Argentina in a nutshell..(for Diego)

I apologize to all for not updating in a while but here it goes...
Today, Nic and I have officially been in Buenos Aires for 6 weeks and this has been enough to learn a few things about Argentina and its culture. It has been an interesting experience to learn more about the culture because I find myself comparing things to Colombia often. I become confused or thrown off when things are not the same. However, I've compiled a list of things that stand out to me about Argentina and Buenos Aires to be more exact which I find different and/or amusing:

• Restaurants are always tricky here. If you're not a patient person, don't ever go to a restaurant in Buenos Aires. You walk in and you have to find your own table (no hosts), then you sit there for about 10 to 15 minutes before anyone from the restaurant acknowledges your existence. Most restaurants sell the same exact things: Ravioli, gnocchi, milanesas [breaded meat or chicken], pizza, empanadas [often baked... Colombian ones are fried], medialunas [croissants], wine, Quilmes 1lt. beer, and Coke products. Therefore, bringing la carta (menu) to a table isn't always done so you might have to ask for it. Either way you only get the menu just to look at prices and their promos. Here is a picture of a typical combo:

This a meal bought at the nearest dive bar from our house. It's a Muzza grande con una de Quilmes (Large cheese pizza with a liter of Quilmes) Fun fact: ALL pizzas here are served a green olive on every slice.

• During your meal the waiter/server completely forgets about your existence again. By the way, most restaurant servers here are middle aged men. They would never ask how your meal is or if they can get you anything else, unlike the States. Finally when it comes to paying you ask how much you owe. Sometimes the waiter will say it to you right away, bring you a printed receipt, or a handwritten piece of paper with random numbers for the cost of all the items on it and a total. When it comes to tipping, Nic and I have not figured it out. It's not very common and if you do end up tipping it's usually 2 pesos (US$0.50).
• The concept of customer service, as we know it does not exist here. Whenever you deal with a restaurant waiter, money exchange house clerk, or even immigration clerk, you get this feeling that they're always pissed off. If you make their job more complicated that it has to be, they will make their annoyance known to you. They don't have the mentality that the "customer is always right" as we do at home.
  
• Graffiti and tagging is EVERYWHERE in Buenos Aires! But it's not always cool, sometimes it's just boring incomprehensible letters that just clutter up wall space. Anyway I'm serious when I say everywhere. Even in very public areas where you'd think you could easily get caught doing so like a Subte station.
  
• Argentinians pronounce their ll and y's like sh's and they drop their s's.
• The concept of time is weird here. When someone says meet at noon, it could mean noon on the dot or it could mean 2pm and it's acceptable to do so depending on the context.
  
• There is dog poop on the sidewalks almost everywhere. So watch out when you walk... Nic :P.
• Soft drinks like Coke or Sprite almost never come with ice (like it's not an option). And if it's a sitdown restaurant you always get a 600ml glass bottle and a glass to pour it in. This also means no free refills...ever. And water costs money everywhere, it's not free because it's never tap water you get.
• Alfajores are the best thing ever! They are like little cake pastries that are often covered in chocolate and filled with dulce de leche. I will be bringing some home with me for sure.

Anyway this is all I have to say about lovely Buenos Aires. Despite all of the differences, I really enjoy this city and it's culture. It's helped me put a lot of things in perspective and it allows me to appreciate home.

Photo Essay

Diego in front of the hostel. Including the garage/basement, it has four floors and has had up to 27 interns living in it at once. It includes a full kitchen, a large living/work room, and (in theory) five bathrooms. We sleep in bunk beds and the huge house also includes a back terrace, and patio with a large grill for traditional asados (barbeques).

Mika (Croatia) hanging laundry on the back terrace. This only works so well since during an Argentinian winter there tends to be a ton of rain. So of course, the railings on the stairs and throughout the house are always covered in drying towels and clothes.

Nearby is the large Avenida Rivadavia where we can find grocery stores, malls, restaurants, convenience stores, and everything. Fun fact: it's one of the longest avenues in the world. Buenos Aires also has Avenida 9 de Julio which is the widest in the world with at least a dozen lanes at some points.

Living with so many others can be stressful, like your first experience living in dorms as a freshman. At the same time, living and working with a group of people 24/7 creates a strong sense of community and the group put on a surprise birthday party for me, led by the always wonderful Diego. Somehow he found an ice cream cake in this city, which is always a tradition in my family since my birthday normally passes in the middle of summer. Meli (Austria) brings me my cake. Of course the candles were trick candles.

Exploring the city is a huge part of traveling! Exploring with friends is that much better. Here are Orson (Arizona) and Rosario (Buenos Aires) trying to get us lost.

Getting around the city has been made easy by the extensive bus, train, and subway network crisscrossing it. I can't imagine traveling around this easily or cheaply (about 30 cents per ride) in Milwaukee, especially not without a car.

Our first night in Buenos Aires was 25 de Mayo, which is a huge national holiday in Argentina. The local AIESECers brought those of us interns who had arrived to Plaza de Mayo in front of the Casa Rosada, to see a rock concert. It was a ton of fun. As you can see, the whole palace was lit up by LED lights and we were surrounded by street vendors selling every imaginable type of empanada and drinks.

Buenos Aires is a huge cosmopolitan city with many opportunities to see new things from around the world. Ironically I saw my first American electric car in South America.

Burger King has a pronunciation guide. Also, notice the prices: a medium size combo meal with sandwich, fries, and a drink costs 31 pesos, or about US$7.50. On the other hand, it's easy to find local restaurants or street vendors selling jumbo hotdogs for 5 pesos (US$1.20) or the local choripan, about the size of this "steikjaus" burger for 8 pesos (US$2).

Street market in the San Telmo neighborhood. You can buy just about anything you want here and it is a very lively area full of music and art. But beware: this is not a very legit Argentinian place, for you will hear about as much English as you will Spanish.

There is a very touristy town called Tigre about an hour by train north of the city, which has an amusement park, touristy markets, and a ton of green space. After going crazy not seeing almost any green in the city for weeks, it was refreshing to see green grass and new places via boat down el Rio Tigre. There are large homes on islands in the river's delta which can only be reached by boat. They even have trash pick-up boats and ice cream selling boats.

I suppose it's also important to show the internship work itself, although it's difficult because we aren't always allowed to photograph the people we work with (kids, elderly). Here is a group of us at an orphanage where we just unloaded the full truck behind us of clothing and food donations for the kids. The orphanage is great, with a full sized soccer field on the girls' side and a similarly sized yard for the boys. When we showed up at the boys side, a little guy also named Nico threw me a frisbee and wanted to play. The kids are great!

The main project my group has been working on for the last few weeks has been a soccer tournament as a fundraiser. Finally, on my birthday the day arrived, and we had five teams (including two made up of some of us AIESEC interns) playing all day, with music and an asado to grill chorizo. It was a ton of fun, and hopefully raised some money for all the people we've been serving. Here Ana Maria (Peru) and Jose (Ecuador) watch the one of the house teams get beat by Argentinians.

Pictures are supposed to speak a thousand words, so to condense this post from the last one I wrote it is based on images rather than text. Hope it bring our experiences to life!

Nic