The get fat fast diet.

I write this with stomach very full. So full that the skin on my belly is stretching. So full that I need to lie down on the bed and rest. So full that the last bite I took at dinner feels like it hasn't reached my stomach yet.

Let me tell you, there is no food shortages here in Buenos Aires. But I am eating as if it will all be gone tomorrow.

For the last five days, I have eaten non-stop steak and ham sandwiches and sausages and french fries and ice cream and topping it off with glasses of wine and Fanta. I go to sleep full. I wake up full. I eat while full. Today was the first day in a long time that I was actually hungry for about five seconds but then I stuffed myself until my current state.

Food is plentiful, and food is cheap. Tonight we went out for a fancy steak dinner at La Cholita and the bill came to about $100 for six people, including appetizers, dinner, two bottles of wine and dessert.

Some memorable meals as of late:

This cake is the best thing I have eaten in Buenos Aires. Dan and I split this "chocolate bomba" cake at Croque Madame yesterday and it certainly was the bomb. It had a layer of chocolate cookie, a layer of dulce de leche and then topped with a marshmallow-ey merguine. Sweet perfection. I am still thinking about it.


The steak lomos, like the one I had tonight, is everything they say it is. Pretty darned good.


Yes, it is winter, but there is room for ice cream EVERY DAY.

We have been alternating between the two main gelato chains here: Volta and Freddo. While both are good, Freddo definitely has the edge. In five days, we have mastered the art of ordering. You have the choice of two flavors, but you should name the flavor you really want more second. Because they scoop the first flavor into the cone, and the second flavor becomes the large scoop on the top. Though it doesn't really matter: I try to vary up the flavors each time and have not been disappointed once. Most of them contain dulce de leche someway or another. You can't go wrong with that.

Speaking of dulce de leche, today we finally visited Havanna, the candy/chocolate store that has chains all over the city. I bought a box of the recommended triangle-shaped chocolates filled with dulce de leche for my mom, but within ten minutes, Dan and I busted it open so we can try it for ourselves. It is so gooey sweet, I am sure my mom will not like it, but I think I will still bring her home one anyway so she can decide. I also picked up a giant jar of dulce de leche to bring home to pour over ice cream for when we have guests. Dan made me get the big jar. I did not put up a fight.

Let me tell you, I am enjoying everything I am eating, but I am really looking forward to eating a salad when I get home. I tried to order one here and got a plate of lettuce, tomato slices and white onions in three unappealing piles. But until then, I guess I will continue eating just meat and dairy until I feel pain.