Travel Weeks 52-53
Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting to spend a whole year in Argentina (six months would have been enough), but here we are. It is certainly a lot different than my first week in Buenos Aires when I had to survive a week with just the clothes on my back. I’m still not sure I understand Argentinians any better when they speak, though I know I know a lot more Spanish than I did. Spending my days working, exercising, planning meals, and watching Netflix is not an objectively exciting life, but it sure beats hanging around the hostel calling the airlines once a day and feeling powerless.
Days 360-375:
| Carrefour | 1230 |
| Vea | 1070 |
| Total: | 2300 ARS (USD 17.64) |
I made a point of going back to the Carrefour on Monday to take advantage of the liquidation-priced coffee, but the ofertas had disappeared. Nevertheless, the Starbucks grinds were still 66 pesos cheaper in the supermarket than at an actual Starbucks so I picked up a bag plus another bag of cheaper coffee grinds to use for cold brew. As the weather heats up, it will be nice to have iced vanilla/cinnamon lattes in the afternoons.
My shopping trip to the Vea was even more schizophrenic. Basically, I just wanted to take advantage of a bunch of deals before they expired on Tuesday: dark chocolate @ B2G1, wine @ B2G1, and alfajores 20% off. Plus apples, bananas, and carrots which were of good enough quality and price.
| Hair Band | 50 |
| Flipflops | 290 |
| Chorizo (>1 kilo) | 270 |
| Cheese (Provo + Muzza) | 280 |
| Corn flours & Chili flakes | 110 |
| Atomo | 227 |
| Lettuce, bell pepper, tomato | 80 |
| Total: | 1307 ARS (USD 10.02) |
After weeks of dealing with my long hair falling into my eyes and months of putting up with a broken house shoe, I finally dedicated my wednesday weekend to some actual shopping, including a pass through the central market where I was picking up some ingredients for a planned deep dish Chicago-style pizza, to be made on Thursday. I swung by the Atomo on the way back to get butter (permanently on sale), whole black pepper corns (a whole 1% cheaper than bulk at the market), sliced olives, and yeast. It turns out that chili flakes were also about 1% cheaper (being on sale) than from the bulk dry goods stand.
| Vea | 371 ARS |
| Total: | USD 2.85 |
Though that massive pizza was enough to last several days, I still swung by the Vea for milk, yogurt, and bananas. I used the remaining half of chorizo to make a fusion Hong Kong Argentina rice casserole on Sunday.
| Vegetables | 230 ARS |
| Total: | USD 1.76 |
The rice dish was enormous and I decided to stretch it out through the week by pairing it with vegetables at every meal (cabbage, spinach, or lettuce). For variety, I grabbed an eggplant and bell pepper to make a sort of shakshuka that also lasted three meals.
| Vea | 172 |
| Carrefour Hypermarket | 570 |
| Total: | 742 ARS (USD 5.69) |
With my meals set for the week, I didn’t really need to go shopping, but I wanted to use my off day to do some price scouting. In order to deal with the anxiety of the upcoming election, I decided to plan a barbecue. In the Vea, I picked up some hand soap, flour (liquidation priced), and a pair of avocados for 90 pesos. In the Carrefour, I picked up cereal, milk, tortilla chips, and deodorant. I can’t believe after a six month break, I need to start wearing deodorant again. ¡Qué asco!
| Vea | 1130 |
| Atomo | 640 |
| Lettuce, tomato, eggs | 100 |
| Ferruccio Sopplesa | 430 |
| Total: | 2300 ARS (USD 17.64) |
Time to start really prepping for the barbecue by buying lots of booze–six bottles of cerveza at the Vea, whisky and a bottle of wine at the Atomo. I also grabbed tomato sauce and fettuccine for weekend meals and a half kilo of gelato at another shop I had never tried before.
Running Total: 5983.20 USD (RMB 40031)
Daily Average: 15.96 USD (RMB 106.75)