San Telmo
So I am in San Telmo district of Buenos Aires in Hostal San Telmo. The people in the hostal are great. I signed up for a football match tomorrow at 4pm on the local stadion. I don't know who plays with whom but everybody is so excited about the match that without much asking I told them to buy a ticket for me - it should be a nice experience with a really nice group of people.
Today I am totally relaxing. I got a bad cold - the cold morning in Cordoba did it. I slept 12 hours and feel a little better than yesterday evening. I got out of bed an noon and went to a cafe/bar on the nearest corner. What a great place this is! Looks like taken out from the beginning of the last century. The tango music played all the time is enchanting (I will have to get some CDs with tango). That improved my mood a little. I was reading the guidebook and it seems BA is very much like NYC: lots of cultural events every day, opera house, many many theaters, many restaurants (I found a Thai restaurant on the list - I hope to finally satisfy my craving for Thai food), bars, discos, lots of museums, parks, sports places... The city is huge. I think I will start with a tour around the city to get an idea where things are. Maybe I can find some bus tours like the ones done in big apple? The guidebook also says many things about security and about never, ever hailing a taxi on the street (because they cheat, rob people of their luggage, etc.) but use only radio-taxis if one must because even they are unreliable. There's a special office to report cases of being overcharged or cheated so it wasn't just my bad experience yesterday - it seems cheating and overcharging is the norm. How sad... Why do people who live in what still must be the richest country in South America, even with it's economic problems, fall into practices such as this? Why do those who have nothing are honest to the bone? One would think it would be the other way around. So I will have to continue to be cautious.
The other thing I noticed when I crossed the Bolivia/Argentina border is that everyone smokes cigarettes here, constantly. People smoke everywhere, absolutely everywhere: in stores, in the internet places, on buses, in public institutions such as banks, and most of all in restaurants and cafes where there's a thick cloud of smoke everpresent. I wouldn't mind it so much but I am, unfortunately, allergic to tabaco smoke and it seems it's the one allergy that is the strongest and doesn't want to go away. The only restaurants which are relatively smoke free are the places where old league spends their days - older men dressed in suits sipping espressos and capuchinos. They probably already had three heart attacks each and the lucky ones got by-passes so they stick to coffee only. I sometimes end in cafes such as this due to the smoke situation and they look at me from above the rim of their eyeglasses "What are you doing here bebe? Don't you see it's a place reserved for old lions only? And besides, it requires elegant dress and manners." And I look back at them and "tell" them "Pardon Senores but the circumstences forced me..." and I use my best table manners, skilfully operating with fork and knife with surgical precision, making sure no crumbs fall beyond the plate, chew small pieces elegantly and drink in small sips... In the end they nod with approval "She must be a royal one, fallen into poverty by the unexpected change of fortune." But that's when I am in a playful mood, when I am not I just "tell" them to piss off and don't judge people based on their clothes and age.
I am going to walk around in San Telmo. It's supposed to be an old part of the city with antigue stores, old cafes and art galleries.
Today I am totally relaxing. I got a bad cold - the cold morning in Cordoba did it. I slept 12 hours and feel a little better than yesterday evening. I got out of bed an noon and went to a cafe/bar on the nearest corner. What a great place this is! Looks like taken out from the beginning of the last century. The tango music played all the time is enchanting (I will have to get some CDs with tango). That improved my mood a little. I was reading the guidebook and it seems BA is very much like NYC: lots of cultural events every day, opera house, many many theaters, many restaurants (I found a Thai restaurant on the list - I hope to finally satisfy my craving for Thai food), bars, discos, lots of museums, parks, sports places... The city is huge. I think I will start with a tour around the city to get an idea where things are. Maybe I can find some bus tours like the ones done in big apple? The guidebook also says many things about security and about never, ever hailing a taxi on the street (because they cheat, rob people of their luggage, etc.) but use only radio-taxis if one must because even they are unreliable. There's a special office to report cases of being overcharged or cheated so it wasn't just my bad experience yesterday - it seems cheating and overcharging is the norm. How sad... Why do people who live in what still must be the richest country in South America, even with it's economic problems, fall into practices such as this? Why do those who have nothing are honest to the bone? One would think it would be the other way around. So I will have to continue to be cautious.
The other thing I noticed when I crossed the Bolivia/Argentina border is that everyone smokes cigarettes here, constantly. People smoke everywhere, absolutely everywhere: in stores, in the internet places, on buses, in public institutions such as banks, and most of all in restaurants and cafes where there's a thick cloud of smoke everpresent. I wouldn't mind it so much but I am, unfortunately, allergic to tabaco smoke and it seems it's the one allergy that is the strongest and doesn't want to go away. The only restaurants which are relatively smoke free are the places where old league spends their days - older men dressed in suits sipping espressos and capuchinos. They probably already had three heart attacks each and the lucky ones got by-passes so they stick to coffee only. I sometimes end in cafes such as this due to the smoke situation and they look at me from above the rim of their eyeglasses "What are you doing here bebe? Don't you see it's a place reserved for old lions only? And besides, it requires elegant dress and manners." And I look back at them and "tell" them "Pardon Senores but the circumstences forced me..." and I use my best table manners, skilfully operating with fork and knife with surgical precision, making sure no crumbs fall beyond the plate, chew small pieces elegantly and drink in small sips... In the end they nod with approval "She must be a royal one, fallen into poverty by the unexpected change of fortune." But that's when I am in a playful mood, when I am not I just "tell" them to piss off and don't judge people based on their clothes and age.
I am going to walk around in San Telmo. It's supposed to be an old part of the city with antigue stores, old cafes and art galleries.
posted by Asia Kabat at 10:33 AM
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