I went out to change money and run some errands, one of which included picking up a gift certificate for Hernan at the spa for his birthday. I went back and forth as to what I could get him and thought about just sticking money in an envelope, but I thought if he ends up homeless, at least he'll have good skin. I hope he takes advantage of the spa treatment and doesn't let the certificate expire.
I tried a different money changer than the one I've been using which has been working out quite nicely, but just in terms of saving a few steps I went in the other direction. There is one on Santa Fe about a block from here.
I walked in and saw a huge mob of people standing around. Some had pieces of paper in their hands, others were waiting. There were two guys sitting at a desk and a woman talking to them, and two guys behind a counter each helping someone. Behind the two guys behind the counter was a window with more people in it and there was a big mirror which reflected all of this and made it seem twice its size. I had no idea where I was supposed to go, so I stood in the doorway and waited for the answer to reveal itself.
When one of the guys behind the counter called "next" and a person who had no piece of paper walked up to him I figured that was where I wanted to go. Everyone who had a little ticket was waiting for their exchanged money to be given to them.
When the counter opened up I walked up and gave the guy $200. He asked for my document, which the other money changer never does. I have him the copy of my passport I keep in my wallet that I use often - every time I use my credit card, they ask for my document. It seems Argentines use their passports a lot domestically.
He looked at the money, looked at the copy of my passport, mumbled something to the guy next to him and then said something very quickly to me, returning my cash and copy and pointing over to another line. I went and stood in that line, not knowing why, while the guy who did not help me resumed eating his apple.
It was total chaos. I thought of the other money changer that was in the direction I was going but a few blocks past the spa. I wanted to change money, go to the spa and get the gift certificate and then go pick up some groceries. I imagined my other money changer, where the guy stands outside of the sliding glass door and when you walk in there might be one person in front of you. You hand them your money, they change it, and you leave. It's that simple. Here I was standing in a line for an unknown reason only to know that I would be put into another line. I said, "this is fucking ridiculous" and walked out.
I went to the other money changer where there were two people in front of me and two people behind the counter. In about 30 seconds they were gone, I handed the woman my money, she gave me pesos and I left. It was that simple.
Now I know why Jesus threw the money changers out of the temple. They are evil people.
From there I headed to Rodriguez Pena, one of my favorite streets in the Recoleta. It is where the elusive fish store is located. It's also where my gym and the tango store are, but I like the section north of Santa Fe in the heart of the Recoleta. The first time I got lost in Buenos Aires when I was supposed to meet Larry at Freddo and couldn't find it, I crossed Rodriguez Pena and liked it. It has become one of my favorite streets, and after today its reputation was cemented.
I thought I would go and check out the fish store to see if they had shrimp. I looked in the window and saw lots of fish, as well as "langostinos", which my local fish store had the day I went looking for shrimp. I asked for camarrones, and got these tiny little cooked and frozen things that made my shrimp marinara sauce fail to live up to its potential. When I saw these "langostinos" in the window, along with some cooked ones, I realized that they were prawns. Growing up I didn't know prawns, only shrimp. There were big shrimp and little shrimp, but they were all shrimp. Now I learned that camarrones are not what I wanted.
I didn't go in because I thought I could just get the langostinos in my neighborhood fish shop. I took a picture of this old market on Rodriguez Pena that I like and then crossed the street to see what was there. I passed a bakery, produce stand, chocolatier, and was about to go around the corner, but decided to head back home. Passing the produce stand again I decided to see if I could find dill. They looked like they had fresh produce and if I am going to make a Thai dinner I want to make this baked fish that has fresh herbs in it.
I walked in, hoping to find the dill staring me in the face, but it wasn't visible. The young guy from behind the counter asked if he could help me. I was feeling brave so I said to him in Spanish that I was looking for something but didn't know the name in Spanish. He asked me what it was. I told him "dill" and he and the other guy working there, who I think was his brother both said, "eneldo" (I think). The other guy opened a refrigerator and pulled out a bunch of dill. Yes.
I asked him to repeat the name and I repeated after him but he kept repeating it because I was a bit off on the pronunciation. Finally when I got it he said something along the lines of "yeah, that's it".
He then asked me where I was from and we started a conversation.
This guy was a real hoot. He spoke very loud and very fast and very much like a porteno (a person from Buenos Aires). He was a total chatterbox and I felt so comfortable talking to him, kind of like the woman who sold me my reading glasses. This was a positive interaction that I really needed.
While we were chatting I looked around and decided to buy more stuff. I got a bunch of fennel, and they taught me the name (but I forgot) a bunch of broccoli rabe (and I forgot the name of that), a bunch of basil (I know the name) and a package of peas (they had to teach me the Argentine name for them - I know what Mexicans call them and it is different). He then gave me two refrigerator magnates (this is how business advertise, which is very clever). One for their store and one for a new store that someone in their family opened that has seafood, deli meats and other stuff. Since I was going to get seafood I said I would go there.
I really enjoyed talking to this guy and regret not taking a photo, but plan to go back there for my major produce shopping (non-emergency kind of stuff). It's a bit of a walk, but the show is worth it.
I went to the other store that supposedly had seafood but it was all frozen. I don't understand why this country with miles of coastline seems to be so seafood phobic. I guess beef reigns.
I did end up buying some olives. Since I was encouraged by the interaction at the produce place, I went ahead and just asked for 100 grams of olives. The guy filled up the container and it was over 100 grams but I said it was ok. We did that with black and green olives and sundried tomatoes.
From there, I headed to the spa to get Hernan's gift certificate. I still had no seafood, so I went to my local seafood place to get some of those fresh langostinos I saw the other day, but they didn't have any. They only had frozen. I bought the frozen ones. I am going to attempt to make a Thai prawn curry with peas and basil.
Hernan wanted me to go to his place in San Telmo at 5:30 for tea. I spoke to him and told him I didn't want to travel at rush hour. I also don't want to be around his crisis energy right now. He had invited me to dinner tonight and then I got dumped when he got a better offer, so there is no need for me to just rush over when he has an opening in his crazy schedule.
I am sitting here with all of my windows open and the sun streaming in and it is lovely. I think I will take a little nap, cook a little dinner and then go for a walk this evening. It looks like it will be a beautiful evening.
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