catching up

Today there wasn’t a seat by the window, but my regular waiter cleaned one off for me. “Just like you like it,” he told me. (I would sit outside but my hair is still wet; and it’s still pretty chilly out.) I wish I knew the waiter’s name. I’ll make one up for him. He looks like a Bruno. But that was the old guy from the Olympic torch’s name. I’ll work on it… There’s always a lot of English spoken at Café Tolon. I wonder if they speak so loudly because they think no one else will understand. Well, they’re wrong. I smell clean. Clean shower, clean laundry. Picked up a couple of loads today after my run. (Well, the run turned into a walk when I realized I was lost and then hit Av. Cordoba instead of Av. Santa Fe.) I’m going without medialunas today; I ate two slices of peanut butter toast before leaving the house. I have this theory that one of the best ways to learn your way around a city is to get lost a few times. Which I suppose means I should always leave plenty early. I love the cookies here. I can’t resist. Basically, I subsist on coffee and sugar and bread and cheese. With the occasional vegetable and (gasp!) meat. Oh well, I walk a lot, and my clothes still fit. So laundry: I’m learning that prices here vary by where you live. Technically I’m in Barrio Norte, but everyone just calls my neighborhood Alto Palermo because it’s right by the shopping mall of the same name. I like going shopping here because it’s one of the only times girls are nice to me. (Starbuck’s is coming to Buenos Aires. I don’t think it will do well. The coffee here is too good. And cheaper. Who would prefer a fast food coffee when you can sit forever and eat free cookies served by men in brick-red penguin vests?) But anyway, I’m learning that neighborhoods greatly affect your cost of living. Por ejemplo: the promotional, before noon only coffee + 2 medialunas at Josephina’s Café sets me back $12; at Café Tolon, I can get a large coffee, 3 medialunas, 3 galletitas, and a pitcher of water for only $9, and that’s 24 hours/day. Also, laundry prices: where Ben lives, each load is $13; where Jenny and I go, each load is $10 (recently up from $9), and Conrad only pays $7 per load. The farther you get from Recoleta, the cheaper things are. (This is why maids can live off of a rate of $28 pesos/week. (Even though our maid bailed last week. She’s always MIA.) But they live further out from the city, where prices are lower.) I have considered going to Conrad’s lavanderia, but then I realize $3 pesos is only $1 dollar and it’s really not worth that to cart out a load of dirty laundry an extra ten blocks. And the ladies today seemed to do a good job: they got the black dance floor crud out of my white jeans. We’ll see about the dry cleaners, 5 a sec, today. A bird pooped on my yellow coat. Inside. I mean, that takes talent. (When the lady asked me what the stain was from I told her, “Pienso que es un regalito de un ave.” She chuckled.) Supposedly it’s good luck to have a bird poop on you. Which I might need, because I don’t always look into people’s eyes when we “cheers!” (well, here it’s “salud” or “chin chin.”) I though it only mattered if the other person was German, but Nico was adamant: “It doesn’t matter if you are German or Turkish. Seven years is a long time!” So this lady speaking English in the corner really looks like Mia Michaels (of choreography and So You Think You Can Dance fame.) I don’t think our doorman is as cold as Annemarie and Jenny let on – he opened the door for me as I was balancing two bags of laundry and trying to untie the keys from my right Mizuno. People here are nice if you let them be. My mom always told me “You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.”
I fear I’m not as polite here. I hardly ever ask completely. I just order. Followed by “por favor” and of course “gracias” (said with a Spanish “S.”) But I should work on “Te pido la cuenta por favor,” instead of just mouthing “¿La cuenta?” and signing my name in the air like everyone else does. Other popular Buenos Aires trends? Remakes of popular English songs (U2, The Beatles, Bob Marley, The Police, Depeche Mode) but in English. By other artists. I don’t get it; but it’s kind of fun. Also, The Gap. It means you’ve been to the US. And schoolgirls carry their lunches in Victoria’s Secret bags. Well, the rich ones do, because it means they’ve been to The States.

Today I’m off to the MALBA with Annemarie to hear her art historian viewpoint. I should leave soon. I don’t think I’ll need a coat. Just a scarf. Tonight at 7 pm I am meeting Claire at her hotel (Palace Alvear) for “tea.” Then her family is taking me to dinner in Puerto Madero and the Tango Rojo show in Faena Hotel + Universe. Tres chic. Annemarie es muy celosa. I’m very excited. Hopefully after today and tonight there will be more to report and pictures to post. The past few days have been a bit slow, but I scoured by Frommer’s and Wallpaper books for things to do: gay dance clubs, tango milonga, wine tour, Japanese gardens… It’s only Tuesday.