you live there (if you wanted to).  I have a signed contract that I rent this apartment, in my name, but no, someone has to come past, and see that I answer the door, because apparantly nobody works in Argentina, although if I didn´t have this job, I wouldn´t be able get a visa to stay in the country legally, and wouldn´t need the certificate in the first place.

Today I also tried to book a bus trip to Salta, and after hanging up on me twice and when someone finally answered for real,  they took my number and said they would call back but never did.  My family had a problem with their flight and the apartment rental company they are using do not answer their phone.  Bottom line, trying to call someone doesn´t work, and customer service is a mere memory from a place where it does exist... Australia.

I just have to deep breathe and think that tomorrow is a new day... and prepare myself for the frustrations to come...

the good

Drinking mate in the park on a saturday.  While most people are at the beach in january, the ones who are left are hanging out in parks on the weekends either sunbathing or relaxing in the shade of a big tree.  And of course everyone is drinking mate despite the hot weather, which is made bearable in the park with the lovely cooling breeze.

the bad

Power cuts.  Well actually first it was the electricity including the light, fan (its summer!!) telephone and internet, then it was intermittently on and off for the next 18 hours, then later that night it was the internet and phone again, then the water, slowing to a trickle and then none until the next day.  But we got through it and are keen to see what awaits us next...

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.