Hey kids what's goin on? I'm still in love with this city. I'm actually now considering moving here at some point in time... I don't know if I could deal with earning pesos, but if I could find a job that paid me American dollars, I'd be livin it up bigtime.
So, last night actually turned out to be pretty good. I didn't acutally think that i would end up doing anything but it was really fucking awesome. We ended up going out with some of the peopel from the hostel and they were all pretty cool as well. I was chillin in my room and I met two american guys, one from california and the other one from New york. They told me they had a group of people all waiting to go out, Colombians, Brazilians, Argentines, Americans, and British, all ready to hit the town. Earlier after writing my blog I came to the conclusion that I was NOT going to go up, rather stay in for the night, wake up early and hit the zoo the next day. After about maybe 30 seconds of convincing, Brian convinced me to go out.
We started walking around my neighborhood called Palermo to find a restaurant to eat in. Palermo has the best food in Buenos Aires, there's every kind of food you'll ever need here. IT's really trendy too and alot of people sit out till about 5 in the morning on bars and cafes on the street just talking and eating. Since it was 1:30 by the time we started looking for dinner, we ended up settling on a Italian restaurant instead of searchign for sushi. I bonded there with everyone and just drank, I wasn't very hungry so I didn't want to spend the money on food. By the time we finished dinner, it was around 2:30 and we came to a grim conclusion: the nightlife in Buenos Aires dies out on Mondays and Tuesdays. It's the summer here in Argentina, and apparently all of the Argentines leave Buenos Aires and head for beach resorts. I was really shocked because I also learned that the majority of the beautiful people have also gone. If that's the truth, I really am curious to see what it's like in the winter months as they are already smokin.
We decided to go just to a bar across the street. I drank just one beer, chilled with people and we decided to go home about 3. Then this is when the party acutally started..
We went to my hostel and one of the workers came with us too. The 4 peso 1 liter beers started flowing like water. I actually got kinda drunk, smoked alot of cigarettes and we also all shared some Cuban cigars. We sat there till almost 7 in the morning around the table laghing and jokin with everyone, learning Portugese and discussing the differences between England and American English. I picked up alot of crazy california words too from a native. At about I decided to pack it in and went to my bed and passed out.
Day 5:
I woke up this morning about 3pm, and for some reason it takes me like 3 hours to get ready to go out into the city. I really hate it now because it's taking away from my daytime here. I don't think I've stepped out into the city before 4, ever. I like it a BIT becuase it enables me to enjoy the nightlife alot. I just have to probably accept it that my new body clock will be working on 3pm- 7am instead of 10am-3am like back home in the states. Anyways, after doing the usual 3 hour getting ready routine (internet, "breakfast", shower, talking, lying back down, etc) I ventured into the city. It had rained this morning and when I went outside it was EXTREMELY hot, really really hot. So humid and nasty, I had to run back in the hostel to change into shorts. I don't know why Lonely Planet lied to me and told me that it's very untrendy to wear shorts in Argentina because everyone wears pants even in summer time. THat's a damn lie, everyone here wears shorts and flip flops. THanks Lonely Planet, I only have one pair of shorts and about 7 pairs of pants!
I didn't do much in the city today really, just walked down to Avenida de 9 de jUlio, the widest street in the world. I took some pictures of the big Obelisco, and decided to walk down the pedestrian street Calle Florida. Florida is similar to the Ramblas in Barcelona, Calle Preciados in Madrid. It's all pedestrian full of shops, people doing acts like juggling and games, people dancing tango for money and people selling mate gourds. It's really cool. I finally made my way over to California burrito kitchen, and ironically instead of getting the burrito i've been searching for, I got tacos. Today was 3 peso taco Tuesday ($1) and I got two tacos and a medium dream (American medium, not a small one.. shocked) . For some reason the website says 2 pesos but I guess nothing is as it seems. Acutally , inflation may be to blame because Argentine inflation is rougly 20% I hear. Prices are rising so much it's scary. People who have been here one year ago said all the restaurants and shops have completely upped their prices from last year.
After leaving there, I just walked down florida some more and I realized I was a bit tired. My legs were sore from walking so much and an idea came to me. While walking past a massage parlor, I thought to see about get a massage becuase they probably are incredibly cheap. I went inside and the lady told me that a massage for 1 hour and 15 minutes for 60 pesos (20 bucks). I had a n ice 1 hr 15 massage although there was place on the table to put my head, so I had my neck turned at a ridiculous angle. She also did this one maneuver on my neck that almost made me pass out (from pain instead of pleasure) but it was awesome besides that.. Everyday I want to do something I'd never be able to afford doing back home. Where else can you drink expensive champagne, eat at the finest restaurants, get a cheap massage and smoke Cuban cigars? Awesome.
On my way home I decided to get something to eat and a choripan came to mind. CHoripan is sandwich that I was talkin gabout earlier, the sausage and whtie bread one. On my way to the restaurant, a little boy and girl with no shoes on, extremely dirty going through trash bags on the street. It was so sad, they were looking for things in the trash bags, anything they could find useful. The worst part is the oldest one had to be no older than 6, and the other one was about 3. These people are called "cartoneros", at night when all the businesses and residences put their trash out onto the street for the night, the cartoneros come out and rummage through it. Sometime they can find glass bottles and they take and get them recycled for pesos. I turned back around to the boy and girl, and I reached in my pocket and gave them a 2 peso bill. They looked so happy, the girl looked at the boy and explained to him what was happening, it was pretty deep to see how happy 2 people could be over the 60 cents (2 pesos). Sorry to bring the tone to a sad one, but poverty really hits you when it's there in your face. Argentina is one of the richest countries in South America, so I can't even imagine what poverty is like in the other countries like Paraguay. The Paraguyan goverment owns one of the largest fleet of Mercedes Benz in the world while a good percentage of their citizens struggle to eat. Sick.
Anyways, I ordered my choripan and I decided to order two and give one out to a poor person. I got one and I went back to the look for the little children but they were gone. I didn't see any cartoneros around, but luckily I ran into the little girl again, I saw her running into the metro. I stopped her and asked her if she was hungry and s he shook her head. I gave her the chorpian, she smiled and she ran off. I'm going to make it my goal to give out one empanada every day to someone on the street. I bascially buy them everyday and at .30 cents, I can always order one extra and hand it out. I have 24 days left, and I definitely can afford .30 cents a day for 24 days. I know it's not that much, but that's a meal to someone who potentially hasn't had hot food in ages.
So I came back to my hostel, showered and got ready to go out and have a beer with some Argentines I met. I'll tell you guys about it in the next entry. Anyways, in my room there's now a group of like 4 really big guys who dont speak English and don't look very friendly, at all. I can't tell if they are Israeli, Lebanese, or tanned Eastern Europeans, they all have that look. I love guessing people's nationalities and it's bothering me that I don't know. I can't even tell what the langauge is, so I'm bankin on Hebrew because I haven't heard enough Hebrew to identify it. Ok I'm tired of rambling now, I'm outta here. I'll write tomorrow about my night out tonight (obviously it wasn't that wild because I'm 1) I'm already back 2)This blog is actually written in coherent English.
Peace,
Rob
Weird Moment of the Day:
I was walking by a store and it said, Open 25 hours! I'm pretty sure there are 24 hours in the day, so where the hell is the extra hour coming from? Do they mean open 25 hours a day? That would be impossible. 25 hours per week? That would be extremely inconvenient. WTF?
Also one more thing I want to add, it's about getting change in foreign countries. I went to the store today to buy a sprite, and it was $2.50. I handed the lady 4 pesos, and she looks at me, and asks, don't you have 50 cents? Um, if I had 50 cents to make it even, I would give it to you, so why do you have to ask me everytime? And seriously, what would be the difference in handing me a 2 peso bill back versus "going through the trouble" of handing me a one peso coin and a 50 cent piece? I can understand amounts such as 2.03 and asking if I have 3 cents, but come on. And this is not just Argentina, it's Spain and alot of place+0.s in Europe. Having change is absolutely key, but how do you do expect to have small bills when the ATMs give you $100 bills and $50. So, for all my friends who come from European countries, please answer this: Why the hell can't people make change? Is it because they don't stock their register with enough money or they just don't want to go through the trouble of getting change? If this is so, The logical answer would be to stock the register with more change since this is a common problem. Sometimes they wont even complete the sale if the bill is so large. How can you always have the right amount?! Even the lady who sold me the mate gourd didnt have a 5 peso bill to give me for change for my 20 (the mate gourd cost 15). How can you not have 5 pesos if all your mates cost 15? You had to get a 5 in there at some point, was I your first mate sale of the day at 7pm? Someone answer this question for me!
So, last night actually turned out to be pretty good. I didn't acutally think that i would end up doing anything but it was really fucking awesome. We ended up going out with some of the peopel from the hostel and they were all pretty cool as well. I was chillin in my room and I met two american guys, one from california and the other one from New york. They told me they had a group of people all waiting to go out, Colombians, Brazilians, Argentines, Americans, and British, all ready to hit the town. Earlier after writing my blog I came to the conclusion that I was NOT going to go up, rather stay in for the night, wake up early and hit the zoo the next day. After about maybe 30 seconds of convincing, Brian convinced me to go out.
We started walking around my neighborhood called Palermo to find a restaurant to eat in. Palermo has the best food in Buenos Aires, there's every kind of food you'll ever need here. IT's really trendy too and alot of people sit out till about 5 in the morning on bars and cafes on the street just talking and eating. Since it was 1:30 by the time we started looking for dinner, we ended up settling on a Italian restaurant instead of searchign for sushi. I bonded there with everyone and just drank, I wasn't very hungry so I didn't want to spend the money on food. By the time we finished dinner, it was around 2:30 and we came to a grim conclusion: the nightlife in Buenos Aires dies out on Mondays and Tuesdays. It's the summer here in Argentina, and apparently all of the Argentines leave Buenos Aires and head for beach resorts. I was really shocked because I also learned that the majority of the beautiful people have also gone. If that's the truth, I really am curious to see what it's like in the winter months as they are already smokin.
We decided to go just to a bar across the street. I drank just one beer, chilled with people and we decided to go home about 3. Then this is when the party acutally started..
We went to my hostel and one of the workers came with us too. The 4 peso 1 liter beers started flowing like water. I actually got kinda drunk, smoked alot of cigarettes and we also all shared some Cuban cigars. We sat there till almost 7 in the morning around the table laghing and jokin with everyone, learning Portugese and discussing the differences between England and American English. I picked up alot of crazy california words too from a native. At about I decided to pack it in and went to my bed and passed out.
Day 5:
I woke up this morning about 3pm, and for some reason it takes me like 3 hours to get ready to go out into the city. I really hate it now because it's taking away from my daytime here. I don't think I've stepped out into the city before 4, ever. I like it a BIT becuase it enables me to enjoy the nightlife alot. I just have to probably accept it that my new body clock will be working on 3pm- 7am instead of 10am-3am like back home in the states. Anyways, after doing the usual 3 hour getting ready routine (internet, "breakfast", shower, talking, lying back down, etc) I ventured into the city. It had rained this morning and when I went outside it was EXTREMELY hot, really really hot. So humid and nasty, I had to run back in the hostel to change into shorts. I don't know why Lonely Planet lied to me and told me that it's very untrendy to wear shorts in Argentina because everyone wears pants even in summer time. THat's a damn lie, everyone here wears shorts and flip flops. THanks Lonely Planet, I only have one pair of shorts and about 7 pairs of pants!
I didn't do much in the city today really, just walked down to Avenida de 9 de jUlio, the widest street in the world. I took some pictures of the big Obelisco, and decided to walk down the pedestrian street Calle Florida. Florida is similar to the Ramblas in Barcelona, Calle Preciados in Madrid. It's all pedestrian full of shops, people doing acts like juggling and games, people dancing tango for money and people selling mate gourds. It's really cool. I finally made my way over to California burrito kitchen, and ironically instead of getting the burrito i've been searching for, I got tacos. Today was 3 peso taco Tuesday ($1) and I got two tacos and a medium dream (American medium, not a small one.. shocked) . For some reason the website says 2 pesos but I guess nothing is as it seems. Acutally , inflation may be to blame because Argentine inflation is rougly 20% I hear. Prices are rising so much it's scary. People who have been here one year ago said all the restaurants and shops have completely upped their prices from last year.
After leaving there, I just walked down florida some more and I realized I was a bit tired. My legs were sore from walking so much and an idea came to me. While walking past a massage parlor, I thought to see about get a massage becuase they probably are incredibly cheap. I went inside and the lady told me that a massage for 1 hour and 15 minutes for 60 pesos (20 bucks). I had a n ice 1 hr 15 massage although there was place on the table to put my head, so I had my neck turned at a ridiculous angle. She also did this one maneuver on my neck that almost made me pass out (from pain instead of pleasure) but it was awesome besides that.. Everyday I want to do something I'd never be able to afford doing back home. Where else can you drink expensive champagne, eat at the finest restaurants, get a cheap massage and smoke Cuban cigars? Awesome.
On my way home I decided to get something to eat and a choripan came to mind. CHoripan is sandwich that I was talkin gabout earlier, the sausage and whtie bread one. On my way to the restaurant, a little boy and girl with no shoes on, extremely dirty going through trash bags on the street. It was so sad, they were looking for things in the trash bags, anything they could find useful. The worst part is the oldest one had to be no older than 6, and the other one was about 3. These people are called "cartoneros", at night when all the businesses and residences put their trash out onto the street for the night, the cartoneros come out and rummage through it. Sometime they can find glass bottles and they take and get them recycled for pesos. I turned back around to the boy and girl, and I reached in my pocket and gave them a 2 peso bill. They looked so happy, the girl looked at the boy and explained to him what was happening, it was pretty deep to see how happy 2 people could be over the 60 cents (2 pesos). Sorry to bring the tone to a sad one, but poverty really hits you when it's there in your face. Argentina is one of the richest countries in South America, so I can't even imagine what poverty is like in the other countries like Paraguay. The Paraguyan goverment owns one of the largest fleet of Mercedes Benz in the world while a good percentage of their citizens struggle to eat. Sick.
Anyways, I ordered my choripan and I decided to order two and give one out to a poor person. I got one and I went back to the look for the little children but they were gone. I didn't see any cartoneros around, but luckily I ran into the little girl again, I saw her running into the metro. I stopped her and asked her if she was hungry and s he shook her head. I gave her the chorpian, she smiled and she ran off. I'm going to make it my goal to give out one empanada every day to someone on the street. I bascially buy them everyday and at .30 cents, I can always order one extra and hand it out. I have 24 days left, and I definitely can afford .30 cents a day for 24 days. I know it's not that much, but that's a meal to someone who potentially hasn't had hot food in ages.
So I came back to my hostel, showered and got ready to go out and have a beer with some Argentines I met. I'll tell you guys about it in the next entry. Anyways, in my room there's now a group of like 4 really big guys who dont speak English and don't look very friendly, at all. I can't tell if they are Israeli, Lebanese, or tanned Eastern Europeans, they all have that look. I love guessing people's nationalities and it's bothering me that I don't know. I can't even tell what the langauge is, so I'm bankin on Hebrew because I haven't heard enough Hebrew to identify it. Ok I'm tired of rambling now, I'm outta here. I'll write tomorrow about my night out tonight (obviously it wasn't that wild because I'm 1) I'm already back 2)This blog is actually written in coherent English.
Peace,
Rob
Weird Moment of the Day:
I was walking by a store and it said, Open 25 hours! I'm pretty sure there are 24 hours in the day, so where the hell is the extra hour coming from? Do they mean open 25 hours a day? That would be impossible. 25 hours per week? That would be extremely inconvenient. WTF?
Also one more thing I want to add, it's about getting change in foreign countries. I went to the store today to buy a sprite, and it was $2.50. I handed the lady 4 pesos, and she looks at me, and asks, don't you have 50 cents? Um, if I had 50 cents to make it even, I would give it to you, so why do you have to ask me everytime? And seriously, what would be the difference in handing me a 2 peso bill back versus "going through the trouble" of handing me a one peso coin and a 50 cent piece? I can understand amounts such as 2.03 and asking if I have 3 cents, but come on. And this is not just Argentina, it's Spain and alot of place+0.s in Europe. Having change is absolutely key, but how do you do expect to have small bills when the ATMs give you $100 bills and $50. So, for all my friends who come from European countries, please answer this: Why the hell can't people make change? Is it because they don't stock their register with enough money or they just don't want to go through the trouble of getting change? If this is so, The logical answer would be to stock the register with more change since this is a common problem. Sometimes they wont even complete the sale if the bill is so large. How can you always have the right amount?! Even the lady who sold me the mate gourd didnt have a 5 peso bill to give me for change for my 20 (the mate gourd cost 15). How can you not have 5 pesos if all your mates cost 15? You had to get a 5 in there at some point, was I your first mate sale of the day at 7pm? Someone answer this question for me!
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