What's New... Buenos Aires?

Hola!

I got into Buenos Aries yesterday and have been busy since. I took a short nap in the afternoon as I did not sleep well on the plane due to crying babies and annoying people such as the woman from Business class who couldn´t sleep in her seat and instead wanted to lay across the 2 seats next to me. WTF?! I don´t know if it was nerves, airplane food, lack of sleep of whatever else but I was so sick for the last hour or so on the plane. And no Sarah and Megan, I did NOT get off the plane and start singing.

The internet is so cheap!! There are locoturios everywhere and you can use the internet and phones. 1.5 pesos for 1 hour (prorated as well to 50 centavos per 20 minutes). That´s about $.50 US per hour!! Now I just have to get used to a very different keyboard.

I´m staying in Caballito which is outside of the main city in a middle class working neighborhood with very old, Italian style buildings. I was going to stay in San Telmo but all the other people staying there have left and he figured I would want to have someone nearby if I had any questions or needed help. It's an adorable house. You unlock the main door and there is a long, open air hallway that leads to three apartments (he owns two of them) and in my portion when you unlock that door you enter into the main living area which is open air as well! The table, chairs, fridge, sink, microwave, and phone are under a little overhang so they don´t get wet when it rains and then rest...well it gets rained on, there is literally a tree in the room! Off of the main room is 3 rooms (2 bedrooms and an office) and then a very tiny kitchen and bathroom with an old toilet that you pull a handle on the ceiling to make the water flush down. My room is beautiful and I have a desk shelves, double bed, and closet for only $10 US per night.

It´s been a whirlwind so far and I am so amazed with myself. Who would have thought it would take coming to a country by myself where I don´t speak the language to find self-confidence?! I obviously do not stick out too much because I have had 4 people come up and ask me for directions in spanish. I´ve found that what was said about clothing and body types here just isn´t true. I have seen so many types of women especially that you cannot tell who is a tourist until they pull out a camera! Jeans...everywhere. Women in ponytails, everywhere. Some look obviously latin but most are of european ancestry and there are plenty of very pale blondes here as well.

Last evening I met up with a professor from Texas who has a group of students here. Juan Carlos (the guy whose guest house I´m staying at) brought me on the bus and he got off about half way through and I figured out where I needed to get off. After walking through the pouring rain and getting drenched to the bone I finally found the group. The streets here fill completely with water and most people just take their shoes off and run through the big puddles! A local met us and took us on the train out of the city to see a villa miseral (shantytown) and to see the carteneros (people who after the economic collapse make as much money as they can going through garbage and collecting paper and cardboard to sell to businesses). They fill huge carts. The government, to keep them off of regular trains, gave them their own which is free. When the train pulled up I almost cried. We wouldn´t allow animals to ride like that. The train is completely falling apart, there are no lights on it and it was filled with hundreds of people including little children and their huge carts. The poverty here is unbelievable. The villa miseral is literally on one side of the tracks of the train and less than 100m away on the other side is the most expensive real estate in BsAs. Alberto, the local, had told us that we could take pictues only once the train had actually arrived. I was taking my thrid picture when a police officer came over and gave a lecture to me and another girl that I didn´t understand. ALberto told us we had to follow him and it turns out he wanted us to come stand by him and another cop for protection until the train left because the carteneros do not like having their pictures taken and they have been known to get violent. Who can blame them...

We then went to a little local place for dinner. It was PACKED. By the time we left (about 10:00) there was a line out the door and we were definitely the only tourists there. The food was ok but not fantastic. They ordered an assortment of foods for us to try and I figured, what the hell you only live once, I´ll try everything.

Chicken-blah, not very good
Very rare steak-not what I wish my first Argentine steak was like! Pretty tasteless.
Mashed sweet potatoes (or squash i couldn´t tell) - yummy
Spinach and cheese - I need to figure out what kind of cheese because it was excellent!!
Chorizo (sausage bascially) - really really good
Fried potatoes (french fries basically though fried in beef fat) - no real taste
Intestine - absolutely disgusting. Rubber on the outside, gritty mush on the inside. But i ate it and didn´t puke it up or spit it out, though I came close to both. Yes, I Kristen, who hasn´t eaten meat except chicken and turkey for 15 years, ate intestine. And I never will again!!

The girls (all from some Christain private college in Texas) were amazed that I came here alone, with no set plan not knowing the language and asked a billion questions. Alberto who is a VERY outspoken guy talked with some of us about politics and especially about the political history (Ava Peron was "the biggest bitch in the world" according to him) We took a van back to where the students are staying and he gave me directions to the nearest subway. When I got there, the last train had left. It amazes me that in a city where people do not eat until 9-10 at the earliest and easily stay out to 2-3 on most days, that the subte stops running at 11 with the last cars leaving at 10:30 from a lot of places! I walked a bit more (ok like 2 miles) and decided that instead of trying to figure out what bus I needed it was easier to just hail a cab. Now I had been told before I left that you should always call for a cab instead of hailing one if you don´t speak castellano but I saw a radio taxi (the ones that are licensed) and I stuck out my hand and figured I'd give it a shot. He realized pretty quickly I spoke little spanish and he no english but he was great and we had a semi-understood conversation with a lot of laughter. 10 minutes later I was at my door for the unbelievably cheap price of 12.48 pesos (about $4) and he thanked me profusely when I gave him 15 pesos (that´s like a $.80 US tip).
I passed out and let myself sleep late.

I´m near the Plaza de Mayo now just wandering around taking pictures and stopping in little museums (most all of them are free around here).

Even last night, walking down small, dark streets to get to the subte, I never felt afraid. There are police EVERYWHERE here and I don´t pull out a map or anything and I just walk with my head up and I have mastered the look that Argentine women have on their faces as they walk that basically says "fuck off" as they look straight ahead.

I think I´m going to go get something to eat for lunch since I didn´t eat breakfast and then wander around some more until 3:30 when I will meet the group again to watch and meet the Madres de Plaza de Mayo.
I still cannot call to the US on my cell phone because apparently I´m retarded or something and do not understand the operators message. I need to buy another phone card (ridiculously cheap here 5 pesos for 36 minutes to the US) and then I will call everyone! If anyone needs to call me the number I´m at is 54 11 4432-2357 but I only can get calls until about 11PM (10PM your time) and I´m not there that much except for in the morning so you likely won´t catch me. If it´s necessary my cell phone can get incoming calls thought it´s incredibly expensive so only use it if necessary!

More later!

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Part of trip: Argentina

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