Sarkis has an entire page of starters you can go with, though I’m a particularly big fan of the falafel.  They use a really interesting sauce that gives it a slightly sour / sweet taste, definitely haven’t had anything like it at other falafel joints.  Be careful with those starters though, because portions here are big, and you shouldn’t miss out on the main courses.  Behold, my favorite:

The kebabs are wonderful, this guy here comes with chicken.  You’ve got your grilled onions, grilled tomatoes, huge chicken cubes, and enough yogurt sauce to drown a small child.  Oh, and what you see here is just a half portion.  They don’t mess around!

You can find Sarkis on Thames, only a block off of Avenida Cordoba.  If you want to do dinner try to get there around 8pm because the place fills up quick, especially on weekends.  And if you need a dining partner let me know, this is one expat that won’t pass up any opportunity for Sarkis!  Enjoy!

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I would like to report one very nice success amongst all my attempts at the ubiquitous local pastry: the empanada.  I tried a couple of recipes I found online, but I’ve finally settled on one that suits my lust for spicy.  Tonight’s masterpiece was composed of ground beef, chopped medium onion, diced green pepper, cumin (very heavy on the cumin), garlic powder, oregano, and diced tomatoes with juice (from a can).  The pastries themselves were store brand — I do have to make budget sacrifices somewhere, after all!

Those beauties you see there were taken right after I finished folding over the pastries.  Some people make the crimps on the edges fancy, but I suppose I’m just more utilitarian.  All you have to do after folding them (easiest if you dab your finger with water to make the edges stick) is brush both sides with a bit of oil and throw them in the oven.  You can fry them if you want them more crispy, but I prefer mine baked.  Give them about 10 or 15 on the highest setting (my oven only has a dial, I’m assuming I’m cooking them somewhere around 375-400 degrees) and BAM!  You’ve got yourself some bangin’ empanadas.

Yeah, I’m a bit proud of myself.

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They had a band come a bit later in the night that was cool, heck they even covered Queen’s “Fat Bottomed Girls.”  A band after my heart.  They also covered Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” and a Radiohead song I’m blanking on right now.  It made for a real fun night, especially with their 2×1 happy hour special they have every day.

Speaking of food, I interviewed for the touring job on Tuesday and I think it went really well.  I should hear back from Kirsty tomorrow, so here’s hoping!  I’d be leading small groups of tourists on dining tours around Recoleta.  It would be my ideal job down here.  Wish me luck!

Oh, and did I mention Antares also serves legit bacon cheese fries!?  And that it’s less than 10 minutes from my apartment?  That could prove dangerous.

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Going out for a pizza is usually a highlight of anyone’s week, and although we’re all usually watching for high cholesterol levels and calorie intakes, there is many an old Italian woman, and she’s definitely eaten many a good pie, I’d hope. The restaurants on the list were an adventure and experience to remember, for the mind and the body.

Lucky Luciano’s is a tiny Italian joint in Recoleta, full of kitschy decor ranging from Scarface posters to a miniature David.  It also plays a pretty smooth mix of of lounge music in the vein of Thievery Corporation.  The main focus is on the food though, and they do Italian really well.  My friend Suresh and I both opted for the margherita pizza.  Lo and behold, this pizza actually had a decent amount of sauce!  New York style slices don’t exist down here, but the Italian pizza we had was great.

Mark’s Deli isn’t actually owned by an American, which is strange given the name.  It sits on a corner in Palermo and is an Argentine’s take on New York bagels, giant cookies, and deli sandwiches.  Katie and I went there for lunch yesterday and it was great.  Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so I’ll have to forego pictures until I make a return trip.  If anyone reading is in town, go for #15 on the sandwich menu.  Turkey, mozarella, tomato, spinach, and guacamole on white.  Bomb.

The crown jewel of the culinary trifecta I tried out this week was La Cabrera.  For those faithful readers that have been here from the beginning, this is actually my second time going to La Cabrera.  And it was just as ridiculously good as the first time.  We went last night for Katie’s welcome dinner and to give her an initiation to Argentine steak.  I went for the lomo marinada con verduras (marinated rump steak and vegetables), and I’ve got a picture of it below.  The picture actually is two portions, one for me and one for Alana, so don’t go thinking I eat that much steak in a normal sitting.  Kelsey and Jo went for an artery clogging concoction of steak stuffed with tomatoes, cheese, and ham.  Katie got the skirt steak.  Every single one of the dishes we ordered was great.  And you know a place is serious about beef when even its plates are shaped like cattle.

Speaking of food, I have an interview this week with a tour operator to start giving food tours to Americans.  As far as I can tell I’d lead groups around Recoleta and take them to nice restaurants, and tell them what they’re ordering and what kind of specialties the restaurants have.  And then I’d get paid for it.  It could very well be the best job ever.  I’ll keep you guys posted.

Oh, and you can click on the pictures to enlarge them.

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Every Sunday Defensa is completely overtaken by a massive crafts and antiques fair.  It’s awesome.  Tons of crazy old antiques, hand-made jewelry, art, photography, books, pretty much whatever you can think of.  I scored a great hand-woven alpaca wool sweater for the equivalent of $20 at the fair yesterday.  It actually fits great and is softer than any shirt I own.  My new friend Alana also got some jewelry for herself.  I love spending an afternoon checking old knick-knacks and brick a brac.

After our wanderings we tried a restaurant my guidebook recommended, and it turned out to be a pretty nice spot.  It was named Lezama for any of you locals or fellow travelers.  Menu big as a textbook and portions to match, but still cheap.  You can find it at Avenida Brasil 359.  Food can hit or miss down here, but so far my guidebook hasn’t let me down.  If anyone is thinking about traveling to Buenos Aires, the Time Out guide is perfect for young people.

I should have pictures posted up here soon to accompany my posts, but this dang flickr widget keeps giving me trouble.  Stay tuned!

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Thus far, I’ve had plenty of adventures adapting to life down here.  I’ve gotten myself out of my single-room dimly-lit hostel into a nice apartment in Palermo (negotiated with a broker who spoke ZERO English!), made it through my TEFL certification course despite the best efforts of crazy old man Fred, eaten the best steak of my life at La Cabrera, and been hired at Euro Trust Capital only to quit three days later.  Quite an eventuful first couple of weeks I must say.

Initially I was just glad to get here and off the plane, but then I remembered I couldn’t check in to my hostel until 10am.  I ended up sleeping in the airport for six hours, just like old times when Davy and I went biking.  The hostel was an interesting experience, mostly because I was given the “hippie” room.  It had a hippie license plate on the door, and the walls were covered with pictures of the Beatles, flower paintings, and lots of hippie lyrics.  I felt like I was sleeping in John Lennon’s meditation room or something.  But all of the people living there were really nice, and I got some serious Spanish practice in since none of them spoke English.  The apartment I’m currently in is in Palermo, a real young neighborhood with lots of boutiques, restaurants, and bars (that never close).  I negotiated the whole thing in Spanish, which I’m kind of proud of.  We’re going month by month and the rent is real cheap for the area.  I’m real happy with it, and I’ll probably post some pictures for you guys soon.

I got here on Friday the 22nd, and the following Monday I started at Bridge TEFL (Teach English as a Foreign Language) for the second portion of my TEFL certification.  My instructor Karina was great, though being told that I was teaching a class on Tuesday was pretty scary.  My experience with the course was great though, all of the students were great and my classmates all were helpful.  Well, scratch that, everyone but Fred.  Fred was a real character that had come over from Brazil, after he had already been kicked out of Bridge’s program there.  He couldn’t take criticism at all.  He would flip out and attack people if they questioned any of his teaching methods.  And they were terrible.  He taught a whole class on a train robbery.  I can’t think of any situation where our students would need to know how to successfully rob a moving train.  I learned a ton, especially about teaching a live class.  It’s pretty intimidating at first, but you get used to it real quick.  We had a Fred meltdown on the last day, but it all ended well; we got certified and the certificate is a good thing to have on my resume.

To celebrate our graduation I went out to La Cabrera with two of my classmates, Jo and Kelsey.  We’d heard all sorts of good things about it, and if you don’t know Argentina is known for having some of the best steak on Earth.  And I’ve got to say, after eating at La Cabrera, I’m inclined to agree.  Best steak I’ve ever had, bar none.  And I’m pretty much exclusively a carnivore.  They knows their meats down here.  Oh, and the steak only set me back the equivalent of $20.  Can’t argue with that.  I can’t wait to try the other famous parillas around town, and keep you guys posted on where to go when you come to visit me.  And I do expect all of you to visit, by the way.

Lastly, Euro Trust Capital.  I hardly knew ye.  They advertised on Craigslist looking to hire “Financial Advisor Trainees” so I shot in an application.  I hear back from them, and give it a try.  Replace “Financial Advisor Trainee” with “Financial Cold Caller” and you’d have it about right.  Direct sales over the phone to our “clients” in Europe who had never heard of us and didn’t want anything to do with us.  Sorry, but not what I signed on for.  We parted ways after three days.

So here I am, a little over three weeks in and riding a roller coaster.  I’ll keep you guys updated on all my experiences down here, but I wanted to throw this up as primer.  Feel free to comment or shoot me an email, I’d love to hear from you guys!

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