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".