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...