Off to the Races

A week or two ago, on a really cold (of course) Sunday, I spent an afternoon at the racetrack with a bunch of other expats. Last time I lived here, I mostly hung out with other students... this time, it tends to be expats or "porteños", as the locals are called. The attached photo looks like I nearly captured the finish as the winning horse crossed the line, but it's actually one of the last horses bringing up the rear. Hmmmm, I wonder if the horse track is where the saying comes from?

But to answer the obvious question... no, I didn't win any money -- anyone who knows me knows that I am far too cheap to bet on horse races... if I want to gamble/speculate, I put the money to work with options on oil company stocks. This is what's known as a "sure thing"! But a chica from Brazil (in the center of the photo) plunked down $5 pesos and won $125!!! Now THAT'S a nice return. The biggest complaint at the track came from the euros, who couldn't believe that it's illegal to sell beer at a horse track. Shocking!

In other news, I FINALLY got my visa to enter Paraguay. It's the least visited country in South America and very un-touristy. If my "tourist visa # issued" is any guide, as of mid-August we're at less than 700 TOTAL! So, I don't quite know what to expect. It's a bit odd when you tell your Spanish prof that you're going to Paraguay and you get a really quizical look with the question "why?!" But I've heard everything from "I would never go to Paraguay alone" to "It's really safe, low-key, and tranquil... but boring". So we'll see.

But that's another thing... I couldn't convince anyone else to go to Paraguay. They're mostly part of the backpacker crowd so I think they were too cheap to pay for the visa. So I'll be solo until I make it across the triple border to enjoy "las cataratas" ie., the waterfalls at Iguazú. I haven't done much traveling (YET! but I will make up for it with a vengeance later on) so this will be fun. It's been nearly 12 straight weeks of school so a break will be nice. I'm pondering a trip to Machu Picchu / Peru and Bolivia but, if it happens, it'll be pricey.

Everything is pricey around here. This super-cold winter is causing quite a bit of inflation (last week the paper said that it was the coldest July in Buenos Aires in 45 years). When they have to idle the factories because of a loss of power, they can't harvest/process/distribute food, fulltime jobs become partime jobs, and so it goes. I'm actually watching prices go up about 10% per month right now. Some things, like vegetables, are up nearly 50% this YEAR. Fortunately I'm in the land of good beef, chicken, BBQs, etc, so I couldn't care less about vegetables... except maybe potatoes, they're OK.