When in Buenos Aires…

Do as the…porteños do…

I have nothing to write about, but due to increased pressure from some unnamed factor back in Lubbock, Texas, I'll try to spit something out. Love you mom =).

The only new thing in my life is the possibility of an internship with a travel agency in Buenos Aires. I found out about the internship through my school's internship postings because a graduate of Southwestern works for the company. Turns out the graduate from Southwestern lives in the apartment building RIGHT NEXT to mine. What a small world, right? It would be in an unpaid internship and I would most likely be doing things like writing some reviews and researching locations and helping out with press releases. Right now I'm trying to figure out how I might be able to transfer some credit back to SU for the internship, which hopefully I'll have resolved by the end of this week.

In the spirit of nothing new to write about, why not a little rant and list about the daily occurrences/little annoyances/things I don't leave my house without that I've come to appreciate while living in Buenos Aires.

1. The Moneda: How difficult these little chunks of metal can make one's life. I've ranted about this one more than a few times, but it's definitely something that I spend a valuable amount of time thinking about everday. The colectivos (busses) only accept monedas, which are coin money. In Argentina the coins come in 5, 10, 25, and 50 centavo, or cent, denominations as well as a whole peso coin. The 5 and 10 cent pieces are the same size and color and are pretty much worthless. The 25 and 50 are also the same size and the 25 comes in two colors, silver and gold, gold also being the color of the 50 cent coin. The whole peso coin is a dual colored coin with an outer circle of silver and an inner circle of gold. The whole peso coin is the holy grail so to say of money for us. Receiving your change in only single peso coins is a miracle. In the same respect, they're impossible to get, you just have to get lucky. I've spent half an hour at times walking around to different kioskos trying to get monedas just to get on the bus. I would happily trade a 2 peso bill for a 1 peso coin.
   
   
2. The 100 peso bill: Another monetary issue. The ATM's usually only spit out 100 peso bills which is roughly equivalent to 33 dollars. No one likes to make change for these bad boys and will beg you for a smaller bill until they realize you're not going to give them anything smaller. In some not so rare cases they'll tell you they don't have change in turn not selling you your phone card or selected grocery items. This no sale due to stinginess of monedas also occurs, and even if you see the moneda in the cash register, they'll boldface tell you that they don't have any and you cannot have your 3 peso purchase with two 2 peso bills.
   
   
3. The Guia T: The city guide pocket sized. It lists all of the busses and their routes and has maps of every road in the city. I hardly ever leave my house without it but I'm not nearly as dependent on it as I used to be.

   

   
   
   
4. Colectivo línea 152: This is the best bus ever. It goes pretty much everywhere I could possibly need to go and it drives right next to my house. The bus systems are privatized here and as a result vary in quality, but not in cost. The 152 is probably the nicest out of the colectivos in Buenos Aires.

1. Quilmes: The national beer of Argentina. I wouldn't say it's the tastiest of beers I've tried (of course I mean of the ones I've tried legally since I've been in Argentina) but at around 2.50-3.00 U$S a pint in the bar and 2 U$S for a liter in the supermercado, I can't really complain all that much.
   
2. Empanadas: I could live on tasty empanadas and I need to learn how to make them so I can bring them back with me to the states. The only thing that could possibly make them better is the addition of some jalapeños.
   
3. Spanish-English Dictionary: Needless to say I never leave my house without that lovely book either.
   
4. Walking to school in itself: In Buenos Aires walking to class is always an adventure. I live on one of the main upscale shopping streets in Buenos Aires and it's always a joy dodging the oblivious Argentine shopper who decides to promptly stop themselves in the middle of the crowded sidewalk to view the new line of brightly colored leather goods in the window. Another object to avoid: a nice, big, warm pile of freshly laid dog poop. Everyone and their dog has a dog here (seriously, I've seen dogs walking other dogs) and the daily hired dog walkers descend upon the morning streets leaving a wake of destruction in their paths. This phenomenon tends to be more prominent in the mornings, but one must always be aware of where they are walking. Another fun experience is the act of crossing the street. Even if the little pedestrian light says you can caminar, you still have to be aware of the taxis/busses/motorcycles that are turning into your path and typically are unwilling to yield the right of way. I've almost been hit more than a couple of times.
   
5. Drivers: I am most thankful that I have not been graced with a car while in Argentina. No one can drive here and the abstract idea actually using those lane dividers painted on the roads has yet to infiltrate the minds of Porteño drivers. They also love their horns. Love 'em. We're talking a driver honking their horn without stopping for a solid two minutes because someone might be trying to cross the street at a moment when said driver feels is inappropriate. They also like to use them if the light isn't changing fast enough or if they see a pretty lady walking by.
   

That's about all that comes to mind really. Class is about to kill me, I have tests on June 2, 9 and 20 and a couple of papers due in the middle of those dates. I kind of forgot that I'm actually here to learn…oops!

Anyway, I think that'll suffice as an update for those who couldn't last another minute without knowing every mundane detail of my life. I say that with all the sarcasm I can possibly express in typed word. Also, I'm not trying to be overly cynical in this post. I love Buenos Aires, but living in a large city when you're from somewhere like Lubbock tends to take a toll on your sanity after a few months. But yeah, that's basically my life here. Thanks for reading if you lasted this long! I'll post another update next week about Iguazú, I'm pumped…I leave tonight (Thursday) and I'll get back to Bs. As. around mid day Monday. It'll be my first really long bus trip-17 hours-but we have a bed bus, so it shouldn't be too bad.

Anyway, chau!