September 2008
29 posts
Americano breakfast at Scuzi in Recoleta. WiFi here is much faster than at the apt.
Dinner @ Sottovoce
It was dinner time last night, and I was angling for some Italian. So I selected Sottovoce on Avenida de Libertador. My guidebook placed it a full 3 blocks away from its actual location (grrr Lonely Planet) so it took us a bit longer to find it.
We were by far the youngest customers. Place was pretty uppity. The two old ladies next to us were clearly from old money. But the food — Wow. ...
Most spectacular bookstore ever
…at least of any bookstore I’ve been in. Today I took the macbook to El Ateneo (theater turned bookstore). Had some trouble with their wifi initially. After resolving that, I settled in at the cafe area which is located on the stage area. I had to capture the essence of the place somehow, so I went upstairs and snapped the panorama above.
Typical conversation between me and a porteño
Them: Hola!
Me: Hola!
Them: ??????? el ?????? ?? ????????
Me: Perdón, hablo español muy pequito
Them: ?? ???? ??? la ????????
Me: Soy Americano, no hablo español
Them ??? ????? una ? ????
Don't cry for me, Connecticut
Since I’m so close to the famous cemetery in Recoleta, I decided to take a walk over there yesterday and see what all the fuss is about… and to find Eva Perón’s tomb, because I’m a tourist and that’s what tourists are supposed to do.
The first thing I thought of when I entered the cemetery was my aunt Carol. Two things I know she loves: The Milwaukee Brewers and...
I love the 80s
I’ve gotten a serious shot of 80s music since arriveing in BA. It’s ubiquitous. Taxi drivers seem to listen only to 80s. It’s played in cafes and stores. Right now I’m at a cafe called Felfort in Recoleta and they are playing an entire Phil Collins album.
I was having lunch with Emilio and Buck recently and Aerosmith was playing. Buck pointed out that Argentines love...
“Attempting to find Eva Perón’s tomb without a map.”
Boca Juniors!
Buck, Karen and I high-tailed it down to La Boca for a Boca Juniors game. We were running a little late. Probably because I didn’t get out of bed until 2. Not probably… likely. Anyway, we bought 3 tickets from a scalper. They looked authentic, and they were. The only problem was they were “menores” tickets — for minors, or kids. We were deined entry...
Typeracing, part dos
A group of friends and I went out to a club, Cocoliche, near the city center. I really liked the place. The main act didn’t start till after 4am. You could really sense the change of energy; they were really good.
Karen left early. I didn’t get home till just after 5, and had consumed several more beverages. She, sensing the clear advantage, challenged me in type racer. She...
Off to a friend’s apt, then Cocoliche in El Centro.
Bangalore & Bill Callahan
An Argentine friend of a friend was going to see Bill Callahan, an American singer/songwriter, and she invited us to go. We first went to grab some Indian food at a place across the street called Bangalore. It’s sort of a britpub, but serves Indian food — and pretty good Indian food in my opinion. I don’t typically eat much Indian, but I liked it a lot. There seemed to be a...
1st gym day
I’ve been feeling pretty frail and doughy lately, so I went to the gym today. It’s about two blocks from the apartment, called Wellclub. It’s extremely small. It’s one of those gyms which is in commercial space that was never intended to be a gym. Not even close. They fit machines in the tighest spaces possible. There’s very little wasted space.
I didn’t...
Grocery store music
Needing to get my daily caloric intake back to pre-BA levels, I made a trip to the Disco store around the block. I’ve been in three different grocery stores here in BA, and they all play random American music. Today I walk in and Days of the New is playing. You just don’t hear Touch Peel and Stand while shopping in the US. I loved that album when it came out in 97.
Then...
Western Digital Passport portable hard drives apparently can handle a 4 foot drop to a hardwood floor and still work.
Talk back to me!
Tumblr blogs like this aren’t really meant to support comments. They’re meant more for simplicity. I think of Tumblr as somewhere between Twitter and a more feature-rich blogging platform like WordPress.
I want to go one more notch away from Twitter, so I’ve installed Disqus (prounounced like “discuss” I assume) commenting. Each post will have a link to the Disqus...
Huh?
It’s laundry time.
Now I’m used to the 28-minute cycle, coin-operated washing machines. I’ve also used my mom’s which was really easy. Can you make heads or tails out of any of these icons & symbols? I felt like I was trying to decipher ancient heiroglyphics. I put some clothes in, chose a setting, pushed some buttons in, turned it on and hoped for the best.
I caved...
…and joined a gym. I feel like crap after eating all this Argentinian food and doing zero physical activity. It’s less than two blocks away and costs 140 pesos for one month. (Oddly, it costs 150 pesos for two weeks. No misinterpretation, it really is cheaper for more time.)
No instrucciónes inglés
You know when you buy a new electronic device, you have to fold out this big huge instruction panel and it has about 8 languages on it? Or, at least in most instruction manuals you’ll have a Spanish section and an English section? Not so with my new Morotola phone. The one time I could really use multilanguage documentation I’m again swimming in an ocean of español.
With Buck’s help, picked up a cheap Motorola phone for 155 pesos at a Claro store around the block. Prepago (prepay/pay as you go). Not sure I can text internationally though.
“Argentines’ seem obsessed with two things: Fútbol and putting an olive...”
A word about my diet
FUBAR.
I’m fairly picky about my diet. Schedule-wise and food-wise. There’s a lot more types of food that I avoid than food that I do eat. For example, I don’t eat anything white (white pasta, white rice, etc), no fast food, no fried food. I avoid sodium, some oils, condiments, pizza, and several other things.
Now I realize that in the US casually eating out isn’t...
Tequila, Takeout & Typeracing
After an unsuccessful bid at getting in at a popular Recoleta restaurant called Cumaná, Jessica had a brilliant idea: takeout. We ordered from Cumaná, then we split the team; Karen and Danny went off to buy wine, Jess and I established a base camp outside the door to Cumaná.
Jess noticed a bar across the street had happy hour. So we ran up, each had a shot of tequila and a Corona. I was...
WatchWhen nerds get together, nerdy things happen.
Fútbol, the American kind
Being a loyal Packers fan, I felt the need to find a pub that was showing Monday Night Football. Buck suggested we head to the Alamo, about 10 blocks north. We headed there around 9pm.
It wasn’t crowded at all when we arrived, but by 10:30-11 it was busy. I met some foreign exchange students, some Linux nerds here on business, other American vacationers, and a German named Mario. ...
Speed Racing to Palermo
I needed to get to Palermo in a bit of a hurry last night, and it was pretty far from my apt, so I decided to cab it. I had heard stories about the taxi drivers in Buenos Aires being very aggressive, but I hadn’t had such an experience until tonight. Of all the taxis I had ever been in (in any city) this ride defined a whole new level in terms of white-knuckleness.
I think any NASCAR team in...
Un Noche en San Telmo
Buck and I bussed down to San Telmo for the evening. We started out having Sushi and then walked over to the Gibraltar for a few pints and some pool. Buck and I won the first match, but were then unseated after the second match.
Next we headed for La Puerta Roja - the Red Door. I think we left around 6am. It was light out, I know that. Before bussing it back to El Centro, we enjoyed some...
Bowling in Belgrano
13 million people call Buenos Aires home, and I have been told there are exactly two bowling alleys. My friend Buck arrived early Wednesday morning, and by Wednesday night, we were meeting up with some friends of his in Belgrano for a night of bowling.
We took the Subte (subway) line D to get out there. The subway in BA is incredibly busy with commuters. The Subte de Buenos Aires is more dense...
“Easiest way to identify an American in BA: Look for North Face outerwear. ...”
Odds are... Part II
I wandered up about 10 blocks to the north of here to check out the neighborhood I’ll be relocating to. Walking along Rodríguez Peña on my way back I spotted a pub called the Shamrock. Sounded englishy and thought I might run into some Irish, English or American patrons.
I asked for a beer in Spanish. I didn’t fool the bartender into thinking I was a porteño, and she replied in English that...
August 2008
11 posts
ATMs in Buenos Aires
My first attempt to get cash was at a Banco Francés on the corner of Corrientes and Avenida 9 de Julio. I stood in a short line and was able to navigate the promps in Spanish, but the machine rejected my card. Shit, I thought. What if I can’t get cash? That would be a major drag.
I noticed a huge Banco Ciudad across the street. “Street” isn’t a good descriptor, though. What I really mean is...
It's true, Argentines Know Beef
On Saturday some friends were passing through Buenos Aires on their way to Bariloche for a snowboarding trip. We decided to catch dinner together that evening at El Mirasol (I think it’s just a name that doesn’t translate to anything). We taxi’d ourselves from the Congreso area to the swankiest part of Recoleta.
El Mirasol turned out to be an upscale restaurant filled with older, wealthy...
Feeding Thyself
I have a picky diet in terms of what I eat, and when. Usually I stick to eating 5 smaller meals per day as opposed to two or three large ones. I also eat pretty healthy (brown rice, wheat pasta, egg whites, low sodium, water, etc). That has been completely tossed out the window upon arriving in Buenos Aires.
Food here is plentiful and relatively cheap, but incredibly unhealthy by my...
“If a glass of wine is cheaper than water with my lunch, is this a good or bad...”
San Telmo
My friend Buck doesn’t arrive for another few days, so I’ve been more or less on my own. He did however put me in contact with a friend of his. So today I took a walk down to San Telmo.
San Telmo has a lot of character, of a somewhat grittier variety. I like it. Buck’s friend Paige lives on Cuchabamba street. I’m glad she lives on that street, because it’s just so fun to say… cuchabamba! The...
WatchTango Dancers in Plaza Dorrego during lunch.
Democrats Abroad
I had gotten word from a friend that a group called Democrats Abroad was meeting at a bar by the name of Sugar to watch Obama’s nomination acceptance speech. It was my first day in BA, and I decided to check it out.
Given my dreadful skills in Spanish, I was happy to have successfully taken a taxi from my apt in the Congresso area to Palermo, where the event was taking place. It was full of...
Odds are...
…roughly one in ten thousand that someone on my flight from DC to Buenos Aires would have the EXACT same duffel-style roller bag from REI as me (it’s the “Tech Beast” model). Of course these odds are estimated, but maybe it’s even less likely than that.
To make this brief, someone (Wilson Ramos) had taken my bag by mistake and left his on the carousel. Aside from the Luftansa tag, our bags...
Tumblr
I didn’t want to take the time to set up a blog, so I’ve decided to try Tumblr to see what all the fuss is about.
I don’t have my camera at the moment (I’ve left it at someone’s apartment) but I’ll be adding photos as well to accompany my short daily monologues. I’m also going to attempt to recap some events before today.
Enjoy!