This or That

I have been pretty much only talking about things that I like here in Buenos Aires, and you must wonder there has to be something that I don't like. Well, you're absolutely right and I think it's time to balance things out a bit. There are 2 things I really do not like here in Buenos Aires and both of them constitute the quality of the air that I breathe in everyday. Yikes!

One is the exhaust from cars and most of all, from the coletivos (buses). We have many coletivos running on small streets, big streets all the time, and literally you'll see black smoke coming out of them. When I see one coming, I'd time my breath so I could hold it in but sometimes it's totally impossible when there are 2-3 buses in a row or you're stuck in a cab with windows down. (The latter was really bad.)

The other one is second-hand smoke. Argentines LOVE to smoke. While many countries have been banning smoking indoors or educating people about smoking etiquette, these 'ideals' back home do not exist here. They don't care if their cigarette is burning right next to you even if you're eating, they don't care if they are blowing second-hand smoke into young children's faces, even if they are their own. They want their fixes so badly that while leaving the subte station, they'd already have their cigarette ready and lit while going up the stairs, and have their first puff at the same time they stepped onto the last step of the stairs. Wow, what a timing eh?! Whenever I saw that, I just can't help but think, 'come on, really?! Is 30 more seconds gonna kill you from not smoking a cigarette?'

In the Microcentro area (downtown downtown), there are many narrow streets and buses go through them all the time; at least one every few minutes if not 3 at the same time. There is also a street called Florida which is pedestrian only (yes the shopping street), no buses BUT full of people walking and smoking. So after a while having to walk through those areas everyday, I had to take a pick. Bus exhaust or second-hand smoke? Which is less hazardous? Which path is less unpleasant? Which is easier for me to maneuver to pass by this yucky air area asap? And I've eventually decided that Florida street full of smokers is marginally more manageable. I figured I can at least duck or swerve or bypass them but when it comes to big clouds of black exhaust from the 'monstrous' buses, there's really no escape...may lord be with you...

Summer Drink

The warm weather has really picked up here, hitting 30 almost everyday. One of my favorite summer drinks has to be ice tea but such sentiment of mine is not shared by my fellow Argentinians unfortunately. You won't be able to find it anywhere (well, except in Chinatown, but isn't that like everything else? Can't find something, go to Chinatown, they should have it! lol) You thought with the very hot weather here, refreshing ice tea would be a booming business already but that's actually very far from the truth. I was told that big companies like Lipton, had tried to bring it to the market but everyone had failed miserably.

When it comes to non-alcoholic drinks, the Argentines drink a lot of pop, juices, water or flavored water con gas or sin gas (carbonated or non-carbonated) and all these beverages can be easily found in every Kiosko (corner store). Since I don't like carbonated drinks, I left with water and juices to choose from, and sometimes you just don't want plain water. Flavored water is too fake for me so juices it is. From having only a mere 4 -5 choices of juices here, I have to say that we N. Americans are really spoiled with the unending choices of products back home. I'm not complaining though because I always just like it simple, apple juice with the occasional orange juice.

Sometimes I do find the juice too sweet so I've started mixing it with water. And guess what, the juice brand Cepita (by Coca Cola) have just released these new products that are just like that! 3 flavors of fruit juices (not fake flavoring) mix with water and sugar: manzana (apple), pera (pear) and pomelo (grapefruit). After having seen the TV commercials for the 50th time, I finally picked one up on a hot afternoon and it was exactly what I needed, something natural tasting, just the right amount of sweetness, refreshing and cold! Despite that I'm still missing my ice tea on-the-go, I can now officially announce that I've found my summer drinks!!

Reading Materials

One morning I went to the bathroom at work and there they were, a good few copies of Playboy were splattered across added to our magazine collection in the bathtub! Someone really scored some nice reading materials for the bathroom break eh?! I have no problems with them personally but then after a second of reality check, I was like this is a workplace and this is umm... inappropriate?! But then again, this is Argentina. Remember the aforementioned in-your-face bare titties and bumbums magazine covers all over at the newstands?

I guess at least Playboy is considerably tasteful in comparison to many other rowdy ones but this is something definitely will not happen in North America. That could easily become a case of sexual harassment lawsuit. It's kinda odd that I didn't even feel uneasy even when a coworker read it while eating lunch next to me. I think my indifference may be due to the fact that I'm already brainwashed by not only the constant racy magazine covers but also primetime TV shows where girls dancing with pretty much a bare butt in my face, being thrown up and down in almost non-existent skimpy skirts or totally see through body linen suit, or there's always a hot sunshine-girl-like in bikinis or lingerie picture on the front page, yes FRONT page, of the free dailies you get on the streets... For the guys who are reading this and are already searching for the next flight to BsAs, I don't blame you. The weather has been hitting the low 30's these days as well, so you never know what you will see on the streets. LOL

Po-tA-toe

I've always thought that Americans eat a lot of potatoes but I think Argentines could easily surpass that. I don't have statistics but I really think they eat potatoes as much as they eat beef. Many dishes they serve here say 'con guarnición' (with garnish). Typically when you see the word 'garnish' you'd probably think green vegetables, but not here, it means it comes with potatoes only. You will get to choose how you want your potatoes though: papas fritas (fries), puré de papa (smashed potatoe), papas noisettes (in ball shape), papas regillas (waffle fries), papas al horno (baked potatoe), papas españolas (scalloped potatoes) etc etc.

I do love potatoes but sometimes you do wonder would that be too much potatoes for my body. The ultimate potatoe dish I have had so far has to be this one that's called Fideos Chinos. It has chinese in the name so I was like ok, that's interesting... Asked the mozo (waiter) what it was, he tried to explain it to me which I couldn't really understand perfectly but then he said 'es muy bueno' (it's very good) which I totally got it, so I decided to give it a shot.

Since I wasn't sure what I was expecting, I was a bit confused when it arrived at my table. It looked pretty much like a Chow Mien but the mien (noodles) were noodle-shaped po-tA-toe! Thus its name Fideos Chinos ('Chinese Noodles')! LOL So just like a typical chow mien, there were some kind of meat (they used ham), eggs and veggie (peas in this case). It tasted fine but it did get heavy real quick. Argentine's food is pretty straightforward in general but I have to give them an A+ for creativity on this one. They do look like udon in this picture don't they?