Jumbo

One full day in town getting rested from travel then the next a whirlwind day running around Buenos Aires outfitting for the trip. 

Our first stop was a black market money changer.  We swapped $2000 U.S. for 134,000 Pesos.  67/1.  It’s sad to see this, remembering my first trip to Argentina in 2000 the Peso stood at 3/1.

Our next stop was a mall. A mall in the classical sense of designer goods stores and department stores.  Malls might be going extinct in the U.S. but by all indications they are going strong in Argentina.  One end of the mall is anchored by a grocery and variety store called Jumbo, and the other a classic multi story department store called Falabella. We needed bedding, bath towels and cookware so we started at Falabella, walking past the overpowering gauntlet of staggered perfume counters and designer clothing departments to the escalator leading to the second floor where, like the U.S. custom, they hide the housewares. 

The kitchen department was the expected mix of imports priced double-plus what they’d cost in the U.S. and objects of Argentine manufacture seeming on sale by comparison due to the weak position of the Peso to the Dollar. Prices still seemed higher than expected to Lynnette. “Take me to Walmart!” she kept demanding. Augie told her Walmart in Argentina is not the same as a Walmart in the U.S. 

We filled two carts in the overheated store, moving from kitchen to bath then bed departments as piped-in techno music seemingly kept increasing in volume, pounding in our heads and literally drowned our voices as we translated labels and price tags. The trip could’ve ended right there. Lynnette and I are not shoppers, we’re buyers and that place was not our scene. We were pissed-off and at one another’s throats (who the hell decided that a hot  disco would be a positive shopping environment?).  Augie, always cool and diplomatic, suggested we set the carts behind the checkout counter, before paying, then shop groceries; that way we wouldn’t need to haul a pile of bags around the mall. Good idea. 

Passing back through the perfume gauntlet and several hundred feet of mall & a stream of designer label stores, we entered Jumbo and grabbed a cart. Turning the first corner we wandered directly into several hundred thousand square-foot of isles filled with groceries blocked by a gigantic section of hard goods, kitchen bath and bedding, much like a Walmart, all at deeply discounted prices. The store was air conditioned and the music barely audible. We’d struck gold. They even had camping gear. Everything we needed.  $300 U.S. later we were outfitted. 

We did return to The techno-hell of Falabella to buy the bedding.  

Uber home, a siesta then on to one of the most amazing meals we’d ever experienced at Alo, a restaurant in the northern suburbs of BA.  Alo is owned and run by master chef Alejandro Feraud and his right-hand man MartinGomez Marciel.  We sat at the kitchen counter and it felt like being in the center of a reality show. Featured was a tasting menu of regional foods and wine. The creativity and commitment to excellence by this team was truly remarkable  

The truck would be ready to receive tomorrow.