Living Large In Buenos Aires ~ Argentina ~ By Mark McMahon

At the moment it doesn’t take much to live large in Argentina. Since the currency was devalued, just having dollars enables a nice standard of living. You get three times more bang for your buck than you did in 2001. And they do know how to live here. With a long tradition of dining out and great ingredients (especially if beef is your thing) you simply can’t go wrong in restaurants here. I am used to cheap food in Latin America. But not 5 star cuisine! My $10 dinner last night included an excellent cut of beef, wine, dessert, style, service and ambiance. Makes you wish you were hungry enough to do it all over again. In another city in southern Argentina I stayed in a very classy hotel. I could not tell you how many stars it had but when you walked down the hallway the lights came on in front of you as you proceeded. But that wasn’t the best part.

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The price of the room included breakfast, delivered to your room if requested. A luxurious hotel, with breakfast in bed for $33! Pretty hard to beat.

And the residents of Buenos Aires (they call themselves Porteños) love their cafes. In some neighborhoods there is one on every corner. Elegant little places with that are busy all day long. Then there are the massive ones with huge banks of pastries on display. Your beverage is always served backed by a small glass of soda water plus a croissant or small sample sized pastry.

Starbucks has not arrived in Buenos Aires yet. Perhaps for good reason. Why would you grab a cup to go when you could linger and enjoy.

McDonalds has adapted successfully to the Portenos way of life. McCafes seem to do the trick here.

And then there is McDelivery. Big Mac, fries, and a Coke to your door for $2.50.

On the phone they ask what denomination of Peso you will be using and your change is ready in and envelop with your meal. But McDonalds isn’t the only one to deliver.

In Recoleta, my adopted neighborhood, everyone delivers! Cafes, restaurants, groceries, even the local version of Sams Club/Costco. Doggie-Day-Care picks up and delivers. Exercise and a social life for your pooch, five hours each day for 80 cents!

Joel, my pal and host here earns California dollars as a Bay Area accountant but spends money and three quarters of his time here. He has a luxury apartment here for the price of a hovel in San Francisco. He does his work online and returns to the States only for tax deadlines.

The lifestyle is not for everyone but it has its advantages. He has a surrogate mother figure in the form of a warm and caring maid. Twice a week she cooks and cleans for him.

He never needs to leave the house except for fun and his Spanish lessons. His new Venezuelan girlfriend may see to it that he never returns any semblance of his former life in the States…

I wish him well and appreciate the hospitality!

I am happy to have contributed to Joel’s technology for living here. I brought an internet based phone system (www.vonage.com) with me that I will be donating to his cause. I got it for myself to see if it would work for me on the road.

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But it is so perfect for his situation that I am going to leave it with him. It is simply a regular phone connected to small box connected to the internet. With it you can call anywhere in the States or Canada for free ($25 monthly fee).

But the best part is that people in the States can call you as if you were in the states! You choose your own area code.

Think about that for a moment! Joel’s clients in San Francisco can call a local phone number and reach him as if he were down the street… when in fact, unbeknownst to the caller, he is several thousand miles away, living large.

Mark McMahon is closing in on his goal:

Tucson to Tierra del Fuego or Bust! His lively adventures on the road are documented with photos and stories on his webpage: www.filmtrips.com. Visit the site and be sure to sign up for his email Adventure Alerts.