April 2011: Buenos Aires, Argentina
As we began to brainstorm where to go on our year of adventure, one of the first places I put on the list was Buenos Aires. I first came here in 2004 for Spring Break. A friend and I rented a great apartment in Palermo for next to nothing and had a great time exploring the city for a week. It was a wonderful experience that left me wanting more.
My next visit was in 2006 when I was on a four country concert tour of South America with the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles. The whole tour is a bit of a blur but we had four days in BA and a wonderful concert..
This time we’d have a whole month to live like a Porteño, the name of someone who lives in Buenos Aires. As I began my search for a flat, I noticed that the prices had risen a bit since my first visit seven years ago. In a country that at one point had 1000% inflation, the increase was understandable. The economic history of Argentina is appalling. Its citizens have been through so much. It’s impossible to ever save money when it isn’t worth anything a month later. The dollar is still the unofficial second currency of the nation to combat the inflation problem.
We arrived at Ezeiza airport just outside the city center on April 4. We had a great Qantas flight with a wonderful flight attendant from Montevideo that now lives in Sydney. I spent much of the flight chatting with her.
Many countries worldwide are beginning to charge US passport holders a reciprocity fee of $140 to match the $140 visa fee that the US charges foreign passport holders. For our family of three, a $420 entrance fee is something to calculate into the price of travel. The confusing thing was that my credit card receipt read as $1712. OUCH! I had forgotten that they use the “$” to mean Argentine pesos. It scared the heck out of me for a second. $420 was painful but $1712 was robbery.
One nice thing about Buenos Aires is that taxis are still relatively cheap for the foreigners. Just before the exit of customs, we passed through a room lined with lots of taxi companies offering pre-paid transfers into the center of town. I had done my research and found out they were about the same price as a metered taxi but you could pay using a credit card. Also I needed a Kangoo or Berlingo sized taxi that could accommodate all our luggage. The taxi company quickly set us up with a “world traveler” sized taxi and away we went.
When I was here in 2004, I booked our flat using
www.bytargentina.com. Our two bedroom place for a week was $330. This time we needed three bedrooms and I was surprised that there was not very much availability in Palermo. We ended up in Recoleta with a great flat near the corner of Libertad and Posadas about half way between the Four Seasons and the Park Hyatt. I would have preferred to stay in Palermo because it is less fancy and has more restaurants. We stayed in Beverly Hills and I wanted West Hollywood.
The flat had two bedrooms and a maid’s room where Corbin slept. He loved being on the other side of the house from us. Thus, the independence has begun. He shared the room with his buddy Bobby when he and his family visited week two.
The day after we arrived, Terry flew off to the States to attend a job faire. Both of us have begun our job search for teaching positions in the Bay Area. With over 19,000 teachers having received their pink slips in California, we were discovering that the job market was DISMAL. We had spent the entire month of March in New Zealand trying to get some responses but so far had gotten no where. The lack was progress was beginning to take its toll on our ability to enjoy the trip. Terry signed up with a headhunter agency and they convinced him that he needed to fly up and meet some schools at their annual job faire. So Terry flew up to North America just a few short hours after having arrived in South America.
On the first night in BA while Terry was still there, I met up with an Italian CouchSurfer who had been living there for six month. He was a great resource for things a tourist needed to know. The first thing he told me when he saw my iPhone was that it will be stolen from my hands if I walk down the street playing with it! He said that pickpockets were big, especially on buses, the metro and in crowded shopping areas. Every Porteño that I met after that said exactly the same thing. I noticed that many people wore their backpacks on their fronts covering their chests instead of on their backs.
On our second afternoon Corbin and I went on a walk and ended up at one end of the shopping street Florida at 8:30pm for dinner. We chose a typical cafeteria where everyone was still having afternoon beers. Only one couple was actually having dinner and they were American. It was still a bit early for the Porteños to be eating. Argentina has adopted the Spanish eating hours. We knew about this and had already decided to change Corbin’s bedtime from 8pm to 10pm during our month there.
I had a great Argentine beef steak and Corbin had this typical cold rolled beef platter with Russian potato salad. By the time we finished, two other groups of people had arrived but we still felt like eighty year olds at the early bird special in Boca Raton.
We left the restaurant and walked down the crowed Florida walking street towards Rocoleta. I was in a great mood. My belly was fully of great, grass fed beef. My son and I had great conversation throughout dinner. I had a big beer. And now we were on our way home.
Prior to leaving the restaurant I had intentionally moved my wallet to a lower pocket on my cargo shorts because it’s very hard to get the buttons on that pocket open. My backpack was on my back but it didn’t have anything important or valuable in it.
Corbin and I were holding hands as we made it through the crowded streets. I love that age eleven he still likes to hold my hand especially in a crowd. Any day now, he’s going to wake up and decide that this is no longer cool. Every time that he grabs my hand now, I always wonder if it might be the last. Unfortunately on that night in Buenos Aires, holding hands lead to disaster.
At one point I realized that a woman had her hand inside the lower pocket on my cargo shorts where my wallet was! She even had her hand on my wallet and was trying to get it out. She was struggling since the difficult buttons were still fastened. I immediately grabbed her arm and started screaming “WHAT ARE YOU DOING? LET GO OF MY WALLET!”
In retrospect, I should have said all of this in Spanish instead of English. After living in Spain and also getting a Bachelors in Spanish at university, my Spanish is very good. In the moment of panic, my brain was stuck in English.
I’m a teacher and have a loud voice when needed. In fact I might say that I have the loudest voice of anyone that I know. It does come in handy at various times including when you are in the midst of getting pick pocketed on a busy street in South America. I might have been shouting incomprehensible English but IT WAS LOUD and stopped all the foot traffic around.
The thief was carrying some old shopping bags and immediately started talking to her accomplice who was also carrying lots of bags. Pickpockets carry bags to easily drop their acquisitions into. They stood there and looked at the screaming American like I was crazy.
I did a quick check and I seemed to have all my belongings. Luckily my iPhone was in my hand at the time against all the advice of my friends. I think had it been in one of my front pockets, I would be iPhoneless now. I did notice that the outside small pocket on my backpack was wide open. She had definitely opened it looking for treasures.
I debated grabbing her arm and dragging her around until we found a policía. But the most she would be charged with would be attempted robbery. I had all my things and decided that it wasn’t worth the time or effort especially with a very tired Corbin by my side. We simply turned away from the scene and moved on. I would soon discover that indeed we had been robbed of a valuable.
Then about four blocks later, I remembered that I had put my camera in the outside pocket of the backpack about a half hour before dinner. I quickly searched my pockets and all through my backpack but it was futile. The camera had been stolen.
Prior to beginning this trip I warned my family that we might arrive at a moment where all of our stuff was stolen. I assured them that we could recover from this. It was just stuff. The trip photos are all backed up online from our computers. All the important documents from our computer get automatically moved to the cloud somewhere in Internetland. When you travel the world with $5000 worth of electronics, you are a target.
Standing on Florida St I didn’t mind having my camera stolen. Instead I was kicking myself that I hadn’t download the photos from it since our final days in New Zealand about a week ago. All of our photos from Sydney were gone. More importantly I lost all my photos for my trip report of my Emirates First Class flight to Sydney and then Qantas Business Class to Buenos Aires. SADNESS. It was a rookie mistake made by a seasoned professional.
The incident was a big wake-up call that we weren’t in laid back New Zealand anymore. The fact is Buenos Aires is a big city that has crime like any other. From that point on if I carried any kind of wallet, it was always down in my underwear next to my crown jewels.
One of my favorite benefits of visiting Buenos Aires is el helado, the ice cream. The residents of Buenos Aires are a wonderful mix of Italian, French, Spanish and the indigenous peoples. The Italian influence is probably the largest and thus incredible gelato and fresh pasta can be found throughout the country. They are serious about their ice cream just like the Italians.
My favorite flavor is Dulce de Leche, sweet of milk. Thanks to Haagen-Dazs, it’s now a popular flavor around the world. The difference is that the Dulce de Leche ice cream you can get at a local Freddo or Persecco corner shop is night and day better than the pre-packed refrigerator case stuff. During our month, Corbin made it a daily ritual to freebase this local sweet delight. I’m not much of a sweets person but managed to eat my share.
Part of his Spanish lessons with me included learning how to ask for an ice cream. At first he REALLY didn’t want to speak Spanish with others. But I refused to order for him anymore. Thus the ice cream was a good motivator and he learned the expression “Quiero un helado de diecisiete pesos.” or “I want a 17 pesos ice-cream.”
Like much of Europe, the Porteños demand a decent cup of coffee and thus quality cafes can be found on every corner. Ironically the city has also been infected by Starbucks. Their worldwide marketing campaigns even convince picky Porteños to buy mediocre coffee. I don’t really even drink coffee but throughout this trip, I have sought out Starbucks wherever we’ve gone. Why?
The one thing I will say for Starbucks is that it’s the perfect place and go hang out for three hours where you can write your book. They have comfortable seating with lots of sofas and oversized chairs. No one pressures you to leave because they can’t see how much coffee you have left in your paper cup! In addition most have free wifi so I can make voip calls for free using my iPhone! Throughout our time in Buenos Aires, I spent many hours at the Starbucks upstairs in the chic Patio Bullrich mall located just around the corner from our house. I can’t write at home with Terry and Corbin distracting me all the time. Starbucks is a perfect office for me.
Corbin and I had four days on our own before our first set of friends arrived from Los Angeles. I really enjoyed this buddy time together. On the first day I took him through the famous Recoleta Cemetery. Because we’re home schooling, I can adapt his lessons to what we are currently visiting. That morning we spent a while studying Argentina’s history up to president Juan Peron and his wife Eva. We learned about the class issues that have long existed in Argentina and the struggles of the working classes. Visiting Evita’s grave was much more meaningful and he had lots of fun exploring the whole graveyard. One of his close friends, Don Juan, in Los Angeles is from Argentina and Don Juan’s grandfather is buried in the famous cemetery in Recoleta.
On another day we make our way to the 3rd of February park in search of rollerblades and paddleboats. We found the paddleboats first and had a nice hour of paddling around the lake. Even at eleven, Corbin’s enthusiasm to peddle diminishes quickly. I actually don’t mind because it’s a nice workout for me. We paddled all around and even safely stopped on a tiny island without ending up in the water! And it was not water you would want to fall into.
One of the families that we grew close to while living in Los Angeles was The Boones. We met them as the dad was dying of pancreatic cancer. Our kids went to the same pre-school and we stepped in to help out as Tom died. We did not know them that well but Lisa seemed relieved to have someone helping transport the kids to school or just letting the kids hang at our house after school. These were not the best circumstances to meet someone but that is how it worked out.
Corbin and Bridgette ended up at the same private, primary school and we got into the habit of picking both of them up and then Lisa would stop by later to get Bridgette. Many times, they all would end up staying for dinner and thus a lifelong friendship was born. Both kids have often given Terry and me the father’s day gifts that they made in class. Leaving them when we moved to Germany was extremely painful.
Luckily we knew that they would visit us and we would continue to visit them. They came to Germany during our first summer there. We had a great two weeks together. I couldn’t believe how much they had grown during our year apart. We traveled to Austria and northern Italy besides showing them all around southern Germany. The time flew by and they assured us that that would visit us during our round-the-world trip.
We stayed with them last August when we flew home for the brief visit to California. The two day visit was far too short but it was better than nothing. I felt much better when Lisa told me they would be joining us in Argentina for the kids’ spring break.
The days before their arrival in Buenos Aires, Corbin was beside himself. He has really missed having other kids around and now his nearest and dearest Bridgette and Bob would soon be visiting. The morning of their arrival, he wanted to get up extra early so that he was fully awake when they got to our place! This was better than Christmas!
The tears flowed when I saw Lisa and the kids. I’m even starting to cry right now as I type this. Pause. Okay, I’m better. I couldn’t see the screen there for a second. The kids were so tall. WHY DO THEY GROW UP?!?! At thirteen, Bridgette is definitely a young lady now. She hangs out more with the adults and participates in our conversations instead of playing all the time with the boys. Bob is two years younger than Corbin but is much taller than him. Lisa and her late husband Tom were both very tall and Bob seems to gotten those genes. The problem is that he still acts his age which is much younger than he looks. I kept expecting him to be as well behaved as Corbin but he just wasn’t there yet emotionally.
The three of them looked pretty good in spite of flying all night in economy class. Lisa said the kids actually slept a bit so they were ready to go. I heated up some fresh empanadas to give them a taste of the local flavors. They ate them all. It seems like your body can always eat when you are traveling. After the empanadas were gone, the kids said they were still hungry so I made a round of grilled cheese sandwiches and thus we had an early lunch. Our goal was to go walking around Recoleta in the afternoon so it is always good to fill up the kids tummies before venturing out.
Brilliant sun greeted us as we started to walk the streets of our neighborhood. It was a perfect late summer day. We walked down near the cemetery to this big huge park with great trees for climbing. The boys loved testing their limits in the trees mammoth branches. This activity soon became a daily ritual.
I strongly believe that kids need outdoor playtime everyday. I grew up on a farm and my brother and I spent so much time outside. Our favorite activity was building forts. We had a huge scrap lumber pile on the farm and thus an endless supply of building materials. We would always start out with grandiose plans that quickly got reduced as we encountered the hard work. Our property was littered with lots of forts in various states of completion. A half finished fort was perfect for playing. During construction we’d take a break and start our war reenactments and the fort would never get finished.
Corbin has often mentioned this year that he’d like a tree house in our future backyard. Bart Simpson has one and his dad’s a flake. So two dedicated gay dads should be able to come up with something. And me with all my fort building experience. The problem is that we still aren’t even sure where we are going to live. It’s hard to plan a tree house when you don’t even know if you’re going to have a backyard.
The huge trees of the Recoleta park would have to do suffice for the moment. I think Corbin climbed there every day we were in Buenos Aires. As a parent I worry a bit about him falling out of the trees and becoming paralyzed for the rest of his life. But at this point, I trust Corbin’s judgment. When we go skiing or rock climbing, I have always been impressed with the caution he shows. This seems to convert to tree climbing.
Every weekend the park outside of the Recoleta cemetery converts to an artesian market. Lisa, Brig and I enjoyed seeing all the hand made products. Bridgette bought a traditional mate cup and metal straw. Mate is the unofficial drink of Argentines. It’s a green bitter tea that is enjoyed throughout the day. The mate cup is usually carved from wood and has a metal straw that strains the tea leaves from the hot water as you drink. Brig immediately fell in love with them and even bought one for one of her girlfriends so they can drink mate together.
One of my favorite parts of visiting Buenos Aires is choripan. One of our Argentinean friends in LA was the first to introduce me to this amazing simple but delicious treat. Basically it’s a chorizo sausage cooked over a wood fire. Then it’s placed in a fresh roll and served with an array of condiments, the best being a spicy chimichurri sauce. What makes this better than any “hotdog” you’ve ever eaten is the smoky flavors that the wood gives the meat. I remember Gustavo told me that he used a mix of three different woods to give the sausage the correct flavor. Argentineans take their “pardilla” or BBQ very seriously. They raise the best beef in the world and have learned how to cook it with the best results.
At the weekend market of Recoleta, several stands were offering proper choripans cooked over wood coals. I chose the one with the best looking barbecue and bought choripans for everyone. I loved seeing the look on everyone’s faces as they tasted their first bite. I just converted three more people to the Church of Choripan.
From there I introduced them to the Porteño helado tradition. We took the three of them to Venice, Italy almost two summers ago where the local gelato was the highlight of the visit. I was happy to continue spoiling them the Argentine way.
We continued down the road a bit to the Museo de Bellas Artes (Fine Arts museum). We managed to stay for thirty minutes before the kids were pulling out their hair and making enough noise to piss of most of the patrons there.
By that point in the day, I thought it was time to get the gang back home, showered, fed and to bed. It was still early on Argentinean time but their bodies were tired and the day needed to wrap up.
I had purchased some beautiful stakes at the local Disco supermarket. Soon enough we were all enjoying the beautiful, grass fed beef. I only cooked it in my oven but it was still amazing.
Bob decided that he would sleep with Corbin in the tiny maid’s room. They finally went to bed around 9pm but continued to talk and laugh for an additional hour. I loved hearing the playful sounds coming from their room. Bob is one of a few people that Corbin considers his sibling. The plight of the only child.
Welcome champagne and pupus on the Boone’s first night
The next day was Sunday so we headed to the famous outdoor market along Defensa St in San Telmo. I originally thought that it was only around the main plaza in San Telmo but was pleasantly surprised that it went on for twenty blocks! It was very crowded and I had warned all the kids to be careful. Before we left that morning, I wrote out all our contact information for each person. I also taught them that if they got separated from the group to return to the last place that we saw them. If we didn’t show up, they were to get into a cab and tell the driver “Four Seasons Hotel”. When they would get to the Four Seasons about a block from our place, they would tell the Bellman that they got lost. Could he pay the cab and their dad would pay them when he showed up. No Four Seasons hotel is going to turn away a lost American kid even if we are not staying there.
Among all the stalls of antiques and handmade items, we saw magic shows and many other street performers. It was a great atmosphere and the kids loved seeing everything. At one point, I saw a choripan stand with about twenty people in the queue. This was my kind of place. Twenty people could not be wrong. In the end it was well worth waiting for. I was quickly becoming a choripan aficionado.
I had seen in my Lonely Planet book that the skinniest house in Buenos Aires was nearby. The whole house was only 8 ft wide and two stories tall. It would be kind of like a Dr. Seuss tale to live in such a skinny house.
Our other LA friends with us in front of the skinniest house in Buenos Aires
For lunch that day we found a local, corner restaurant that was the typical mix of Italian and Argentinean food. Our waiter was about seventy years old and was delightful. The food was delicious and much more than we could ever eat. Luckily they did not mind giving us a doggie bag. The whole experience felt very local. We looked like the only tourists in the place. One of the things we noticed in Buenos Aires was that the waiters and waitresses all seemed to be career servers. This was not just a temporary job for them. They were lifers. We all enjoyed their professionalism and knowledge.
Next we took a cab south to the famous La Boca area known for its brightly colored houses and street tango shows. Once again we were in the tourist throngs and the crowd was a bit overwhelming. This was definitely a Grey Line tourist stop. We walked quickly through the crowded area and found solace only a block away. It is actually a beautiful area and with the late afternoon sun, the colors on the houses were stunning. It would be nice to return a sunrise with similar lighting but less people.
Most of the tourist restaurants there offer a tango show to watch while dining. We stopped and watched a few of them but the boys were not that interested. They much preferred the many statues of Diego Maradona that populate the area.
As I have mentioned elsewhere in this mammoth report, I enjoy taking “free walking tours”. I figure if the guide makes all their money through the tips, they are going to try harder. Only the good guides will survive. I found two free tours in BA and used TripAdvisor to choose the one from Jonathan (
http://www.buenosaireslocaltours.com/)
Jonathan’s tours begin Monday through Saturday at 11am in Palermo’s Plaza Italia. From the first moments of meeting Jonathan, I was very impressed with him. He has lived in Buenos Aires for three years and obviously loves the place. His vast knowledge of the city and country added so much to the tour. Also coming from the UK, his English is very good. I have found that kids have a hard time understanding non-native speakers. For a three hour tour, I would much rather have a guide that I can fully understand instead of one that I can mostly understand.
We were the only participants on his tour that day. If we hadn’t shown up, he wouldn’t have worked that day. I asked him how often that happens and he replied once in a while. He’s only been giving the tours for three months so the momentum is still building.
My favorite part of the tour was that he taught us how to use the “Guia T” bus guide. All the local buses are private and have complicated routes. Jonathan sat us all down and showed us how to plan our route. He was especially good about including the kids and asking them questions. They really got into it. The process was complicated enough that I think you need a person to explain it to you. The worst part of the bus is that they only accept coins or a pre-paid travel card. In Argentina the coins are hardly worth anything and thus you hardly ever get any. The battle for the rest of our month in BA was collecting change to use on the buses. Getting a travel card was very complicated and after they needed to see our passports, I gave up on that.
Jonathan did a great job of introducing us to Carlos Gardel, the famous tango singer. Before his arrival on the scene, tango music was instrumental only. He totally changed tango music and since has become the face of tango and all of Argentina. Many locations around Buenos Aires celebrate him and his contribution.
Carlos Gardel, father of tango music and the most famous Porteño
We stopped for a coffee and ice cream at the big shopping mall in Abasto. The touristic highlight of this mall is they have the only Kosher McDonalds outside of Israel. Buenos Aires has a large Jewish population that is visible throughout the city. With our self-imposed lifetime boycott of McDonalds we simply looked but didn’t taste. The kids were much happier with their daily dose of Freddo ice cream.
Next Jonathan showed us how to use the metro. This was much easier because they accept peso notes and not just coins. In fact they GIVE you coins for change. As we were buying our tickets at the cashier, Jonathan warned us that you have to wait for the change because they will give it back slowly hoping at any moment you think they’re done and walk away. First they give you the coins portion. Then the smaller bills and then the larger bills. His suggestion was to not touch the money until you could see that it was all there.
Unfortunately, Lisa hadn’t heard this warning and she got ripped off about $20. The cashiers especially target tourists on this one. We were far from the cashier when she finally figured it out. Throughout the month, we noticed this happened in many different places: taxis, kiosks, stores… It’s a well know way to rip off the tourists.
The tour ended in the micro-center area with visits to the Congress and the famous Plaza de Mayo and the Pink House. The kids were fascinated in the stories about the various coups and Mother of the Disappeared who wore white scarves on their heads. The historical background made the tour very meaningful especially for the kids.
Bob, Carl, Corbin, Lisa and Bridgette in front the presidential offices, La Casa Rosada
One thing I would never have anticipated in Buenos Aires was the mosquitoes. I was there before about the same time back in 2004 and I have no memory of any mosquitoes. Every evening at dusk, the bugs would begin to bite me. For some reason, they love to bite me more than most. Watching the boys climb trees, the mosquitoes go crazy on me.
One day we decided to take the kids to the park to bike rent some bikes. It was midday and I didn’t think at all about putting repellant on. In the first fifteen minutes we were there, I got thirty bites! I left Lisa in charge and quickly retreated back to our flat. From that point forward, I always left the house fully protected.
About three days after Lisa and the kids arrived, Terry arrived back in Buenos Aires from his job hunting trip. He had interviews with many schools and was asked to visit three schools and give a sample lesson in front a classroom of kids. By the time he flew back down to Argentina, he didn’t have any job offers in hand but felt good about the three schools that showed interest in him.
One of the schools where he presented was a new charter school that was a perfect match for me. The main focus was to get kids from a lower economic community the skills needed to get into and be successful at university. Most of these kids will be the first in their family to graduate from high school, let alone college. As soon as I saw their website I needed to figure out how to get my resume in their hands.
I quickly wrote a cover letter along with my resume and sent it off to Terry. After he finished teaching his sample lesson, he gave my resume to vice principal saying that I was a great match for the school. Who knows if they will read it but at least it is better than just emailing it in.
All three Boones had really missed Terry. His homecoming was well appreciated by all of us. He still had four days with them but it killed him inside to have missed any of their visit.
Terry and I both wanted a dinner out alone with Lisa while the other hung out at home with the kids. I got my dinner on Wednesday night. We went to a great little restaurant recommended in the Lonely Planet guide, Social Paraiso. We tried first to go to La Cabrera but the wait was over an hour. We were much happier at Social Paraiso because it was a lot quieter. The food was outstanding and Lisa and I really enjoyed our alone time together. There is nothing better than hanging out with an old friend.
Lisa and I also managed to sneak off midday at one point to visit MALBA, a museum of Argentinean and other Latin American artists in Palermo. The collection is an interesting mix of artists in a great building. We treated ourselves to lunch at the posh museum restaurant after our visit. It was definitely a see and be seen place.
With three kids it is much easier to have dinner at home than wait until 10pm when the Porteños have dinner. We also taught them the card game Barbu that we learned in New Zealand and really enjoyed playing it with all the kids.
One restaurant recommendation that we wanted to try with the whole family was San Juanino. Lonely Planet billed it as the cheapest restaurant in Recoleta and it was just down the street from our flat. The place is always hopping. We booked for 9pm and it was already crowded although the Porteños consider this late afternoon. The meal was fantastic. We mostly had beef and everyone was very happy. Once again our waiter was great and added to the experience.
One thing that I knew Bridgette would love was going for High Tea at the Park Hyatt. Corbin has been wanting to experience High Tea for several countries now. I had promised him that we would go to The Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong for their High Tea but ran out of time there.
So the two kids and I walked the block and a half to the Park Hyatt to have our tea. Interestingly tea time in Buenos Aires is 4:30pm to 7:00pm. When dinner is at 10pm, tea can finish at 7:00pm. Those crazy Latinos! The tea is served out on a beautiful terrace overlooking the middle courtyard. The setting couldn’t be any better.
Bridgette and Corbin at High Tea at the Park Hyatt
The kids studied the tea menu and each chose interesting tea blends. Then the tiered rack arrived with a large variety of savory and sweet items. The best part was that the kids got to go inside and select all the sweet items from a huge buffet set up just inside from the terrace. Bridgette and Corbin loved the whole thing. I kept forgetting to use the tea strainer when I poured my tea which the kids found very amusing. Bridgette later shared that the tea was the highlight of her trip to Buenos Aires.
One day I decided that I needed to wear the kids out a bit so we walked all the way from Recoleta to the new dockside development of Puerto Madero. My friend Robin had recommended the walk through the Ecological Garden that occupies most of the island. It felt like a different world from the hustle and bustle of Buenos Aires. I could not believe that we were just steps away from the center of the city. The sun was out and it was a great way to see the river.
Walking along the river at the Ecological Park
At the exit to the park, we found a row of choripan stands that are open 24 hours a day! We picked one and I had the best choripan of my entire visit. The woods that they used added an amazing flavor. I was in culinary heaven. Lisa told me that she had never seen me so happy!
On the Boone’s last day we all did some last minute shopping in the Recoleta weekend market. We have sent home souvenirs with all our guests and Lisa took home some nice wooden trays for me. I have no idea where all our stuff is at this point but it will come back to us once we are back in California.
Saying goodbye that afternoon brought more tears. We used to see each other everyday. Our week together was just a taste of our old friendship. The good news is that we would be seeing them in just two months when we return to Los Angeles.
We had a week to ourselves before our next trio of visitors arrived from Los Angeles. It had been a very busy week with the Boones so we all enjoyed some down time to recharge our batteries.
Back while we were living in Germany, I flew down to Barcelona to spend time with one of my oldest friends, Alfonso. He lives in Madrid but has a flat in Sitges, the gayest place in Europe! During my visit I met one of his friends/business partners from Argentina. Agustin worked for gay.com and was working with Alfo on getting it launched there. He also was one of the moving forces pushing for gay marriage in Argentina. They were getting close to a vote when I met him and indeed the bill ended up passing in the Argentine legislature. I was really impressed by Agus and he told me to look him up when we were in Buenos Aires.
He and Diego, his partner of seventeen years live in a great house about 20 minutes from Recoleta. The gays sure know how to decorate especially the ones that do not have kids! They invited us for 9pm on a school night! They both had just gotten home from work when we arrived. It was a wonderful evening and we did not end up leaving until 1:30am! After dinner, they invited Corbin to use their Playstation up in the family room on the third floor. It was connected to a projector with a 12 ft screen! He was in heaven. Even at 1:30am, Corbin was wide awake playing away.
I know that I have said this several times but we are so lucky to have such great people in our lives. Agus and Diego were wonderful and we will remain friends. I cannot even count the number of people that we have met on this trip that are truly wonderful people that we look forward to seeing again.
In most cities I have posted a message on CouchSurfing.org about meeting up with other coupled and single gay people to find out how life is for them there. We have met some great people and this continued in Buenos Aires. One was a young kid of twenty years, Luciano. He wrote me saying he would love to see what a gay family looks like. He has always wanted to have kids. He did not have any idea how it would work.
We decided to return to San Juanino where we met up with him and his boyfriend Diego. They both were adorable. Terry and I felt like their gay parents. Luciano spoke excellent English which made it more interesting for Corbin and Terry. His boyfriend hardly spoke any English so we spent lots of time going between the two languages.
Like in many countries that we have visited, neither was out to their parents. Luciano knew that one day he would come out but he was not quite there yet. He was an only child and thought it would kill his parents to come out. He moved to the big city to go to university which has made it easier to be gay. He asked us and Corbin lots of interesting questions about our family.
Later in the month Luciano invited me to his birthday party at a club. It was fun to meet all his friends from university. I felt like everyone’s hip gay dad. Luciano had decided that he needed to break up with his boyfriend and told me that it has been hard for him to bring it up. I convinced him that he should wait until the morning and not do it during the party. He wrote me several days later that he talked to Diego and now they are just friends. Ah, youth.
During our week of no visitors, Terry and Corbin signed up for a language school. We got Corbin a private instructor. The school sometimes has classes for kids but only during their vacation. Terry joined a class of beginners which turned out to be a mistake. The other two people in the class were Australian and on their honeymoon. They had never learned a foreign language before and did not get such concepts as masculine and feminine nouns, conjugating verbs or pronunciation that that different than English. Terry should have bolted the first day but stuck it out for the two weeks. He learned something but would have been better in a more advanced class.
Corbin on the other hand did great. His teacher was wonderful and they did well together for their two-hour sessions. I would review with Corbin and saw he was progressing. He had been doing Rosetta Stone on his own while in Australia and New Zealand. The classroom was a good change for him.
On Friday morning our dear friends, Dottie, Connie and Felipe arrived at our place. I have known Dottie and Connie for over sixteen years. We all met when I joined the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles in 1994. They had both been members for a while at that point and welcomed me in. They all came to Europe to visit us in Germany but Dottie’s dad died during their trip so he and his partner Felipe flew home before arriving at our house. We were disappointed but these things happen in life. We did have a great time with Connie and showed him a great time in Bavaria.
Exactly a year later, Dottie’s family was all healthy and it looked like we were safe for a visit. At this point I have to explain that Connie and Dottie’s names aren’t their real names. In our group of friends in the chorus, we all had girl nicknames. I am not sure how it started but for many people their names have stuck. Like tar. One of our friends even made us hats with our girl names written out in rhinestones. We are quite the sight when we all go out in public with our hats on.
One time it was June’s birthday and a large group of twenty of us all went to Six Flags Magic Mountain wearing our hats. At one point, we were in line for a rollercoaster and we saw this guy also in line with a hat that said “Janet” on it. He was obviously straight and was hanging on his girlfriend while they waited in line. The hat had probably been purchased at a Janet Jackson concert they had recently attended.
So one of the nellier queens in our group puts his hand in the air, starts waving at him yelling “Yoo hoo. Janet! Hi!!!!!!” Then the rest of us started to wave and yell “JAAAANNNEEETTT!”. At first he didn’t get it and then his girlfriend pointed to his hat while busting up.
So you’re in line at Magic Mountain with your girlfriend and you’ve got this gaggle of rhinestone wearing queens waving at you and calling you Janet. The guy visibly melted. He also took off his hat and tried to laugh it off. He took it all very well and was a very cool straight guy!
Both Connie and Dottie’s Christian names have LONG been forgotten. When introducing them to other people, we now only use their girl names. My name hasn’t stuck as well. It’s Tammy. Our friend June looked at me about ten minutes after meeting me and exclaimed “You look like a Tammy to me.” Thus I was christened. But it just never quite caught on. June and Connie are probably the only ones who still call me that today.
Since our place was not big enough for all of them, Dottie and Felipe spent their first three days at a nearby hotel and then Connie spent the last three days at the Park Hyatt. It worked out great and this gave us alone time with each.
Having just shown Lisa and the kids all around Buenos Aires, I was well prepared to be tour guide. They all told me that they had not done much research because they knew I would know exactly what to do! How well my friends know me! As we settled in the living room for champagne and empanadas soon after their arrival, I showed them a “sample schedule” that I had prepared for their visit. They were very happy. Felipe had done some reading and added to the schedule.
Dottie and Connie were with me when we came to BA four years ago on our concert tour. They both said at the time that our visit was too short and they would have to return one day. Once we announced that we’d be in BA for the month of April, they quickly bought tickets.
After a shower and short disco nap, we took them off to San Telmo to the famous restaurant, Desnivel. It’s a great pardilla with unbelievable steaks. All of us had various versions of filet mignons but struggled to finish the enormous portions. Argentinean beef is truly the best in the world. Corn fed beef just does not compare.
After lunch we waddled around San Telmo and the boys enjoyed shopping and looking at the antiques. We finally made it to the Plaza de Mayo and took the obligatory pictures in front of the Casa Rosada where Evita made her famous speech.
I knew the boys wanted to go out so I suggested that we return home for a proper nap and supper before heading out to the bars at midnight. Nightlife happens very late in Buenos Aires. When you do not eat dinner until ten or eleven at night, the bars do not open before midnight and the dance clubs around 2am. Throughout their visit, Terry and I took turns going out with them at night while the other remained home with Corbin. It actually worked out well because we got much more sleep than our LA visitors!
Around 9:00pm just before supper, we walked through Recoleta and encountered a Good Friday dying-on-the-cross presentation in the park outside Recoleta cemetery. Jesus and two others were hanging from their crosses while the crowds sang. I’m not Christian so I am not quite sure who all the players were. But at some point some soldiers removed the dead Jesus from the cross and took him away. It was very dramatic.
Good Friday reenactment in Recoleta
Around midnight we started off at Sitges, a typical low-key gay bar that has a drag show around 1am. It was popular that night because it was “all you can drink” night. After paying $8 to get in, you can have all the well drinks and beer you want. More than one person told me to stick to the beer. The spirits they offer are not of the highest quality to say the least. We had several beers while enjoying the crowd and the show.
Around 1:45am we decided to abandon the free drinks and move on to a dance club, Glam. It was just filling up and within forty-five minutes both dance floors were “nuts to butts”. We danced. We drank. We tried to ignore the fact that we are in our late forties. Felipe’s only thirty-two but I always try to ignore that! By 3:30 we were a pack of tired puppies and headed on home.
The boys rallied and were ready to go the next morning by noon so we could have lunch at Ivan and Lola’s house. We met them in Bangkok through CouchSurfing in November and then spent New Year’s Eve with them in Ho Chi Minh. We were so excited to see them again at their home in Buenos Aires.
Their house is in the Olivos suburb about an hour by bus from Recoleta. Their house is a converted garage with a huge backyard. They are both illustrators and we loved looking at their books and other merchandise. They had an impressive appetizer spread waiting for us and their offer of a glass of wine seemed a bit premature but then after the first sip, it actually made us feel a bit better. The previous night’s fun had taken its toll on our bodies! Here we were ten hours later diving in again!
Lola and her sister Claudia making us all lunch
They invited Lola’s sister and her family since they have two boys around Corbin’s age. The sister Claudia had made an amazing lentil and beef stew that was the main course to our lunch. Her kids went to an English speaking school so they boys all hit it off instantly. An impromptu football game filled their time before lunch. We all loved getting to know Ivan, Lola and Claudia and her husband Fernando. It was a great afternoon of sharing and enjoying life. By five all my boys were beginning to fade so we headed home and all took long naps.
Connie, Dottie and Felipe had booked us into a restaurant they ate at four years ago that was just two blocks away. It was what I would call a high end pardilla with excellent service and delicious food. We stuffed ourselves. That night I stayed home with Corbin while Terry and the boys went out on to a club for older guys. They did not get home until 4:30am and they said it was lots of fun.
Felipe had read about a Sunday market called the Feria de Mataderos located about thirty minutes by cab from the center. It was billed as more authentic and less touristy than the Sunday market in San Telmo. We arrived and instantly knew it was worth the trip.
Traditional dancers at the Feria de Mataderos
In the center of the market traditional dancers presented a variety of dances to the accompaniment of a live band. This was by Porteños for Porteños. The market had a nice variety of things that we had not seen in other places. One thing that the boys found was utensils made out of cow horns. They bought several sets of salad and pie servers. It was one-stop shopping for all the souvenirs for friends. This market also had a large food section with local olive oils, cheese, honey and breads.
The gang with some traditional dancers
From there we taxied it up for La Boca to have some lunch and show them this historic area. I specifically chose one of the restaurants with a tango show so Felipe could get a taste of it. He performs traditional Mexican dances so I knew he would enjoy it. Connie, Dottie and I saw a tourist dinner and tango show four years ago so we did not think we needed to do the same thing again. The La Boca tourist restaurant version was fine. The food actually turned out to be better than I expected. We all had seafood and it was quite tasty. Only in Argentina do the tourist restaurants serve GOOD food. I have yet to have a bad meal there. It embarrasses me the food that the US has exported to the rest of the world.
That night we went out again! Things are quiet at the beginning of the week so we knew that a respite was coming. On Sunday night, things were open and hopping so we had to take advantage of the opportunity. The funny things about being gay is that it seems to drastically increase your change of running into familiar faces when you go out. Terry and I went out one night together when Lisa watched the kids. We were in a gay bar for maybe ten minutes before I recognized two guys from my gym in Los Angeles. I went over and said hello and met their other friends. It turns out that I had brunch a couple of years ago with another guy that was with them. It’s a small gay world after all.
Then the first night with the LA boys, they ran into two different people they knew. None of this was pre-coordinated. It just happens. Part of the reason is that when they travel the gays do not have a lot of options for bars and clubs. So we all end up going to the same places. Thus we run into each other all over the world.
We had such a good time at Agus and Diego’s house, we decided to invite them over for dinner when the LA boys were in town. I put together one of my typical Indian meals: butter chicken, curry peas, palak paneer and homemade garlic naan. It is a pretty impressive meal to be able to cook up especially when traveling. We all ate well, drank well and really enjoyed each other’s company. We hope to see them one day up in California.
Diego and Agus come over to our flat for Indian food
The best friend of one of our friends in LA also happened to be visiting that same week so we met up with Debbie on the afternoon that we had booked High Tea at the Alvear Palace. Having already experienced the high tea the Park Hyatt, we ventured six blocks down the street to the grande dame of hotels in Buenos Aires. I read a great review of their high tea service and thought it would be a fun activity for us when the boys were visiting.
We ate in the luxurious, enclosed garden area. Our table was near a fountain in the middle of the room and we all felt like princesses (except Corbin who preferred to keep the title of Little Prince). The hotel had that old-world feel like the Peninsula in Hong Kong and the Ritz in Paris. Rooms there run about $800 a night but do include a dedicated butler. Being on the “princess-for-the-afternoon” plan, we only glimpsed the life of royalty. The Alvear had none of the corporate America feel of the Park Hyatt.
The LA boys & Debbie join us for High Tea at the Palace Alvear
We all ordered tea the High Tea for about $35 a person. Little did we realize HOW much food would be coming our way. The savory sandwiches were wonderful and then the scones and sweets. Most of us could not finish what was on our tiers. At that point, we thought it was over but then they came by with this huge cart of full sized desserts saying we each could choose one! WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!?! I couldn’t even manage another bite let alone a full-sized dessert. Luckily they offered to wrap them up for later consumption. Finally they offered each of us a chocolate truffle to finish off the “tea”. It was a wonderful experience but we all left stuffed to the brim.
On our last night together, we booked into the much celebrated Casa Cruz restaurant in Palermo. Many people from Flyertalk recommended the place so I thought we would give a try.
Corbin sips a virgin martini at Casa Cruz
By far Casa Cruz was our largest venture that month into fine dining. The only thing I can fault them on was the VERY SLOW service. The restaurant was not full but we had a 50 minute pause between our starters and mains. At forty minutes our server came by apologizing that they had a personnel issue in the kitchen. This is the LAST THING I ever want to hear when paying fine dining prices. Please spare me the details.
At least the food was spectacular. All of us loved our choices. Everything had an international twist on local flavors. It was exactly what I was hoping for. In the end I can always forgive bad service when traveling internationally. We have the best service in the world in the United States and we pay for it. But good food always wins out. At the end of our meal, our friends Dottie and Felipe generously picked up the tab. It was not necessary so that made it all the nicer!
We had such a good time with Dot, Con and Felipe. We have had visitors fly in every month except for Madagascar. We are truly blessed with wonderful friends who will fly half way around the world to experience life with us.
After they left, we only had three days before we would be moving on. Unlike all the previous countries, I had not really done any planning for our next country, Chile. We did not have a place to stay and I was not even sure where we were going to spend the month. I can say that I was tired of planning. I never thought those words would come out of my month. I am the eternal planner. Since nothing was really planned, Terry and I debated just spending another month in Buenos Aires. We both LOVED it here. Would it hurt to stay an extra month and blow off Chile?
The purist in me did not like the idea of stealing time from Chile to enjoy ourselves in Argentina. The original goal was twelve months, twelve countries learning how the local people live in each place. Spending two months in BA would imbalance our formula. I also liked for the first time in the trip that we would be arriving with few plans. I keep telling everyone that we could not have done this trip before the invent of the internet. This is actually untrue. We would have done the trip. We would have just spent more time upon arrival in each country finding a place to live and booking flights.
After a few days of flirting with this idea, we decided that it would be better to continue on and experience Chile. We booked a hotel at the airport and a motel on Easter Island for three nights. Beyond that, we were still free to choose the rest of the month in Chile.
Our last day in Buenos Aires was spent with Claudia and Fernando’s family. When we met them at Lola and Ivan’s house, Claudia wanted to get our families together one more time before we left. Spending our last day with them was a great way to finish up Argentina.
We started the day at their place. They have a nice townhouse in a quiet suburb. Terry had decided to stay home since neither of them spoke much English. Without him, we had long chats in Spanish about our lives. It was great to get to know them better. Finally we all piled into their car and drove up to Tigre further up the river. When it’s not raining, Claudia told us that it is beautiful to sit at one of the many waterside restaurants and enjoy the views. Unfortunately, autumn had hit hard and the rain forced us inside for lunch. They insisted on picking up the tab. I have been blown away throughout our travels at the generosity of people that we’ve just met. It’s really wonderful. They did let me treat everyone to ice cream a bit later.
Tigre has many antique shops and we walked slowly as the kids ran around chasing each other. Any time I see Corbin playing with other kids, it warms my heart. He really needs that time.
After we got back to their place, Fernando opened some beers and turned on the local televised football match. It only had thirty minutes left and his team was winning. By the time it was over, it was around 6pm and I was thinking that Corbin and I should hit the road because it was school night for them.
They looked absolutely offended when I asked if we should be going. Claudia said that she was hoping we could hang out more and make some empanadas. You do not have to ask me twice! Corbin, Sebastian and Manuel happily played with Lego and their Playstation while we cooked.
She and I walked to the store to get the ingredients and soon we donned aprons and started in on our task. I was finally getting my cooking lesson in Argentina on our last evening! She showed me how to prepare the beef filling. It was actually straight forward. The hard part was filling the dough and sealing the edges.
Claudia shows me how to seal the empanadas
Claudia patiently taught me one of the nicer ways to seal the edges where you continually fold over one side on the other. Unfortunately some technique was involved. Soon she and Fernando were in stitches at my attempts. It reminded me of making our chapatis in India. Mine just never turned out round. Later at the table, Claudia made the kids identify which ones were hers and which were mine. It wasn’t a hard game.
Fernando shows off our hard work
Like many people when we first meet, they had many questions about Corbin’s adoption. Both Terry and I enjoy sharing the story but most people are hesitant to ask. Of course I arrived at the point in the story where I talked about adopting our second child. We really wanted a girl. I come from three generations of boys and in my mom and grandma’s honor, I really wanted a girl. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. We worked with ten different birth moms with no success. Every time I tell the story, I usually end up in tears. It is still painful for me. In the end, we have an amazing kid. We got lucky. I’m not sure we would have been able to afford this trip if we had another child. Kids ain’t cheap.
It was 1:30am early Monday morning once Fernando drove us back to our flat in Recoleta. Once again like so many other times this year, we had spent the day with amazing people. The good news is that I am sure that Claudia and Fernando will be visiting us in California and we can continue where we left off.
Unfortunately as we are leaving Argentina, we still don’t have jobs back in CA. None of the schools that Terry visited has actually offered a job. No one will return my phone calls. I am getting more worried with each passing day that maybe we should get home before the schools break for summer in order to meet some principals. One of our thoughts is to shave a week off of both Chile and Colombia. This would get us back mid-June with some time to speak with administrators. Since nothing is really planned for our final two months, we have some flexibility. The reality of our re-entry into our California lives after three years is quickly catching up with us.
Our flight on Monday was in the mid-afternoon so we had plenty of time to pack in the morning. All of us felt a bit sad to be leaving Argentina as our cab made its way to the international airport in Ezeiza. Buenos Aires is a great city.
Prices have definitely gone up since my first visit in 2004. Before you could take a cab anywhere in the center for two or three dollars. Now it’s more like five or six. That is still not bad compared to other international cities. Food has also increased in price but is still much cheaper than an European city.
What Buenos Aires offers is a very livable city. Porteños live wonderful lives. Good food. Good wine. Good friends. It is not a complicated formula. As we leave each country, I often think about what we have learned. Argentina taught us how to really enjoy our lives. It’s not a bad thing to learn.
The last glimpses of daylight on the Recoleta Cemetery