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How I Spend My Days

Buenos Aires, ArgentinaOn Thursday I leave Buenos Aires for a trip to Patagonia. This city was amazing and I’ll be sorry to leave it. Each day here follows a similar routine. I begin my days reluctantly climbing out of bed at around noon. Groggy and hungover I would head to the San Telmo market to [...]

Buenos Aires, Argentina

On Thursday I leave Buenos Aires for a trip to Patagonia. This city was amazing and I’ll be sorry to leave it. Each day here follows a similar routine. I begin my days reluctantly climbing out of bed at around noon. Groggy and hungover I would head to the San Telmo market to visit the bakery for some some breakfast. Feeling slightly better after eating I would begin visiting some barrio of the city until the evening.


Returning back to the hostel I would hang out and not do too much until dinner. After dinner it would be time to socialize outside drinking wine, beer or whisky until we decided it was time for a bar or club. The night would end sometime between 4:00 to 6:00 am unless I felt like watching the sunrise.

Each day followed this similar routine but the real love for this city is because

  • Live music and or dancing will strike up on the street at any given moment.
  • There are pubs. That serve ale. An amazing luxury after Central America.
  • I crossed a twenty lane road the other day.
  • It’s the first place I’ve been where I walked into a mall and a book store that were architecturally stunning. Frescoes on the ceiling and stone sculpted walls.
  • Life begins at noon.
  • I can buy a nice bottle of Malbec for $2.50. Or a crappy bottle for $1.00.
  • The food is fantastic.
  • I think walking around San Telmo is what walking around in the 1920’s would feel like.
  • Most people only know a small amount of English and will only use it if you specifically ask them too.
  • It’s cheap to travel throughout the city (The subway costs just over $0.25).
  • Each neighborhood is like a whole new city.
  • Happy Hour ends at 10:00.
  • The women are absolutely gorgeous.
  • It’s not a club worth going to if they don’t start until 2:00, have live music and a couple thousand people in attendance.
  • Drinking on public buses is allowed and not frowned upon.
  • You can buy 750 ml of beer or 750 ml of wine in a club for the same price.
  • My Saturday night ended at 8:00 am

Doctor’s Visit

On Friday I entered a health clinic curious what kind of communication barriers I was about to be presented with. There were three lines and I hadn’t a clue which one to enter. The security guard told me one line and five minutes later told me another.

I made it to the front of the second line and the woman spoke no English and she was asking me about my insurance.

After eight weeks I still had an odd lump on my left knee from falling between a bus and a three foot curb in San Salvador. I have full range of motion and there is no pain but it feels a little stiff in the morning or if I’m crammed on a bus with no leg room. I wasn’t sure if it was just inflammation or something a little more serious so I thought I should go to the doctor to get it checked out before undertaking some long hikes in Patagonia.

The receptionist at the clinic spoke no English and my Spanish vocabulary is lacking in all words related to the medical field. Our communication was, to say the least, interesting until she gave up and called a woman to translate.

Oh, she wants to see my insurance card? I don’t have one. All this preliminary talk of insurance made me a bit nervous that this visit was going to cost me more than I expected and I was waiting to hear a cost similar to what I would pay in the states. After the translator arrived I flew through the lines to pay, see the doctor, pay for an x-ray, get an X-ray, and see the doctor again.

While slightly expensive I was good to go ninety dollars later. It looks like I bruised the outer membrane of my femur near the knee cap and there is still some inflammation but it should be gone in another two or three months.

From Buenos Aires 2011-02
My left knee

Filed under: Argentina, Cubicle Ditcher

About the Author:

Sam Langley left a comfortable and profitable job with an insurance company in the USA to travel the world. He has been going for years, and has not stopped yet. Keep up with his travels on his blog at Cubicle Ditcher. has written 147 posts on Vagabond Journey. Contact the author.

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  • ae1b929a-3c95-11e0-b337-000bcdcb8a73 February 20, 2011, 2:04 am

    Dude,

    Keep the posts up, it's one of the few Xi Chi related things I can check at work (obviously can't read the list serv). It's been awesome to follow your trip, glad you're having a good time and staying safe. Any idea when you're coming back? Don't forget – 20th is this April.

    Krypton

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  • Sam February 20, 2011, 2:56 am

    Hey man. Thanks for the comment.

    It's always good to get comments on here from friends and family so thanks to anyone who sends me e-mails or posts on here their thoughts and/or opinions.

    I'm not sure when I'm coming back. Unfortunately, I won't be back for 20th but maybe for 25th? Isn't 20th around April 29th though?

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  • ae1b929a-3c95-11e0-b337-000bcdcb8a73 February 20, 2011, 9:39 pm

    20th is going to be the weekend of April 30th, I'll drink a lot of Keystone for you.

    I'll keep following the blog, glad you appreciate the comments! Wish you had voicemail so we could drunk dial you dude.

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