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Monday, June 25, 2012

Supersize Me: The Argentine Edition

English: A Big Mac sandwich taken at Velika Go...Image via Wikipedia
























It is no big secret that Argentines have a love and affinity for big American fast food chains such as Wendys or Mcdonalds etc  But what maybe truly one of Argentina's worst kept secret works out to be the best deal for tourist and expats wanting to save a buck or two in the midst of inflation  ( For those of you who don't know, the gov't insists that the inflation level is at a modest 10% but stats done but independent researcher indicates that inflation level are between 25-30%)

What is this deal that I am talking about? It is a deal that exist in any mcdonalds that you walk into in Argentina that isn't advertised as part of the menu. Over the years, the mcdonalds brand has become synonymous with its all famous big mac meal.  Yet in Buenos Aires, you'd be hard pressed to see any pictures of the big mac combo being advertised. However if you asks for it, it is available and not only that, the bonus for your dilligence and perseverence in pursing the Big Mac is rewarded by the fact that it is 30% less than all the items offered on the main menu.

Monday, June 18, 2012

The Culture of Argentina Beyond the Boundaries of Buenos Aires City

Cityscape to the south of Cordoba, Argentina.
Cityscape to the south of Cordoba, Argentina. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
 




The culture of Latin America is often associated with the words "friendly"  "open" and "hospitable". At times those three words seem synonymous with one another. Being friendly and open automatically means being hospitable too.....right? After extended experience here in Buenos Aires and multiple conversations with expats that have lived here, I want to challenge that idea.

First lets define "hospitality" or "hospitable". The dictionary defines it as actually welcoming guests or strangers into ones living space and hosting them well. It's more than simply being nice to someone in the grocery store.  Hospitality denotes creating an environment for someone where they feel loved and taken in and I am not so sure that definition really accurately describes Buenos Aires.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Derailing and Demistifying the Dangers of the Argentine Rail System





If the nation of Argentina had its very own facebook page with updates and statuses, the relationship status between the gov't and the people would be set to "complicated". On that note, this would also be the relationship status most expats would choose to describe their relationship with Buenos Aires,  complicated.  I'll leave that for another blogpost, for now let's focus on the gov't and the people.

A couple months ago I wrote a blogpost Reeling from a Real Rail Disaster. It was about one of Argentina's worst rail disasters that happened this year on Ash Wednesday.  In that blogpost I chose to focus on my personal feelings of having to challenge myself not to live in fear but to trust God instead. There wasn't enough room in that blog to really explain the ongoing drama that had been happening between the gov't, the people and Trenes de Buenos Aires.  It is a situation that has been going on for more than 30 yrs before this accident ever happened.  And I hope that this blog will open your eyes to see that this was an accident that didn't quite happen by accident.

Monday, June 04, 2012

YaYa Bean: Homeless with Hot Sauce





As you know I have my own Youtube channel  where from time to time I'll create a video of footage I shot with my flipcam to document life here.  One thing that I'm extremely grateful for is that I've never had to document what it is like to be homeless because I've never been homeless. I've had other crazy experiences but this isn't one of them thankfully *sigh*

However, on August 18 2011, the apartment lease of the boys of Ya Ya Bean ran out and the beginning of the least on their next apartment was until 2 wks. Ya Ya Bean consists of Mark and Kevin.....two best friends who make music and hot sauce here in the city.  You can find them every Sunday at 250 Defensa in the San Telmo fair selling their famous hot sauce "La Boca Roja"





Amorous Alpacas

Amorous Alpacas