Porteño Corner | Wander Argentina

Porteño Corner: Hotel Owner, Victoriano Prieto

Victoriano Prieto
Owner, Victoria Hotel
Age: 87
Lives: San Telmo

*Editor’s note: Mr. Prieto died November 4, 2016

• You’re originally from Galicia, Spain. How and why did you come to Argentina and how old were you?

In those days you traveled in a boat. I was 27 years old. It was a 16-day trip and I landed on October 26, 1951.

It was much harder to come here at that time — you needed a family member, like a cousin or something, who was willing to offer to provide food and housing for at least three years.

• Why did you immigrate to Argentina?

I came from total misery. I had to work 15-16 hours a day in Spain and I still didn’t even have money to buy shoes. So when I came here I also worked long hours but at least they paid me well. I began to enjoy the work in the hotel. It was something that I had never done before but I liked all the contact with people.

• How did you come to own your hotel? When did you buy the Victoria?

I started renting the building in 1959 – it was already a hotel so we just took over the management. In 1964 my wife and I bought the property.

• How long have you been married and what is the secret to a long and happy marriage?

We’ve been together 54 years. The secret to a happy marriage? I never wanted my wife to be a slave. I wouldn’t just come in kick my shoes off and sit down, or leave the bathroom dirty and let her pick up after me. I always tried to make it so that my wife was my companion and collaborator, not my slave. A good husband should not make his wife be a slave. She was my compañera. I was lucky that she is a very competent and smart person. She worked in a factory when we got married but then we worked here together. We even worked during the honeymoon!

• Does she still come and work here?

She doesn’t work here now because she is fat and has health problems but we used to live here (in the hotel).

• There are many tango dancers who stay in the Victoria. Did you ever dance tango?

No, we didn’t dance tango but we used to go to a lot of parties. All of us from Galicia, we had a quinta (country house). We would go play bocce and there was a pool, we would have asados (barbeques) out there. People have gotten old now or died, so those reunions don’t happen anymore. Now I just go for a stroll and look at the trees.

• What is the story behind the plaque on the building that says, ‘Para familias and cabelleros‘ (For families and gentleman)? Do gentlemen even exist anymore?
Maybe not like they used to! This used to be El Triunfa Hotel. They put that plaque there, I don’t know why. In reality, I didn’t want it to be mainly for families when we opened.

• And can you tell us about the little look-out tower on the back of the building? We can’t go up in it because there is a lock on the gate.

The tower in the back? It dates from 1917 or 1918. It was a lookout point, because at that time it was one of the highest buildings around here. You can’t go up there because it is very old and thieves can get in that way from other buildings, so we have it locked.

• Have you been a victim of crime lately? Has the hotel been robbed?

No robberies at the hotel, but sometimes things disappear like towels or whatever. If we discover — or suspect — someone is a thief we make a note and keep track so that they can’t come back.

And at our house we got robbed. My wife and I were taking a nap in the early evening and some guys entered and stole stuff. We didn’t even know they were in the house – they didn’t enter the bedroom. We never found out who did it.

• What was the craziest thing that ever happened in the hotel?

One time, about in 1977, there was a fight. There were about 10 to 15 fellows who would get together and drink wine and play music. Well, they were getting a little out of control and I went to tell them to be quiet and they beat me up. I was bleeding -– there were about 15 of them against me!

• What were the best years in Argentina for you?

The years of ’60 to ’65 were the best. During the dictatorship was also good.

• Really, the dictatorship?

There was a lot more order during the dictatorship. There wasn’t so much crime. Go ask the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo what their kids were doing before they were disappeared? It was peaceful at that time — they didn’t bother people like me who worked. The people they bothered were troublemakers.

• What about the people that were killed by the dictatorship?

They kill people now with the amount of crime there is. Robbers come and enter the house and steal everything, they kill old people on the street. Sure, everyone likes liberty but with the amount of crime there is today no one is safe. At least during the dictatorship when you called the police, they came.

At that time they were also able to interrogate a suspect on the spot. Now if there isn’t a judge’s order, they can’t do anything and the thieves get away with it.

• What is the secret to happiness?

Happiness comes with love and respect. You also have to be happy with what you have. Also camaraderie and companionship are important. If my wife is happy, I’m happy. We don’t fight or refuse each others’ requests.

• Anything else you’d like to say?

I’m happy to give a lot of thanks to Argentina because I was able to come here, I always had work and I obtained everything I wanted.

Porteño Corner: Jonathan Evans

Jonathan Evans
Owner, Buenos Aires Local Tours
Age: 40
Lives: Barrio Norte

• Why did you chose to come to Buenos Aires instead of Asia or say another country in Latin America?

I came here on a two-week holiday in 2007 — 10 days in Buenos Aires and a side trip down to the Peninsula Valdes. It was my first trip to South America and I was hooked. A year later I left my job in Geneva, sold my house and bought a backpack and a one-way ticket back to Buenos Aires without a plan. Since then, I’ve been to most South American countries but Buenos Aires is the only place I have considered living. Visually and culturally you’re in Europe but emotionally and mentally you’re most definitely in South America — it’s an exciting mix.

• What is the number one thing you love about Buenos Aires that no one else would say?

Catching a colectivo (bus). During my travels here I’ve traveled over 25,000km by bus in South America, and I find them pretty fascinating as each country has their own system and differences. Catching a bus here — or rather figuring out which bus to catch from where — and where to get off always seemed like such a challenge. Getting to my destination successfully felt like such an achievement — it still does!

• What is the number one secret attraction in Buenos Aires that you can recommend that no one really knows about?

Only one house has a view of the Obelisco – I know where it is! I also know why it’s called the Guia T! You have to come on the tour to find out.

• Is it true that the British are the happiest expats in the world because they are so elated to be out of England?

Britain is definitely a society in which travel and exploration has always been part of the national identity and that defines us to a certain extent when we leave the country. However, by definition we Brits are a very insular and closed lot and I think it’s that attitude that is so nice to get away from, and for many expats it’s what keeps us moving!

• What is the thing you miss most about home?

My family and good cheese.

• You’ve been here since 2007. How long do you think you will stay? What are your long-term plans in regard to living in Buenos Aires?

I often get asked this on the tour and the only answer I have is that at the moment I’m not planning to leave! That’s about as long-term as I do these days!

• In what ways have you ‘turned Argentine’ – i.e. late dinner, being a Malbec connoisseur, drinking a lot of Mate, making women ‘hysterical,’ etc. ?

In general terms I have a much more elastic attitude to time. I’m still not one of those people who can breeze in two hours late, but half an hour doesn’t hurt anybody. You still have to be prepared for the other person to turn up an hour after you, however!

• What is the craziest thing that has happened to you in Buenos Aires?

When I first got here I lived in a house with eight foreign students, all of them at least 10 years younger than me. We once spent all afternoon collecting up the empty Quilmes bottles next to the parrilla, carrying them down four flights of stairs, loading them into a shopping trolley and pushing them round Palermo looking for a chino(Chinese grocer) that would give us money for the envases(bottles). Took us all afternoon but in the end we got about 200 pesos for more than 300 bottles. We bought more beer.

• How much do you think someone needs per month to live in Buenos Aires?

At the very minimum I would say US$ 1,000, but you’re not going to be sampling much Malbec and steak with that!

• What sets Buenos Aires Local Tours apart from other tour companies?

The tour I run is my attempt to fit my experiences in Buenos Aires into four hours. I’m the only tour in town that travels by colectivo. I cover lots of stuff I find fascinating here, the Guia T, the colectivos, Carlos Gardel, Fileteo, Gaucho Gil, the faded glory of the Congreso area, Palacio Barolo, the wooden subte of Line A, the myth and reality of Evita, Las Madres and the Abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo — I try to give my take on all of it. I came here as a tourist, so I understand how a tourist sees Buenos Aires when they first arrive, what they find puzzling, what they would never notice. The tour is my attempt at giving tourists a crash course on Buenos Aires!

• How much preparation does it take to lead the Le Cigale Pub Quiz? Do you make any money on it or mostly do it for fun? What is the funnest thing about it for you?

The questions take me about two or three hours to write. There are 50 each time and obviously I can’t repeat any — too many clever clogs with long memories come every time! It’s mainly for fun. I do make a little bit of money, but it usually just pays for the evening’s bar tab! The best bit for me is giving the answers. I love seeing peoples reaction when I reveal the answer to the question they spent five minutes figuring out!

• What is the biggest cultural difference between England and Argentina in your opinion?

Argentina is a much more spontaneous place — there’s much less thought goes into actions. People here tend to do things without thinking too much and deal with the consequences. The English over-think everything and often talk themselves out of doing something because of the ‘What If…?’ It makes England a calmer place, whereas Argentina is a lot more lively.

Porteño Corner: Daniel Karlin

Daniel Karlin
Entrepreneur
Age:32
Lives: Las Canitas

Q: You’re from Portland. What were you doing before you moved to Argentina?

I went to film school at USC then became a personal trainer. A very linear progression.
Q: Why did you decide to move to Argentina?

I was going to backpack around the world for two years when I left LA, and 36 hours into my trip I met my wife!

Q: What is the biggest difference between the concept of marriage here and the U.S.?

I’ve never married an American! I can tell you that the concept of a barbecue is very different from asado though.

Q: As the owner of Anuva Wines, what is your all time favorite wine?And wine variety?

With over 65,000 wine brands in the U.S. market its very hard to make that choice. Let’s stick with variety: Bonarda. Yeah that’s right, Bonarda.

Q: How do you come up with new business ideas? Do you test them somehow before plunging in to a venture?

New business ideas are not hard to come up with. They get pulled out of thin air by many many people every day. The difference is what you do with them. For the first few ideas I just charged in, and some worked and some didn’t. Entrepreneurship is mostly about getting stuff done. It is also about thinking critically about what users, clients and customers really do and really feel when they are in the market for something.

Q: Is it more difficult to be an entrepreneur in Argentina or in the U.S.? Why?

It is hard period, wherever you are, and there are simply different flavors of hard. In the U.S. you have a saturated market and in Argentina you don’t. However in Argentina there is zero access to capital and in the U.S. there is some (there was more). Then there are laws, entities, labor, and so forth. It’s all a balancing act.

Q: You mentioned you’re one of the few unfortunate expats who experienced a home invasion robbery. What happened? Did the bad guys get caught? How has the experience affected your lifestyle?

One summer night a guy decided to climb up the front of my building and let himself in to steal our laptops. They did not get caught. Now I am much, much more paranoid. I moved to the 11th floor, in the back of a building with 24 hour security in Las Canitas.

Q: How did the idea to do the BA Cast come about? Do you have a background in radio? How is it going and what have you learned doing it so far?

BA Cast was an idea that my partner, Fernando and I honed together. He came to me with a, ‘let’s do a show for expats’ and we did lots of piloting and refining of our systems, testing different types of skits and songs. It was really just the two of us having fun together and figuring out a system so we could make that fun efficient. That probably makes no sense.

Q: Your venture the Mule Pool is described as ‘Ebay for schlepping.’ You have checked it out with lawyers and it’s up to the ‘mules’ to pay the notoriously expensive Argentine importation tax on any items they bring in. If that is the case then why is it better to have a ‘mule’ bring in, for example, a new laptop to someone whose requested it rather than just order it online and have it sent here via Fed Ex and pay the importation fee at the postal customs office? In other words, if the service is not designed to skirt importation taxes doesn’t that remove the profit motive?

That is explained in copious detail on the terms and conditions page of the website.

Q: There isn’t anything about the lack of profit motive if the mule pays taxes on electronic goods though, what about that?

No comment.

Q: In what ways have you ‘turned Argentine’ living here, i.e., drinking mate? Dinner at ten p.m.? Late nights?

All of them except that I really value my time a lot which most Argentines don’t. This is a common topic on BA Cast.

Porteño Corner: Translator and Painter, Malu Canton

Malu Canton
Translator/painter
Age: ‘Very old’
Lives: Palermo Soho

• It’s a big debate among residents of Palermo. Do you refer to your neighborhood as ‘Palermo Soho’ or ‘Palermo Viejo’?

I prefer ‘Palermo Viejo.’ Now they have all sorts of names — Palermo Soho, Nuevo Soho. There was once a time when all of Palermo was just Palermo.

• You’re one of the few women your age in Palermo Soho who doesn’t seem to go around trying to look decades younger than she is, do you ever feel out of place among the plastic surgery victims?

Normally I don’t frequent those circles of society, sometimes I go to a restaurant around here and those types of people are there but I don’t really pay attention.

• Where did you grow up?

I was born here but lived in Brazil until I was 10 years old. As an adult I lived in Europe for ten years and the states for five years.

• Your English is excellent.

Well, I went to an English school as a kid and did the Cambridge course with the British Association and all that.

• How did you make your way to Europe?

I went to Europe right after college and while in Paris got a postgraduate in engraving.

• What was Paris like at that time? What year was it?

It was about 1979. It was very lively. It was very nice, there were plenty of opportunities. At that time it was more heroic, in a way. I have nieces and nephews who live there now, and they were very organized about it. They have families, so it’s a different experience for them.

When I went there, I didn’t know where I would stay.

• Were you single at the time?

I went over with my husband, but he stayed in Milan and I moved on.

• Did you ever get married again?

No, I didn’t really feel like I had to but I had a couple of ‘couplehoods.’ Honestly, I didn’t even think about it.

• It must have been pretty unusual for a woman to be so free-spirited among some of the people you knew at the time.

I have some friends who think like me, but others got married. I have one friend who traveled all over the world like me and finally at my age — around 60— she met an American man – it happened here, after all that traveling around.

I work a lot though now I don’t get much of a chance to socialize like that.

• Where was the last place you traveled to?

I went to Rio (de Janeiro) for three months in December. I thought I would like to live there, but it wasn’t so easy to get settled there and do all the paperwork, even though it’s a Mercosur country, so I came back.

• What else do you like to do in your free time besides paint?

I like to read. Right now I’m reading (Carl) Jung and ‘The Secret of the Golden Flower.’ I go to the gym sometimes to go to the swimming pool. I like T’ai Chi, sometimes I go do it in the Bosque of Palermo.

• So do you appreciate Freud too? What is your opinion of him?

I don’t think anything of him. Would I tell you to read a Freud book? No. But Jung, yes. He was very clever.

• What is you opinion of psychotherapy, since so many people do it here in Buenos Aires?

I did it for several years; sometimes it can help. It helped in some periods of my life, sometimes there are problems that one can’t overcome on their own.

• What about people who go for years and years, like the typical Woody Allen caricature?

Well you can’t get addicted to it — sometimes people replace their issues with an addiction to psychotherapy. I like Woody Allen though, for his character it works.

• So all these years and all these places, which time and place was the best of your life?

Best time? I’d have to say here and now. Now is the best time, with all the good and bad.

Maybe I felt more intense when I was younger, I lived more intensely which means your bones don’t ache so much and you think fast, you’re more bold in your decisions. Now I get attached to things. But like they say, ‘A rolling stone gathers no moss’.

• Do you have any kids or pets?

No kids. I had a dog who found me. It affected my life. It was hard to find a place to live with a dog. I ended up living in Escobar (province of Buenos Aires).

• How did he find you?

My neighbor found it when she was in the park with her boyfriend. She brought it by and then took it home, but her dad hated the dog and kicked him out. So the dog came back over to my house and found his way inside.

• What was his name?

You’ll never believe it — ‘Bullshit.’ It was the name my nephew gave him. So I would go walking with him on the leash and people would ask me his name and then exclaim, “¡Bullshit! ¡Que lindo!”

• You lived in the U.S. as well?

I lived in New York, Miami, Dallas and Los Angeles. It was four or five years in all. I worked on cruise ships, so I went back and forth. I love New York, I had a lot of friends there.

• Is it true that you can get deals on cruises so that you can travel for as cheap as a flight?

It costs more than a flight but these were mixed cruises with passengers and freight, with maybe 80 passengers. You can get some from New York down the Atlantic Coast, there are ways of doing it.

For long cruises it’s good because you don’t have to pay for a hotel in every place and you can cover a lot of ground. It’s good for old people who don’t move so fast.

• So out of all the places you’ve been what is your favorite?

I like Holland very much.

Porteño Corner: Salud Nikkei Owner & Doctor, Eduardo Yoshida

Eduardo Yoshida
Doctor/Owner Salud Nikkei
Age: 39
Lives: Florencio Varela

Q: You opened your alternative health center, Salud Nikkei in 2003, why?

I studied traditional medicine at the University of La Plata. My dad was involved in oriental medicine and I never really paid much attention or gave it much thought, but I saw the results from it. That’s how I began to get interested in oriental medicine.

• Is your dad an acupuncturist?

Yes

• Was he raised here or in Japan?

He was born in Okinawa, but was raised in Argentina.

• They say that Okinawans have one of the longest life expectancies on earth, why is that?

That could be. Maybe because they are happy people — there’s more music, there’s the sea. It’s cultural.

• And the diet is quite good as well?

Yes, they don’t eat much meat and they eat a lot of sea vegetables.

• Why did you decide to open an alternative health center in San Telmo specifically?

Well it wasn’t really intentional. I was going to open an office with another person but he dropped out before it came to fruition and I decided to continue on my own. With a doctor the location doesn’t really matter so much. I have a lot of patients who come from the province. The distance really isn’t as important as the doctor.

• Have you been to Japan?

No, I’ve had the opportunity to go but I have never been there.

• Have you traveled overseas?

Overseas, no. I have traveled the Mercosur countries: Chile, Pero Paraguay, Brazil, and Uruguay. Last summer we went to Punte del Este.

• Punte del Este? It has a reputation as a fashionable resort.

Just like anywhere there are areas that are more relaxed. The beaches are really nice. It’s like Puerto Madero, everything is new.

• What is the health issue that you see most at the clinic?

Definitely spine problems due to the lifestyle, people have a lot of stress.

• How does the lifestyle here adversely affect people, for instance eating so much meat?

Here they definitely eat too much meat, that’s not good because of the cholesterol. People also get too little exercise, a bit of exercise is very important. Aerobics, swimming and all the Asian disciplines such as yoga and T’ai Chi are excellent for getting exercise and working with respiration.

•What type of exercise do you do?

I swim, and once in a while I pick up Aikido. I used to jog but I haven’t been doing that lately.

• How many times a week do you exercise?

Once or twice a week.

• The clinic offers chiropractic and acupuncture. What do you say to people who, for instance, think chiropractic is not a legitimate medicine?

It’s completely socially accepted. It deals with disruption of the energy in the body. In 2001 there was a law passed that recognizes complementary medicines such as chiropractic and acupuncture. To practice either in Argentina you have to be a licensed medical doctor.

• How can people check to see if a doctor is legitimate?

They can check with AQA (The Argentine Chiropractic Association).

• And how much further study after medical school does one have to do to get certified as a chiropractic?

There are courses that are one or two years.

• And how can someone tell if an acupuncturist is legitimate in Argentina?

That’s a little more difficult.

• What do you normally eat?

I like raw fish, such as sashimi and spicy things. I like wasabi a lot.

• What are the best sushi restaurants in Buenos Aires?

I like Meshi (Aristóbulo del Valle 1499, BARRACAS) and Sushina (Solis 275, Monserrat). These are on the south of the city there are other places in the north side of the city.

What general health advice can you give to our readers?

Health advice? People should look for equilibrium. Oriental medicine has equilibrium as the goal in mind. There’s a need to pay attention to the energy in the body the respiration and to eat well. The life here is stressful. People are running everywhere — even to get from one point of the city to the other can be very problematic and people have to always be alert. That can be stressful, so there’s a need to keep your shoes on the feet, as we say.

• What do you like to do in your free time?

I like to fish sometimes.

• Do you drink beer when you fish like many fishers?

Of course!

• Do you have a family? Kids?

Yes, but these questions are too personal.

• Really? Most people want to talk about their family. What did you think Porteño of the Week was about?

I don’t know but when I’ve had other interviews they didn’t ask these types of questions.

• Does this have to do with the paranoia here? Sometimes it seems people are unreasonably paranoid in Argentina.

Yes, it could be a cuento de tio (tall tale). People get all your information and they can use it to commit a crime against you.

• Generally people are very happy to talk about their families, so this seems odd. Do you really think a foreign journalist would be involved in a criminal scam to rob you?

Well no, but I’ve never been asked stuff like that in interviews. I’m a very reserved person.

Take a Tango Tour

Porteño Corner: Hotel Owner, Victoriano Prieto

Porteño Corner: Jonathan Evans

Porteño Corner: Daniel Karlin

Porteño Corner: Translator and Painter, Malu Canton

Porteño Corner: Salud Nikkei Owner & Doctor, Eduardo Yoshida

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