First Month in Argentina

Wilson and I been in Argentina for nearly one month now and have settled nicely into our furnished apartment. We've adjusted to a daily routine of classes, late meals, going to the gym and continuing our exploration of the city.

One of the major differences we've noticed are the very late night dinners here. It's rare to find people in a restaurant at 8:00 pm. In fact, most restaurants don't open until 8:00 or 8:30 pm for dinner. You will find a restaurant start to fill around 10:00 pm and later. Although it was a hard concept to grasp at first, we've quickly adopted to the 10-11 pm dinners, even when we cook at home.

With dinner starting so late, it only makes sense that the bars and discotecas start even later. Last weekend we went to a bar that served Happy Hour until 12:00 am. Normally, bars have Happy Hours to attract people during unfrequented times. We met some friends at 10:30 pm and noticed we were the only people there. It was not until 12:00 am that people started trickling in.

Since we started our evening out earlier than the rest of the Portenos (known as the folks in Buenos Aires according to our good friend Jaime who was nearly a local here :)), we headed over to a club and were the first to arrive (and it wasn't early - 1:00 am). As such, we were, again, the first ones there. The club started filling up around 2:30 am.　We were pooped by 4:45 am and were some of the first people to leave. We asked our Argentinian friend (we'll just call her Argentinian since she lives here but she's really from Brazil) told us that people stay at the clubs until 6 or 7 am in the morning. Call me old but we didn't have the energy to stay out until then.

Other Findings (mainly in the food category)

We've made some other little (and not the most worldly) discoveries in Argentina. For instance, two of Wilson's biggest discoveries has been learning to use the bidet (he swears we'll have to get one when we get new home) and dulce de leche. He eats it (the dulce de leche) regularly with bread and is addicted to the bidet. It's a shame the US never embraced this European discovery.

For me, it has been choripan (a local sandwich with thick white bread and two fatty sausages in the middle) and shoes. Since I have awful feet with the biggest bunions in Northern America, flats are the best type of shoes for me. I've discovered every store carries a majority of flats with different styles.

We've also found some of the best, cheap steaks and wines here in Argentina. Some of our favorites include lomo (filet mignon) and bife de chorizo (I think it's equivalent to a NY strip). For the wines, we've really enjoyed the Malbec wines. Prices are unbelievably cheap compared to the states. Our favorite is Finca Flichman's 2007 Malbec.

One Month to Go
It scares me a bit that we only have one month left of this trip. A part of me wants to go home but a big part of me wants to stay. Going back to reality is always a little scary especially given the economy at its current state. I will try not to think about it until the day we leave.

On another note, our friend Betty is coming to visit us this week so that should be fun playing tour guide and showing her the sites.