Expat Report: Surviving 2014 in Córdoba

2014 was a difficult year for my husband and I. We spent the majority of it separated with the intention of divorcing and never getting back together. And yet, we continued to live under the same roof. Meanwhile, I started my first year at the public university here in Cordoba and ended up dropping out to focus more on work to pay our bills, Zach's medicine, and of course, food.

During the course of the year, I tried dating for the first time in years. But what I assumed was a fellow college student flirting with me turned into an unfortunate misunderstanding. Sadly, it was all cleared up when we were about to go out on what I thought was our first date, and then he clarified over text that he was straight and could only offer me friendship.

On top of that, I had to deal with a roommate turned enemy. And no, I'm not referring to Zach, but to the Argentine woman he befriended, who was a total nightmare to live with. She finally moved out of our house and in with her boyfriend, who lives in Carlos Paz. She described the move as complicated but necessary, as she no longer wanted to live under the same roof as us. Good riddance, I say!

The only sucky thing is that she has become my boss and is giving me online article assignments to write, which she, of course, then takes full credit for. It's just as well, as the articles are utter shit, and only someone as mentally deficient as she is would bother reading them. But I'm going to stop throwing shit her way, as she has given me the closest thing I've found to a stable job here in Argentina, even if the pay is shit.

On another note, our expat friend Brian moved back to the States earlier this year and went MIA. We've received no responses from him despite several attempts to contact him by email or social media. But you know what they say. When one door closes, another one opens. Unfortunately, I learned that some doors should remain closed.

Over the course of the year, I made what I thought was a connection with an expat couple who needed a babysitter for their toddler. Now, I have never in my life taken care of a child, and I was very honest with them about that. They were cool with it and paid good money for me to take care of their kid. I figured that since they were fellow American expats, we had a bond. Well, the connection seemed to be more one-sided. I needed friends, and they just needed a babysitter and some more insight into life in Argentina.

That's okay. I still have a few friends left in Argentina. Well, actually, there's one that I'm not so sure is a friend anymore, but she is a fellow expat.

Her name is Wendy, and she invited me to her home for Thanksgiving, along with my now reconciled husband, Zach. Our fellow expat friend Sarah-Claire was there too. On top of that, there was another American expat couple, one of whom offered to pay me in exchange for writing a three-part story about my journey from the States to Argentina. Spoiler alert! She never paid!

Well, over the course of the evening, Zach and I ended up talking more with Sarah-Claire than anyone else in the house. It was almost like everyone was doing their own thing, which is definitely not how Thanksgiving should be.

Half the food was also semi-recycled from a previous Thanksgiving event that Wendy had gone to earlier that week. But clearly, Sarah-Claire didn't seem to mind. She'll eat anything.

The food was still delicious, even if the dishes were leftovers.

But we hit a bit of a snag when we tried going home.

It turned out that it was raining while we were celebrating indoors. When we tried to leave, we realized the streets were flooded, and we couldn't get a cab to come over. This was not surprising. Getting a cab in Cordoba during a storm is a nightmare.

Finally, Wendy's husband drove us downtown and dropped us off near Patio Olmos. We didn't want to inconvenience him by asking him to drive us any further, though I wish we had, because getting a cab in the downtown area proved just as difficult as getting one from Wendy's house. Eventually, we got one and made it home, though we were extremely drenched.

We were so glad that the night was over, but the aftermath of our visit dragged on.

Remember that horrible roommate I mentioned earlier and in a previous post? Well, it turns out that she had a falling out with Wendy because she was convinced that Wendy had tried to hit on her boyfriend at work. When the roommate from hell, now boss from hell, found out that we went to Wendy's house for Thanksgiving instead of her house party in Carlos Paz, she got really jealous and upset.

Honestly, I don't know how long this working relationship with her will last, given how petty and childish she is, but we'll see. I'm trying to be diplomatic, not just for the job, but because she's still friends with Zach, though that friendship seems to be fading.

And oh shit!

Did I forget to mention Halloween this year? The holiday that comes before Thanksgiving? Well, to be honest, we didn't do much of anything. Though we did go to Walmart and tried on a few masks. Does that count?

The day after Halloween, we celebrated Zach's birthday. The friend turned roommate turned boss from hell was also in attendance, but is not pictured here. But let me tell you, she showed up wearing a blue dress and acting like she was Kim Kardashian. Naturally, the straight guys in the group kept drooling over her.

Although she tried to steal the spotlight, we still managed to have fun with our core group. Unfortunately, they sensed the tension, and the house felt divided for half the night. These two beautiful ladies ended up leaving the party early, much to our dismay.

So now I'll jump to December, when we celebrated Christmas by ourselves without any guests. We did go to my boss from hell's house in Carlos Paz, mainly to make peace. I was so bored that I ended up eating all of her Planter's Nuts. It was only near the end of the night that she subtly told her boyfriend that the nuts were supposed to be shared with some friends at another party she was going to later that night. It was her way of calling me out for eating her stuff. She could have told me in advance. Whatever!

Zach and I had way more fun by ourselves, and we had presents to open on Christmas Day, which included a Lord of the Rings Blu-ray Trilogy collection, an inflatable pool to beat the Argentine summer, and a couple of other miscellaneous items and treats.

I don't know how long it will be before I write another post. I can definitely say that working for the boss from hell and writing those pointless articles drains me both physically and emotionally. So the last thing I want to do is write for my blog. But I will continue to post next year as soon as I get a break.

So I'm going to wish everyone an early Happy New Year and hope that 2015 brings better things than 2014.

Bye for now.

We Reconciled Our Marriage at Johnny B. Good

When Zach and I got married in New York in 2012, we thought it was going to last forever. Then the stress that came with moving abroad to Argentina tore us apart. We separated, and our 12-year relationship, of which we had spent a year and a half married, came to an end.

During our 8-month separation, we realized that we still loved each other and needed one another to get through the challenges we had faced since moving here. So we are officially back together!

To celebrate, we went to a restaurant that I had been dying to try since we got here. It’s called Johnny B. Good, and it is located in the heart of Nueva Cordoba.

The restaurant offers a variety of American dishes, which is why we chose it. The first thing we noticed when we walked in was how much it reminded us of Uno’s Chicago Grill or Chili’s, which are two of our favorite restaurants back home.

We got to the restaurant at noon, but we were not sure if they were serving yet. We have had some previous experiences with other restaurants in Cordoba where they would not serve you unless it was 1 p.m. I am not talking about fast food restaurants, of course, but the more formal ones. So it was very nice that Johnny B. Good opened their doors at 12.

The menu had an assortment of appetizers, main courses, and my favorite, desserts. Zach and I started with the potato skins. They are not exactly like the ones they serve in the States, but they were close enough. The inside was stuffed with cheese, and there was no way to ignore how thick these puppies were. Potato skins are usually thin, with cheddar and bacon bits sprinkled on top. These were gigantic, but still delicious.

Then I went ahead and ordered the Philly cheesesteak, which I haven’t had in ages. They call it the Golden Baguette here and it only costs 83 Argentine pesos (9.86 USD as of the 9/8/14 exchange rate).

Zach had a burger with huge onion rings, not those scrawny, shriveled things they give you at BK. The bacon was not really bacon because, at the moment, it is hard to find in Argentina. They have something similar here called pancetta, but the texture is not the same. It is softer and feels almost raw in your mouth, but Zach loved the burger just the same. The cost was about the same as the Philly cheesesteak.

We were stuffed but decided to go ahead and push our stomachs beyond their limit and order some dessert.

Zach had something that looked like an Oreo ice cream cookie with vanilla sauce on the side, while I had a brownie cup, which was… well, it is kind of difficult to explain. The first layer was whipped cream with a layer of fruit, followed by a layer of dulce de leche, a caramel-like spread that is very popular here, and a brownie crumbled at the bottom of the glass cup. Alright, so maybe it was not that difficult to explain after all.

With drinks, non-alcoholic, the bill came to 425 Argentine pesos, about 50 USD based on the 9/8/14 exchange rate.

All in all, it was money well spent to celebrate our reconciliation.

Afterwards, we went walking around Nueva Cordoba and other areas of downtown.

Eventually, we saw that the annual book fair was in full swing in Plaza San Martin. I covered the last two fairs, but this year I felt there was nothing new or special to report.

Debating whether or not to go into the book fair

Zach and I went through the fair rather quickly. We were looking for novels in English, but since they don't sell many of them here, the bookstores that take part in the fair did not bother bringing their small selection.

The fair did serve one purpose, and that was to kill time until our movie started. In case I have not mentioned it before, we have a history of going to the movies over the last 12 years. Our ticket stub collection is almost as big as the thousands of DVDs we own. We watched the comedy Sex Tape with Jason Segel and Cameron Diaz. We were the only people who laughed at the jokes because we are used to that type of humor, but the film itself was sh*t.

Before I end this post, I have a short update on some of the things happening with our friends and loved ones back home.

The big news is that my husband, Zach, recently became the proud uncle of a beautiful baby girl. I guess that by marriage, that makes me an uncle too. We would like to take a moment to congratulate his brother and his wife on their new addition. Whether we will get the chance to meet our niece remains to be seen. His brother and I don't really get along, and even if we did, we don't exactly have the money to go back and visit.

On my side: I would like to congratulate my very dear friend Amber and her husband Chris on the birth of baby Nathan.

We love and miss our friends and family back in the States, especially given how disappointing some of the Argentine and expat friends we thought we had made turned out to be.

At least we still have each other, and in the end, that is what counts.

Going Global at Cordoba, Argentina's Global Village

Global Village is an event that was held at the Studio Theater in Cordoba Capital, Argentina in 2014. It brought people from diverse cultures and backgrounds together to share and celebrate their uniqueness with music, dancing, information and most importantly, food!

There were tables representing Spain, Croatia, Paraguay, Cuba, the Middle East, Poland, Germany, Canada and Italy (and if I’m forgetting anyone I am deeply sorry).

There were performers entertaining us with Polish dancing. Performers from other countries like Germany and Italy performed as well. Here's this short video I made of the event, which I hope you'll enjoy.

I loved that everyone at the event respected the different cultures present at this event. I’ve recently dealt with three separate situations here in Cordoba City, where this was not the case, leaving me a little disheartened. So, Global Village was a very refreshing experience and frankly it gives me hope that it will open people’s minds to allow those from all cultures and walks of life to express themselves freely without the fear of prejudice here in Argentina.

I'm looking forward to the next event and hopefully, other cultures not present at this year's event, will be encouraged to participate as well.

Check Out 2014's Argentine Product Pricing Comparison

So the international rumor mill suggests that Argentina’s economy is hitting an all-time low. So I decided to do a bit of pricing comparison with products I spot-checked last year versus the actual cost as of  this year, which is 2014. Have the prices dropped? Do they ever in any part of the world? The answer would be no. However, are things really that drastic? Let’s find out.

On July 29^th, 2014, the cost of the US dollar in Argentine pesos was: 8.19

On August 1^st, 2014, the cost of the US dollar in Argentine pesos was: 8.23

On August 4^th, 2014, the cost of the US dollar in Argentine pesos was: 8.26

On August 8^th, 2014, the cost of the US dollar in Argentine pesos was: 8.27

On August 24^th, 2014, the cost of the US dollar in Argentine pesos was: 8.39

On September 2nd, 2014, the cost of the US dollar in Argentine pesos was: 8.40

The photo on the left is the cost of the product from a year ago. The one on the right is the price in 2014.

Yikes! There's a 3.10 increase in Argentine pesos. In US dollars this would cost you $1.04.

Wait! What? Can it be? No. That's not possible. He must have switched the images around. Sorry to disappoint you folks, but the prices on these products are correct. The Gatorade on the left was once 9.50 Argentine pesos and a year later it has dropped to 7.25 Argentine pesos. That's a 2.25 drop. In US dollars this would be .88 cents.

Activia's liquid yogurt might give you the runs, but you'll be 51 Argentine cents richer. The price went down from 15.50 to 14.99. In US dollars this would be $1.81.

Oh man! I was really looking forward to cleaning the wax out of my ears this weekend. Q-soft, which is basically a Q-tip has risen by 2.30 Argentine pesos. In US dollars this would be $1.69.

Oh ... SUGAR! The cost of cereal has definitely jumped in a year by a whopping 18.14 Argentine pesos. In US dollars this would be $4.41. Don't fret boys and girls! There are plenty of generic brands on sale at local supermarkets that taste just the same, but at a more affordable price.

 

Hellmann's Ketchup has a nicer looking package, but the price has gone up from 8.65 to 11.45 Argentine pesos That's a 2.80 markup. In US dollars, that's $1.39.

Now you're probably wondering what the big deal is. After all, as long as expats have U.S. dollars, the prices are more affordable in Argentina than they are in the States. That's a good point, but you need to consider the fact that every expat has a different financial situation. Those who continue to earn money in US dollars are better off than those who have depleted their supply of dollars (like yours truly) and are now solely dependent on Argentine pesos.

I should point out that a lot of these items have generic brands or have Argentine equivalent products that are (in most cases) cheaper. As far what the future holds for product pricing, we'll just have to wait and see.