Argentina Arrival - Where's the beef?

Note to regular readers - Laurie is tangoing away in Argentina, but she can only post in Spanish! I will post all of her blogs for her! -kate



After being in Argentina for a day or so, it hit me how different it is from India! So different.

Buenos Aires is a big modern city with buildings and shops comparable to anywhere USA. It’s actually very clean and quite lovely here. More maybe even like a grand European city than anywhere in the States. And one thing for sure is there are no cows wandering around the streets. Why, because mostly they are on the plates being served in the restaurants and dining rooms of this country.

Of course, I should have known, they mostly eat beef. Whenever Cheryl (known to many of you as Rose) and I go somewhere to eat, it amazes us how they push the beef. She keeps saying, “They have all this beautiful farmland here. Why don’t they grow vegetables?” So, even though there is salad, it consists of lettuce, tomato and carrot. That’s it and not another thing to be found like broccoli for example. So, here, I just arrived back from vegetarian heaven and now I’m in the land of flesh eaters - big time. Na na na na na, na na na na, na na na, na na na.

The first day we fought with our hotel. They said we were booked only for two nights. I knew I had paid for 5 nights. Randall, back in Florida, played the hero and found my confirmation in my computer at his place so I could get them to turn around their thinking. Big hassle over nothing. Thank goodness for the information age and the internet. Instant proof.

Then we got locked in our room. They have these funny room locks here that make it difficult to get in or out unless you are used to them. We stood there calling for help both through the door and by phoning the front desk and I had to laugh. It reminded me of a scene from the I Love Lucy Show. When they finally opened the door for us, they showed us how simple it was to turn the gizmo a little more and open the door. We must have looked pretty funny to them.

Yeah, and then there was the incident about the pool. One of the reasons I selected this hotel from hotels.com is because they listed that the hotel had a pool. We figured it would be nice to chill out in the afternoons and sit by the pool in the sharp Argentinean sun. So, we went to the desk inquiring as to the whereabouts of the pool. The manager informed us that we had free breakfast and lunch everyday (all for $65 per night), but that we could only access the spa three blocks away once during our stay. I argued that I had chosen this hotel because of the pool they advertised. He kept sticking to his story about the food. Food - pool? My words about faulty advertising fell on deaf ears. At last, when we made our way over to the spa to check it out, we discovered that there is no pool, never has been. Okay, just another day in the Argentinean sun.

Funny how people have the conception that they will be ripped off and taken for granted in a place like India. Someone will overcharge them 10 rupees ($.20), but about here, I have never heard anything to that effect. Yet, my very first experience upon arrival has to do with a bold face lie, not once, but twice - first the length of stay and then the pool! And no apology, mind you. Not even so much as a smile and offer to right the wrong.

Oh well. In a few days we move to an apartment (with a pool and a gym) for $35 per night.

Welcome to Argentina.