Bahahaha, back to no plan.

Yes, you read that correctly.

We are moving back to my old blog, Um, so what is your plan?

Why? ‘Cause we’re back to not having one.

HoooooooRAY!

Sweet.

I found 50 pesos in the street today. Nice.

Se cortó la fucking luz

I’m from Portland, we practically pop out of the womb with a neon-color windbreaker in our hands. We’re used to it.

When it rains in Buenos Aires, though, even native Oregonians don’t know what to do. Public transportation has gone to shit. The semáforos don’t function. And people are going mad. This happens even in Palermo (aka Chetolandia, where we pay an arm and a leg to live in what we think is the zone that is cut off from the madness).

Wrong. A higher quotient of Gringos does not mean a higher chance of functionality in the zona. Oh well.

This shit is literally 4 blocks from my house:

Cray. Zay.

Anyway, now I am snug as a bug in Piacere with my eyes glued to TV9. Watching Argentine news is calming, for some reason. It’s…consistent.

What’s going on now?

A soccer game. And protests surrounded the power outage.

T.Y.P.I.C.A.L.

Love this city.

September/October in Buenos Aires

…has been out of control.

I haven’t updated–I’m really sorry about that. I’ve kinda been all over the place for a month or so. Here’s exactly what went down:

End of August-ish: Got the Bueno, entonces…blogging gig (check it out here).

Beginning of September (5th-ish): Gave my notice at the medical transcription company. Started looking on Craigslist for jobs.

Mid-September: Got a job teaching English–well, my name is appearing on a pretty high-traffic site, which gets it out there. Teaching hours went from 2 to 25 in like a week. Eeps.

Late-September: Found out I wanted to move. So I did.

Early-October: Moved in. Nothing worked. Typical.

Mid-October: Things sort of work, about half of the time. Now trying to install phone/internet. Wish me luck–I’ll need it.

Today: My day off. It shall be spent at Rapipago, the lavarropas, buying a fridge, and trying to install internet. Wahoo!

Maybe I Underestimate the Amount of Free Time I Have

Maybe, just maybe, I will be able to keep this blog up as well.

Or maybe I just wanted to post this:

INBANCABLE!

OMG. Too many blogs.

Okay, so only two. But if I can’t handle one, Christ, how can I handle two?

Check out Tara en Buenos Aires (yeah, I know, my creativity baffles me). It’s the other blog that I am being PAID to write.

Yeah, chances are you will see me writing more on that one. Whatever, money talks.

Buses, buses, buses

Last night was a good night.

I went out with my Yanqui ladies to share a picada and some bottles of wine at a place that had a descuento for women. The picada and wine were overpriced (it was Palermo, what did I expect?) but the company made up for it.

Unfortunately, getting to our little rendezvous took quite some time. Chacarita and Palermo are not that far from one another. Depending on where you are going (Palermo is huge) it should take about 20 to 30 min on a bus. Note the word “should”.

Now, I live near Corrientes, one of the biggest streets in Capital. There are a billion buses that go along this street, but I find it so frustrating that all of my friends live at the most difficult places to get to from my apartment. Honestly guys, please run it by me before you move someplace, because my convenience trumps all. Always.

Anyway, I ended up needing to take the 111, which is a good bus that goes through Chac, Palermo, Once, Centro, all the way to Puerto Madero.

I got ready. I went out to the corner where I catch the bus and waited. And waited. And waited. The 111 doesn’t go along Corrientes, so I was waiting on a semi-residential corner in the dark. I don’t really have a problem with it, but if I tolerate waiting, the bus should tolerate coming to pick me up. There were three buses that go to that stop: the 93, the 111, and the 176. There were four 93s and four 176s that passed me. No 111. So, after 25 minutes of waiting, I hop on the 93, which takes me to Ugarteche and Las Heras (sometimes). Thank God for ComoViajo, which gives you different options of how to get from Point A to Point B.

In the end, I did get there. I had to walk a bit more than I planned and it took longer than I had anticipated, but I got there. That’s sort of how buses are here. Sometimes I will get on a 111 and it will go down one street, and then I will get a 111 another day, and its a completely different route.

When I was in BA the first time,  I never rode a bus. No siree, it was all about taking a taxi or hopping on the Linea D (subway). And that was fine. The subway is a great way to travel during times where traffic is bad, but limiting yourself to just the subway and taxi, well, limits you. I see a lot more of the city on the bus, and it gets your nerves going a bit (asking for the ticket, finding a seat, getting off at the right stop, etc.) I now swear by buses. They may be unpredictable and a bit of a bumpy ride, but if you come to BA, its the cheapest tour/transportation method money can buy.