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Christmas Eve Porteño-style

25 Dec

We got a taste of how they do things in Buenos Aires for Christmas Eve. It sounded like a war zone outside so we had to check it out. The height of the “show” lasted for over two solid hours starting at 11:30pm, and even at 3:00am, we could still hear them.

This is a far cry from the usually mellow, indoors Christmas Eves we celebrate in the United States. Seasons probably have a lot to do with that. Because when summer hits in the U.S., we also hit up the firework stands.

UPDATED:

Local news reported an increase in injuries from the fireworks this year, including one death. Spanish article. English article.

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Playing Tourist with the Family

22 Dec

Just as we began to get a little homesick with Christmas approaching, my mother, father, and brother paid us a visit from the U.S. The timing was perfect. The company was great. And playing tourist was a welcome change of pace from playing local.

Arriving at the airport in Buenos Aires.

Christmas tree at the Hilton, Buenos Aires.

View of the city from the Hilton in Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires.

Whatever immediate culture shock they might have felt from the airport and ride into town surely dissipated once we walked in the doors of the Hilton in Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires, where we were greeted by a large Christmas tree, reindeer on the elevators, and boughs of holly throughout the halls.

With the storm clouds zooming by and rains pounding down at random throughout the whole first day, we decided to lay low, rest, and take pictures of the rain and rainbow outside.

The rest was a good idea, because the next few days we conquered Buenos Aires with the help of an open roof tour bus we spotted from the hotel window.

Ready, aim, click!

The Buenos Aires Bus takes tourists like us around the city with the option of getting off and on at 21 different destinations. The buses come by every 20-30 minutes and have headphones with piped in guides in several different languages.

Here are few things we saw along the way.

Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires

"Don't you remember these?"

Rose Garden, Palermo, Buenos Aires

Rose Garden, Palermo, Buenos Aires

Marcus and Mom in Buenos Aires

Mom soaking it all in on the tour bus.

After a full day of roaming the city as tourists, we decided to give them a taste of our local life. That, of course, meant eating amazing empanadas, holding on for dear life on a bus, and traveling by subway.

Our local empanada restaurant. 3 empanadas for AR$ 13.50 or US$3.14.

The Buenos Aires colectivo (bus) -- a daily amusement park ride.

Safely on the subte (subway) in Buenos Aires.

On the Subte (subway) in Buenos Aires.

In just a few short days we were able to see so much of the city. We saw how tourists live and how the locals live. We capped it all off with a blending of the two worlds on a stroll down Defensa Street in San Telmo for the weekly Sunday street fair.

We celebrated a mini Christmas together. They had brought so much from the U.S., half of their luggage was for us. We took a picture of some of the gifts we’ve already opened. Notice a theme? (Not included are a new comforter, new towels, and a large air purifier, plus more still to be opened.)

After playing tourist with the family all week, we weren’t quite ready to go back to local life. Because they had a red-eye flight, their hotel room was booked for another night. We happily made sure it didn’t stay dormant. Call it an act of selflessness. We were very kind to attend to the rooftop pool on Monday morning.

Ah, but it did all come to an end. Local life is back. Work is calling. And the taxis are replaced with buses and subways. It’s always hard to return from a vacation, especially when the vacation was spent with family, had a rooftop pool, and had water pressure in the shower. I can’t wait to play tourist again.

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Hooks Make a Home: Our Buenos Aires Apartment

20 Nov
Our Buenos Aires apartment

Entrance to our apartment from the street.

Before we arrived in Buenos Aires, we had set up to stay in a small studio apartment for six weeks. After weeks of some investigative searching for another apartment, we’ve decided to stay right where are for at least another 6 months. So happens that our apartment costs about half (US $400) of what the lowest rate seems to be these days for temporary apartment rentals. And we’re stuck to looking at temporary rentals, because we don’t have the Argentina equivalent of good credit — we don’t have a “garantia.” I write about this so easily now, but we beat our heads against many walls trying to find a way to get an apartment at the lower “garantia” price.

Since we’re sticking around, we’ve gone into nesting mode. We had to make some adjustments to best use the little space we have. One of the best purchases we’ve made were these two packs of hooks that stick to the wall. We’ve popped up 30 of those suckers.

We’ve made a coat rack to prevent us from just throwing our sweaters on the bed.

Coat rack

Custom-made coat rack. 8 hooks worth.

View from the kitchen

The bedroom / living room / office / kitchen table.

The bedroom / living room / office

The bedroom / living room / office.

It also helped that we added a few more inside the wardrobe.

View from the "office"

View of the wardrobe closet and kitchen from the office.

Wardrobe

An organized wardrobe. 7 hooks worth (3 not in view).

We love to cook, which is good, because for us to make it in Buenos Aires we need to. However, we’re used to a bit more counter and drawer space, so a few well-placed hooks have made all the difference. Now the drawers are tidy and the counter is free from clutter.

The kitchen

The kitchen.

The efficient kitchen

Our efficient kitchen. 8 hooks worth.

Kitchen counter space

Our kitchen work space.

With a bathroom this small…

The reading room.

A very personal reading room.

Seriously…

Shoulder room shower

A daily experience.

Maggie says the four hooks (2 for caddy, 2 for towels) in the bathroom were my best idea.

Counter-less bathroom

Thank you, Judy B., for the awesome handing travel kits!

We still have some nesting to do. Another budget saving tip is to ship the goods you need from the U.S. (many things there are cheaper and of better quality) to your unsuspecting friends or family who have booked the first trip to visit. Mom, Dad, Marcus, you’re the best! See you in December.

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Saying No to Bank Fees

14 Nov

No, this isn’t related to current events in the U.S. Although, I am very happy to hear that Bank of America never went forward with their idea to charge $5 per month for using a debit card!

This is about how we get our money from the U.S. to our pockets in Buenos Aires paying zero bank fees. (These two suggestions apply just about anywhere in the world when coming from the U.S.)

This practical information is normally missing when we read other bloggers’ sites, so we thought we’d take a timeout from the photos and stories to share what we’ve learned about avoiding ATM and foreign transaction fees.

Getting Cash

If you’re not a resident of Buenos Aires, you can’t open a local bank account. So, if you want cash (you can only get pesos from the ATM) you have to withdraw it from your home checking account. Just like in the U.S., the fees for using another bank’s ATMs can add up. Right now in Buenos Aires they are about $4 per transaction.

Maggie and I don’t pay a penny in these fees, because we heeded the advice to open up a Charles Schwab brokerage account and investor checking account. You need the brokerage account in order to open the checking account, but you don’t have to use the brokerage account ever. Granted, to get money into your Schwab checking account you either have to mail in the checks or set up online transfers. We set up online transfers from our Bank of America checking account.

Once you have your Schwab account, use the debit card for cash withdraws only. Say yes to the ATM fee and on the last day of the month Charles Schwab will pay you back all the fees you incurred throughout the month.

Just don’t use that card for purchases. Chuck charges a foreign transaction fee for retail, restaurant and most other vendor purchases outside of the U.S., which leads us to the second suggestion.

Using Credit

We unknowingly signed up for an amazing credit card when we were married. At first, it was to help us earn points we could use to redeem for a flight. That turned out to be pretty amazing.

Since then, we’ve learned that with this credit card we don’t get charged foreign transaction fees. We didn’t even know such a thing existed, but it helps us keep what little money we have in our hands and not in the bank’s. Our credit card is no longer offered or I’d say get it. Just remember that your credit card matters. Only sign up for one that has no foreign transaction fees. You’ll thank me later.

Follow these two suggestions and you’ll save a decent chunk of change overtime. For us, if we’re going to make it in Buenos Aires, we need every bit of help we can get. This is one way we’re trying to keep money in our pockets.

**We owe a big “thank you” to all the helpful and knowledgeable expatriates at www.baexpats.com who have helped us figure this all out.**

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