Mis(sed)/preconceptions

Here in the city there are definitely foods I´ll miss (faina, constant empanadas, delicious fruit,) but I was somewhat surprised, if not disappointed, by the food here. I really found myself looking forward to something with a little more local flavor, but none of the porteño traditional dishes really stand out ethnically. This can be easily attributed to the Eurocentrism that runs rampant here. Porteños are more interested in the assimilationist ´melting pot´than ´salad-bowl,´which helps explain the unavoidable racism, elitism, and separatism from the rest of Latin Americathat is so prevalent here in the city. So, this sad fact transfers over to the culinary life of Buenos Aires, resulting in a very pathetic lack of ethnic food. There is something like five Thai restaurants in the entire city. I was also told that the sushi here is so pathetic that the tuna rolls contain canned tuna. ATROCIOUS. But in general, the food is over-salted, under-nutritious, and frankly a bit boring. At least the meat is delicious. Remember when I explained the Uruguayan version of hamburger, the chivito? Here, the hamburger is called a milanesa. breaded and fried cutlet (meat, chicken, even eggplant,) that is eaten either hot or cold and usually as a sandwich. Even less exciting than it sounds.

While I consider myself to be sometimes nocturnal, I´ll be glad to be back to a ´normal´(or maybe ´healthy´is the better word) sleep schedule. Eating dinner at 10 or 11 each night, and then going out from 1AM until 6 or 7AM is pretty tiring. I´m not ashamed to admit that I have slept from 11PM until 2AM, and then, after much fighting and bargaining with myself in my bed, left the apartment to meet friends. A big problem, though, is the late dinner time, because it holds true also for the weekdays. This routine puts one to sleep just an hour or two after finishing dinner, only to wake up horribly, disgustingly full the next morning. I´m pretty sure this is the real explanation for the Argentine reluctance to eat breakfast, and the justitfication for my dire craving for a proper breakfast with eggs and other things delicious.

The aforementioned split betweenBuenos Aires and the rest of Latin America is enhanced by the almost-tangible separation between them at the Interior, which is to say, the city of Buenos Aires and the entire rest of the country. The city is so in touch with its European culture that the majority of European immigrants live here, whereas other Latin American immigrants tend to reside in the Interior, or at least the outskirts of the city. This divide is blamed by many for the constant political unrest, and the inability to settle the majority of these problems. When the people can´t unite with each other, they can hardly be expected to unite against their government. I have heard this divide explained not as a separation of parties, but rather as a divide almost between countries.

Another interesting cultural difference is the daily 4-7 PM merienda. I think in English we would translate this to´snacktime.´It serves to hold one over between lunch and dinner and normally consists of coffee/tea, croissants, miga (crustless white bread sandwicheswith ham and mayonnaise,) or empanadas. During this time the cafes are generally relatively full,I think mainly because the idea of coffee ´to-go´has not (yet) taken over here. Coffee is a social rather than a physical and purely caffeine-driven ritual, always enjoyed sitting down, and serves as a ´part´of the day in its own right. Not two months ago, Starbucks opened its first branch here, and I have yet to pass the building without an enormous line around the block. I guess we´ll see if it succeeds in transforming the coffee rite into just another source of caffeine to be ingested between other ´more important´activities.

Leave tomorrow for my ski trip!