Hanging in BA: Pass the beef, sexy

¡Que tremendo! I arrived in Buenos Aires yesterday. Here’s what to expect when you get here:
At least 15 percent of the population will be dancing tango in the streets. Most everybody else will be eating beef (meat the tour books describe as “succulent”) rushed in from the Pampas by gauchos.
Eva Perón has been dead 55 years, but crowds at the Casa Rosada will still be chanting “Evita! Evita!” And if a soccer match is just ending, at least 1.3 million futbol fans will be on the rampage.
Those who are not tangoing, eating beef, or rampaging will be shopping, hanging out at a sidewalk café, or agonizing at a therapy session. No matter who or where they are, invariably they will be well-dressed, attractive, and flirtatious.

Posted by John P. Harrington, Globe Staff

And all the tourists, of course, will be out buying leather jackets. Or trying to figure out if the water really does drain clockwise. Or is it counterclockwise?
Just kidding! Porteños are infinitely more authentic – and interesting -- than all that. But more than a few travel books and articles reinforce such stereotypes.
I was itching to get back. Buenos Aires, Lonely Planet says, “is absolutely buzzing with a new-found energy’’ since Argentina’s 2001 financial crisis. Not that the place is without problems: The government pegged inflation at 8.5 percent last year (its critics say the real figure was more like 22 percent) and not everyone benefits from the boom. And the dog poop! There seems to be a scoop shortage.
But tourism has surged. And you often hear the words “American expatriate” and “Buenos Aires” in the same sentence. Our not-so-mighty dollar still buys a lot here. I’m renting a comfortable one-bedroom apartment in upscale Recoleta for $350 a week. Yes, a week.
And then, of course, there are the jacaranda trees. If only they grew in Boston.