Argentina 2: Not Considered a Priceless Jewel and ShantyTown

BIENVENIDOS A ARGENTINA!!!

I have made it safely and yet again I realize how Spanish a Spanish-speaking country is! Imagine that—Spanish.

I am proud to say that I have officially survived several things in my two days being here—of which I am sure I will have to survive again.

1: Drivers who don’t consider you a priceless jewel as they would in the US—probably because Americans have a predisposition to suing the living daylights out of you if you even contemplate running them over. So if you think that you will possibly be able to spare your life by crossing at a specific time, just wait—they have a tendency to not see you standing very obviously in the middle of the street.

1B: Another odd street thing: I actually saw one native here, beat the trunk of a car in a traffic jam so that he could get through two bumpers. So I’ve adapted the rules of the road here: When not sure of the rules—be like the Argentines and beat cars and run real fast!

2: Everybody is SO stylish here! I’ve seen a Lacoste, Christine Dior, and some other store names that I don’t—and probably never will—have in my closet. I like their color combos and the cuts of their jackets and sweaters and such. It’s only 68 degrees here right now, but they are dressed in November-esque coats—not snowing, but nippy. I don’t think they could handle the degreed weather of true winter where you don’t want to open your mouth cuz your spit might freeze while trying to make it to class on time.

3: The train makes me VERY sleepy!! I tried to stay awake to see the different areas of Buenos Aires today, but each way on the 45-minute route, I would fall asleep at exactly ½ way. Dang! The landscape ranged from makeshift living arrangements called “ShantyTown” to elitist mansions fit for a King—or embassy ambassador. The most unfortunate and most perplexing sight I saw while on the train was a man on the 3^rd floor flat on a very new and chic MacBook Pro talking on his BlackBerry—overlooking abject poverty in ShantyTown.. Oh the irony. I wonder what he was thinking about. Did he even see them at all? Who knows.

4: I am realizing how regional food names can be just plain surprising. Just to get it straight—I don’t eat pork, prefer no cheese (lactose intolerant), and I don’t eat/like eggs. Today, I ate ravioli which does have cheese—I didn’t see the chicken option—and I had flan which is egg-based. Epic fail. I do try flan every 5 or so years just to see if I’ll change my mind on the taste/texture/egginess…Yet again—no point for the Flan Team.

4B: My most interesting food intake was yesterday when I ordered a “Tortilla With Some Unknown Random Words” after it. I was expecting maybe a burrito—something with a corn or flour tortilla. Out comes a Potato and Ham Omelette. Bliss. It was real pretty, but I traded for a steak.