Expatriate Life

I think it is safe to say I am now officially an expat. The last two hurdles I had to jump in order to enter the common life of the everyday citizen were A. Finding a towel, and B. Finding a place to do laundry. I succeeded at both, although I am still bitter about the towel. Here's the story.

Yesterday I spent the morning in pursuit of the ever elusive towel with which I could finally bathe. One very noticeable difference between BA and the States is the absence of big box stores. Instead there are tons of tiny shops that sell a very specific set of things (e.g. small electronics, light fixtures, kitchen supplies etc.), so it wasn't as if I could go find the nearest Bed, Bath and Beyond. Anyways I did some research and found that the local place to find towels is called Arredo and there was one only about 3 or 4 blocks from the apt. At this point I was desperate for a towel, any towel, so it was an unpleasant shock to realize that the cheapest towels they had in stock were $99 pesos. I couldn't help but calculate that into U.S. dollars and cringe as I handed over the bill ($25 US for a towel!). I was going to go in search of a laundry bag after that but after having to pay $25 on a towel I was feeling rather miserly and decided to use the bag my towels were in as a makeshift laundry bag.

That was hurdle A. I had a little more luck with Hurdle B. Finding a Lavaderia y Tinteria in Buenos Aires is pretty easy, but it's finding the best prices for your laundry that takes a little more searching. Most places charge between $30 and $50 Ar. pesos which comes out to between $8-$10 US, I've heard of one place that charges $20 but I have yet to find it. That might not seem like a big difference and you may say so what, but when your goal is to spend no more then $30 pesos a day ($7-$8 US), finding that $30 place becomes a goal. I found a place just down the road a block on Vicente Lopez that charged $38. Too much, I went in search of another. This is how lavaderia shopping on a budget works. You walk in, ask how much to do laundry, walk out, and repeat until you find one that is suitable.

I spoke with my landlord and he said that with inflation the way it is prices are all over the place in BA regardless of the neighborhood. He told me that one block over on the Avenida de Las Heras prices were surprisingly much cheaper, so I decided to have a look. I walked down Las Heras several blocks, took a turn on a side street, and with relief washing over me found my $30 holy grail lavaderia I had been hoping for. In my hesitant Spanish I negotiated the transaction and they told me to return by 9pm to pick up my clothes. With relief I left the lavaderia knowing everything I needed to do to settle in had been completed. For the rest of the day I went touring all the Parques (parks) in Recoleta, here are a few of the pics I took.

These first three pics are near/in the Plazas Republica de Uruguay and Chile. I went on a jog through them this morning (They are some of the nicest parques in BA that I have seen)

These last two are of the Floralis Generica. A sculpture of a closing Hibiscus flower given to the city in 2002 by architect Eduardo Catalano.

That was yesterday. Today was pretty relaxed for me. I ran through the parks above and then I went to the neighborhood of Palermo (about 20 blocks outside Recoleta) for a cinema/theater Kung Fu class hosted by a friend of mine here. All is well in Buenos Aires. Kyle, the newly furnished expat, signing off for now.