When we last visited Buenos Aires in 2002, it was shortly after the currency devaluation and total financial collapse of the country. The country was shell-shocked and reeling. People saw their life's savings cut by two-thirds overnight. Unemployment soared and a significant share of the middle-class was thrown into poverty. We nonetheless enjoyed our time in BA – saw the usual tourist highlights, like the Casa Rosada (the pink equivalent to the White House) and Evita's mausoleum.

Fast forward four years. By great good fortune, some close friends had decided to rent a lovely—very lovely—home in BA for the winter, so we decided to spend a week staying with them before our cruise begins. It's in one of the nicer neighborhoods near downtown (Palerno)—upscale, but not rich. Unlike last time, where we focused on “seeing the sights”, this time we are “living the life” as an upper middle class Porteño (as the citizens of BA call themselves). And what a life it is!

Early-bird dinners start at 10pm; the clubs don't open till after midnight. It's the middle of summer, and the dozens, perhaps hundreds, of neighborhood restaurants overflow their tables onto the sidewalks. Think of Paris, but without the snooty-ness (but just as many cigarettes, alas). The streets (in most areas) are completely safe. The architecture is partially gentrified, partially genially decayed, turn-of-the-century French/Italian. The food is wonderful, the people are beautiful. It is one of the great cities of the world, a place that really knows how to live life.

And, best of all, it is on sale! The prices listed are about what you'd expect to pay back home – say $24 for a main course in a fine dining restaurant. The magic is that the $ sign means pesos, which are worth 33 cents per US dollar. So that $24 entre is really an $8 entre. We buy exquisite, "expensive" Argentinean wines - $12-$18 bottle is typical – but wait, that's only $4-$6 US/bottle. Our hosts began selecting their wines by which had

Dinner at home with our friends

security tags in the supermarket -- those ostensibly worth stealing -- but even the cheap wine (US$1/bottle) is decent. The peso was tagged to the dollar until 2001; it is now three to the dollar. Everything made in Argentina is on sale.

To keep things in perspective, though – while life is fine for those middle and upper middle class Porteños, life is hard for the ~50% of the population that lives in poverty. Our lifestyle here is not the one the typical Argentinean experiences. The government remains insular, unresponsive, and hasn't really addressed all the root issues of the financials crisis. There is a complete, total distrust of the government by the people – disgust would not be too strong a word. And there is even more distaste for the banks – almost all transactions are in cash, up to and including home purchases.

You have to wonder whether the place will simply melt down one of these days. But like Cuba (but for different reasons entirely), people try to live well whatever their "lot" may be, and people scrape along to live at whatever their economic level is. It's clear the place is dysfunctional -- but nobody seems to notice.

Click on the "Next" link for a bit on our neighborhood, "Palermo Viejo".