As some of my friends on Facebook can tell by the links I post, I'm interested in websites that suggest ways to live cheaply and healthily, both in Buenos Aires and elsewhere.
These are two of the best websites I found for cheap, healthy recipes:
cheaphealthygood.blogspot.com/2004/02/master-recipe-list.html
cookforgood.com/recipes.html
These are some Buenos Aires-specific tips for eating cheaply. Even for people outside of Buenos Aires, they well-written articles and interesting to read:
www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelerbill/argentina/1158592320/tpod.html
blog.besttraveldeals.net/travel/the-6-best-meal-deals-in-buenos-aires
So... after having lived on my own for a month and a half, and having actually cooked for myself (as opposed to living on egg rolls, cereal, and food I got on dates), it is now time for my own edition of:
How to Eat Cheaply and Healthily!
The obvious advice is to look for bargains, either at budget grocery stores (in Buenos Aires, COTO), or the sale items at other stores. Most often, stores have 4 versions of the same product next to each other, one of which is significantly, or at least noticeably, cheaper than the others. Go for the cheaper versions! The money you save adds up, and most often, the different versions taste basically the same (with the exceptions of peanut butter and macaroni and cheese, which are a little harder to do right — personally, I go with name brands for these).
If you live in an area with fruit and vegetable shops (fruterías and verdulerías in Buenos Aires), buying fresh fruits and veggies at these as opposed to in a grocery store will often save you money. In Buenos Aires, I once bought 5 oranges for under a dollar! Fresh salads are a very cheap and healthy meal. The possibilities for fruits and vegetables are endless.
Pasta is another cheap and (relatively) healthy option. I bought two packages of dry pasta and two packages of seasoned tomato sauce at a DISCO grocery store in Buenos Aires for 4 pesos ($1 US dollar) each. That's enough to make about 16 bowls of pasta. 1 peso or 25 cents per meal!
Wheat bread, oatmeal, organic soup powder, and cereal are other cheap, healthy, easy ingredients for meals.
If you are a meat-eater, eggs are cheap and versatile. In Buenos Aires, hot dogs (panchos), empanadas (which come in many flavors) and rotisserie chickens are very cheap.
My favorite meals are salads and stir-fry. In most big cities, Chinatown grocery stores are a great place to shop for deals. I did my grocery shopping in Buenos Aires' Chinatown (located at Juramento and Arribeños) today. For less than 200 pesos (or $50 US dollars), I got:
Miso soup paste (makes about 40 pots of soup)
Black bean / assorted grain soup powder (makes about 24 bowls of soup)
Chili garlic sauce
Sweet Thai chili sauce
Thousand Island dressing
Green onion (8 stalks)
2 packages of fresh portobello mushrooms
Alfalfa sprouts
Tofu
Kimchi
Oolong tea leaves
And...
A cold can of Korean iced coffee to cool me down after all that shopping
I'll use these ingredients (along with wheat rice and fruits and vegetables that I already have stocked) for stir-fries, soups, and salads!
I hope some of you find this helpful! Now, I'm off to make some miso soup (or as I prefer to call it... Korean doenjang jjigae)!
Hasta luego,
Kaeli
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Monday, December 27, 2010
Nuevo trabajo, nuevo pelo
Hola amigos,
It's official: I have an online editing job! I had been on trial hire for a day. My supervisor said he was impressed with the thorough job I did!
The website I work for is www.emergingcast.com. (They pay through PayPal and it definitely isn't a scam.) If you like writing or editing, I recommend it!
In the spirit of new things, I got a drastic haircut today, too. I had been wanting shorter hair for quite a while. ¡Aquí está!
Other than that, I went grocery shopping and did some cleaning today. Fruit is amazingly cheap here. I eat plums, oranges, and strawberries all the time! I was also excited to find real juice at the store. Before I had only seen nectar, Crystal Light (Clight), and carbonated, concentrated juice. Tropicana for the win!
Here is some more graffiti I like:
Kaeli
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Mi Navidad
...of the amigo I went to visit in Koreatown...
...the power (and thus the air conditioning) went out...
...and hoodlums from the villa made it impossible to leave the house...
...BUT, we managed to get Korean take-out, talked about our lives, and all was well! I love, love, love Korean food! =D
On Christmas Eve I went on a picnic and later out for ice cream with more friends. Argentine ice cream is the most delicious stuff I've had! My favorite flavors are melon, dulce de leche (¡claro!), Russian cream (which might be walnut), banana split (dulce de leche + banana), and coffee. More favorite flavors yet to come! lol.
At night I talked with my mom and sister to see what they got for Christmas. They were happy with their gifts, and my stepdad was sound asleep with his new Snuggie!
On Christmas I stayed inside singing my favorite Christmas songs (this year: O Holy Night, Angels We Have Heard On High, and Go Tell It On the Mountain), drinking (cold!) apple cider, and hanging out with a guy from Holland. Did you know that: the Dutch language is similar to German and Luxembourgish; there is a national debate in Holland about whether birth control pills and condoms should be paid for by the state; and Amsterdam is one of the most gay-friendly cities in the world? I learned those things yesterday! Holland seems like an interesting place.
Today I spent most of my time working (¡sí!). I am on trial hire for a job editing how-to guides written by non-native English speakers. It's a fun job, and I'm pretty sure I'll get it! I applied for another one that would require me writing emails and profile information on behalf of other people using dating sites (bad writers or very busy people). It sounds pretty funny, but would be interesting and fun as well! =)
My plans for the week are to get my hair cut, do more healthy and delicious cooking (I am getting better and better at it), and, of course, go to some free events.
I hope you are all having happy holidays, too! Besos!
Kaeli
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Camera, Christmas, Flowers
Hola todos,
I am thrilled to say that I have a camera again! My dad sent me his after mine was stolen, and it finally arrived today! =) I hadn't realized just how much I'd missed it until Fede let me use his for a while when we hung out. It is great to be able to capture moments to later remember and share. =)
It hasn't felt much like Christmas around here because of all the heat (don't get me wrong-- I don't miss the cold!). There are Christmas lights and ornaments for sale in the stores, fruit cakes (pan dulce) at the grocery store and in bakeries, and giant Christmas ornaments in the plazas. It feels most like Christmas, though, at malls, which all have Christmas trees and Santas! I brought some apple cider powder from home to make and drink. =)
I've been hanging out mostly with other foreigners so far. It is nice being able to share in the weirdness sometimes. For example, the extreme lack of spice and the novelty (for us) of common fireworks for Christmas and New Year's (they sell them at stands outside to use in their driveways like we do for the 4th of July in the US). I got scared a few times walking on the sidewalk when some people threw fireworks out from their car windows!
A few days ago I went to a Christmas feria sponsored by the government. It featured the best gifts to give from around Argentina. I bought some delicious homemade chocolate for myself. =D
Other than Christmas and other ferias, I've been looking for work and going to botanical gardens and museums. Today I gave a friend a tour of MALBA-- I'm pretty much an expert by now! lol.
Here are some pretty flowers at the huge, free, Carlos Thays Botanical Garden.
This is a replica of the Capitoline Statue, a famous work depicting Romulus and Remus, the mythical founders of Rome, suckling a wolf.
I couldn't tell for sure from the caption, but this looks to me like the fall of Rome... lol.
A lot of people sat with a book at the gardens. Some guards and little kids had fun cooling themselves off in the sprinklers. =)
Here is the yerba mate plant!
This is the room where I'm staying now. The books on the left are mine and the ones on the right were left by previous student boarders. Yay! =)
Here I am reading Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, staying out of the sun. I recommend the book! (And want you all to be jealous of this sun, lol.)
This style elevator is common in Argentina. There are two gates to manually pull open and close.
Most of them have mirrors inside.
I love the flower kiosks! It's one of the things I missed most about Buenos Aires when I left.
Kaeli
Friday, December 17, 2010
San Telmo, Marta Minujín, y Jazmín
Hola todos,
Sorry it's been a while since I've blogged! Here's a some picture of me in my new room (with my purple salteño blanket). I am loving it, although I mostly go to events all day and walk around outside. I've done the most cooking I've ever done here. Nothing complex, but it's all decently rico (delicious) and cheap. =)
Last week I met up with Kate and Nigam before they left for the United States. We ate at their favorite milanesa place — El Americano — and went shopping around San Telmo. We found an amazing antique/costume shop featuring mannequins wearing martini glass-glasses, scuba masks, wigs, and retro dresses. It was really great! I'd never gone into the shops around San Telmo: only the ferias.
I went to the San Telmo feria (craft fair) that weekend: my third time there! The feria stretches down Defensa street for miles, and is filled to capacity every Sunday. Some families and couples hold hands so as not to get separated by the drifting of the crowd. At la Plaza de Mayo there was a super-crowded celebration honoring Human Rights organizations with concerts and readings. I listened to it for a while, bought a newspaper with a section commemorating the anniversary of the Mexican Revolution, and later ate medialunas with jamón y queso blanco with a new Armenian friend I made.
Fede and his sister liked the little American treats and things I gave them. Fede and I ate milanesa with Mexican hot sauce (yum!) and watched "Death at a Funeral" while eating buttery, salty American popcorn.
On Tuesday I had ice cream with a Scottish guy who wanted to practice basic Spanish. He majored in Italian and has traveled to Italy, so he helped me practice my basic Italian! We spoke in Italian for the first hour and in Spanish for the second. That was pretty fun: my first ever language exchange. He said my Italian was good!
On Wednesday I went to el MALBA (the Museum of Latin American Art) and saw the new Marta Minujín exhibit. Before the exhibit the only piece I'd seen by Minujín was one of my favorite permanent pieces at the museum: a picture of her repaying Argentina's debt to America by giving choclos (corn cobs), Latin American gold, to Andy Warhol (if you search "Minujin and Warhol" in Google you can see it). The exhibit was amazing! There were technicolor, mattress sculptures; US hippy culture imported through clothes, homemade psychedelic slides, and newspapers; records of giant sculptures Minujín had made and then destroyed; and a modest bedroom where a young couple slept and talked (in the gallery). It was really great!
I went to two presentations at MALBA this week: one was pesada (boring), and the other was really good. The one I liked was about three award-winning art history essays. The authors, two Colombian and Brazilian women, talked about their goals for the project and gave us free copies of the essays and wine. The Colombian said that sometimes while she was writing, she wondered why on earth she'd chosen the work that she had, because it "wasn't speaking to her." She said that if you push at any subject long enough, though, and move it enough around, eventually it has something to say.
She told us that a newspaper headline she'd read, "Tomatoes create work in Ecuador," had appalled her. She said that in modern times, we've got everything reversed. Work creates tomatoes, not the other way around. When we think of an hour, we sometimes think of the $10 we earn for working it, and not of the hour itself. I thought those were amusing and interesting thoughts!
There was no translator for the Brazilian speaker (who speaks Portuguese), so I only understood about 40% of what she said. I went to this event with a British friend, and he said that it was common for Brazilian people to speak without translators here. After the lecture she talked with us and apologized for there not being a translator because she could tell it was more difficult for us. I told her that I loved el MALBA and the new Minujín exhibit and she compared Minujín to Lady Gaga. I hadn't thought about it, but they are somewhat alike!
While everyone was chatting after the lecture, I saw someone with the exact hair length and color of Marta Minujín. I looked again, and it was her! My closest encounter with a world-renouned artist so far! lol.
The spring weather here is great. The streets smell like jasmine flowers, which are popular at kiosks. I've been spending a lot of time reading, writing, and sitting around in plazas. While walking around aimlessly one day, I ran into el rosedal: a huge, public rose garden!
Tonight is la Noche de Librerías, the Night of Bookstores, and will have lots of free events, so I'll probably go to that!
Saludos!
Kaeli
Sorry it's been a while since I've blogged! Here's a some picture of me in my new room (with my purple salteño blanket). I am loving it, although I mostly go to events all day and walk around outside. I've done the most cooking I've ever done here. Nothing complex, but it's all decently rico (delicious) and cheap. =)
Last week I met up with Kate and Nigam before they left for the United States. We ate at their favorite milanesa place — El Americano — and went shopping around San Telmo. We found an amazing antique/costume shop featuring mannequins wearing martini glass-glasses, scuba masks, wigs, and retro dresses. It was really great! I'd never gone into the shops around San Telmo: only the ferias.
I went to the San Telmo feria (craft fair) that weekend: my third time there! The feria stretches down Defensa street for miles, and is filled to capacity every Sunday. Some families and couples hold hands so as not to get separated by the drifting of the crowd. At la Plaza de Mayo there was a super-crowded celebration honoring Human Rights organizations with concerts and readings. I listened to it for a while, bought a newspaper with a section commemorating the anniversary of the Mexican Revolution, and later ate medialunas with jamón y queso blanco with a new Armenian friend I made.
Fede and his sister liked the little American treats and things I gave them. Fede and I ate milanesa with Mexican hot sauce (yum!) and watched "Death at a Funeral" while eating buttery, salty American popcorn.
On Tuesday I had ice cream with a Scottish guy who wanted to practice basic Spanish. He majored in Italian and has traveled to Italy, so he helped me practice my basic Italian! We spoke in Italian for the first hour and in Spanish for the second. That was pretty fun: my first ever language exchange. He said my Italian was good!
On Wednesday I went to el MALBA (the Museum of Latin American Art) and saw the new Marta Minujín exhibit. Before the exhibit the only piece I'd seen by Minujín was one of my favorite permanent pieces at the museum: a picture of her repaying Argentina's debt to America by giving choclos (corn cobs), Latin American gold, to Andy Warhol (if you search "Minujin and Warhol" in Google you can see it). The exhibit was amazing! There were technicolor, mattress sculptures; US hippy culture imported through clothes, homemade psychedelic slides, and newspapers; records of giant sculptures Minujín had made and then destroyed; and a modest bedroom where a young couple slept and talked (in the gallery). It was really great!
I went to two presentations at MALBA this week: one was pesada (boring), and the other was really good. The one I liked was about three award-winning art history essays. The authors, two Colombian and Brazilian women, talked about their goals for the project and gave us free copies of the essays and wine. The Colombian said that sometimes while she was writing, she wondered why on earth she'd chosen the work that she had, because it "wasn't speaking to her." She said that if you push at any subject long enough, though, and move it enough around, eventually it has something to say.
She told us that a newspaper headline she'd read, "Tomatoes create work in Ecuador," had appalled her. She said that in modern times, we've got everything reversed. Work creates tomatoes, not the other way around. When we think of an hour, we sometimes think of the $10 we earn for working it, and not of the hour itself. I thought those were amusing and interesting thoughts!
There was no translator for the Brazilian speaker (who speaks Portuguese), so I only understood about 40% of what she said. I went to this event with a British friend, and he said that it was common for Brazilian people to speak without translators here. After the lecture she talked with us and apologized for there not being a translator because she could tell it was more difficult for us. I told her that I loved el MALBA and the new Minujín exhibit and she compared Minujín to Lady Gaga. I hadn't thought about it, but they are somewhat alike!
While everyone was chatting after the lecture, I saw someone with the exact hair length and color of Marta Minujín. I looked again, and it was her! My closest encounter with a world-renouned artist so far! lol.
The spring weather here is great. The streets smell like jasmine flowers, which are popular at kiosks. I've been spending a lot of time reading, writing, and sitting around in plazas. While walking around aimlessly one day, I ran into el rosedal: a huge, public rose garden!
Tonight is la Noche de Librerías, the Night of Bookstores, and will have lots of free events, so I'll probably go to that!
Saludos!
Kaeli
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
He regresado
Hola todos,
I am in Buenos Aires!!! I arrived in the city around 2pm today. It is great to be back! And to enjoy the spring!!
I called the list of leasers I've been compiling around 4pm. I arranged three meetings and by chance, according to availability really, I checked out my favorite on the list first. It's in a beautiful neighborhood with lots of flowers and shops, blocks away from my university, and shared by a psychologist and another exchange student. I told the leaser, Maria, that I really loved it, but asked if it could be any cheaper. At first she said no, and I just left it at that. I told her that Id let her know in two days after I checked out four other places. She lowered the price, and I said that it sounded great, but was still going to check out the other places. Then she lowered it to the cheapest price on my list-- 250 dollars per month, as opposed to 300. And I took it! The other places were shared by more people, not as close to my university, and not in such a beautiful neighborhood. I'm so excited about this! I'm moving in tomorrow and will be focusing on the job search now!
The bummer news is that my camera was stolen. The subway was more packed than I've ever seen it. I had my hand over my purse, which was in front of me, but it was open because I had a water bottle in it. I felt like someone tried to cut the strap, but the strap was fine and my wallet was still there. I didn't notice 'til later that my camera and its case were gone.
It is a bummer, but I'm much more happy than bummed out. I was worried at some points about getting here safely (mysterious, fire-alarm-like sirens went off twice at JFK airport in New York, and there was a storm warning and some turbulence on my flight from Sao Paulo to Buenos Aires), but I made it! And I found an amazing place to live!
I'm going to get to sleep now! It's been a long two days and I'm meeting two fellow extended traveler friends tomorrow for lunch! (You can read about their travels here! : http://nigamandkate.blogspot.com)
Un beso grande!
Kaeli
I am in Buenos Aires!!! I arrived in the city around 2pm today. It is great to be back! And to enjoy the spring!!
I called the list of leasers I've been compiling around 4pm. I arranged three meetings and by chance, according to availability really, I checked out my favorite on the list first. It's in a beautiful neighborhood with lots of flowers and shops, blocks away from my university, and shared by a psychologist and another exchange student. I told the leaser, Maria, that I really loved it, but asked if it could be any cheaper. At first she said no, and I just left it at that. I told her that Id let her know in two days after I checked out four other places. She lowered the price, and I said that it sounded great, but was still going to check out the other places. Then she lowered it to the cheapest price on my list-- 250 dollars per month, as opposed to 300. And I took it! The other places were shared by more people, not as close to my university, and not in such a beautiful neighborhood. I'm so excited about this! I'm moving in tomorrow and will be focusing on the job search now!
The bummer news is that my camera was stolen. The subway was more packed than I've ever seen it. I had my hand over my purse, which was in front of me, but it was open because I had a water bottle in it. I felt like someone tried to cut the strap, but the strap was fine and my wallet was still there. I didn't notice 'til later that my camera and its case were gone.
It is a bummer, but I'm much more happy than bummed out. I was worried at some points about getting here safely (mysterious, fire-alarm-like sirens went off twice at JFK airport in New York, and there was a storm warning and some turbulence on my flight from Sao Paulo to Buenos Aires), but I made it! And I found an amazing place to live!
I'm going to get to sleep now! It's been a long two days and I'm meeting two fellow extended traveler friends tomorrow for lunch! (You can read about their travels here! : http://nigamandkate.blogspot.com)
Un beso grande!
Kaeli
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