Tag: GW Argentina

By quericolavida

Before coming to Buenos Aires, I had been doing the pescatarian thing for about a year. Not to save the world, or the animals, or anything noble else noble, but more-so just to try something new for myself that I ended up really enjoying (and partially because of the because of the mystery meat situation in the US & Monsanto). However, I feel like food is an essential element of any culture; the West Coast of the US, for example, is famous for the In-and-Out burger, whereas Buenos Aires is well known for having incredible meats. So in order to take in my full dosage of culture here I decided to start eating meat again. I also don’t like being picky, especially when traveling and/or living in someone elses home for 4 months. These days, I consider myself a “domestic pescatarian” and have been enjoying steaks and other awesome food down here. Here are some of my favorite cheap and quick places to snack in the city:

1) Chinatown Roadside Vendors
On my walk to school there are a few little restaurants facing the sidewalk. They've got all sorts of food on sticks (tofu, chicken, pork, beef, egg rolls, etc..) ready to be deep fried and served to you! An incredible snack always under 4 dollars.

 

 

...continue reading "3 Great Eats for Under $5"

By quericolavida

Latin America is like the United States in that the variety of Castellano  (Spanish) in terms of the slang and pronunciation changes by geography, even within Argentina. Argentina is known for speaking a Spanish like no other Spanish-speaking country.

Rio Platanese is the variety of Spanish heard in Buenos Aires and other big cities along the mouth of the River Plate, such as Montevideo, Uruguay. One of the most noticeable differences in this dialect is the use of the pronoun “vos”, which is unique to this area. “Vos” basically means “you” and has its own form of conjugation, replacing the “tu” and “usted” from other Spanish dialects. For example, whereas in Colombia or Mexico you would say “¿De donde eres?” when asking where someone is from, in the River Plate region you would say “¿De donde sos?” Argentine Spanish is very informal, especially in comparison to Colombian way of speaking. Another notable difference is the pronunciation of double l’s and y’s as “sha”. In almost all other Spanish speaking countries you would pronounce the word for street, “calle” as ca-yay. In Buenos Aires the say “ca-shay”. The word “vaya” (go) would be pronounced “vai-ya” in Mexico and “va-sha” in here in Buenos Aires. Other parts of the country, like the north for example don’t use this pronunciation.  ...continue reading "¡Cuchame chabón! (Slang in Buenos Aires)"

By quericolavida

Buenos Aires is a HUGE city. The population of the metro area brinks on 13,000,000 people, most of whom will happily tell you some of the things they love about their city, the dulce de leche, the café culture, the European architecture, the tango, the colorful barrios, and the constant chaos that strings it all together. I experienced a generous dose of Buenos Aires bedlam as soon as I arrived, smack-dab in the middle of a Subte worker’s strike, the cause of which nobody could really explain (the Subte is the BA equivalent to DC’s Metro). I even heard a local joke about being furious, but not even knowing whom to blame anymore. It had something to do with the city’s government not getting along with the regional government and deciding who would set the wage.

The strike clogged up the streets, making journeys downtown, like one to apply for a student’s visa, a total nightmare. The cross-town trip took an hour and a half of being sardine-d into a bus. The colectivos (busses) and congestion on the road mirrored a similar sidewalk situation during the strike.

People everywhere.

...continue reading "Bouncin’ Around Buenos Aires"

By quericolavida

When I first arrived here in Buenos Aires, it was the height of the Olympics. In fact, the United States had just surpassed China and became the country with the most gold medals in this year's Games. I went to a bar with a fellow American student on the IBUS in Argentina program to watch the USA vs. Argentina basketball game. I asked the waiter if he could put the game on and if we could sit down and watch it. He could tell we were gringos from my accent and replied jokingly in Spanish,

"Sure! You guys are rooting for Argentina, right?"

"Claro!" We laughed with him and ordered a drink. After half-time USA pulled away form Argentina with a ten point lead. We said to the waiter,

"If we win the drinks are on the house, right?"    He wasn't super amused.

...continue reading "Ex-Patriotism and the Olympics in a Far-Away Land"

By quericolavida

Hello! And welcome to my blog about all things Buenos Aires. I arrived here last Friday with 10 other GW students participating in the first ever "International Business in Argentina" program. After a weekend of orientation and a full week of classes we are finally starting to get a hang of the city. Another big leap in the familiarization process is that the Subte, the BA equivalent to the DC Metro, is working again after the 10-day-long strike, which resulted in the million (literally a million people) daily commuters who usually use the underground transit further clogging the city's streets and bus systems on their way to and from work. ...continue reading "Bienvenidos a Buenos Aires!"