The Travel Chica

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How to Live Like a Porteño

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If I am going to make Buenos Aires my home for a few months, I need to try to live like a Porteño.  So I have been diligently observing the lifestyle and the customs.

This is going to be a challenge.

These are the 10 things I will need to do to live like a Porteño.

1. Perfect the cheek-to-cheek air kiss and NEVER forget to properly greet everyone.

Whenever you meet someone, you must give them the cheek-to-cheek air kiss.  It is always your right cheek touching their right cheek.  Yes, you must make cheek contact.  But no, you do NOT let your lips touch the other person’s cheek – this is how you know when a man is being creepy and not just a friendly Argentine.  And yes, the same rule applies to men greeting each other.

This rule still applies when meeting large groups.  When I meet up with my running group, everyone goes around the circle when they arrive and does the cheek air-kissing.  And if this means we start running 10 minutes after class is supposed to begin, then so be it.

You NEVER skip the greeting.

2.  Show up late for everything.

If you have plans to meet someone in Buenos Aires (whether they are Argentine or expat), it is a given that person will show up late.  If they show up within 15 minutes of the planned meeting time, consider yourself lucky.  They will not feel bad about being late either.

People show up for my running class 30-45 minutes late, and it is no big deal.  They just join whatever activity we are currently doing… after interrupting class to give everyone the proper greeting of course.

3. Develop a sweet tooth.

When you buy ground coffee beans at the grocery store, the bag actually contains sugar.  I stood staring at the section of coffee for five minutes reading labels trying to find something that was not 10% sugar.  I finally found one brand… it was 30% more expensive.

Photo of coffee aisle
Many brands to choose from
Con Azucar Molido (With ground sugar)
Photo of coffee package
Con Azucar Molido

This also explains the massive consumption of dulce de leche.  It is in every single dessert as a filling, a topping, a condiment… I am quite sure dulce de leche is considered to be a potential miracle cure for the common cold as well.

4. Have coffee and sugar for breakfast.

It is all about the medialunas here.  These are a type of factura (pastry) similar to croissants.  There are tons of shops that specialize in medialunas.  Note if you are staying in a hostel, the “included breakfast” will most likely consist of just medialunas, coffee, and tea.

Nothing like some empty carbs to get the day started off right.

The real danger here is that since they are not filling at all, it is easy to accidentally consume your entire day’s worth of calories before noon.

Photo of facturas and coffee
Cafe con leche and 3 facturas - a common breakfast for Portenos
One of the many stores in Palermo that specialize in medialunas

Photo of medialunas store

And remember that coffee that already contains sugar….Porteños dump a whole lot more sugar in it.

5. Eat a big lunch around 1pm.

Since people eat nothing but sugar for breakfast, they are ravished by lunchtime.  Buenos Aires is an expensive city (by Latin American standards), and one of the best restaurant deals is the lunch special.  In many places you can get a main course, a drink, a dessert, and a coffee for about $7-12.

Oh, and your drink can be a glass of wine.  Love it!

I have watched people eat massive steaks with a side of mashed potatoes and a full basket of bread for lunch.  I imagine everyone back at the office in a food coma unable to move.

Business must completely stop in Argentina in the afternoon.

6. Eat a merienda around 6pm.

At the time I would normally have dinner, the Porteños eat a merienda.  This is basically to tide them over until their ridiculously late dinner, as well as perpetuate the café culture that is very dominant here.

Sometimes this is just a coffee and medialunas (in case you did not get enough caffeine and sugar in the morning).  Or if you want something a little more substantial, share a picada and a beer or bottle of wine.  This is my personal favorite.

Picadas are the best!
You cannot go wrong with a tray of quality cheeses and meats.

Photo of picada

7. Eat dinner at 10pm (or later).

This is no joke.  Most restaurants do not even open for dinner until 8pm.  Dinner usually lasts a minimum of 3 but often 4 or 5 hours.  A lot of travelers mistake it for bad service when the waitress does not come back to your table after serving your meal.  They say, “Why aren’t they bringing the check?” But in reality, they are not trying to turn tables here.

When you go to a restaurant, it is understood that you have the right to that table for the entire night.  I think this is a great concept (if you are not a server in the US and making $3 an hour and living off of tips).

I was quite proud of my dinner out with Rease from Travelated and Ayngelina from Bacon is Magic.  We arrived at 8pm, and we did not get home until after 1am. 

5 hours!
On my way to becoming a Porteño.

8. Go to the club at 2am.

Okay, I hate clubs (called boliches in Buenos Aires).  I have not been to one yet.  Yes, that is what Buenos Aires is famous for, but I really don’t care.  I do not like drunk, sweaty people rubbing up on me while DJs play crappy music.

Maybe I am just getting old.  Or maybe I just prefer a dive bar with some good beer on tap.

Well even if you like to play it low-key, you will discover that most people don’t even hit up regular bars until well after midnight.

9. Go to bed at 6am, maybe later.

I have gone for a morning run around 8am on a Sunday and seen people still out from the night before sharing a liter of Quilmes on the street.  If there is an open container law here, it is not enforced.

I am very proud that I have had one late night here… until 5am.  I am no longer a virgin to late-night Buenos Aires.  Then my body naturally woke me up 5 hours later, and those 5 glasses of wine made me hate life for a day.

Photo of wine glass
Giant wine pour at Magdalena's in Palermo

10. Sleep until early afternoon.

If you are staying in a hostel or renting a shared apartment, do not expect your roommates to wake up until after noon on the weekend.  On the plus side, there is no guilt or judgment if you have a late night out.

When you do wake up, all you want is some greasy faina and a slice of fugazzetta from Kentucky Pizza.

Living like a Porteño is going to be difficult for me.

I am a morning person. I like to get 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. I am not capable of sleeping through the entire day.

I prefer eating healthy, satisfying breakfasts. I try to avoid consuming lots of sugar. I like to eat dinner at a reasonable hour.

If any Porteños or expats living in Buenos Aires have tips for me or stories about making this lifestyle adjustment, please share.

Comments

  1. How do these people work? Wow? I’d be a lazy hung over fat cow! Looking forward to hearing how you acclimate! ;)0

    • I don’t think they do work in the afternoons due to food coma. Thursday nights are “going out nights” here, so I’m pretty sure nobody works Friday mornings due to hangovers. Maybe the Argentines are just super-efficient during the others parts of the day…. or not :-)

    • Some things close in the afternoon. For example, a grocery store in Barrio Chino told me to speed it up because it was 2pm on a Tuesday and they were apparently closing… I assume for siesta.

      I really haven’t noticed too many things closing for siesta, but I haven’t yet been here for the summer. There are just so many shops around that even if something you needed was closed, you would probably find another store selling the same product or service on the next block.

      • In the north everything closes except the restaurants and supermarkets. They say it’s too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter haha

      • If you go to any pueblo, outside Capital Federal (outside Gran Buenos Aires actually…), they will all stop for a siesta, they’re extremely important for them!

  4. I like the naps and food a lot, the kissing and coffee a little, I hate the people who show up late. After 13 months in Latin America I’m still not over it. I no longer loudly complain but it eats away at my insides that nothing starts on time.
    ayngelina recently posted..The cutest ghetto in Latin America

    • I have got to learn to take a nap. But I just don’t think it’s going to happen for me.

      I have adapted to things like transportation not being reliable or on time, especially in Central America, but when people are late it still pisses me off. But since I’m trying to be the polite extranjera, I try not to let my face give away my irritation :-)

  5. When my sister got married in L.A. a few years ago, I was horrified that the wedding did not start promptly on time and people were casually wandering in 1/2 hour before it was supposed to start. This would NEVER happen in Kentucky. But nobody was surprised – it was just the way it was. Same thing with the crazy experiences you are having, but it is a difficult adjustment, I’m sure.
    Jan Ross recently posted..This is the Opposite of Writer’s Block

  6. No way!! I love most of these! I am a late night person and not a morning person (although I am forced to be now) but the days of clubbing are gone. Argentina sounds a lot like Spain. I love almost every one of these except #4 (love the sugar, detest coffee) and #8 (my clubbing days are done). Sounds like this area would fit my lifestyle rather well though!
    Jeremy B recently posted..Where in the world am I

    • You would definitely like Buenos Aires then.

      Funny that you’re the second person to mention this sounds a lot like Spain. I was only there once when I was much younger and for a short period of time, so I didn’t notice it.

  7. AHHHH, I love it and miss BsAs so much! We had an apartment in San Telmo for a month during our RTW, and it was incredible. If we didn’t have a flight booked, we would have stayed another month. We really got used to the late dinners. Even when we cooked in our apartment, we usually wouldn’t have dinner until at least 10pm. My favorite was our second night in the city, we met up with a porteno who was a friend of a friend. After lunch and a day wandering and some down time at the apartment, we headed out for dinner at 1:30am. And then we had to wait for a table. At 1:30 in the morning to eat dinner. That was a bit much, but I just loved the laid back culture evident all over Argentina. And don’t even get me started on dulce de leche and facturas. I gained a lot of weight that month.

    Have fun, living in BsAs for a while would be awesome. That’s one city that we could move to tomorrow and not skip a beat. Love it!
    Adam recently posted..Our First Day in Vietnam- To Love it or Hate it

  8. Nr 2: ask a friend to message you when he is leaving his house. I’ve learned this after I was the first one to arrive (at time) at a birthday party. I had to wait another 30 minutes untill the birthday girl arrived.

    Nr 3: I know what you’re talking about, the flavour is very different! But sugar is cheap, it’s a fictitious way to keep the prices lower.
    I once took a baking course here. The teacher told me that they actually put 20% more sugar in the whipped cream than in Europe… (Have you tried a birthday cake already: merengue and dulce de leche, after two spoons you’ll get a sugar attack)

    Nr 4: ask for the desayuno/merienda light: a couple of slices toasted bread, with marmelade and butter/cheese to put on them.

    Nr. 5-6-7 engage in argentinean life, you’ll be forced to adopt their times. For example, I had classes from 15.00 pm to 21.30 pm… you wont eat dinner before 10.00 pm

    Nr. 8-9-10 I can relate. I’m also a day person. I hate to sleep all morning and at 1 am I’m already very sleepy. Just do your thing, not every argentinean has this life style…

    • Great tip on #2. I have started doing this.

      #3 – I haven’t had birthday cake, but I’ve had other desserts with that bazaar merengue that has soooo much sugar in it. I am not even sure how they can get the fluffy consistency with that much sugar in it. You are right. Two spoonfuls, and I couldn’t eat anymore.

      #7 – I’m the type of girl that always has a snack in my purse. It is the only way I could survive here.

      Thanks for sharing!

    • I have forbidden myself to eat anymore pastries for that exact reason.

      Unfortunately, the wine and empanadas are going to be a little harder to give up. I may need to buy some pants with an elastic waistband soon.

    • I have noticed my sleep patterns changing slightly. When I was in Central America, I would wake up at 6am without an alarm. After about a month in Buenos Aires, my body has moved my natural wake up time to 8am. Who knows… maybe I’ll be sleeping past noon in another month :-)

  14. It sounds like I’m similar to you and have most of the same problems adapting. As for the cheek-to-cheek air kiss, as I guy I get confused because I have seen some other guys do it amongst themselves but many don’t.
    JB recently posted..Travel Tips- Peru

    • I have definitely noticed the male-to-male kissing is more common in Argentina than any other country I’ve been to. I have been told by some ex-pat males that they just wait to see if the other guy is going to make the first move.

  16. Actually, getting a real kiss on the cheek is not always a sign of a creep. Some people just like to do the real kiss, it’s when it gets too close to your lips that it’s a creeper.

    As for avoiding sweets, good luck! However you can always ask for tostados which are still empty carbs but a lot less grease and sugar.

    I loved our 5 hour dinner. Now we need a getting home at 5am night.
    Rease recently posted..You Can Has Vacation With TravelScout

  18. LOL! Great post, and it sounds exactly like Spain!! Except they really go for tapas before late dinner. What a life. I have thought of visiting Argentina many times but haven’t yet made it. Looking forward to reading more! :)

  20. Sounds like Argentina is a great place to call home for a while. :)
    You’re killing me with all these food posts…….I’d have to up my weekly running mileage!!! That’s so cool you meet up with a running group. Have you seen any running races happening on your travels?

  22. Haha it was really funny the way you told how we live! I would that these are our customs. About 2 weeks ago I had these friends from the states who stayed in my home for 6 days. Imagine how weird it was for me and my family when we saw that they had tartas for breakfast and no merienda. Some of the things we consider usual you may found strange and the things you consider usual WE found strange. Keep sharing with porteños, I’m sure you’ll get used to the way we live.

  24. Oh man… I hate mornings but I love dive bars. Not a fan of the nightclub thing. Like, really – can’t do it. I just filled my quota in Playa del Carmen so I should be good for a while.

  26. Ahh the carb breakfast. It amazed me we could not get eggs and sausage anywhere for breakfast. Broke my heart. Your cheese plate pic is making me hungry! Ahhh what a hard life you will be having! Sleeping, eating, partying….I’m kidding. But I think the late factor translates to all of SA, for sure!

  27. It’s super funny to read this kind of posts! As an Argentinian, I can agree with you in most of the topics. I particularly hate being late! But I usually got to bed really late (i also need to sleep 8 hours, but it’s impossible to go to sleep early when you go back home from work at 8pm and eat at 10!).

    About the big lunch at noon, that’s so true! Not really sure about reduced productivity after lunch, but after eating so much, u usually think that a nap might not be a bad idea…

    You forgot about the ‘throw your garbage to the floor’ custom. People are extremely dirty here and overwhelmingly rude when you tell them not to do so…

  28. I know this was posted a year ago, but i’ve reading your blog and I enjoyed myself.
    All these things are true, but everything is not quite like that. Your post could be “how to live like a porteño lives on WEEKENDS…”
    Being a porteña myself, I think you didn’t consider our “mate”, perhaps not in public (except in parks on sunny on weekends or sunny days), but we drink it a lot at home, alone or with our family/friends. As for breakfast, medialunas are not our usual breakfast, ’cause it would be an expensive way to wake up everyday… we might take them on weekends or holidays, but our typical everyday breakfast are toasts! With dulce de leche, butter, or low fat cream cheese or low fat jam (my personal favourite), coffee with milk and even fresh orange juice! When I go on holidays abroad with my family we even joke and bet about who are the Argentinean people based on their “coffee-toasts-orange juice” choice for breakfast.
    About everything else… yes. And It’s so hard for us to get used to have dinner at 6 or 7 pm! I want my merienda at that time, not to have dinner! Or not being able to go for a coffee or an ice-cream after dinner… In Buenos Aires we always have something open at almost every hour.
    And even when we go out on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays (Sometimes I even have a beer with my friends on Sunday’s night), -not clubbing, but pubs and bars, and having dinner with friends, or going to the theatre, etc- we still get up at 7:30 am next day, as most people do here…

    As you might have noticed while you lived here, all the sugar we eat is part of the reason why Argentinean are so self conscious about not getting fat and our weight (’cause it is to easy to get fat with all our pastry, empanadas, picadas and ice cream), we fight the fat battle by doing 15 million of activities and classes… but I don’t think it’s enough.
    Maybe we need to learn how to slow down. You have made me think about my eating habits.

    • I’m glad you found the humor in this post even though it makes broad generalizations and of course, is based on an outsider’s perspective having only spent a few weeks in the city. And of course, most of that time was spent with young backpackers living in a hostel.

      Going point about mate. Until you start to make local friends, you don’t really understand the importance.

      By the way, I think you are the only porteña in Buenos Aires waking up at 730am :-)
      Stephanie – The Travel Chica recently posted..Entrepreneurs, Coffee, and Technology

      • Hehe.. I’m not the only one, but it’s true there a re a lot of jobs who are not required to wake up so early. It depends on the job, and of course, the time distance from work I guess.
        Saturday morning, I’m at work since 8:30 am, and I’ve been out up to 4:30 am in the morning, a “quiet” night with friends at some bar in Palermo.
        Buenos Aires is a city with insomnia.

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