Shopping with the Frenchies

Having been back in Buenos Aires for almost two weeks now, I'm finally starting to get my life together and once again feel settled. A week ago, I moved into my new home, a big old house not far from where I was living before. As I'm obligated to follow in big sister's footsteps, I share this big old house (with wooden floors and high ceilings...more descriptions to come) with three boys. Sébastien and Thibaut (pronounced almost like Tivo), both French architecture students, and Pablo, a Peruvian currently looking for a job in marketing. Sébastien and Thibaut both have blue, crystal-clear eyes that I envy. The best part of the arrangement is that all three of them cook, and not only cook but cook well. Last night's menu was Thai chicken curry (paired with not only red wine, but a white wine as an aperitif as well) and tonight's consists of grilled steak and Thibaut's apparently famous roquefort garlic mashed potatoes. 

The title of this post is due to yesterday's shopping excursion to get dinner ingredients. The two Frenchies and I went first to the verduleria where we bought all the vegetables and fruit from a Bolivian woman, then to the carniceria where we bought meat and eggs (which are sold not in a carton but are given to you loose in a plastic bag), to the grocery store for bug spray and other random food items, and last but not least, to the bodega on the corner for wine (because heaven forbid they buy wine at the grocery store). And these four places are all within a two-block radius of each other and home. It's all about the micro communities here. 

Going to the wine store with two French guys was an experience worth noting. They've lived in this neighborhood for only two weeks, but they walked in and were immediately greeted by the owner and we were each given a glass of wine to try. The owner talked to them both for a good 15 minutes and very obviously knows their taste in wine well. He even offered them the chance to pay later if they didn't have money on them. It all felt very sophisticated after spending all of last semester buying $2 bottles. They ended up getting one bottle of white and three of red, all of which were finished by the end of the night and none of them were drunk. It seems almost like drinking juice to them. 

Sébastien's girlfriend, Linda, who as of 5 this morning is ex-girlfriend, made Thai chicken curry and coconut rice for dinner. The festivities were in honor of our first official roommate dinner. We ate up on the roof which is basically a huge brick terrace, listening to music and taking advantage of the last days of warm weather. 

Now about the house...it's on a quiet, mostly residential street near the subte (subterranean train). Immediately after the double wooden doors at the entrance, you go up a marble staircase that curves to the left. On the left is the living room and dining room, directly in front is my room, and if you turn right and walk down the hallway, you have Sébastien and Thibaut's rooms on the left and huge windows on the right that look out into a little courtyard. At the end of the hallway is one of the bathrooms and the kitchen (where there is not only a dishwasher, but an actual set of knives and an electric juicer as well...all luxuries compared to most sparse Argentine kitchens I've seen). Right before hitting the end of the hallway, there's a narrow flight of outdoor stairs that lead up to a narrow hallway that passes by Pablo's room and the other bathroom, and then further up to the roof. If you continue further up the staircase it takes you up to another little terrace with lines for hanging clothing and a little outhouse-type room with a laundry machine. As soon as I'm done uploading pictures from Brazil onto Facebook, I'll be sure to take pictures of the house and the roommates for you all to see. 

The other big news to share is that I have a potential job. I'm going in for an interview tomorrow but they sound interested and seems promising. The job would be an unpaid internship at an NGO called HelpArgentina, which basically serves as a bridge between foreign donors and volunteers and local organizations. My job would consist specifically of...whatever I want it to be. I can design and implement my own project, relating it to graphic design, public relations, advertising, or any other field of my choosing, as well as getting to visit some of the organizations they work with and generally helping out wherever needed. I would also have a flexible schedule and the best part is that not only are the other people that work young and seem really cool, but the office itself is extremely aesthetically pleasing as well. I'm looking forward to getting involved, not to mention have something recent to add to my resume as well! 

Classes start next week, which means I'm still officially on summer vacation, although next Thursday, Friday, and the following Monday are national holidays due to Easter and some other festive day. Good way to slowly ease into things...