I think I finally nailed that cold/flu/bronchitis, or whatever it was that had been dogging me for the past month. I remember it was the day of my final exam in level 6 that I really started feeling sick, and that was one month ago. Now that I'm feeling better I'm walking again, and have begun taking different routes home each day. I'm amazed at how much of the city there is still for me to see. It's lucky that I live kind of far from school and therefore have a reason to walk and explore.
I had pasta yesterday for lunch and dinner. On Tuesday, at Punta Cuore, I had Patagonian lamb, but it was really meaty tasting and too much for me. It came with a side of potatoes and sweet potatoes. It just amazes me that vegetables are so hard to find. And so is fish!
After school on Tuesday, I walked past a Disco and decided to go in and see if I could find some fish. I wanted to make my own papelote like Hernan made the other night. First I came across coconut milk, and then got the idea to make a kind of Thai style fish and put coconut milk, lime, maybe some chile, in the package and put the fish in the oven.
In the produce section I was looking for cilantro, but didn't find any, instead, I found something I thought might be limes and also found some broccoli. I got the limes, broccoli, ginger and some green onions and then set out to look for fish. There was no seafood section in Disco. This is a country that has an enormous coastline, yet there was no seafood section in the supermarket. Instead in the meat section (which was enormous) there were all sorts of disgusting looking things like stomachs, intestines, etc.
I wanted to just put everything in my basket back, but decided to forge on, thinking I'd find a fish market. No luck.
So I came home and put everything in the refrigerator and had a bowl of lentils.
Yesterday on the way home I decided to walk down a street called Rodriguez Pena, which runs through the Recoleta. On the way to Larry's once, I walked past a place called "El Mercado" which looked like it was an old market that had been renovated. This section of Rodriquez Pena is really nice. I found a produce stand that had basil, which I bought. And then walked down another street that was lined with shops, thinking I'd find a fish store. No luck. Instead, I found another supermarket called "Norte" and went inside. I bought aluminum foil and mushrooms. There was no fish, but more meat products than you could imagine.
I found myself feeling very frustrated by my inability to do simple things, like find fish, or even aluminum foil. I had to walk up and down every aisle in the supermarket to find the aluminum foil, which they didn't seem to have at Disco.
Well, now I had everything I needed to make a delicious papelote, except for the fish. I continued on my way home through the ritzy Recoleta passing all kinds of shops, but there were no fish stores (there were a few butchers and one chicken place).
I finally came to the pasta shop where I bought salmon ravioli before, and decided I would make that instead -it was kind of fish.
So, I made a sauce with coconut milk, ginger, green onions, mushrooms, some white wine and chili flakes - I added some cream and put it over the smoked salmon ravioli. It turned out delicious!
I would have never thought to put coconut milk on pasta, but I was desperate. I had that and a glass of wine, and even though I had broccoli and the fixings for a salad, I was too lazy to make everything.
I went out for a walk down Florida street. It was a beautiful evening and the air was moist and not cold (though not warm either). I don't know if the wave of polar air has arrived and gone, or if we're still experiencing it and I'm not feeling it.
When I got back, I cooked some of the broccoli and made a salad with broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, green onions and lime juice and olive oil. It was so much healthier than my evening Freddo, though not as much fun. I watched a little TV and went to bed at a decent hour.
In my few remaining days there is not a whole lot that I feel like I need to do, but there are some things I would like to do. I'd like to return to El Sanjuanino one more time, and have dinner with Larry and John. Of course, I want to have dinner with Hernan and told him I'd take him out if he chose the place. I would like to return to the spa one more time - since I could never afford a spa at home, I might as well take advantage of it. And that's about it. I will definitely be back, so all of the things that I could have done but didn't will still be here.
The dollar is gaining strength against the peso, which is weakening because of low prices of soy, one of Argentina's major exports. On Tuesday it was 3.15 to the dollar, and yesterday was 3.20. It seems like a free fall and I wonder if there will be a panic. It doesn't mean a whole lot for me - for every hundred dollars I get an extra 15 pesos, which is enough for a lunch in a cheap restaurant, but this could signal some instability in the economy and may have other effects on the people here.
So, all of this is to say that I am feeling better. I had some vegetables yesterday and can't wait to get home and buy some fish and try to make my papelote Thai style, where I can go to the supermarket and know exactly where to find things!
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