Week 3: Living Like the Locals Do

This week started off kicking my butt. After learning that my phone, which I dropped accidentally, was irreparably broken would cost $160 to fix, I was luckily able to loan a phone from a fellow Remote. So Monday evening, feeling oh-so-sunburnt and overall not great, I set up my new iPhone, made some instant soup, and got some much-needed rest. (As an aside, being an Android user, I have to say I was kind of concerned about the transition to Apple, but it’s been really great. If not for the price tag, I’d totally switch. I also realized I needed to get my SIM card cut to fit this phone. Did you know you can do that?!)

Tuesday I was still feeling a little off, but decided to go to my evening yoga class, set an intention of strength at the beginning, and actually had some great moments – notably, in warrior 3, probably one of my least favorite yoga poses. After that, I hurried home to watch episode four of House of Cards with my boyfriend. (We’ve been watching using a program called rabb.it, which is really great for coviewing at a distance. And OMG HOUSE OF CARDS. WHAT?!)

After getting back into my normal health/routine, I finally went out for dinner on Wednesday at Late. Late is an excellent restaurant with a funky outdoor patio, and serves dishes like Thai Pad (fried rice, not pad thai). I spent a couple of hours getting to know one of my fellow Remotes, learning about his upbringing in Texas, coming out to his family, his ex-long term relationship, and how he ended up on Remote Year. Between the food, the wine, and the conversation, it was a fantastic mid-week dinner.

On Thursday, we had our first monthly Junctions, a networking event during which select locals and Remotes present on their businesses, and we eat together. The heat and humidity this evening was stifling, and being in Córdoba, air conditioning in restaurants isn’t really a thing. Outside of that, the set-up was great: we sat in small groups of 4-6, with at least 2-3 locals at each table. I met two pseudo-locals – one from France, and one from DC, who have been living and working in Córdoba for about seven months. At around 10:30, melting with the heat, I decided to leave, walked home, and put my air conditioner as high as possible before falling asleep. (A couple of days this week, Thursday in particular, we experienced on-and-off power outages during the day. While our office’s backup generator is strong enough to keep the WiFi going, working without air conditioning and 90 degree heat outside was not pleasant. I kind of got used to this fact, but had several coworkers commenting on the fact that the lights kept going out during conference calls. Welcome to South America!)

Because of the extreme heat, I ended up working from a coffee shop called Aquiles for a couple of hours on Friday. They have excellent iced coffee, a friendly staff, good WiFi, and a LOT of friendly faces – it seems that many Remotes have been going there as an alternative to the office. After work and yoga, I came home, put on my PJs, and in a move completely out of character, decided to go meet a group of people out for a drink. We headed to Milo’s, an outdoor bar in a galería, I got a delicious pomelo cocktail (grapefruit), and was in bed at a blissfully decent hour.

The weekend was a bit more adventurous:

Walked to a neighborhood in Córdoba called General Paz, which was supposed to be like Park Slope in Brooklyn but seemed to me to be a less populous Nueva Córdoba (where we live). We picked up a friend on the way (one of the many stray dogs in Córdoba), who followed us around for about twenty minutes. The dogs here are very interesting. They seem loyal to strangers, love people, and are so calm and well-behaved… I still won’t pet them, but they are starting to grow on me. We ate at Patio Tradicional, which had delicious food, before walking back to our area and stopping for dulce de leche ice cream on the way.

Dogs in Cordoba are friendly from Marina Lvova on Vimeo.

After a brief nap three-hour siesta, I made my way over to the choripan festival in Sarmiento Park. Choripan (chorizo + pan) is basically a hot dog, but with sausage instead of the dog, and baguette-like bread instead of a bun. It is delicious, and this festival was kind of a big deal. Stands upon stands of different types of choripan, smoke filling the air with flavor, locals standing in long lines for their favorite kind, music coming from the more aggressive stands. I only stayed for a little, but it could have been an all-evening affair.
A group of us made our way out to Cruz Espacio, a big club somewhere in Córdoba. We spent some time trying to get in (a fellow Remote in a fabulous dress was the ticket), ordered a drink (learning that cocktails here come as a tall glass of alcohol and a side of mixer), and danced the night away to techno and Spanish music (this song is a Córdoba favorite). It was epic. Aerial dancers, confetti, the works.
On Sunday, we got brunch and recounted how much fun we’d had the night before, relaxed, and headed to Sarmiento Park for the first Remote Year 3 service day. We picked up 61 bags of trash, got to interact with locals, and had some fun along the way. Even though I was bummed initially because there are probably more impactful things we could’ve done (Sarmiento is quite clean, actually), I’m really happy I went and pleased that we were able to make a difference in our temporary home. We also had some fun along the way…

Cordoba Week 3: Cleanup in Sarmiento Park from Marina Lvova on Vimeo.

After the clean-up, we stumbled upon a mini-carnaval parade to kick off the start of Holy Week in Córdoba, and waited for enjoyed drinks and dinner at Colores Paz, a restaurant in our neighborhood. In true Argentina fashion, it took us 90 minutes to see our drinks, but I appreciated the group’s company.