Saturday, December 16, 2006

WINE for the WINO

Chico and I went to a little pizza/empanada restaurant last night for a bite. We ordered vino tinto de la casa and the waiter actually opened it, poured it into a glass for Chico, and had him taste it first. This is a 3 pesos bottle of wine! I am so impressed (while slightly amused)!
I am going to miss wine the most when I eventually leave Argentina. No where in the states would you be able to buy a 3 pesos bottle of GREAT malbec. That's right... good wine is actually cheaper than a bottle of aqua sin gas. This is the one thing I don't feel guilty about purchasing when I'm low on pesos in my pocket. So I'm off to buy another bottle. And for those of you who will notice what time I'm posting this... so what?

Thursday, December 14, 2006

MOVIE UPDATE

We can't find the DVD we rented. So now I am going to have to pay 30 pesos for a movie that never worked in the 1st place.

Monday, December 11, 2006

OH DEAR GOD, THERE IS FLAVOR (and Jesus) HERE!

Cancun Mexican Restaurant in San Telmo (on Defensa near Chile). Sweet mother of Jesus. They actually use spices in the food. This is heaven... absolute heaven!

On another note, I finally made it to Tierra Santa. This is something that shouldn't be passed up by any tourist/expat. I understand that it is supposed to be taken seriously, and I sincerely apologize for offending anyone, but come on! This is brilliant (I'm acting British again). I still am under the impression that the man who designed this theme park was taking LSD for a week straight. The giant (18 meters high) Jesus that rises every 30 minutes is magnificent! The people who sit on benches and applaud this are magnificent. Something like this would be a complete flop in the US or the UK. It says something about the different cultures for sure. On our way out though, we saw a couple coming in on a very obvious (and nervous) first date. I don't know if I would have proposed to Chico, or never talked to him again, had he suggested this to me on our first date.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

I'M REALLY TRYING HERE.

Yesterday was a long work day. All I wanted to do last night was rent a movie, put on my pj's, and have a glass of wine before bed. We walked down to the movie rental store after dinner. I really need to describe this for those of you back in the states who only have had the "Blockbuster experience".
There is a little, tiny video rental place down the street. They keep it looked at all times (apparently had a little bit of bad history there), so you knock and if you look nice enough they buzz you in. They have DVD and VHS movie covers lining the wall in no particular order. So you go through them, pick one out, and ask the guy at the front desk (who I must emphasize is the nicest man) for the movie serial number. They go into the drawer behind the counter and pull out your selection. Then you pay the 4 pesos charge when you return the movie. Great deal. Easy enough.
We rented the DaVinci Code. A complete knock-off, blatantly pirated version, of the DaVinci Code. There was no sound until the 3rd scene and even then it skipped so many times we finally turned it off.
If this had only happened once, or even twice I would just chuck it up to bad luck. But this is the third time. All I wanted was to watch a movie!

Monday, December 04, 2006

ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT, MATE!

How is it that I moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina and most of my friends are English? So instead of picking up Spanish, most of my vocabulary now consists of British slang. Last night I found myself describing someone as being a total legend although it seemed this person had been on a quite a bender. Bloody hell, it just gets worse. We happened to be at a rather dodgy bar but the chopps and monkey nuts were good. So good that I was rather pissed when we called for a cab.
Chico, on the other hand, told the cab driver "Bueno" when he stopped the car in front of our door. Chico paid him, was thanked, and then responded with, "No, por favor". He is doing SO much better than I.

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Summertime and the livin' is easy

God, I love summer! Having lived in San Diego for 4 years, I got used to it being 73 degrees, day after day, no matter what season you were in. But the nights would get chilly and I would always have to bring a sweater out. Last night Chico and I strolled down to Plaza Dorrego for a chopp of Quilmes and to listen to some Tango. It was so warm I was able to wear shorts and a tank top (I have to forgo the flip flops... too many cockroaches scurrying around). The weather was perfect! I haven't seen any signs that Christmas is around the corner though, except the Christmas tree in front of Jumbo. This will be my first Christmas away from home. I guess as long as I don't see reminders of what I'm missing, I won't be as homesick...

Took a walk down Chile in San Telmo the other night, and on the door of Chile 672 was a movie poster for the film (appropriately titled) Chile 672. Has anyone heard of this? Where is it playing other than the film festivals that I've already missed?

And finally for the big news...
I got a job. The wonderful thing is that it involves working with utilities/energy which is something I have done previously. I'm enjoying it- especially the part that I work from home and can make my own schedule. Also having done this before makes it a little easier to get (and stay) motivated.

Chau!