Día 10: McArgentina!

My second Monday here in B.A., which ended up being a little relaxed, which was needed due to all the busy activities of the weekend! This morning, I meet two friends, Theo and Juanita-who live on the same street-, to walk to the University together. The walk took about 45 minutes, but helped to wake us up in the morning! However, it was a chilly walk this morning...I'm glad I wore my winter coat and scarf! Remember, while it's warm, sunny summertime north of the equator, it's winter down here! Boo hoo! The temperature was in the mid 50s I believe, which doesn't seem bad, but for some reason, it is not like a Michigan 50-degree day! Brr! I could see my breath this morning, which is strange for me in June! haha!

After class and completing my homework, the "highlight" of my tame Monday was visiting the McDonald's here. I know, I know; why am I going to McD's when I'm in Buenos Aires?! Everyone says, "don't go to those places when you're abroad!", but I'm glad we did! We just went for a quick afternoon snack, but it was fun to see the differences between the Argentine McD and US McD.

Sorry, America, But Argentina has a better McDonald's! First off, it was probably the fanciest McDonald's I've ever eaten at. Everything was clean, the furniture was nice, there were two levels for eating (along with a balcony), as well as 3 different stations to order at: the McCafe, a McIceCream station, and the regular food station. Let me note, the McCafe had fancy cakes, pastries, and desserts; last time I checked, I've never ordered a chocolate cake with whipped cream and sprinkles on-top at the Coopersville McDonald's! The bathrooms were pretty nice too; this is the first time I have encountered an electric hand dryer while here. Smooth jazz music was also playing during my restroom visit! Ooo la la! Also, all the workers wore uniforms made of complete jean attire, which was pretty funny.

McCafe: yes, this is at the golden arches.

 But my favorite thing about the McDonald's? The menu! They really do have different things here! For instance, they have "medialunas", which are flakey, sugar and butter coated croissants that melt in your mouth. They do have all the classics too, like the fries, burgers, and Mcnuggets. My friend got McNuggets and Fries, which tasted just like home, but a little saltier (Argentinians love their salt and sugar use here!) But my favorite, favorite, favorite was what I ordered: cono oreo! Drumroll, please! It was vanilla and dulce de leche (the ever so popular flavor here) twist in an oreo cone! The fact that they had dulce de leche instead of chocolate ice cream made my day. Why do we not have this in America?!

With my "cono oreo" and dulce de leche ice cream twist!

Besides that fun little snack, my friends and I tried to go to "La Bomba", a very popular drum and tambourine show that everyone raves about. However, the subway we needed to take was broken. Ugh! The show happens every Monday, so we'll go next week. Instead, we went to Palermo Alto, a very nice shopping mall that was way out of my price range; but the window shopping was fun. This was also probably the nicest mall I have ever been too. It's been a very fancy day here! Haha!

Que Rico!

For dinner tonight, Cecilia made Milanesa, a traditional Argentine food, which is a breaded chicken cutlet. It is the same thing I ate during my first dinner here. We also had sides of tomato slices, potatoes and squash, all topped with vinegar, olive oil, and salt. Last night, we had Polenta; cornmeal topped with a red sauce (possibly tomato...not really quite sure what it was though) and hotdog pieces! We also ate brussel sprouts, which were not as bad as I thought they would be.

Milanesa

La Polenta: Last night's dinner, except the hot dogs were cut into little slices. Not bad!

Well, it's off to bed here in BA! Hasta Luego, amigos!