Wow, don't feel that I have been here close to a week. Days have just gone by like a snap of finger. I am thinking about extending my stay till the 22nd. Some friends are coming down from New York during the CITA week. Love to hang out with them. It will be fun to hit the milongas together.
I am more settled in today. Went to supermarket-Disco to do some grocery shopping. I was fascinated by the price of a good bottle of red wine: 9 pesos, the more expensive ones are in the 40-60 pesos range. I was tempted to pick up a few bottles. But I shouldn't be drink any alcohol. It was hard to walk away from the wine section of the supermarket.
I got myself some beef tongue and rice from the cooked food section, some bread, cheese, milk, mate tea bag (I love it!), packaged salad and 6 gallon of water. The problem with the diet here is lack of variety of veggies. And I don't if it is my imagination, but I think things are getting expensive here. For everything that I got, I paid 72 pesos, close to 24 bucks US. Pretty expensive for two days supply. I am wondering how the portenos deal with living expenses. From what I heard, they don't earn as much here.
I took bus 95 back to the apartment. I now know how to take bus 60 to El beso, Zival from my apartment, bus 59 to Palermo, but still need to find the bus to Javier's place for privates starting next week, and to Nino Bien by tomorrow.
Resting the rest of the afternoon, listening to my newly purchased cds (25 of them, mostly Canaro, Troilo and D'Arienzo) and writing this post.
El Beso tonight.
eek, I don't know if it's a good idea for you to take the bus to Nino Bien - ojo, that's an unsafe area. All the locals have always advised me that it's the milonga where you step out of the cab and into the milonga, and vice versa. My ex who is a strong porten~o won't even walk in that neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteFor veggies, check out the local fruit & veg shops (verdulerias) around - I was surprised to find the variety that I did. The thing is, they will only eat what's in season and what will grow in the area (so you're not going to find the variety like in the States, where they eat out-of-season shipped in from all over on a regular basis)...
Yes, they earn less here - a lot less.
A good idea of a salary here would be... maybe 1500 pesos a month...? (well, that's what a friend of mine makes here anyway)...
Tina,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the heads up. I took the subway once in the afternoon to Los Consagrados(same location). It was pretty poor neighborhood. I guess risky adventure should be avoided at all cost.
If 1500 peso is a good salary,then I just can't understand how people live on that amount. A night out costs 50-100 pesos depending on the places. And every night the bars and pubs are packed with young portenos till 4:00pm in the morning in Recoleta. The cost of a lot of necessities is the same as of in the States.
How do these people make it? It is interesting to find out.
Oh Z, please stay until March 23rd so you can be at my birthday party on Sat. the 22nd at Los Consagrados; Ruben and I are doing a demonstration.
ReplyDeleteAnd BTW, one way the locals economize is that many, many people live in the same apartment.
Che, Cherie I'm glad I know it's your birthday on the 22nd! :-) It makes me even happier that I extended my stay! :-)
ReplyDeleteYes, many things have gone up 100% in the two years I have been here.
ReplyDeleteThe kids you see in the nightclubs live at home, or as Cherie said many people live together. And remember no self respecting porteño would never go to a night club until 1 or 2am! Besides you can´t even think of heading home until 5 or 6 in the morning when the transportation systems start running again.
I would take the collectivo there, to arrive before midnight, but definitely take a taxi home.
ReplyDeleteCherie,
ReplyDeleteI would love to be here on your birthday if possible. Hope they don't need me back in NY.
And Tina you are the lucky one... for being able to stay here till April.
And miss tango: 100% in two years is huge. I was complaining the inflation back in NY, where grocery price has gone up 10-25% the last two years. Let alone the sky rocketing gas price since the war.