The other day we were having dinner with a friend recently back from Buenos Aires and eating some alfajores that she brought. These delightful little balls of chocolate, wafer, and caramel are an Argentine specialty that people who have been to Argentina almost always fall in love with. It's a local specialty and something to bring back to share with other travelers.
Given this enjoyment and talking about our big trip that's coming up we started thinking about the reverse: what things are common, cheap, and very American that are expensive, rare treasures in Argentina.
Certainly we plan to bring some single dollar bills to hand out to little kids to stoke their imaginations about far away America - that's a trick that brook follows. But beyond that relatively universal nicety, what else can we bring?
Question for Argentine Expats
So, I ask my favorite argentine expat bloggers for their advice. This also serves to provide a blogroll of the folks whose RSS feeds I've been reading for the last few months:
- Moving to and living in...Argentina - a mommy blog south american style
- Tango In Her Eyes a view of Buenos Aires from the structure of tango
- Goyo World which is heavy on (amazing) photos recently but in general is a general Argentine Expat blog
- And Yanqui Mike's buenos aires argentina blog about "buenos aires argentina" of all things - but also being a granjero.
So folks - what do you miss in Argentina? What do you wish you had? What things do you want me to bring you from the US - I may or may not actually do it, but what to do you dream of ;)
in following comments I found the bitch tours sponsor my life post which mentions that moleskines are not available in argentina.
i'll definitely have to bring a few extra.
Found your site through my site meter. I'm not American, but a Canadian cousin!
I like to think I don't whine and miss anything, but here is my master list.
Cinnamon Gum this is a fun item to bring and to torture unsuspecting Argentines with, offer them a piece of chicle from Estados Unidos.....then watch their faces, you will keel over with laughter! Yes I am sadistic!
French's mustard
Heinz Ketchup
Chipotle Sauce
Thai Yellow Curry paste
Bick's Dill Pickles or is it Bic's?
If you can sneak some good quality french cheese
or even cheddar in your bag....this would be good, as a very tiny piece of English Cheddar was THIRTY FIVE pesos in the supermercado! This is exhorbitant for people living in pesos!
Stock up on good skin care, most products have mineral oil in them and if you love and are serious about your glycolic products bring them too, as percentages and ph levels are not listed here, so you have no idea of the quality you are buying.
For gifts, I brought maple syrup, Argentines and Expat friends really love receiving gifts of maple syrup. Just don't forget to save some for yourself. You can purchase them in plastic jugs to make it easier to travel with.
See you soon!
Miss Tango
Oh, man. I was never a fanatic about cottage cheese... but I've started to CRAVE it after 4 years. It just does not exist here. Can you bring me some rennet??? I'll buy you beers all night long.
I found this sight through Yanqui Mike, it sounds fun.
I am obsessed with thinking about the things I cant get here....most of them I have had to learn how to make.
I second Miss Tango....skin care products!!! I miss it all.
-Bagels. People say they have found bagels...but they arent bagels.
-Dill pickles...anything with a good crunch.
-Bottles and crazy packaging.
-Good tea
-Cheap used clothing
-red vines
-The New York Times
-Beer
-Maker´s Mark
-cupcakes (i havent found a cupcake tin here)
-an oven that heats correctly
-good high quality yarn for knitting
-all sorts of knitting accesories and needles.
-kraft mac and cheese (spiral)
-cheddar cheese.
-the bacon that all americans know and love
-bars and underwear that fit
Things I´m going to miss when I go back to the States..
-limited selection (sometimes it makes shopping easier)
-the steak
-french fries at every meal
-the espresso
-cheap transportation
-speciality stores
-coca cola in bottles
tks for the effort you put in here I appreciate it!
Great post! I’ll subscribe right now wth my feedreader software!
I hear ya on the cottage cheese thing. It's a daily staple for me. But, then again, I could eat cheese of some sort for every meal.
georgian bay cottage rentals
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