A Day in Tigre

A Day in Tigre A fantastic day trip to get out of the city is jumping on the 40 minute train to Tigre. This transport will cost you less than $1 US round trip – you heard me. You will probably have to stand the whole way, but it’s probably safer than those 15 Euro standing room flights Ryanair proposed (is that still an option?). So, off to the beautiful Tigre!


In Tigre, there is a market, boat rides, an amusement park (unsure when/if that’s open) and more to do. We arrived late in the day so opted for a stroll by the water.


And we consumed many, many licaudos, which I have recently become obsessed with in Argentina.



It was too late for a boat ride, so we just walked and sat and strolled and relaxed. The market didn’t offer much more than other Argentine markets, except puppies to adopt (which I have actually seen in other markets) and my broken heart left behind with them.

Moving on. Tigre is such a great, quick trip away from the city. I believe there is kayaking and such, but I did not partake because I forgot to wear sunscreen and wore a black dress. En serio? Yes. In sum, Tigre gets one big American thumbs up.

Kissing in the Workplace

I’m sure you are all wondering what this post is about. So in different cultures there are different customs. And in Argentina, it is customary to kiss someone once on the cheek when you see them. I’m totally fine with kissing my friends when we see each other, but then you kiss on the cheek goodbye too. You also kiss people that you are introduced to (friends of friends), and really, anyone you sort of know. Again, fine with all of this.

Recently, however, I started teaching English at another company, as I’m beyond broke. They were beyond desperate because they hired me on the spot. Seriously, I can PR myself anywhere. So I started the next day. Cut to the next day: In walks my male boss. And, you guessed it - he kisses me on the check. Little project: everyone imagine walking into work on Monday and kissing your boss. This is even more understood if you are female and he is male (glass ceiling, I know). It’s weird! It’s just weird. And, of course, we had to kiss goodbye as well. Now what makes me so giggly about all of it is that every time it happens (twice a day Mon-Fri), I picture this custom in the US. Specifically with my former male boss and it makes me laugh.

But no, it’s totally normal here. Sidenote: our neighbors just came over to see our kitchen (or something, it was all in Spanish), and I kissed the man too. I guess the handshake just never really caught on here…

The Good, The Bad: Argentina so far

These are my top favorite and least favorite things about Buenos Aires so far.

The Bad

5. Nobody taught me the different way to pronounce the double L. So..thanks Spanish teachers. You say: Sho soy de los Estados Unidos. Es muy dificil.

4. There’s a show called “Ugly Americans”. It’s not even Los Americanos feos; it’s literally called “Ugly Americans”. It’s also in Spanish and a cartoon.

3. My elevator is so f*ing loud, I can hear it through the walls at all hours. What up with that?

2. And whats is up with all of this ham?? Jamon this, jamon that. Jamon, Jamon, Jamon!

1. What takes the numero uno spot? LOS FUMADORES. It’s “illegal” to smoke in bars and clubs, but people still do. Every time I get home from going out, I hang my clothes in this outside are to attempt to rid them of the horrible smell. Also fire hazard much?

The Good

5. I have a TV channel ‘Animax’ that shows old episodes of 90210 (the REAL 90210) all the time. Also fan favorites on said channel are: Celebrity Deathmatch AND Clueless, the TV show.

4. Sugar in the pop! Yes I saw pop and yes candy feigns it’s REAL sugar. I really only drink pop abroad; I have a very refined palate.

3. Late hours: get up not early, stay up late, livin the vida. But not this week, I have espanol class at 8:30am. I said am.

2. Empanadas: soon to be my downfall.

1. It’s SUMMER and WARM! Enjoy winter, suckers. While I won’t be sporting a tan, I may try to get a nice little sunburn before Christmas.

Friday Throwback: Budapest, Hungary

Yes I realize these should be called Thursday Throwback or Friday Flashback. Get over it, move on, I have.

This week, though I’m IN Buenos Aires (!!!) brings us to Budabest, Hungary. Pronounced Budapesht (yes, it is as annoying as you’d think), this capital city was the first stop on Nora and Mom’s adventure through Eastern Europe. Now, I’m not the biggest fan of Europe – yes it’s utterly fantastic and the US needs to take plenty of lessons, but I prefer going to places that are completely different than my normal world - and now you better understand my thought process behind moving to Africa. However, for those of you know know my mother, you know she is not the Africa type, so off to Eastern Europe we went.

I actually liked Budapest, but I got really really sick from the food (I know, IN EUROPE!). At that time I think I was eating very healthy, so once I had the fatty/lardy food for 3 meals, I got so sick I couldn’t eat anything, somehow finding gatorade and downing tea. I have no self control and really like digging into local cuisine, but Nora know your limits. On to the sites! The Parliament was so beautiful:

I actually bought a little hand-drawing of this that is now sitting somewhere in Buffalo, but it will be hung once I actually stay in a home longer than six months. It was interesting to walk the city, as it resembled European cities, but definitely had that post-Soviet Union feel. You could just tell that at one time, the color gray ruled this country. There are many post-Soviet museums to visit that describe how the country survived through that tough time, which was not so long ago. I recommend Hungary, but maybe when it’s a bit warmer, I hate lugging around sweaters and jackets!