Somos ni turistas ni porteños

We've been here eleven days and you have every right to ask, where are the tales of exciting adventure in a foreign land? Of memorable encounters with fascinating locals? Of long nights into early mornings of dining and dancing?

I'm asking the same question. The problem is somos ni turistas ni porteños, we are neither tourists nor natives.

We first visited Buenos Aires in 2006, a few months before we retired, and have come back for a month every year since. This is our third year in this very apartment, so we're on a first-name basis with los porteros, the doormen, of our building. We know the layouts of the nearest Disco and Carrefour supermarkets and can go directly to the correct aisle and shelf to get what we need.

We're taking Spanish lessons, again, from the same teacher as last year, Marco, a young university student. His classroom is in his Palermo apartment, 1.7 miles or 40 minutes away, and we walk there and back. We've tried every possible route and know most of the shops and restaurants along the way.

As familiar as we now are with life in Buenos Aires, we are still very much outsiders. Our Spanish is minimal and halting: our portero Victoriano has to speak very slowly when explaining the day's machinations of Argentine politics. This is a short-term rental apartment; we miss our own appliances and cookware, and don't bother buying oil and spices. We're not sure how to cook the interesting cuts of meat in the market.

I am a tourist -- I still love to walk around, enjoying the street scene and admiring the architecture, camera always in hand. I am a local -- while I walk I grumble about the dog poop and broken sidewalks, and don't take nearly as many snaps because I've seen it so many times before.

So what are we? Refugees with credit cards in no hurry to return home? Visitors too jaded to admire yet another beautiful belle époque building? If I figure it out, I'll let you know. Until then, here's my snaps so far. There's dogs and a penguin, people sitting in parks and crossing the street, and a short movie of a rainy day.

Buenos Aires, mas caro

We started coming to Argentina in 2006, and have come down for a month each year since. There are many reasons why we do this: it's late winter here, the off-season, while Texas swelters. Buenos Aires is a cosmopolitan city with lots of museums and events, easy public transportation, many parks and plazas, and beautiful architecture. We study Spanish, wrestling with the language and the distinctive Argentine accent. Airline tickets are expensive ($1,000 to $1,200 or more), but we've always been able to use our frequent flyer miles to fly for free. The food and wine, while not comparable to Italy or Spain (what food is?), are satisfying.

In the past, Buenos Aires had a further allure: estaba barato, it was cheap. Each year we saw prices creep up a little, but always they were cheap.

No more. Inflation has accelerated to the point that trips to the supermarket show prices similar to those in the U.S.: a pound of decent coffee is $12, a small package of sliced cheese $3, a quart of milk more than $1. A loaf of Fargo bread is about $3.50, more than a loaf of Oroweat at Super Target in Fort Worth. Norton Clasico, a simple but tasty red table wine, used to be $2.25 but is now pushing $4. A big lunch of meat and beer that was $12 in 2008 is almost $25. Empanadas are over $1 each. The smallest ice cream cone at Freddo or Volta is $3. (Just to be clear, those prices are in equivalent U.S. dollars, not pesos. The current exchange rate is about A$3.94 to US$1.)

A year ago, ATMs here started charging a $3 fee. (Before that, they were free, like those in Europe.) Now the fee is $4. (Fortunately, our Schwab and Fidelity debit cards rebate all ATM fees.)

We want to go see a soccer game, preferably Boca Juniors at La Bombonera, but that will set us back US $150 to $200 per person. Less popular games at less famous stadiums are as low as $100 per person.

Argentina has long had an exit tax, around $30. In late 2009 they added a 'visa reciprocity fee' of $140 per person, payable at Ezeiza airport upon arrival. It's good for ten years, but casual U.S. tourists now have to pay almost $200 just to get into and out of the country.

None of this is outrageous, certainly not high enough to discourage us from visiting. The cost of our apartment rental is the same as three years ago, and the colectivos (buses) are still A$1.20 (about 30 cents U.S.).

The plazas and museums are as pleasant as ever, the people just as friendly even if a bit poorer, and the buildings still beautiful. Come and enjoy Buenos Aires, as we do, but be prepared to pay.