Buenos Aires Recycling

The cartoneros of BA are the people who make recycling happen. After the economic crisis, unemployed people, generally from the outskirts of the city, began coming into the city and digging through trash to find cardboard and other recyclables. Men, women and children transport their finds in a large cart, supported on their back and then sell them to be reused. As with any other business, there is a long chain of middlemen capturing the bulk of the profit selling the recyclables back to businesses, and the cartoneros, who walk around the city all night, are still struggling.

The people of one community, who were among the first to be unemployed after the 2001 crisis, successfully petitioned the government to provide them with a train to get to and from the city each night. Their community even has a daycare center at night run by volunteers, many of whom were once cartoneros themselves.

The government's attempts at setting up a recycling program have repeatedly failed. Co-ops comprised of cartoneros are now officially registered with the government and provide the city's recycling service.

It seems to actually be a fairly good system, since it provides "employment" to the unemployed and actually gets the recycling done. It also decreases the responsibility of the individual citizen, since many are too lazy to actually recycle. The cartoneros were so successful in their means of survival, that the government employed their system. They are still being exploited, but they are getting by. A photo documentation can be found here: http://www.worldpress.org/photo_essays/cartoneros/

The photos above are from the Recoleta Cemetary, the only quiet place in the city we have found so far. The cemetary is full of elaborate tombs, including that of Eva Peron and family, Che Guevara's family, and many other famous Argentines.

Hasta Luego

Puedo Tener Sabor? Please, can I have some flavor?

Food here - pretty flavorless. Service here - nonexistent. The way I ask for things - rude.

Apparently asking "Can I have..." does not exist, so I feel pretty rude whenever I say: "I would like..." and "Check". Okay, it's not really that bad, but I feel like I am ordering the waiters to do things for me. But anyway, maybe the steak is good. And one day I will probably have a bite just to see what all the fuss is about, but right now, the food is just bland. I don't think they know what seasoning is, and 80% of the restaurants are exactly the same - empanadas, pizza, and ham. The food from the supermarket, unless it is fruits or veggies, tastes like artificial flavors - the yogurt definitely tasted exactly like the strawberry flavored antibiotic for strep throat.

As a waitress, I am not usually one to complain about bad service, by oh my god is it awful. The country must have a law that says "one menu per table" no matter how many people are there. I mean, that's fine, we can share. But one time the one menu we were allotted priced my dinner about 13 pesos lower than it was. But I mean half the menus had the "correct" price, so that's legit, right? That's nothing compared the time I ordered a veggie quesadilla only to get a chicken quesadilla an hour later when the food finally came. Okay, honest mistake, we've all done it. They told me my veggie quesadilla was first priority and coming right up, and 30 minutes later it came...

...with chicken. Again. I'm not bitter or anything.

Plus, what you're actually gonna get is usually questionable - today I ordered "un sandwich imperdible de queso y vegetales". As per all dictionaries, "imperdible" technically is "safety pin". We assumed it meant "unmissable" as perder means to lose. Let me tell you, it surely was "perdible". So service and food are obviously not big attractions for the city. Although I suppose for non-vegetarians, the u$s 10.00 steak dinners may be a draw. At least I know I have no desire to eat out and can save money cooking for myself!

Also, there is no quick service - coffee, food, ice cream, etc. It's great that they create jobs for people by making everything full serve. But when I wanted to buy a folder today, at a school supply store where everything was stowed away behind the counter, it was quite difficult. Similar to the man who does your laundry (it costs extra to do it yourself), and the lady who brings your 7 peso (u$s 2.50) bottle of water to the table in the mall's food court when you can see it behind the counter you ordered at.

But the food and service are not important, the city is still great and has the cutest (and most vocal) kitten ever! Tomorrow I will continue the job hunt with a personal visit to every hotel in the city until one decides to hire me!

Luna, who is snuggled on my lap ahora

Cute kitten!!

No job? So what! Rent an Apartment and Get a Kitten.

So today, following a job interview which I won't hear about for 3 weeks, and if I get it I'll be paid "less than what I would make at McDonald's", I decided to get a kitten.

She is 6 weeks old and teeny, a little rambunctious, but sweet. I'm just hoping she remembers how to get to the litter box and doesn't go to the bathroom on my acid-washed jean pocket patterned sheets. Yes, that's what the house came with, and the rest of the sheets are locked up in the "maid's closet". Needless to say, a sheet purchase may have to be made before I get a job.

I know cats are very self-sufficient, but I realized once I got her, that despite how much I love cats, I really don't know how to take care of them. Luckily, Olga, the kitty foster mother we got her from (who had 3 cats, and 3 foster kitties) gave us some advice. We are just hoping that Julie's allergies don't act up around her. But right now she is asleep on my bed, and so adorable.

The job search is tough. There just aren't a lot of resources for people like me who don't know Spanish well enough to work in a job where it is necessary. And waiting 3 weeks to hear from a job might not be the worst thing, but when it's only a temporary job, it is a long time.

Anyway, I am going to fill out my request for an absentee ballot before it's too late, and then snuggle with my kitten =)

Noventa Centavos?

The gatitas up for adoption that I'm going to see tomorrow!! =)

Today we ventured into el barrio de chino (chinatown), which was pretty much the same as any other Chinatown - a lot of cheap crap. We even found a biombo being used in a store, but apparently it hailed all the way from Taiwan, and the owner wasn't ready to part with it. We did come across the cheapest peanut butter in the country, but apparently it tastes like peanut sauce, rather than peanut butter. We bought it anyway (the only other peanut butter is the mini-jar of Skippy, for about $13). The Chinese market also had nazi-branded barbeque sauce, super cheap sushi, and delicious eggrolls.

We walked a bit to get there since we opted to get off the bus when someone vomited on the floor (just like the p2p, except at 5pm). The bus system is extensive, with a million buses going anywhere you need to go in the city. All you have to do is use your guia "t" - the transportation bible - and carry lots of monedas (coins). However, coins are a rare commodity here. They are impossible to get, but necessary to use the bus. There may be a mafia hoarding the coins from the buses and selling them back at a higher rate. No se.

The other monetary struggle is that you can only get 100 peso notes from the atm, but most places "don't have change" for 100 pesos (about 33 dollars). A store must have change for this! Kind of like the realtors who expected us to pay for an apartment in dollars when the atms only give money in pesos. The money system is obviously quirky, to put it nicely.


Here is a quote from Julie's blog, describing our apartment search with an example of what ads looked like:

"45 years old building, newly recycled department with two environments ubicated in Palermo. Full equipment for six passengers this department has a lot of luminosity. Just five blocks away from Bosque Palermo (like Central Park in New York), a big park full of trees, green very nice for run. $1600 USD"

My favorite part is "ubicated" - the word ubicado in spanish means located, but ubicated is a brand new word to those of us familiar with the english language.

Anyway, we are sipping on 8 peso wine (by far not the cheapest wine you can find) getting ready to check out the nightlife here.

Chau (spanish version of ciao, and how you say goodbye, accompanied by a kiss on the cheek)

No Longer Homeless!

Well, I moved all the way to Argentina only to end up living in Queens. Yes, we finally found an apartment and it is located in “Palermo Queens” – a neighborhood right near “Palermo Soho” and “Palermo Hollywood”. It is a 2 bedroom, and we are creating a third bedroom out of the living room, when we can find a biombo to use as a separator (technically translated as a folding screen, but really just my new favorite Spanish word). It is amazing to be moved out of the dark and loud hostel, and no longer live out of a giant suitcase. After spending the bulk of the time we’ve been here hopelessly searching websites for cheap 3-bedrooms that don’t exist, we can finally start applying for jobs and exploring the city, and decorating the house!

The highlight was probably Maria the crazy realtor who we almost rented from. When we told her we weren't going to sign, she freaked out and told us that she was calling the police on us because we owed her money. Apparently, she thinks we made a verbal contract to pay her commission whether or not we rented from her? Ridiculous. So, we may or may not have the Argentinian police after us right now.

ghetto view of our apartment - the dining room, living room, julie's bedroom, and the balcony

Now we can start exploring more and getting to know the city, and I suppose finding a job - although I do have 2 interviews next week, so we'll see how that goes.

market in Plaza Serrano