Días 12 - 19 (ish)

Ok, so it’s been another week since I last wrote...doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun and all that! And this past week is a bit hazy – somebody didn’t take notes as to what he’s been up to. So here goes, let’s see what I can remember!!

Ok, Friday, me, Matt and Mareck went to China town in a BA neighbourhood called Belgrano. I say China Town, more like China Street…I met up with the guys there as I had been in the office in the morning for the meeting. This meant braving the tube for the first time on my larrence! Not too scary and quite straightforward (though some knob managed to go one stop too far, so had to hop back on in the other direction –still, at $0.70 (11p) for a journey, it wasn’t too much of an issue. This error would have cost me approximately 27 times more had I have made it in London!) We went in search of exotic spices as, to be honest, as munch as the food is out here, you can’t get anything spicy for love nor money. There were a few things in the Chinese supermarket which looked fairly promising, but nothing really took my fancy (especially considering the smell of the shop was making me heave, and the rows of dead fish were making me scared!) Friday night, we cooked chicken and beef kebabs on skewers with peppers and onions. I say “we”, Matt and Mareck cooked…I watched with a litre of Quilmes Beer in my hand!

Saturday night we planned to do a biggy, Argentine stylie – whereby you don’t even *think* about going out until about 1am…which to be fair, we didn’t. We did make it out…for about half an hour. Cocktails involving tequila, rum and some other shite did not help our cause. We made it to the German bar for, I would say “one”, but it was more like a quarter. Mareck stepped outside for some fresh air. Matt and I soon joined him, only to find him yakking into the gutter. I was in bed by two. So much for my hardcore Argentine night, where I planned on rolling in at about 8am Sunday morning. It was for this reason that we decided against going to the Boca Juniors game on Sunday afternoon. Had we have known what lightweights we’d have been, we could have made it to La Bombanera. Oh well, I got up at 2pm, and Facebooked and such-like all day/night!

Monday was a bit boring. I did laundry and got my haircut. The haircut is…interesante. There’s a hairdressers right near my flat so, as I am a lazy git, I went there. I walked in, and no one was in there, apart from a hairdresser who must have been in her late 60s. I felt too guilty to just turn around and leave so entrusted her with the barnet. Which she’s pretty much mullered. It looks slightly more acceptable with product, but she’s basically just hacked into it blindly! Oh well, it will suffice, and I was still proud that she understood what I wanted (not that she paid much attention mind), especially given I can’t usually explain it in English, let alone Spanish!

Tuesday night I met up with Adam, who was pretty much out of action all weekend, what with his and his missus’ one year anniversary celebrations. He had intended to take her to Uruguay as a treat/get his passport stamped as his Visa is dangerously close to expiring, but the trips were fully booked (with it being a local holiday), so now has to go on the day his Visa expires. Two and a half month’s time, that’ll be me! Gotta love the South American corruption mind! I went to a couple of new bars on the Plaza Dorrego (my neighbourhood’s local square) which was cool, as, despite nearly 3 weeks’ living here, it is somewhere I have never been!) The evening was rounded off with a nice Sandwich de Lomito, which is basically meat in bread.

Wednesday night was the launch night of The Argentime’s new cultural supplement, ‘The A Supplement’, (see what they did there?) This basically involved dressing up smartly, going to a gallery, and talking to advertisers/potential advertisers/industry people in both Spanish and English – the free red wine helped relieve the initial awkwardness. Oh, and in Kate, a fellow intern, I have found somebody whose cheeks go nearly (though not quite) as red as mine…see pics on Facebook for proof! We nearly had the newspaper supplement launch event with no newspaper or supplement mind! Me, Liv and Michelle (Kristie’s housemate/Argentimes contributor) arranged to go and pick the papers up from the new printers at 6pm. Given that the event started at 7pm and the venue was only half an hour away by cab, we gathered we’d have about half an hour’s leaway…you’d think huh? We turned up at the printers though, who’d totally denied telling us the paper would be ready at 6pm, despite Kristie confirming this several times during the day, and Michelle doing so at 5.50pm. With a mixture of getting angry/crying/pretending to go dizzy/using her feminine charm, we eventually received the papers at around 7.30pm – half an hour into the event. Not a major disaster in the end, but obviously not the ideal scenario, making us look rather unprofessional. We eventually handed out the paper at 8ish, WITH new supplement and it seemed to go down really well. Oh, and my name is now in print in The Argentimes, how cool is that?! (Loser, I know) As nice as the food was (prepared by none other then Francis Mallman, Argentina’s equivalent of Gordon Ramsey), it was only canapés, so I once again deemed it necessary to conclude the night’s events with a Sandwich de Lomito (for all those who have forgot, meat in a bun!!)

So this brings us up to date. It’s Thursday, I’m in the office, Stan the kitten is harassing me and I’m researching a story I’m going to be doing on Che Guevara…it’s all business as usual. The Andy Fletcher interview has been cancelled, so my big story for the next edition (other than the Ché Guevara one), will be a review of “High Tea” at some hotel. “How gay!” I hear you cry. Well, in answer to this I say a) It’s not as gay as the drag queen sex tour (which also got cancelled – welcome to Argentina people) and b) I get free tea AND cake, and you don’t…admittedly though, there’s plenty of time for it to get cancelled.

On that note, I’ll let you lot get back on with your hectic lives (which for most involves settling back into the hectic uni lifestyle…by the way – what the hell is going on in Neighbours…?)

Ciao for now chicos!

X

Días 3 - 11

Ok, it’s been a really long while since I wrote my first (and only) blog – but I’ve been busy ok? Anyways, now I’m at work so have five minutes to fill you all in on what’s been going on in the wonderful world of Buenos Aires…

So, I left you (with baited breath) last Wednesday afternoon, so this seems like the ideal place to pick up with the story. After I wrote my blog, I needed some food…it’s hungry work all this writing! Me and Liv walked round to Zapi, the local pizza place for some empinadas. Sound exotic hey? Well, sorry Argentina, I’m not going to go into details about stealing things from Great Britain and vice versa (that could lead me into all sorts of trouble), but they’re clearly mini Cornish pasties. Quite tasty though, with less gristle than your average Asda Smart Price Cornish Pasty…not knocking them mind! Wednesday evening, Liv and I went to Bar Seddon at the bottom of the road. After lots of beer, we decided it was time to give the ol’ Trapiche red wine a whirl. And give it a whirl we did…Gabriel met up with us later on in the evening – no wonder foreigners have such negative impressions of us Brits!

So anyway, woke up Thursday with sore head, and had to go in for a quick coffee with Kristie. This was fine…not a problem – till she suggested lunch. Kristie, ‘Photography’ Kate (the head of photography – from Eltham for all you homies), Liv and I went to a vegetarian/organic restaurant around the corner from work. I had burgers of some vegetarian/organic description with salad – although very nice, I was hungover and very much in need of a large Big Mac meal with Coke. Anyways, I can’t remember what I did that afternoon (this was over a week ago…good job I kept notes otherwise I wouldn’t have remembered this much!) But I do remember that evening, and yes, it revolved around food! Liv and I decided to cook – student classic of chicken with loads of vegetables in sauce with pasta – all courtesy of the supermercado around the corner from the hostel. Cooking in the hostel was fine, and I had free reign of the kitchen and made my usual amount of mess whilst cooking. You know what it’s like when you’ve spent the day hungover, so I had an early night, falling asleep infront of Family Guy on my laptop…bless.

Friday daytime I don’t really remember… I do remember at 3.40pm logging MSN to find dad online. We had a quick chat…he was itching to get down the pub (as was I), so despite this being our first conversation whilst me being in BA, we kept it brief and manly…none of this “miss you” shit haha! Liv was looking round an apartment at 4pm, so I headed to Gibraltar, the local English pub to watch England play South Africa in the Rugby World Cup. I arrived and there was a crowd of people outside. Apparently, the owner was asleep and couldn’t be arsed to open the bar (information obtained by the cleaner?), so the angry (and, indeed, thirsty) English contingent outside walked up to the Irish bar, Molly Mallone’s to watch the match. Now I’m not a major rugby fan myself, but even I could tell that England were shocking, but hey ho, the beers were flowing. I was talking to two mates (Mareck and Matt) from Bristol, and a guy called Adam from Billericay. We all exchanged stories as to why we were in BA, and it turns out that Mareck’s housemate is none other than the aforementioned photography Kate. Small world huh? Anyways, Adam’s Argentine bird rocks up, Matt, Mareck and I rock on to Mareck’s, Liv rocks up to Mareck’s, you know how it is. Matt makes Pisco sours – don’t really know what they are, but it involved matt disappearing to the kitchen for about 30 mins, and rocking up with some alcoholic-tasting whisked egg whites. Matt passes out, Liv decides to go back to the hostel, Mareck and I decide to go to the German bar near his to drink more. 2.30am, we call it a night. Oh and Tom gets lost on the way home as his pocket map was really blurry for some reason. A random Argentine dude saw me struggling with my Guia “T” and very kindly gave me directions back to the hostel, where I woke up safe and sound the next morning.

Like Friday daytime, I can’t really remember much about Saturday day time – actually yes! I do! I watched Gillette Soccer Saturday in bed which isn’t bad as it sounds, bearing in mind we are 4 hours behind you! Gabriel made a fair comment, claiming that Alan McInally sounds like Fat Bastard out of Austin Powers – good spot Gabs, do we not agree? After Soccer Saturday Liv and I went for some lunch and made plans for Saturday night. We decided to try out Rey Castro’s, a bar in town. As it was Gabriel’s last night, he was going to come and meet us after dinner with his mum and sis. So we rocked on up to Rae Castro’s at 9.10pm, and they were still setting up, saying they’d be open in half an hour. So we carried on into Microcentro, the centre of BA where everything is to find another pub…and could we find a pub that was open?…could we fook! Us gringos have a lot to learn about going out…it just doesn’t happen here much before 1am! So we head back to San Telmo for a drink in Bar Seddon (15 mins in opposite direction). Thought we’d try Rey Castro again a little while after, and the bouncer tells us you have to have booked a table to get in…So back to San Telmo, where we met Gabriel and went to Bar & Co. where Liv and I went on the first night.

On Sunday morning I viewed my first flat which was ok, but a bit to south of San Telmo. i.e. more than a 10 minute walk from work haha! Sunday afternoon was weird as Liv had moved out to her place, and Gabriel had gone back to Chile. There was a power cut at the hostel which didn’t help as I had flats to be finding, and low battery on the ol’ laptop. So I found a internet café on the way into town, where I spent two hours looking for places/arranging viewings/facebooking. The weather afterwards was bitterly cold, so I went to the pub to warm up (as you do!), although I only had mineral water – and a toasted sandwich…utterly depressing on my larry haha! After that, the weather had cheered up a bit, so went for a wander around the San Telmo feria, which is a local kind of street party/market. It was amazing…lots of local artisans were selling their products on stools in the streets, and between those, just people banging drums and making music – people were just stopping in the streets and having a dance…bizarre, yet quaint! By this time, Liv had moved in and was ready for a drink, so we met up and she told me all about her new gaff.

On Monday morning, we had our first editorial team meeting which was great – it made me feel important as we sat round the big table in the office and I had a cup of tea and made notes, and came out with my usual quirky/witty comments as/when the opportunity presented itself! It was cool getting everyone together…there were 9 of us I think, and we’re kinda the main ones that run the paper. The rest of the team is made up of contributors who just submit articles etc. via e-mail, who we’ll probably never meet. We all went out for lunch afterwards as a bonding type thing, which was cool – getting to know each other etc. Spent the rest of the afternoon looking around a couple of dives and was starting to think that this was the type of place I’d have to live in and resigned myself to lowering my expectations. The last house of the day though was sooo much better than the others, and at only 750 pesos (£125) a month, all bills included, this place was the one. Nice big double room, small but comfortable living area, and an old-fashioned yet somehow clean/non-grotty bathroom and kitchen (which are off a landing which is kinda outside – people familiar with Argentine/Spanish – I think - housing may get what I mean – hard to explain). Sergio the landlord explained that there was a French guy living there already, I would have one room, and that the other two were still free. I recalled Matt from Friday night was still looking for a place. I called him to let him know and he came round on Tuesday when I moved in, and he moved in that night! I went round to Adam’s (from Molly Malone’s) place afterwards to celebrate with a few bottles of Quilmes!

Anyways, so Tuesday (before me/Matt move in) I had to go in the office at 11am. There were a few bits and pieces for the next edition of The Argentimes which needed doing. Although Liv and I, as new interns, weren’t expected to be involved in this edition, we were asked to help, doing the What’s On in BA guide, as well as the round up of funny news around world. I liked the story of the Japanese teacher who was awarded by his education authority for his services to teaching, despite being accused several times of using corporal punishment techniques on his students…those crazy Japs! One offence included throwing a chair at the volleyball team he coached…I swear Mr Walder did that to someone in maths…or was it a table? I spent all day in the office on this, then moved in to the gaff. Like I say, Matt moved in that night, so Marek and Adam came round for some celebratory beers. Fabien, our French flatmate was in, and had a few beers and a chat with us so it’s all gravy.

Yesterday was Wednesday, and wanted to get a few bits for my room. i.e. some makeshift curtains until Sergio puts some up, a throw to cover up the chair (which looks abit worse for wear, earning it the name of ‘the wank throne’ by Mareck) and another pillow…one just ain’t enough! I’ve turned into such a tight bastard (more so than usual, haha, I know) since being out here as everything’s soo cheap. I was like, “I aint paying $30 pesos (£5) for a throw”, so looked around every shop I could find, only to get my goods in the first shop I went in…what a muppet. I did food shopping in the arvo, and spent the night infront of cable tv…which, I might add, is great! Loadsa English (well, American), programmes with Spanish subtitles. I am now a fan of the following shows…American Dad, Seinfeld, MadTV, Drew Carey, Two and a Half Men, Scrubs and My Name is Earl. I was in bed and asleep by half nine – loser.

So that brings us nicely to today...I have been in the office since 10, and had the office kitten, Stan (who looks like a cow), on my lap since about 11. It’s now 5.50 (nice timing as I go at 6) and my nose is running, eyes are watering and I’m sneezing like a bitch. In terms of work, I have a press pass (ooh get me) to onedotzero, a music festival and Krisite said I should be able to interview anyone there. The most famous person is Andy Fletcher out of Depeche Mode, so I have been researching him most of the day and hopefully she can arrange an interview with him for me. Sorry it’s nobody more famous.

Thursday is my office day so you can expect to find me here every week and is a really good time to get in contact over the net…e-mail, Facebook, MSN as I’m pretty much guaranteed to be online. Anyways, better get ready to go home…Liv is coming round tonight for the grand tour. Sorry about lack of entertainingness of this blog, but I had a lot to fit in. Hope anyone who’s interested has a bit more of an insight into what life’s been like. It’s really hard when people say “what have you been up to?” as it’s hard to know where to begin. I’m thinking that this is the easiest way…comments etc. as ever are welcome, and can be posted by clicking below on this page.

Muchas Gracias por su atención amigos…besos y ciao for now. X

Días 1-3

Hola de Buenos Aires!

Well, I'm finally here, and finally have got the chance to sit down for five minutes and let you know what's been going on (although I did check Facebook first - thanks one and all for the messages as well as for the invitations to events when I'm not actually in the country!) The main reason I have some time is because it's absolutely pissing it down! Me and Olivia did venture out earlier, but out little trip to have a look at the congress buildings and other touristy spots was cut short thanks to the rain. We did buy umbrellas, and yes, mine did break after about 2 minutes...that was the biggest waste of ten pesos (£1.60) I tell thee!

So, it's been pretty manic - it all started way back on Monday...a 2hr flight to Madrid, and then an 11hr30 flight on to BA...ahh, good times. Still, great entertainment and endless people watching opportunities were provided on the long trip, mainly by the Spaniards. In fact, the plane was pretty much full of Spanish speakers. The trip just reaffirmed my beliefs that you can tell Spanish people from a mile off - loads of elegant women, in sleek, stylish clothes, heavily made up, but who still manage to look like they live in the early 90s. I was disappointed by the lack of ill-matched denim and mousse which you're normally confronted with when in a confined space with Spaniards...although the air stewardess who looked scarily like Miss Man out of ScaryMovie did't fail to disappoint, with a tall curly, fake blonde barnet, cemented together with a lifetime's supply of product. More purposeful entertainment on board proved to be more dissapointing - I had no interest in watching Pirates of the Caribbean 3, and the film I did watch, Bajo las Estrellas (Under the Stars), was a pile of jank. I didn't realise that Spanish people clap when the plane lands successfully, this took me by surprise...I felt more inclined to break into spontaneous applause when Bajo las Estrellas finished! And the award for most surprising aspect of the journey...the sheer number of Jews who travel to Buenos Aires from Madrid.

We got a cab to the hostel Ostinatto which took about 45 mins - the fact that the cabbie had no clue where the hostel was didn't help matters. A nice guy, but totally had our pants down, charging us £15 for a ride which should only cost £7.50 - tosser. The journey was definitely one of those "what the hell am I doing here?" moments, and the taxi itself made the ones in Egypt look positively luxourious. The cabbie later explained that the car was in urgent need of repairs, but couldn't be fitted in at the garage until Thursday! It turns out that the hostel is about a 30 second walk form the office where I'll be working. On discouvring this exciting fact, me and Liv decided to celebrate with una cerveza at a pub type thing round the corner! There was further need to celebrate when we discovered that it costs around 70p for 500ml of beer! Another one of those"what the hell am I doing here?" moments occurred whilst guzzling our Isenbeck's al fresco under a corregated shelter in the pissing rain...we observed Argentineans go about their usual business at 10.30ish on a Monday night. Some rode around in shabby cars on the wide one way street which had about 6 lanes (which was fun crossing, as you can imagine), others in ragged clothes searched through piles of rubbish bags for anything they can eat/sell - one man's trash and all that, but still not a nice thing to see.

The hostel is cool. I've never stayed in a youth hostel and couldn't really imagine sharing a room/bathroom facilites with 6 other randommers, but it's been totally fine...so much so, we've extended our stay for another few days (nothing to do with the fact that we haven't started to look for appartments properly yet!)

Yesterday lunchtime we went for a cafe con leche in a little cafe - it was totally bizarre. Looking out at the rundown, yet elegant buildings of San Telmo, and the policemen pushing their broken down patrol car down the road contributed to the strangeness of the situation. Once again, the coffee was as cheap as ya like! We met up with Kristie, the editor of The Argentimes at the office, which also doubles as her home! She took us for coffee and explained everything about the paper/work. She was really nice and everyting just seems so informal/casual so I'm sure it's going to be fine. She explained about the first two assignments, one of which, she wanted to be done by a young bloke (kinda ruling Olivia out, thus leaving her to do the other). She explained Olivia's first...something to do with reviewing an art tour. Then on to mine...I knew something wasn't quite right when she said "If you don't feel comfortable with doing this then that's absolutely fine", then proceeded to piss herself with laughter. When she finally composed herself, she managed to briefly explain that she needed a young male journalist to review a new tour coming to Buenos Aires to go in the paper's cultural supplement. "Not a problem", I'm thinking, "Why should I be uncomfortable with that?" Anyways, I've conveniently managed to rid the main details from my head about the review, but the words "sex tour" and "drag queens" were mentioned - I find out more about my first project when I officially start work on Monday...

In terms of work, I have to come in for an editorial team meeting on a Monday and a Friday, and choose one other day as my "office day", when I have to be in from 10 til 6. So basically, I get to do my writing whenever I want (naturally providing I meet dealdlines) so that's cool!

After the meeting, me and Olivia went to Calle Florida, the main shopping area, to get a mobile phone so I now have an Argentinean number - check me right out! I won't use it internationally as it's so much cheaper to phone from a Locotura which is like a internet/phone cafe, which are located all over the shop! After our shopping expedition, we went for a steak at a restaurant about 3 mins away on Kristie's recommendation. The steak was absolutely amazing - I always thought the saying "melt in your mouth" was cliché, and I wasn't really sure what was meant by it - but now I know! It was cooked to perfection, no grissle, and costed, along with chips and a beer, £3!!!

We headed back to the hostel afterwards. Liv was abit tired, so decided against coming out with me and our roomie Gabriel. He's here with his mum and sis, which can't be great for a 22 yr old, so we decided to go for a...I wanna say pint, but it's a half litre...or two! We found a couple of nice bars locally with good atmospheres. It was a really good as he's from Chile so I got to practice my Spanish all night.

As for today, like I say, the weather is crap. We headed up to Plaza de Mayo to see the building from which Eva Perón gave all her speeches, the got the tube (subte) to Congreso to have a look at the Congress building and the senate. The rain got really heavy so we decided just to give up, tube it back home, and do the touristy things another day when the weather's nicer. The tube was an experience in itself - it's 12p for a single trip, and the carriages inside are totally wooden, and lit by lamps! Oh, and there's none of that waiting for the train to stop moving before the doors open malarkey!

So that's about it for now. I'm sure I've bored you enough, but just thought I'd keep you in the picture about what life's been like the past few days. Anyways, take care losers and catch you all soon!!

Ciao X