The Travel Chica

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Meet the Cruella de Vil of Palermo

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I am ashamed to admit that in a moment of desperation, I made the worst decision of my entire trip.

I had been living in hostels for five months.  I needed my own room.  I needed a decent kitchen.  I needed to NOT be surrounded by 22-year-old backpackers.

I used multiple websites that match up people who have a furnished room to rent short-term with people like me.  I was dead-set on living in Palermo, one of the most expensive areas of Buenos Aires, which gave me a limited selection within my budget.  (Before you judge me, my two main reasons for living in the fancy neighborhood were safety and proximity to a park that I would run at every day.)

I settled.

After looking at multiple devastatingly disappointing rentals that were at the very top of my budget, I looked at an apartment in the perfect location.  The apartment was okay.  The bedroom had more than 4 square feet of walking space and a window, so it was better than all of the other rooms I had seen.

The owner, who I will refer to as Cruella, is a little old Argentine chef. She told me that she prepares dinners some nights for friends and goes to the theater often, and I would be invited to join.  I was not in love with the overly-cluttered apartment, and I had a bad feeling about this seemingly nice old lady.

But I ignored my gut instinct.  It was the perfect location.  And at least I would be living with someone with whom I could practice Spanish and learn about the culture and people of Buenos Aires.

WRONG!

It is a little difficult to practice Spanish and ask questions about the culture when you are no longer on speaking terms with someone.

As soon as I moved in, I discovered that Cruella is the most anal-retentive, unreasonable, and unsympathetic person I have ever known.  Every time I walked in the house, I was being reprimanded for something I did wrong, always a new rule I had not yet been told.

My Breaking Point

I put up with it for five days, and then I remembered that I am 29-years-old and do not deserve to be treated like a disobedient child, especially when I was paying this woman an exorbitant amount of money.  After being reprimanded for using the toaster, I hit my breaking point and told her how I felt.

The conversation was in Spanish and went something like this:

Me: “I do not understand.  Why can’t I use the toaster?”

Cruella:  “Because you cannot touch any of the electrical machines in the kitchen.”

Me:  “Why not?  And why am I only allowed to use one tiny pan for cooking when you have 15 other larger pans? “

Cruella: “Because people from the United States do not take care of things.”


At this point, there was a period of silence as I processed this highly offensive statement.

Me: “I do not feel comfortable living in your house.  You have so many rules about everything.  Every day there are more rules.  Living here is like living in a prison.”

Cruella: “You already paid.  That is your problem.”


I do not think I will be invited to dinner or a night out at the theater anytime soon.

Meet Cruella

This is a giant professional photo of Cruella and her evil dog displayed proudly in the living room.

Photo of Cruella and her dog
Framed photo proudly on display in Cruella's living room.

Don’t eat the membrillo.

Cruella makes a living selling dulce de membrillo, a traditional Argentine sweet.  Because this is a multi-day process and she has the tiniest kitchen in the world, the stuff is laid out drying all over the house.  Note that some of it is only about 6 inches off the ground.  Remember how Cruella has a dog?

do you think Cruella’s misbehaved dog doesn’t sniff all over the membrillo?
Photo of membrillo around the apartment
This is what the apartment looks like every day

I don’t know where Cruella sells this stuff, but I know I will not be eating membrillo anywhere in Buenos Aires.

At least I only paid for one month…

Read part 2 of the Cruella saga: My Daily Toilet Paper Allowance & Other Bazaar Rules

It gets event better with part 3 of the Cruella saga: The Day Cruella Put Me Out on the Street

Comments

  1. I am sorry to hear about your experience. But cohabitation is really hard!
    Funny story though, great taking it with such good sense of humour
    can’t wait to keep reading your stories.
    adriana recently posted..Insolacion mistica

  4. OMG this made me seriously laugh out loud! “This is a giant professional photo of Cruella and her evil dog displayed proudly in the living room.”

    Sorry that it didn’t work out, but you got a great story from it at least!

    • I never tried any and now I never will because I will be afraid it came from Cruella’s kitchen.

      This is the same dog that jumps up and puts his paws on the kitchen table when I’m sitting down to eat. I have to push him away to avoid him eating the food right off my plate.
      The Travel Chica recently posted..Meet the Cruella de Vil of Palermo

  6. What a sweetheart!! Shoot, she had me at “people from the United States do not take care of things”…..and you say that only evil animals can stomach her (as evidenced by the huge Olan Mills glamour shot)? I’m glad that you only paid for a month of captivity….she’s a piece of work…..just remember….anyone that mean hates herself more than you ever could. Good luck and let us know when Independence day rolls around…..
    Renee recently posted..The Inspired Traveler 13 – Laurel Robbins

  9. Sorry you have to put up with this whack-job for a few more weeks. Hopefully she doesn’t take away a different appliance/utility each day. I do think, the picture of her and her dog should be the new standard, generic picture that comes with every frame. :-)

  10. Classic case of old unhappy lady who wants more money, hence renting a room in her apartment, but does not want anyone else living there or touching her things!! The agent should take her off the books as she must be like this with everyone. You do not and should not have to tolerate this kind of behavior from someone who you are paying, is making a profit and is probably not paying taxes on her rental income or her sweetie production line!!!

    • She said she’s been renting her room students from the US for 7 years! So much misery she has inflicted on others!

      I immediately complained to the rental company I went through, and this is the first time they had ever rented her place. They told me they had no idea she was like this and would never rent it again. Unfortunately, there are about 100 other websites she can use to rent her place.
      The Travel Chica recently posted..Meet the Cruella de Vil of Palermo

  13. Lol, just do what you want to do, use her toaster. What she’s going to do? Kick you out? Then she had to give you your money back. It’s not like you signed a contract saying that you’re not to touch electrodomistics…
    I’d say, two can play this game, and if she says something, pretend you don’t speek spanish (or that you can’t understand her bad English ;)) (but lock up your stuff lol)

    You could also complain to food health, if only to screw with her

  15. I’m not sure if I’m more upset for you, who can leave in a month or the dog, who is stuck there forever! What an awful woman.

    Maybe try to kill her with kindness? At least then you’d be free. haha
    Jillian recently posted..Photo- Buildings of Lamu

  17. One month isn’t so bad. I would not be able to take this, though. I would totally rebel. I’d use the pans and the toaster whether she liked it or not. And I’d be tempted to do a lot more than that. I’m sure that would just reinforce her beliefs, but she already sounds like she’s too far gone.
    Scott – Quirky Travel Guy recently posted..My favorite LA neighborhoods

  25. This made me laugh, but I feel so bad for you. Someone who has a giant picture of them and their dog in their living room? Too funny, but disgusting about the dog and the membrillo – yuck! Perhaps you could notify the health dept just as a way of saying “thank you.”

  27. This is a great opportunity for practicing “the psychology of getting along with nasty people”. Think of how good this will look on your resume after you and Cruella become close friends.

    Bring her some flowers, invite her out for dinner, buy her some chocolate, lie like hell!

    Good luck

  28. Ouch! It truly sucks when things like this happen to travellers. The part that I find most frustrating is that there is very little that you can do about it. I think, it’s great that you chose to blog. Too often people are too self contuse to tell others about their bad experiences.

    P.S. You are too nice to this women, I would have posted her full name and her home address!

  29. What a bummer of an experience, but a good reminder about how we should trust our instincts more. She certainly does sound pretty evil, but not sure that she looks very “old” — but maybe I’m just being a little age sensitive.
    Cathy Sweeney recently posted..Feel Lucky

  30. This is pretty funny, although I am sure it was not at the time. At least it makes for a good story that we can all laugh at! I love that you blacked the dogs eyes out too…….he can’t help he has an evil mistress owner though.
    Claire recently posted..A Travelers Regret

  33. LOL. The picture is priceless. Who poses with their dog like that? Okay, granted some people do, but that pose just strikes me as weird. I agree! The best revenge is outing her shitty actions. I mean, seriously? Yeah, them Americans don’t know how to use toasters right. Uh huh.
    Nomadic Chick recently posted..India- You Own Me

  36. Omg! I laughed so hard, great writing…. But sorry you had to deal with that, what a nightmare!! Hope you found a new place! Going to read your other entries. :)

  37. Oh, dear, this is one of the funniest stories i’ve read in a long time. Something similar happened to me recently in the middle of my final at university – the person I’d just moved in with wouldn’t allow me to have any guests, but instead of telling me himself, he told the real estate agent, who viciously abused me over the phone, moments before my exam… How passive aggressive is that?

    Luckily I was able to get out of there quickly, but he doesn’t sound half as bad as Cruella! It looks like you’ve landed on your feet though, to be living with another popular blogger would be nice :)

    • University roommates are always interesting as well. I of course met some of my best friends there, but I also lived with some passive aggressive people as well. But at least they didn’t steal my money and kick me out :-)

  38. When I originally commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get four emails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Bless you!

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