The Tales of an Absentminded Student

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My mind is racing today and there is a lot running around my head, so forgive me if my thoughts bounce around a bit. So let’s talk about food. I enjoyed the food in Argentina. I didn’t love it; Brazilian food to me was much better. But I did enjoy my meals in Argentina. One thing that I noticed was the amount of restaurants in Argentina. There were a lot. So many that to me it seemed impossible that the restaurants could all be doing well and stay up and running during the world crisis we’re in. I wondered about that enough that I decided to look around in some Argentine newspapers and websites for some Argentine opinions. I found one entry on that exact subject in the Argentine paper, La Critica, from June 9th of this year. According to this study, many restaurants have altered their prices by 25% to 50% in this year’s first quarter due to increases in gas, electricity and food bills. There have also been 425 restaurants that have closed in just four months, and sales have dropped by 40%. Many are expecting adjustments in regards to wages after the upcoming elections. Some economists are now predicting that up to 1,800 of the 40,000 restaurants in Buenos Aires could close. It’s kind of sad, but according to my sources at the CARI, the Argentine Council for International Relations, once people in third world countries get a taste of beef, they’ll never turn back so Argentine cereals won’t be affected by economic troubles. Hopefully they’re right, and the Argentine economy can hold up with the aid of high exportation in the face of some hiccups in the internal food market.

Because I myself am trying to save money, I tended to eat out less as well I was in Argentina, which led to me often watching TV while eating. One of the things I watched a lot was the NBA playoffs. I love basketball, and I was pretty sad when the Celtics lost because they’re my team. The NBA playoffs last such a long time to me. I like it, because I like getting to watch them for a good while, and there is a consistent flow of important games. But they are nothing in comparison to tournaments in soccer. In soccer, players are constantly playing. If it isn’t for their club team, it’s for their nation’s team. Not only are they playing tournament games, but they’re also playing regular league games and World Cup qualifying games. There are a lot of tournaments, too. Soccer players play their sport unlike any other game I know. Think of the NBA players trying to play for teams and nations like soccer players do. It’s hard enough for Yao Ming to keep from getting hurt already. There would be trouble. I think I would enjoy it though, because maybe basketball players might try harder then. Who knows. For now, basketball is still my favorite sport, but the more I watch soccer the more I enjoy it: And I will keep rooting for US soccer…World Cup 2010 baby!

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