Leap Day Reflections
Musings on one month in Buenos Aires
This is the longest February we’ve had in like four years. For me the month has had a weird time dilation; it feels as though it has gone very fast, but when I think back on my first day in Argentina – or my last day in Philly – it also feels like forever ago.
I thought I would take a moment to talk about some of my experiences here, some of the things I’ve noticed, what I think about Buenos Aires in general, and just kind of dump a miscellany of thoughts down on the page for anyone who wants to pick through them.
I’ll start with some interesting questions that some of my friends have had.
What are you doing during the day?
I have found it weird to have no structure to my day – I can literally do whatever I want, which often means that I end up doing very little. I am working on this to try to feel more productive.
I usually start my morning in the apartment with tea, then I play some NYT word games and either go through some emails or work on a blog post or maybe write in my journal. I have been reading a lot too. Around lunch time I’ll go out for a walk and just wander wherever my feet take me. When I get hungry or see something I like, I stop. I may go to a park for some bird watching or check out some shops or sit in a café and use the wifi to write.
When Rob was here we would go out in the evening for dinner or drinks but now that he’s gone I’m back on my own. Now in the evening I typically have dinner in my apartment, depending on what groceries or lunch leftovers are available. I haven’t been cooking much because the kitchen is rather poorly outfitted but I will make more of an effort.
I go to my horseback riding lesson once a week. I do laundry a lot because the washing machine only holds about 4 items of clothing. There is a language exchange meetup that I’m planning to check out to hopefully further improve my Spanish. I also recently bought what I thought was a $27 ticket to see the ballet at the venerable Teatro Colon, only to discover that it was a $27 ticket to see a series of five ballets at the Teatro Colon. Most of them happen after I leave but I’m still looking forward to the ones I can catch.
What’s the best thing you’ve eaten so far?
I’ve had a couple good meals here in some of the nicer restaurants, but overall the food is not particularly extraordinary. The cocktails are good, and cheap. The pizza is pretty good but again, not the best pizza I’ve ever had. I’ve had steak twice since I’ve been here and both times it has been good, but kind of fatty cuts. Weirdly, they often bring you bread to the table but with no butter or oil to go with it. I like the empanadas that you can find at a lot of places – they usually cost around a dollar and the veggie ones are usually good. It’s not uncommon to ask for something on the menu in a café or restaurant, only to be told they don’t have it.
How do the people feel about their pets?
The locals here love their dogs, and there are a lot of them. I’ve only seen one or two strays in Buenos Aires; the rest all seem to be well-cared for. The owners are not always good about picking up after their pups, however, which means you have to more or less constantly watch where you’re walking. There are a lot of pet stores everywhere, and they sell upscale food brands like Royal Canin and Eukanuba. I’ve seen a few veterinary offices and if my Spanish were better I would go in and ask for a tour as a visiting veterinary professional (for those of you who don’t know, I’m trained as a veterinary nurse). I’d love to see how their vet clinics compare to ours.
How are you feeling thus far about your travels? Happy? Free? Confused? Lonely?
Lucky! Mostly what I feel is incredibly lucky to have this experience. Rob has been relentlessly and ridiculously supportive for which I’m extremely grateful.
That said, I also have some vague sense of anxiety that I’m not doing enough, that I’m not getting enough out of my experience, that I’m going to miss something. I also have a constant underlying low-level anxiety about my future, like background radiation that is kind of always there under the surface. The days when I have to start job-hunting again feel like they are fast approaching.
And now for some random observations, in no particular order:
Drivers here stop at the stop lights but never at stop signs. They will usually slow down enough to make sure they aren’t going to hit a car coming from the cross street who is also not stopping at the stop sign. But then they plow right through.
Fortunately, the majority of streets are one-way, so you generally only have to worry about being hit by a car running a stop sign from one direction.
Most locals don’t eat dinner until after 9pm. I don’t know how they do it, I guess everyone is taking a nap at some point during the day? Only once or twice since I’ve been here have I been able to hold out that long. A lot of restaurants don’t even open until 7 or 8pm and if you go at that time, it’s obvious that you’re a tourist.
Lots of things, at least in my neighborhood, are closed on Sundays. I’m not sure it’s because the people are in church, I think it might just be because they were up until 6am partying. Clubs here, from what I’ve heard, don’t start hopping until 2am, and don’t close down until sunrise. Despite my advanced age I plan to check one out before I leave. I’ll keep you posted. It will take a lot of strategic napping.
Some things – like food and transportation and some services – are very cheap. Others are weirdly expensive. You can get a coffee and two medialunas for breakfast for less than $3 in some places. But the same Brooks running shoes that I bought back home for $120 are $180 here. Rob bought a teakettle for the apartment and the cheapest model they had was $30. I’m pretty sure I could’ve gotten a better one on Amazon for $15. On the other hand, I’ve heard you can get a haircut for $7 and Botox for $8. I do not know if either of those things are true.
Amazon, as far as I know, does not function here, but they do have a website called MercadoLibre which I think is like a beefed up Craigslist. Apparently you can buy all sorts of new and used items on it and there are listings for vehicles and real estate. However, you need a DNI (local identification number) to be able to use the site, which I do not have.
I have not yet seen a big mega-store like Walmart or Target; it’s possible that something like this exists here but it must be rare if so. Instead, you have to go to individual stores for the things you want, like the good old days. Grocery stores are fairly well-stocked but you can also go to a separate shop for produce and another for meat and cheese and yet another for bread. The Farmacias carry things like tissues, shampoo, and ibuprofen. You’ll have to go to a separate shop for household items like dishes and tableware and a different store for towels and pillows. It is not as convenient but feels psychologically more wholesome, which I’m sure is just a mental construct.
What are you curious about that I didn’t address? Drop a comment below and I’ll try to answer!
Bread without butter, Xanadu!!