Buses and Cars

I'm so excited that we will be renting a car on Friday for the weekend. We tried to rent a car last weekend, but we didn't plan ahead of time, and every car agency was fully booked. (why had we imagined there would be cars waiting for us for the choosing?)

So far, we have been getting around by bus, which is not bad, just a bit inconvenient, since we are about 24 kilometers outside the city center. And the bus stop is about 1/4 mile from the cabin down a steep hill. Not so bad if the weather is nice, but the weather has NOT been cooperating lately, and lugging groceries up the hill in the cold wind and rain is not too fun.

This will be the first time we will drive in Argentina. We don't need to drive in Buenos Aires, and I really wouldn't want to anyway, because the traffic is crazy. But it's a bit more sane up here in the mountains, and so it shouldn't be too stressful.

More than anything, I look forward to the freedom of being propelled through space and time by our OWN POWER. Being dependent on others to move you has a kind of effect on one's psychology, I think. In Buenos Aires, I don't really feel it, because there are so many taxis, buses, subways, remises- plenty of ways to get around, and they are not prohibitively expensive for me. I always feel I have the power to get where I want when I want (barring city flooding or protests, of course.)

But here, taking a taxi from the center of Bariloche to our cabin is $70 pesos- a little too pricey for a daily ride. And renting a car for two months is expensive as well. Our bikes are fine for little trips to the local convenience market, but we can't take the laundry or carry a lot of groceries. And biking all the way to town is too far to be convenient. So we've been dependent on the bus.

If I'm not worried about time, I actually like taking the bus- I like watching the variety of people. Moms with babies, workers sleeping on their way home from a hard day's work, tourists trying to figure out which stop to get off, teenagers stealing kisses. I love the way old ladies get on, fix their eyes on someone, and tell them to get out so they can sit down. Sometimes the bus gets so crowded, people are crammed together like sardines; it hurtles down a curvy mountain road faster than it should, and everyone goes about their lives, chatting, sleeping, flirting, thinking. I get this feeling like we're all in this together- whatever THIS is. Life? It's a reminder that I share this world with all kids of people-- something you forget when you are isolated in your own car all the time.

Nevertheless, I'm excited to have a car for the weekend. To go where and when we want, stop where we want, fill the car up with food, and not have to carry groceries up the hill. The only drag is that it's a manual transmission, which I have never learned to master.

So I'm dependent on Rob's driving. Ah, well. Independence is relative, isn't it?

Bariloche Impressions

We took the 24-hour bus trip to Bariloche from Buenos Aires, and I have to say, I loved it. Yes, it's long, but we got seats that fold all the way back into a bed, and they serve food and drink. I actually appreciated the time to see the scenery (mostly flat pampas with cows)and unwind. In the past few weeks before this two month trip, we were dealing with immigration issues, a lawsuit against our building, finding someone to look after our apartment, etc., so it was nice to have the time to unwind. Going back, we might choose to fly, but I'm glad I did the bus trip at least once. It also gave me a sense of the scale of the vastness of the country. Argentina is huge!

Bariloche is like a little Swiss village in at the base of the Andes. It's beautiful, next to lake Nahuel Huapi, with stunning views all over the place. And really Swiss-like. They take advantage of this- you can get your picture taken with a St. Bernard, eat fondue, buy chocolate at one of the numerous chocolate-makers.

BUT- and this is a big but- this is where the Swiss similarity ends. We're still in South America, as we discovered when taking the bus from the little cabin we rented into town. No one knows how much it is, the stops on one side of the road are not marked, and except for "every twenty minutes" there is no timetable. Not that I care that much-- but I have a feeling that this very imprecise attitude towards transportation doesn't exist in Switzerland.





The scenery is absolutely gorgeous. We haven't been out much yet to explore the surrounding area, as we've been busy settling in and celebrating Christmas, but we will be exploring over the next several weeks by bicycle, bus, etc.

Taxes: Everyone Wants Their Piece

Living in a foreign country brings with it a whole host of challenges, not the least of which is figuring out how to pay what to whom. If taxes in the United States aren't complicated enough, now there are two countries to worry about. I'm not an expert at this, and I don't do it all myself, but here is some of what I have learned so far:

Income tax: If you earn U.S. dollars but live abroad, there are some pros and cons:

• The foreign-earned income exemption: You don't need to pay U.S, taxes on the first 85k you earn in a foreign country. Yes, even if you work for a U.S. company. The hitch is, you have to have been in that country for all but 30 days of the calendar year (which we have not been-- doh!)
• State Taxes: If you haven't been in the U.S. and don't have a house there, you are not a resident of any state. So you don't pay any state tax, right? Well, each state has different rules about what qualifies as a resident, and CA is VERY tough on this one. You have to be careful how you prove you are not a resident. AND if you are NOT a resident of any state, complications arise with all kinds of other bureaucratic tasks, such as banking.
  
• What do I withhold? When I got a job working virtually, my status as an overseas resident stumped the accounting department. What taxes are they supposed to withhold? The solution was to create my own business, and just send the company an invoice. So technically, my boss is my client. Now I have to include the business income on my tax returns.
• Argentina: Don't know much about Argentine income taxes yet, as we are not residents, But there is no treaty between the countries, and Argentina requires you to pay taxes on worldwide income. No exemptions for what you already paid in the U.S. I'm procrastinating on this one. Needless to say, I will try my hardest to stay within the letter of the law in both countries while not getting f**ked. (I know what you are going to say- it doesn't matter whether you are a resident- only the length of time you have been there.... *has hands over ears* BLAH BLAH BLAH- I CAN'T HEAR YOU....)
  

Property Taxes:

• If you own property in Argentina, you have to pay annual property taxes on that property (usually about 1.5% of the purchase price.) NO ONE WILL TELL YOU THIS UNLESS YOU ASK ABOUT IT, AND THERE IS NO BILL. If you don't pay these taxes, you won't be able to sell the property in the future without a lot of complications. An Argentine accountant needs to register the payment with the government, so don't do this by yourself. This is different than the tax bills you get to cover the cost of city services (below:)
• City taxes: I don't know about other cities, but in Buenos Aires, you get a quarterly bill for a tax that covers the cost of trash pickup, etc. Not very expensive, but don't pay the bill late, or you will have to take 1/2 a day to go do it at the city office.

Sales Taxes:

• Taxes on imported goods in Argentina are insane. You can end up paying twice or three times the cost of electronic equipment you would pay in the U.S. All I can see this doing is keeping laptops from teenagers who could use them to learn highly valuable skills. There is wifi on every corner, but only the elite use it. What a shame.

That's all the taxes I can think of. I didn't get into a lot of details, since I am not an accountant, but it gives you an idea of the issues you have to deal with between two countries. It takes a little bit of the romance out of traveling abroad. It requires organization, patience, and tenacity.

This post was written, in part, for affordablecallingcards.net where Julia writes about her expat adventures, as well as on this blog. You can follow her in both places.

Eating Healthy in Buenos Aires

I've been back in the States now for three months, and my health is definitely improving from all the cycling I've been doing, but my eating has not been as healthy as it could be. I'm not putting myself under a lot of pressure about it, but I'm definitely trying to plan how I can eat better when I get back to Buenos Aires.

I try to stick to a paleo-ish diet at least 80% of the time (No grains, little dairy- a diet of mostly lean meats, fish, eggs, fruits, and vegetables). Lately, this percent has probably gone down to about 50 or 60%, because my family eats different things and it's hard not to eat grains when they are in the house.

But it is possible to eat a paleo diet in Argentina, especially in the city, because meat markets and vegetable markets are all within walking distance. I just have to take the time to walk to them. And now that my Spanish is good enough to actually speak with the vendors, it should
be easier. Here is a list of things I am going to shoot for, and things I'm going to try to avoid:

The good list:

Image via saltshaker.net

1. Meat, of course. Argentine beef is grass-fed, so it is pretty lean. I eat a lot of red meat and my digestion is fine, and my cholesterol is fine. I can order a variety of meat at a parrilla along with a salad and skip the bread. It is easy to get organ meats in Argentina, as well. I love the sweetbreads.

2. Fish- Argentines don't eat a lot of fish, typically, but there are fish markets, and I need to learn a few more types of fish in Spanish so I can pick out some good fish for a quick dinner. Most restaurants have at least one fish on the menu, typically merluza.

3. Salads- when eating out at a cafe, salads usually consist of a list of vegetables you can have cut up and put in a bowl, served with oil and vinegar. You choose from a list- beets, carrots, and lettuce, for example. I definitely need to take advantage of this more often.

4. Nuts. I don't eat enough of these. It's a great way to get some good fat, and make me feel full. They are generally pretty pricey compared to other things in the grocery store, so I tend to avoid them.

The bad list:

Empanadas

1. Pizza. Cheese and bread do not a healthy person make. Carbs, + fat + salt. Avoid when possible.

2. Empanadas. Hard to avoid. They are everywhere, cheap, and fast. Meat and/or cheese filled savory pastry. Some are fried. Ham and cheese is popular.

3. Pasta. There are a lot of home-made pasta shops, so I have to try hard to avoid these as well. Once in a while I will splurge on a special occasion. But a pasta meal makes me feel bad the next day if I am not used to eating it.

4. Pastries. Croissants, facturas, etc. In shop windows everywhere, and popular for breakfast. Not as evil as Krispy-Kreme, but almost.

The once-in-a-while list:

Image of a picada via visualvamp.blogspot.com

1. Tarts. These are very popular, and although they are made with a dough crust on the bottom, they are usually filled with eggs, and various different kind of vegetables. Squash is popular, as is acelga, which I believe is similar to chard.

2. Milanesa Napolitana. Breaded chicken or beef cutlet, fried, and topped with tomato sauce and cheese. There is usually too much cheese to be healthy, but it is so good, I gotta have it once in a while. And other than the breading, there is not much grain. They usually use safflower oil for frying.

3. Picada. This is a platter of meats and cheeses for snacking. Many come with nuts as well. I try to avoid meats that are processed with salt and nitrates. But it is an adequate choice once in a while, when shopping or walking around on a hot day, with a beer. Since there is so much fat, they are very filling, so a little goes a long way.

4. Yogurt. Argentines love their yogurt, but it's hard to get natural yogurt that doesn't have a lot of stuff added. I can find sugar-free yogurt, but that has aspartame, which I don't think is great on a daily basis. But it helps the digestion, and you can't buy the digestive supplements in pill form like you can in the states.

Like I said, I'm not a diet nazi, but I try to keep myself within the 80% range of a paleo-type diet. I do have ice cream occasionally, or pasta. But the healthier I eat, the worse I feel when I go off the pattern, so I can keep it pretty steady when I am on a roll. With a little will-power, it is possible to eat paleo in Argentina.

This post was written, in part, for affordablecallingcards.net where Julia writes about her expat adventures, as well as on this blog. You can follow her in both places.

Comparison of Legal/Illegal Activities between Argentina and the U.S.

I made a spreadsheet that compares what is legal/illegal in Argentina and the U.S. This is from my own general knowledge, so if you see mistakes, please leave a comment.

I would also be interested in things that are legal in one country and illegal in the other that I missed.

Link to spreadsheet

It's hard to make a generalization about either country by what each chooses to make legal/illegal, but I think the laws reflect the different religious roots. Argentina is largely Roman Catholic, and abortion is illegal, but the people generally have a "live-and-let-live" attitude to most people's personal lives. The protestant background of the U.S. generally is reflected in less restrictions on trade, but a more moralizing aspect to people's personal lives.

This post was written, in part, for affordablecallingcards.net where Julia writes about her expat adventures, as well as on this blog. You can follow her in both places.

My Experience with the Argentine Medical System

As you may know, I was diagnosed as hypothyroid, which means I have to consult with an endocrinologist, take meds every day, and go get my blood checked once every few months. I have done all this here in Buenos Aires, so I thought I would give a little summary of what the experience has been like.

Argentina has a national health system, which is free for its citizens. I have heard two things about this: 1) It's free for everybody and isn't that great, and 2) Don't use it if you can avoid it, especially the hospitals. They also have a private health system, which can be paid for with insurance, or by cash.

Since the cost is low enough for me, I pay cash. It's simple. No forms, no hassles, and you know how much everything costs. No one turns you down for anything. I get the tests I want. (Libertarian rant: Does anyone who is in favor of national health care consider that if health care is nationalized it will go the way of eduction--crappy? That seems to be the case here. The private system is superior.)

I got diagnosed with Hashimoto's when I went to an OB/GYN for a regular yearly exam. He asked me how I was feeling generally, and when I said fatigued, he sent me for some blood tests. He has a small office in a high-rise building run by just him and his secretary. I never wait more than two minutes past my appointment time. He never has more than one patient at a time in the waiting room. It's quiet, comfortable, and I pay around $200 pesos per consultation (about $55 bucks). This is pricey. He is very exclusive. His office is five blocks from my apartment. But he is wonderful, and he practiced for years in Chicago.

I go for the blood tests at a lab 1 1/2 blocks from my apartment, taken by a little old man who has been doing it for years. There is no one else in the lab. I am in and out in ten minutes. I pick up the blood tests MYSELF a couple days later. I bring them to the doctor. I think my thyroid tests cost me $50 pesos ($14 dollars).

This is a major difference here. With a few exceptions, I have picked up my lab results for a mammogram, thyroid ultrasound, and blood tests myself. I keep them myself. They are owned by me. It is a little more work on my part to get them and keep track of them, but I can take them to a different doctor if I want, or research the numbers myself online. My thyroid biopsy was done at a hospital, and they kept the results because it is the hospital where the endocrinologist practices.

My endocrinologist is a $20 peso taxi ride out to another neighborhood. She is excellent. Like the OB/GYN, she spends time talking to me, writing all my information down by hand on an index card. She speaks English (just got back from a conference in the U.S.) She charges $70 pesos per consultation (about $20 dollars). She gives me the change out of her pocket. She writes me a prescription for some medicine, and I go to the pharmacy down the block for it. I don't even have to show them the scrip. I just tell them what I want and they give me a box of bubble-wrapped capsules. $14 pesos (about $4 dollars-- granted, this medicine is cheap in the States, too.)

I need to go through the blood test/endo appointment thing about every three or four months, and go back to the OB/GYN each year.

So this is my experience-- good health care, low cost (at least for me. I know my financial situation here makes me very lucky), extremely efficient. I feel more in control of my health here than I did in the States.

Something to Look At

Sometimes, living in Argentina brings out my inner Germaine Greer. This is a letter I recently wrote to the owner of a local business:

Hi XXXXX,

Congratulations on your XXXXXX -project: it seems like it is moving along well and will be very successful. I wanted to email you because of something in your most recent job ad that I couldn't let go by without a comment.

I know in Argentina it is a common practice to explicitly state the age, gender, "attractiveness" of the person you want to hire, and ask for a picture. But in the States and in Europe, this has become socially and professionally unacceptable.

I would have assumed that as XXXXXX caters to U.S. and European clientele, and as the ad is going to be seen by many (hundreds?) of expat women, you would hold yourselves to more modern hiring practices.

You have every right to hire whomever you want, and post whatever ad you want- but as a potential professional female U.S. client, it makes me uncomfortable doing business with a company that almost openly states it will hire based on looks, gender, and age. (And a little ironic given the open political support for a "progressive" presidential candidate).

I don't want to go on some feminist rant- I just thought I should share my point of view that you might not have gotten elsewhere. If the ad irked me, I might not be the only one.

Sincerely,


Julia



****Update ****
In fairness to the American involved in the project, he responded to my letter saying that he will bring the issue to his Argentine partners. Kudos.

Fitness Check-in

The first week of the push-up challenge is done. I can now do over 10 push-ups in a row. Next week will be a little harder.

I've been consistently losing weight, although I don't have a scale to measure. My clothes are getting looser and looser, though. The Evo-fitness seems to be working. I have been lifting weights a couple of times a week (I wish I could do crossfit, but it doesn't exist here!), and eating a paleo-ish diet. No grains, no beans, little dairy. Just lean meat, fruits, vegetables, nuts, oils. I also have a mini-fast every few days- just eat dinner early and then not eat until about 2:00 the next day. Then I eat a little more later to make up for it.

It's pretty easy to eat this way here in Argentina, if you don't give in to the pizza and empanadas. The meat here is lean (beef is grass-fed), and it's easy to shop every couple of days for fresh fruits and vegetables. I eat very little processed or canned food.

Of course I'm not too strict about the diet- but I try to hit the 80% ratio. Things I've noticed;

• I no longer have low blood sugar crashes. I get hungry if I don't eat, but it's a hunger that can be tolerated. No lightheadedness, or shakiness.
  
• My energy level is generally higher, except the day after workouts, when I need extra sleep.
• I have trouble digesting big starchy meals now. I no longer want to binge on bread or potatoes, because it just makes me feel bad.
• Fasting (from 8:00PM to 2:00 Pm the next day) is no big deal- it seems to happen naturally anyway. When I'm not hungry, I don't eat much. When I'm hungry, I eat as much as it takes to satisfy me.
• My alcohol tolerance is much lower (learned this the hard way)- two glasses of wine MAX. If it's a very long evening, maybe one more. That's it. Otherwise, I'm sick the next day. (This is probably a good thing.)
• I've been losing fat without a lot of time spent exercising- I workout hard and fast. I walk through the city maybe once or twice a week to do errands, since I have no car.

So far so good.

What is feminine?

The last time my hair cut, two porteñas came in when I was just about done, and complimented my haircut (a short bob with bangs.) They said how courageous I was for cutting it short. (And it's a bob- it's not that short.) Why not do the same? I asked. They were afraid it would look unfeminine.

This made me reflect on any differences the perception of femininity between Argentina and the United States. Here are some generalities:

Things considered feminine:

• Long hair. Below the shoulders. Even the president has long hair.
  
• Lots of make-up. Generally, a lot of made up faces here would be considered tacky in the U.S. (At least in the nature-loving areas of California I am used to. Maybe Argentines would fit right in in Dallas...)
• Revealing shoulders. I see a lot of strapless tops, even on television hosts.
• Big lips. This is usually considered feminine universally, but here, the plastic surgery is generally unnatural.

Things NOT considered feminine:

• Sweating at the gym. Seriously, women chat and read magaznes while they are on the eliptical machines, and they lift weights less than five pounds.
  
• Drinking. Women don't drink much- and if they do, it has to be a glass of wine or a fruity cocktail- no martinis or whiskey sours. Some of the younger ones drink beer.

Of course there are a myriad number of other differences about being a woman here: despite the fact that there is a woman in the presidential office, the roles women have in society are about thirty years behind the United States. But that is another post.

Think I'll go to the gym with my short haircut, no makeup, sweat a lot, and prove that it doesn't make me manly.

Mistake, or on purpose?

Google knows I am searching from Argentina. So occasionally, I get error messages, etc. in Spanish.

I was doing a blog search, and the blog I found doesn't exist anymore. But I got this message from Blogger instead:

No se ha encontrado el blog.

Sorry, the blog you were looking for does not exist. However, the name shitted is available to register!

Register shitted

Mistake, or on purpose? What do you think?

Can't I name my baby Dweezil?

Supposedly, here in Argentina, when you have a baby you have to choose his or her name from a list of "approved" names (mostly Catholic saints). This explains why I have met at least five Augustins in three months. My name, Julia, is very familiar to people here- I guess there was a Saint Julia. Juliana and Julieta are also popular.

I haven't met any Summers, Karas, or Dylans.

If you want to name your baby something different, you have to get approval from the government. If you are a foreign national, you have to have a letter from your embassy stating that the name you are choosing for your child is "common" in your native country.

What I think is interesting about this is the original reason behind the law (I guess it goes back for quite a long time)- an attempt to control the culture- and I think not just of the culture that they are trying to maintain, but the cultures that they are trying to keep out.

Indiginous names are not on "the list."

A holler out to my Aunts Mareda, Wynona, and Mozelle (may she rest in peace.)