Sharon Salt gchats with Amanda, the founder and author behind Buenos Aires Para Chicas, a Portuguese blog dedicated to all things good and girly in Buenos Aires.
AMANDA: heyy
SHARON: hey! I know we wanted to do coffee but you’re so busy, so gchat it is. you have a lot of projects going on — what are you focusing on right now, what are you the most busy with?
AMANDA: yeahhh sorry about it. the fact is that I have a full time job at ibm too and also lot of projects so it’s kind complicated for me ahahha, but thanks for the invitation.
SHARON: a full time job too?! that’s impressive!
AMANDA: yes, it’s almost impossible to handle with everything but I’m on it. I do have a lot of projects. think i’m gonna start with the most important one: buenos aires para chicas.
SHARON: I read that you moved here 8 years ago — so when did you decide to start buenos aires para chicas? was it immediate?
AMANDA: yes I’ve been living here since 2005. I came to buenos aires due to my daddy’s job. he works with international business. actually, my parents are already back to Brazil. And I decided to stay to finish the college.
AMANDA: so… when I started to live by myself I started Buenos Aires Para Chicas. in fact I had some experience with blogging when I started it. I had this cocktail blog with my ex boyfriend, called In Spirits. We broke up, and we decided to ”close” the blog too.
SHARON: what a great name though - In Spirits.
AMANDA: Ohh thanks, In Spirits was in English too
With that exp in mind I started Buenos Aires para Chicas for brazilians girls travelling to Buenos Aires. only in portuguese.
SHARON: right, I noticed the Portuguese — when I read your site I had google translate open as well 
. and what led you to focus it on women living in/visiting Buenos Aires? why for women especially?
AMANDA: So, I don’t know. I was just seeing some Brazilians blogs in Buenos Aires and I noticed that they were kind of the same: wine, tango and meat. And I wanted to talk about lifestyle, local culture, bars, cocktails, culinary and also about men.
Argentines are pretty different than Brazilians if we’re talking about relationships ahaha.
So I just felt that I would be more comfortable telling my stories for girls only.
SHARON: oo, how are they different? I don’t personally know many Brazilians so I’ve never heard this!
AMANDA: hahaha, yes, I mean we have some different ways to go out. I don’t know, Argentines are more dramatic, more melancholic, they take soooooo long to ask you to go out, like months.
SHARON: haha, yes
AMANDA: this kind of thing doesn’t happen in Brazil
SHARON: so you wanted to give Brazilian girls a resource to understand the city and the people here. I think you’re right, that a lot of blogs about Argentina tend towards the tango, wine, and beef — which is great! but that’s only one part of it, so I like your angle.
AMANDA: yes sure! besides where to go eat, or to go for tourism. because there are already many blogs talking about it too. and also because it’s fun, I have lot of fun writing those kind of notes. and the girls love it too.
SHARON: so you said you decided to start it when you started living alone — when was that?
AMANDA: in March 2012.
SHARON: and how do you find the time to find new places and write about them?
AMANDA: i know plenty of places here because i have been living here for a LOOONG time. so there are some places that I already know. but I do love to go out, to discover new things.
Actually, my day it’s like: from 9/10 am to 5 I’m in Belgrano working. and then I go to the gym, and it depends but I’m going out during the week to get to know bars and restaurants. on weekends I write the posts for the entire week. like 5 posts. so on saturday I have everything scheduled for the entire week. and then I go out again ahahha.
SHARON: wow!
AMANDA: but for fun of course, to hang out with my friends. some restaurants invite me too, or coffee shops. it depends.
SHARON: I would love to have HALF of your energy
AMANDA: i do believe that at some point I will be pretty tired and I’ll have to have another girl working with me. because besides the notes I receive bunch of emails too. bunch of invitations. it’s starting to get a bit complicated.
SHARON: yeah, I bet it’s hard to keep up. have you seriously looked into expanding yet or is that something for a little later on?
AMANDA: I would love to expand but it’s not possible for now. I think probably for July 2014 or at the end of 2014. I think I need a bit more time to completely understand this whole blogging thing.
SHARON: if you could distill the philosophy of your blog to give women one or two tips about living in BA — what would they be?
AMANDA: hmm that’s hard. I think they can’t forget the fact that you’re in another country, with different culture, which can be awesome, which can be a problem too. everybody should take the chance and go live abroad, but most importantly to have respect for others.
I think that when I understood that nobody here was going to be like my friends in Brazil, I kind of adapted easier.
SHARON: that’s great advice. tell me more about that; how was your experience here, not just socially but also professionally.
AMANDA: ohhh it was terrible. I think my first two years were like a nightmare ahahaha. because I was 14, this age sucks. so I didn’t want to be here. I wanted to be in Brazil with my friends you know.
SHARON: totally understandable
AMANDA: so it was very hard, pretty complicated. I wanted to go back to Brazil. and then I started to like Buenos Aires, to grow up also. I have a completely different point of view today for sure.
SHARON: it always takes time, I think, but then you realize that your life is richer! and professionally, both at your full time job but also with your projects like Buenos Aires Para Chicas and Revista Jengibre — how has your experience been as a woman in BA?
AMANDA: yes richer! buenos aires is amazing amazing.
I did find my place in buenos aires right now. With Buenos Aires para Chicas, I think that right now I have my place here. Doing the things I love, and writing. I do found some resistance about being a girl, especially for being young. I think that’s it’s my ”major” problem here. People look at me and can’t believe that I’m gonna take things seriously.
SHARON: and can I ask, how old are you?
AMANDA: sure! ahah 23
SHARON: if anything, it’s that people are intimated by the fact that you’re young and have already accomplished a lot, that you’re independent and making your own success
SHARON: So I know though you write for publications in Britain and Brazil, too, what is special about BA? and is there something special about it for women in particular?
AMANDA: hmmm thats hard ahaha, I think the whole city it’s amazing. i do believe that here in Buenos Aires you can do nothing and still love the city, I mean you can go out for a coffee, order a cafe con leche and spend the entire afternoon reading a book. or you just can simply walk though lot of parks. another thing that I like here are the nightlife, cocktails here are amazing. And also the facility that you have going from one part of the city to another.
I don’t think that there’s a special tip for woman, besides looking at or flirting with those beautiful argentines on the street ahahahahhaha
SHARON: haha, true, and you’re right — there are so many easy and low-cost ways to enjoy Buenos Aires
AMANDA: yeahhhh that’s the point!
SHARON: thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me! maybe one day we’ll run into each other
AMANDA: for sureeee!!!!! with time ahahah for a coffee at decata.
SHARON: yessss pleaseeee. talk soon!
MyBeautifulAir Para Chicas:
- Princess Tea at the Alvear Palace Hotel
- Ladies Lunch at Cluny in Palermo Soho
- Hey, who is Sharon Salt?