First and foremost, they love beef. Argentines consume more cow per capita than any other country in the world. Our lunch at the tourist trap of El Gaucho was a prime example.
They brought out a picada, or little bite before the meal began. "I think this is some kind of meat salad," Jessie said.
Not ones to rock the boat, we stuck with that theme as I ordered bife de chorizo and Jessie went for the milanese de lomo, or what we in the US would probably call chicken-friend steak.
Portenos also love American music and TV. Lucky for us, they get new movies and the exchange rate makes them a bargain during the week -- we paid 8 pesos or about $2.50 to see Piratas del Caribe 3 with subtitles.
The list of other loves in this city gets even more amusing. Buenos Aires has one of the highest concentrations of lingerie stores of any city in the world. They like to dress well, often beyond their means.
And they're huge fans of PDA. In coffee shops, movie theathers, or just anywhere on the street, portenos love to make out in public. The American shame is definitely not present here.
Apparently they also love crappy music. Walking down the sidewalk, I noticed someone had written in English, "Backstreet's back, all right!" I pulled out my Sharpie and responded, "Actually, Backstreet was never really made it to begin with."
Later, in the coffee shop, I listened to Annie Lennox covering "Dust in the Wind" while Jessie gave one of her last English lessons.
Perhaps all this lousy music drives portenos to distraction, because they spend an incredible amount of time visiting therapists.
And they love fast food. Along Avenida Santa Fe, the BA equivalent of 5th Avenue, McDonald's and Burger King appear every few blocks. And in one of the nicest malls in the city is the world's only kosher McDonald's.
2 comments:
And then I would have taken out my sharpie and written, "Fix your grammar, Eric." Especially if you're trying to say, "Oh, snap!" to the local Argentinian population. :)
for what it's worth, i think there's also a kosher mcdonald's in mevassaret zion outside of jerusalem.
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