Who ordered the cubierto?

Last night at dinner, one of our friends told a story where the question of "Who ordered the cubierto?" was posed.  Everyone at the table erupted with laughter and every time someone said it for the rest of the night, it continued to make us giggle.

For anyone who hasn't been here to experience the ever-so-popular cubierto, the reason the line was funny is because most restaurants you go to charge you a cubierto for the table set-up, which sometimes means only silverware, a plate and the like, but most of the time includes bread too.  At nicer restaurants, it could also mean that they give you so much to eat, you don't even have to order side dishes.  This concept has always been kinda annoying (except in my opinion for the really nice ones), given that at home we get the bread or silverware for free, but I guess it just is what it is and in the end isn't all that expensive because of the exchange rate.

Example of what comes with a nice restaurant's cubierto (this one is from La Cabrera)

It doesn't sound as funny as I'm writing it, but as I said, the question "Who ordered the cubierto?" really made us laugh.  It's just one of those things you have to accept - nobody orders it, but yet there it is.  That lovely surprise!

I could say the same thing for my new buds here.  By buds, I mean that last week, I had a few mosquitoes hanging around my head while I slept, and this week brought moths in my closet.  I certainly didn't order them.

Since I've been exercising a bunch, another exciting surprise for me has been getting achilles tendonitis pain in my left foot.  It's like my body is rejecting exercise!  Of course,  now that I am enjoying my exercise, this is what happens - but, I'm dealing with it just fine and hope the pain will subside and let me resume my schedule shortly.  

I recently rejoined the working world, albeit part-time, but that has brought some surprises in the world of HR too, where I have found myself landing again.  For example, an applicant is required to put a head shot on his/her resume, as well as age.  Surprise!  It's not just for the modeling business.  

After dinner last night, we went to La Noche de los Museos (Night of the Museums), which is provided courtesy of the city of BsAs.  Pretty much all neighborhoods participate by opening the doors of their museums (170 in total) to the public from 8 p.m. - 3 a.m. and hosting various events.  The city also provides free buses to get you from place to place.  Despite the free buses, surprise - we somehow ended up covering major ground by foot (ouch, achilles tendon).  Our last stop of the night was at Palacio del Congreso (the Congress building), where at 2 a.m., the line snaked around the corner so far it looked like it would take several years to get in.  Fortunately, it only ended up taking 15 minutes before we got to the bag and body scanner.  In general, the security was pretty lax inside the Congress building, but the funniest we noticed was for a room we weren't allowed into. How did we know to stay out?  Well, there was a piece of paper over the double doors that said something like don't come in here. Trying to picture that going down in the Capitol building.

At least surprises can make life more interesting, even when they are of the cubierto style!

Good deal!

It’s hard to come up with new and interesting things to write about after being here for so long, especially when you fall into a routine, everything feels so ordinary. However, the truth is living here is very different from living in NYC for a few reasons, the obvious one is it’s a different county with a different culture and language, but the other one is that this is the first time in my life that I have been unemployed for more than 3 months since I graduated from college in 2003. And even when I graduated from college I had a temp job, so this whole not working thing is a lot more challenging than one might think…I find myself constantly thinking about how I can save a peso or two.
I remember during my first few weeks here I met someone who said that you could live here off US$15,000 sans employment without any worries. This person ate out all the time and took cabs everywhere. He suggested I make a spreadsheet to keep track of my finances. I never made the spreadsheet, that’s probably because I didn’t really have the budget that he had and I wasn’t planning on spending above my means- I mean after all, last time I checked they weren't throwing money at social workers. Instead, I chose to take advantage of the low cost of living in Buenos Aires because it is a good place to live on a tight budget.
A ver, for example, last night I worked with a girl down here- I am using the term work loosely- I am helping her with some grants she is working on and also researching other possible funding. I digress, the point I am trying to make is that transportation down here is a steal. I took the subte to her house for a whopping US$0.30; and then for helping her, I got a delicious meal for free! We finished up working around 12am, which meant the subte had been closed for two hours. I was faced with two options, I could take a $5 cab or I could take a $0.30 bus ride. After looking at my nifty Guia-T, I realized I could take a bus that would literally drop me off in front of my apartment. I opted to take the bus and 20 minutes later I was at my door- that is what we call a good deal! For those of you (Mom) worried about me taking a bus so late at night, don’t be, the Argentines are just finishing up dinner so everyone is on the streets heading home. However, I am a little afraid of the buses; I once got eaten by the bus doors and Amy had to pry me out. Fortunately, I was able to escape without injury, but Amy in the midst of her valiant efforts got a huge ass bruise on her arm. However, I have made my peace with the busses and I am vowing to take advantage of them more!
Now, another way that Amy and I save is by eating in. We’re getting a little more daring with our recipes, but we’ve also discovered the joys of the pre-cooked rotisserie chicken and after already having two meals from the chicken, I made a soup! It grossed me out a little bit, because I really had to rip apart that chicken to find the meat, but in the name of saving a buck, I did it. So today, on my free day, I made a bucket-full-I’m talking at least 8 servings- of delicious chicken soup (yes, technically all days are free days so to clarify a free day is when I don’t have a 2 hour Spanish lesson. And yes, I do realize I live a really tough life down here). Now, I am calling it delicious, but I may have used one too many bouillon cubes for the average persons’ likings. See the recipe (which I recommend) was in English, but the directions on the bouillon cubes were not, so I winged it. I also didn’t realize how much meat and flavor comes off the bones after you boil them in the stock- it’s like the chicken re-grows itself, I was a little disturbed. If you do make the recipe he gives a really smart tip about using a colander and a paper-towel, but I would try a coffee filter instead, I think that would work better. For $10 Amy and I will get 4-5 meals each- another good deal!
I am now on the lookout for other good deals, such as free museum days, free art shows, etc. So hopefully I can share some good finds like those soon! Un beso!

Mom & Dad Schulman in BA - Guest Bloggers!

After a 10 1/2  hour flight to BA and not seeing Amy for 4 months, we felt great joy when Amy walked into the lobby of the Marriott Hotel and into our waiting arms!

After checking in, we pushed forward despite our groggy state.  We had an early introduction to the Argentine parrilla (steakhouse) for lunch, where we mapped out our plans for the week, tried some Argentine food and Jeff had his first Quilmes beer!  By this time, we realized that Amy was speaking Spanish quite fluently, in both the hotel and restaurant!  When we met up with Cait, we realized the same for her!

One of the first things we noticed on our trip was that dinner in BA was off-limits until at least after 8:00PM, which was still very early by BA standards.  We even noticed that families were eating dinner with babies very late at night.  Since Amy and Cait were more accustomed to this late hour, we had to compromise about the time and generally went to dinner about 8:30 every night, which is very late for us in the USA!  But we did get with the program!!  

On our first full day, Amy took us on a beautiful walking tour where we went to the famous MALBA museum (Cait could not join us). On our way, we also passed the Floralis sculpture and other interesting sites in addition to noticing the many dog walkers that Amy and Cait have written about.  Later that night, we took the girls to a fabulous parrilla dinner at Cabana Las Lilas in the beautiful Puerto Madero neighborhood. We loved it!

The following afternoon, the 4 of us went on a 3 hour guided tour of BA. Our tour guide, Enrique, was excellent and a highlight of this tour was the Recoleta cemetery where Eva Peron lies in a mausoleum.  There are more than 6400 mausoleums and they are all architecturally interesting to look at.  We also noticed the many cats in the cemetery, which was very interesting to see.

Mom and Dad in front of Teatro Colon

Lucky for us, the first Sunday of our trip was Mothers Day!  Amy and Caitlin came to our hotel room with beautiful flowers in my honor, so I celebrated two Mothers days in 2010.  It was also Alissa and Bill's first wedding anniversary, so we called them to wish them well!   Sunday was also a terrific day at the San Telmo antique market and the Recoleta craft fair.  We ended the day at Marcelo, a fantastic Italian restaurant, where we  enjoyed a delicious mothers day dinner!

The next day brought us to the town of San Antonio de Areco, about an hour outside the city.  We went to a beautiful silver shop and then spent the rest of the day on Estancia El Ombu de Areco with our new friends Kaye and Tony.  What an experience!  Part of the day was horseback riding on a pictureseque trail surrounded by soy and wheat fields, llamas and sheep.  Meanwhile back at the ranch, they were preparing our traditional Argentine asado.  Jeff was very brave, and tried everything on his plate, including the blood sausage (a.k.a. black pudding, or as it's called here - morcilla)!!!  We really loved this day and our daughters were very proud of us that we went on horses!

For our next trip, we took the Buquebus high speed ferry to Colonia, Uruguay for a wonderful overnight stay.  We booked the Radisson hotel on line and were so surprisingly pleased with the very pretty hotel and its location, given that the online reviews didn't say such kind things.  After checking in, we had a lovely lunch at El Drugstore and then walked around the old part of the city.  Amy and Jeff climbed the old lighthouse while Cait and I waved from below!  While on top of the tower, Amy and Jeff discovered what a small world it is.  They met a guy named Andrew, who ended up being from Smithtown, which is not far from our home town!   After walking around some more, we returned to our beautifully located hotel to watch the sunset from the pool terrace.  The view from our hotel was stunning!

Dad and I on top of the lighthouse

Cait and Mom on the ground

Views from our hotel

When we got back to BA on Wednesday, Amy and Cait took us on a wonderful guided tour (with the help of Mr. Frommer) from Ave. 9 de Julio to the Congress building.  We so enjoyed finding the buildings that were highlighted in the book.  That night we all loved El Querandi, a beautiful Tango show complete with singing, dancing, and wonderful music.  

          Walking tour with Frommer's           Cait and I at the tango show

Lastly on Thursday, Amy took us to Tigre via the Tren de la Costa, where we took a boat out to the island of Tres Bocas and ate a surprisingly great lunch.

To close, we want to say how proud we are of Amy and Caitlin. Their knowledge of the city was fab and we so enjoyed being with them.  We know that this experience will help them to make good choices in life and will be a benefit in any path that they choose!

Five months and counting!

It's hard to believe it is November already! Tomorrow will be our 5 month anniversary in Bs. As. - the time has truly flown by.
Yesterday, Amy and I ran the 5K- I am sure Ame will give you a debriefing about her first race ever, but she did awesome. It was a huge race over 3,500 runners, so it was a bit tricky to maneuver around the crowds, but we both were able to eventually break away from the pack and find our pace! It’s funny how something like a road race can seem familiar and comforting. The race was just like a NYC Roadrunner Race, accept the cheering was in Spanish instead of English!
So I too have continued on with private Spanish lessons. I meet with a women named, Maria (Spanish One on One: spanish.personal@gmail.com - for those of you looking for a Spanish tutor in Bs. As.), I would certainly recommend her. She meets you were you are and moves at your pace, which is great. I take lessons 8 hours a week, 2 hours a day, I have one day off from lessons. The Spanish is coming along. I can certainly communicate. I understand most of what is said to me, but my responding with any real fluidity is still a struggle. I still have a few months to get to that point, right? Right.
Another great way to practice speaking is through Spanglish (www.spanglishexchange.com). It is sort of like speed dating, but instead of switching bachelors, you switch languages. They have two language exchanges a week and two bilingual pub quizzes per week. Amy and I have done both the pub quiz and the exchange; obviously the language exchange is better for practicing your skills, but the quiz is usually a good time. There are usually some pretty interesting people on your team, but I have been with a few people who were a little too competitive… However, I would still recommend it as a way to meet new people.

Amy and I at a Spanglish language exchange talking with Fede!

In unrelated news, spring has finally arrived. It is nice; we’ve suffered through two winters so it is about time we get to experience some warmer weather. I keep looking at the weather back home and I see that NYC weather is slowing getting colder and then I see that it is getting warmer here. I have to admit, this does make being so far from home a little easier. I am not going to miss NY winters!

Argentine happenings

Today is a national holiday here because of ... the Census!  That's right - everything except for emergency services is closed and technically you are supposed to stay inside until the Census folks come and find you.  Being the smart chicas that we are, we stocked up on food yesterday knowing that restaurants and grocery stores would be closed today.  Very happy about that - and, lucky for us, the Census guy came around 10:30 this morning, so no more waiting to be done.  I can't imagine this happening back at home, but I'm sure for all my working friends it would be a welcomed day off!  


Last week my parents visited and we had a wonderful time!  I think they will be writing a guest post so I won't say too much here, but I think a point that can be mentioned more than once is that my parents rode horses!  I never thought I'd see the day.  It was so much fun!  Check out the photographic evidence:

I will post more photos of the trip when there's a post up about it.

On Sunday, Caitlin and I did the hash run again.  I figured since I will be running the McDonald's 5k this Sunday (Halloween!), I better go and see if I can actually run 5k.  Fortunately, I did that and more, even following the "wimp" route instead of the "macho" route (not afraid to admit that).  The McDonald's 5k this Sunday will be my first ever race, so I am excited and ask that you please send me good thoughts. :) Those of you who know me well know that running was never high on my list (it never even came close to making said list), but recently I have been running - and wow - actually enjoying it!  I don't know what's come over me.

Going to check out what's happening outside.  It probably would have been a whole lotta nothing, but as I'm sure everyone heard, former president Kirchner passed away today and Plaza de Mayo looks pretty packed from the news.  

Oktoberfest in Argentina!

We were told that the Oktoberfest in Belgrano, Argentina is the next largest Oktoberfest in the world, after Germany, obviously. So Amy and I packed our suitcases once again and headed for the North of Argentina this time for the province, Córdoba. We stayed in a little town called Santa Rosa Calmuchita, it was really tiny, but had a very cute town center and a lake with a lot bridges. So there were not too many touristy things to do besides walk near a really pretty lake and check out the town center that was about five square blocks —and of course go to Oktoberfest in the neighboring town.

Amy and our roommate, Carolina, in front of the river near our hotel.

Me on the Puente Colgante (hanging bridge). It was a little rickety and I was a little scared crossing it!

Amy and I went to Oktoberfest both Saturday and Sunday. We quickly caught out to the customs and we purchased our steins- because you have to BYOS (bring your own stein) and we also bought belts that you were across your shoulders so that your stein can hang at your side. I think this is to help the drunkards keep track of their steins- I have to admit it was pretty useful.

Well Amy and I came on to the scene and thought the best game plan would be to first eat some tasty German food and then partake in the beer festivities. We purchased some delicious kebabs and some ceramic Budweiser medio litre steins filled with beer! After we finished dinner we decided to walk around and taste some of the other beers. While walking around we met many amigos nuevo. We had heard that this was the place for girls with low self esteem to go we can definitely affirm that this is the case. There are way more chicos than chicas and every five steps you take, you are approached by a new group of guys who want to have a conversation… Needless to say, Amy and I got to practice our Spanish. We had a great weekend and made lots of new friend! Photos below!

Amy entering the Parque Cervecero! Let the fun begin!

Amy with our kebabs and steins of beer!

Alex (our friend from Norwega) enjoying a kebab of salchitas!

The stage where we saw many performances of both German and Irish dance. Apparently, they group all drinking cultures together at Oktoberfest.

Back in BA

We've been back for a couple weeks now and I've started a new routine, mainly consisting of school, exercising, language exchanges, and nights out.  I'm also going to start volunteer work next week.  What could be bad??


Thought I would share a couple of the cool things I did last week: 1) A blind dinner theater show and 2) a genuine Argentine BBQ (called "asado" here).  First, the blind theater.  Well, it is what it sounds like - me, pitch black, beautiful singing, and an interesting meal, sans utensils.  At first it felt really funky, especially when I was practically in a conga line being led to my table and then nearly sat on the floor instead of my chair.  After a few minutes though, I adjusted surprisingly well and knew exactly where my wine glass was.  Clearly the most important thing on the table!  


Dinner went from left to right and all 7 courses were on the table from the get-go.  That turned out to mean that at some point during the meal, all 4 of us at the table put our elbow, hand, or something else in the cake before it was actually time to eat it.  Delicious.    


All in all, it was pretty incredible and just a fascinating night. I was especially impressed with the waiters.  The actors had their sight, but the waiters did not and they poured the wine with amazing precision.  At the end, the lights came on and we were given menus (woohoo, we had guessed every course correctly).  Although my curiosity was obviously satisfied, I do think they could have left that up to our imaginations.  


Now the asado.  I went with a friend of my Uncle Howie's, who lives here in BA part time and has been wonderful to me.  The asado was at the apartment of his good friend in Recoleta, in a great outdoor space.  It was filled with delightful food, company, and wine and I sincerely enjoyed being there.  I even got to speak a lot of Spanish.  There were mountains of meat - all different types, but not a hamburger or hot dog in sight.  More like black pudding, chorizo, sweet bread, steak, pork - you get the point.  The meat options are a big difference between an Argentine asado and a BBQ back home (which I also looove), but I was trying to figure out a way to better describe how they differ.  Well, sorry to say that I couldn't really come to a conclusion.  I think you just have to experience it.  Anyway, what a treat!


Since I've been back, I also went to a couple concerts, including an indoor festival with local BA indie bands that Cait and I went to with my former professor and her friends.  Again, lots of Spanish speaking!  Actually that night we were not allowed to speak any English.  Besides that, the scene is pretty much identical to what you see in NY.  If you can, check out a one-man band called Coiffeur.  He makes insanely beautiful music.   


Tonight Cait and I and a few of our friends are off to Cordoba, about a 10 hour bus ride away.  We are heading there for Oktoberfest, which promises to be a really fun time.  We'll let you know next week!


My parents arrive on Thursday and I am very excited to have them here!!  I already have lots of good ideas planned and can't wait for it.  As a reminder, visitors are always welcome. :)