I am now in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I have been wanting to come back here since my first trip over 2 years ago.
This time I am staying a bit longer; it will be about two months. I have rented an apartment through a friend of a friend. I am staying in the Caballito barrio (Note: the picture above is just a random building in Buenos Aires). It is not as cool and trendy as Palermo Vieojo where I stayed last time but this time I am on a budget. Also, part of the plan was to avoid as much winter as I can. While, London is getting colder and the days are shorter the opposite is happening here in Argentina.
So far, I have meet up with some friends from before like my friend Steve and his family. And I have met some new people this time. I have met a fellow Vancouverite Holly Foster. I thank DJ Clarence from Vancouver for the introduction.
And I have stared taking guitar lessons. I need to buy a guitar quick. My teacher Cristian was showing me how to use guitar tabs and his song choice was "No Surprises" by Radiohead; I was very happy to be learning how to play a song from one of my favourite bands.
It interesting the differences between England, Canada and Argentina. In the apartment, there is a gas oven and you have to light it with a match. This morning, I managed to singe the hair on my left arm and my eyebrows while lighting the oven. Not a happy start to the day. Maybe. I am not destined to be a cook. I have never used a gas oven before; they have always been electric. Perhaps, time to go buy a microwave oven.
The other night, I met up with Holly and Beto and we went to the "Barrio Chino". It is the Chinatown area in Buenos Aires. It is quite small compared to London & Vancouver but it the place to go if you want to buy curry pastes and things like garam masala for Indian cooking.
Argentinean cooking is very influenced by Italian cooking. There are pizza restaurants everywhere. And these places also make Empanadas; Emapanads are found all over Latin America. They are savoury pastries that can be baked or fried. They can come with all kinds of ingredients be it beef, chicken or vegetables. I have been trying out some of the local take out restaurants. I was really looking forward to having some empanadas with carne picante the other day. I expected them to be spicy but I barely tasted any chilli. The cuisine here is not spicy at all.
It interesting how technology has made travelling so much easier to stay in touch with people. I have cable internet in the apartment and I have rented a mobile phone. I am every day doing Google searches and whatever to find out more about what is going on Buenos Aires. There of course quite a few active bloggers here. I have yet to find a good and up to date source of information on the contemporary art scene here in English. But I will most likely be getting some info from Flor and Silvina who I met on my last trip. They are experts on the local art scene; that is what they do.
http://www.puntos-arte.com.ar/
My Spanish is still quite diabolical; I have been listening to some BBC language CD's and carrying my Lonely planet phrase book around. I went and took some clothes the local laundry service. They said things to me and I really did not understand. They were very good sports about my lack of Spanish. Basically, I think they were asking if one of clothes articles was dry clean only which it was not.
One of the funny things last night when I went grocery shopping, the supermarket did not have any carrots. You take thing like carrots for granted as being ubiquitous. I suppose carrots are not really typical here. And the other thing, I was told that is that the prices of tomatoes here are so extraordinarily high that there is a boycott on buying them. Inflation is also quite high here at the moment. The meat section of the super market had all kinds of beef but I did not see any chicken. I wanted to possibly make a chicken curry one night; I brought a big jar of Patak's Madras curry with me from the UK; how long will it last? At the same, you shops that have rotisseries; there is one just a few blocks down the road; living by myself, I don't see me buying a whole roasted chicken anytime soon. The city is full of shops & restaurants. In London where you are never too far a from a pub; here you are never too far from a pizzeria; in fact I might go have some pizza for lunch. I have been going for walks around the neighbourhood to see what the local shops are. Buenos Aires is quite a densely packed city. There are many tall apartment buildings here. Many things can be found within walking distance here in the Caballito barrio.
And there is construction work everywhere. Add that to the constant dogs barking and it is quite a noisy place - it is a lively city. And also speaking about dogs; there is dog dirt everywhere. I bought a pair of Doc. Martin walking shoes for those trips out of town but I am wearing them practically everyday as a navigate the treacherous sidewalks of the city avoiding poop and all the potholes.
I also plan to make some excursions to other parts of the country after I get a bit more settled in. Even-though, I am here in Argentina, I am still doing work on a London based project and scoping out some possible new work as well. Busy, busy but in a good way.
Tonight, I am going to join Beto, Holly's partner, and we are going to drink some beers with the Buenos Aires Quaffers. And today is looking like another sunny day; I think a walk to the local park is the thing to do.
M.