Notes from B.A.

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January 20th, 2008

• For some reason we were under the impression that Buenos Aires was in the same time zone as the East coast of the US, but it it actually 3 hours earlier here.
• It is summer here and the weather is great! It has been sunny everyday with temperatures in the high 80s. Luckily there is usually a nice breeze and there isn´t much humidity either. We have been enjoyed being able to eat outside (or in open air restaurants) for most of our meals. Another great thing about it being summer is the long days – the sun doesn´t set until after 9pm.
• People in Buenos Aires are on a very late schedule. We have been eating dinner around 9:30 or 10 every night and we are on the early side. When we finished our meal at midnight last night, there were still several people waiting to be seated.
• The food is amazing. There is a ´parilla´ (Argentinian steakhouse) on just about every corner, but some are definitely better than others. Last night we ate at La Cabrera and it was one of the best meals of my life. We had to wait about 40 minutes for a table, and they gave us free champagne and chorizo (sausage) while we waited. Then the meal itself was amazing – the steak was perfectly cooked and we got so much of it we couldn´t even finish it all. And even when splurging on this feast of appetizers, salad, steak, dessert, and a bottle of wine, the total was still less than US$60.
• The subway is really cheap (US$0.30 per trip) and easy to use. On the trains people come through each car trying to sell you things, but what is interesting is the way they do it and how accepted it is. They walk through and set an item on everyone´s knee that is sitting down. Then they walk back through and pick them up again and if you want to keep it, you can pay them. Surprisingly, nobody seems very pushy in trying to get you to buy it, they just give you the option and if you like it, you can buy it. Also, everyone riding seems to accept this without question or objection. Even if they have no interest, they will not stop the person from putting it on their knee. They just ignore it and let it sit there until it is picked up. This is probably not interesting to anyone but myself, but I found it rather peculiar.

The trip is going great. Emily and I are really enjoying Buenos Aires. More updates to come in the following days…