When there's nowhere else to turn...

Ok I have something to admit. I'm not totally proud of it. But it needs to be said. My new favorite place in Buenos Aires is... uuuh I can barely bring myself to say it.

It's Starbucks.

So it's not a terrible thing. Starbucks did a great thing in making quality coffee a norm, though I'll never forgive them for their bastardization of the meaning of "machhiato". I just usually pride myself on seeking out the smaller, local places like Boutique del Libro or Lentas Maravillas. But it's only one particular Starbucks in the city. I mean, I've only been to one other, the one in the Alto Palermo mall so I really can't expound on all the Starbucks in the city, but the one I'm at, in Belgrano on Federico Lacroze, is really the only place I want to be right now. Since I got to Buenos Aires I've been looking for that one cozy place, walking distance from my apartment*, my Haymarket away from Haymarket, you know? Boutique del Libro came close, but it's a haul to get there and they lack comfy chairs. But this Starbucks is really great. It's an old converted house so it has a sweet upstairs with 3 rooms packed with comfy chairs and work tables and some beautiful stained glass windows that open like french doors. And they even play decent music. So I'm here to stay. I'm sure I'll make up for it when I'm back in Northampton in 61 days.

*"walking distance" for me, I learned while my family was here, does not equal walking distance for most other people. I now also know why Becky used to get mad at me for walking too slow whenever I visited her in NYC. Believe it or not, I myself have developed my own "city walk". However, I plan to happily abandon it as soon as I'm back to wandering in the woods.

A lovely day

Today was a lovely day. I woke up at a nice time, made delicious oatmeal with raisins and banana--the fact that instant oatmeal is sort of hard to come by in the shops here is a blessing, since now I am the master of perfect REAL oatmeal. Haymarket's steel-cut oatmeal bowl with fruit compote is still #1 though--went to yoga, went to the library, and ate a delicious sandwich of arugula, mushroom, sun dried tomatoes and queso blanco on pan de campo at one of my favorite spots in the whole city: Boutique del Libro. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this place before, but if I have, I'm OK with that. It's worth mentioning twice.

It's the prefect amount of cute.

It's FULL of books in all shapes and sizes.

It has a great café.

And it makes me feel all warm and cozy inside.

What more could a girl ask for? Her best friend, maybe? Aw shucks, I'll have her at my side tomorrow afternoon!

Check out Boutique del Libro in Palermo Soho (on Thames, between Costa Rica y El Salvador).

Some times...

Sometimes I make fresh squeezed OJ.

Sometimes I stumble across super cute organic grocer/cafes...

...and sometimes there is total desayuno destruction. Bran muffins 4 life. mmmm

Natural Deli, Gorostiaga 1776

Some other goings on. Day 32

Yesterday was St. Patrick’s Day; it was the second time I’ve been outside the US to celebrate. Last year, I was in Ireland. St. Patrick’s Day in BA was a little different, to say the least.

Since Gina’s homestay mom is out of the apartment for the week, I met Gina at her place in Almagro to drink some wine and watch a bit of Orgulloso y Prejuicio (nothing like beautiful people with British accents to make you feel like home). Then we met up with Kara and headed to Temple Bar on Marcelo T Alvear right en el centro. There was free face paint (I’m still working on getting the last flecks of glitter of the right side of my face), expensive drinks, and lots of drunk dudes. Most of the time, Argentine men are only %20 alcohol, 80% vain and self-assured. St. Patrick’s Day, it seems, is the one night when they’re just aaaall 100% crunk-ass playas. No thanks! The three of us girls finally resorted to adopting alter egos when anyone stumbling/sketchy/with a mullet tried to approach us. Kara pretended to be mute. Gina only spoke in a low voice that rivaled the cigarette encrusted scratch of Molly’s host mom. I was from France… “Je ne comprends pas!” When Temple Bar got a little old, we headed over to a block party on Reconquista, and pretty much immediately realized it was NOT the place for three young American women to be walking around. Stuff was on fire. Broken glass everywhere. Packs of men chanting and clapping around a bagpiper (who knows where he came from?) So we ducked out faster than they could say “De donde sos? Wayhr ahrd yous flrom?”

Another big day is coming up as Barbara’s fiesta de quince is this friday. I saw the dress the other day. Think pink Cinderella + strawberry cupcake. She’s going to look beautiful. Did I mention there’s 170 guests? And it doesn’t end until 6am? Everyone’s busy with the preparations…

My search for a new dress to wear to the party lead me into Palermo Soho yesterday after I met Molly and Kara for the most delicious pizza I’ve had here so far. The place was called Io te amasso… thin crust and deeeelicious. For some reason, most pizza places here like to include huevos duros (hard boiled eggs) and salsa golf on every slice, but gratefully, this place was self-proclaimed “Italian style” and neglected the Argentine fascination for the strange mixture of mayonnaise and ketchup. At least I think that’s what it is.

Just down the street from the pizza place was the big fancy shopping district with all of BA’s top designers. Papa, don’t worry! I restrained myself! But it was fun to window shop alongside the rich and famous for a few hours!

Almost forgot an important update! The oven works! I made my first batch of cookies this afternoon. They came out alright for not having measuring cups, baking soda, or eggs. Yup, I banana battered those babies and they still came out pretty good! They look a little funny, and they’re very dense without the leavening, but throw sugar, banana, oatmeal, walnuts, and chocolate chunks in anything and it’s sure to be delicious!

Well, its about time for a family skype date and maybe even some homework before classes tomorrow. Hasta luego!

Full

I’m finally feeling like I can love Buenos Aires. The first few days I was here I was completely overwhelmed by heat, sweat, and public transportation. I was thinking that BA was a big, dirty city, that I could get used to it, but that I probably wouldn’t love it. But now after some more exploring, a lot more walking, and a few thunderstorms that broke the heat wave, I finding the real beauty in this big, dirty city.

This weekend has been wonderful and relaxing. On Friday night I met up with friends and we went to one of BA’s microbreweries in Recoleta, across from the cemetery where the Perones and the rest of Argentina’s VIPs are buried. After a few samples, we headed over to San Telmo to a 3-story nightclub called Rey Castro. The place was mostly locals and only played Latin music, which was really fun (though of course I was craving a little Single Ladies, as always). The only American song they played was the Twist, and all the porteños knew how to twist! It was fantastic! We left the club around 3am, about the time Argentina’s senior citizens start to think about going to sleep… but we had big plans for Saturday so a few extra hours of sleep were necessary.

Back in San Telmo on Saturday, my friends and I planned to meet at Plaza Dorrego, known for its weekend arts and antiques market. I took the subte (which is actually quite pleasant outside of rush hours) to Plaza de Mayo where I snapped some pictures of la Casa Rosada and the Banco Nacional de Argentina. The architecture here is really incredible. Most of it is modeled after classic French architecture, with the occasional Spanish Colonial catedral thrown in there just to mix it up. Plaza de Mayo is also the site where the mothers of children and families kidnapped during the dirty wars in the 70s and 80s march in non-violent protest. Las Madres still march there every Thursday, and their symbolic white head scarves and pleas for their families are painted on the bricks of the plaza.

From Plaza de Mayo, I walked down the cobble stoned calle Defensa into the heart of San Telmo. This street is lined with fabulous antique shops. The ceiling of one was entirely covered with crystal chandeliers! So beautiful! On one corner of Defensa is the market at Plaza Dorrego where we drank some espresso and watched the tango shows that spring up anywhere tourists gather.

Then, it was time for asado.

Asado is an Argentine tradition of grilling up every possibly edible part of cows and pigs and stuffing your face with meat and wine until you are deliriously happy and don’t need to eat for days. OK, maybe the latter half of that isn’t so much tradition as it is just hungry Americans in Argentina. So let’s see, we ate chorizos, morcillas (blood pudding), chinchulines (intestines), tiras (ribs), mollejas (um, glands), and every other unknown delicious hunk of meat the asador threw on our plates. Did I mention the place we were at, Siga la Vaca, is all you can eat? For 63 pesos each, less than 20 bucks, each of us got all the meat, roasted vegetables, cheeses, prosciuttos, and breads we could consume. And a few bottles of wine too. Gracias a dios, I’m no longer vegetarian.

It’s been a fabulous weekend. Not much more to tell about since after the afternoon of asado I’ve been pretty lazy. Though today I did explore more of Belgrano. BA is full of surprises, and I’m so glad I get to spend time here.

Off to learn to make homemade pasta with my homestay mom! The rest of my pictures are here.