Tom Cruise from Cocktail it is…

I decided to follow the work and travel advice of a best friend and my sister and take a job slinging bottles here in Buenos Aires. Although i’m not a big Tom Cruise fan, his role in the 1988 box office classic, Cocktail, inspired me to pursue this new venture.

Thanks to my basketball buddy Anibal, I started bartending at Buller Pub in Recoleta last night. The staff was awesome, although 80% of them only spoke Spanish. The customers were a mix of English speaking tourists and spanish speaking porteños. I think this is going to be a great place for me to network, practice my Spanish and learn some local cocktails! I’m also very excited about seeing the inner-workings of a foreign business, restaurant and kitchen.

Within the first 5 minutes of arriving yesterday, it was determined that Gareth wasn’t going to fly. It was too difficult to say in Spanish, yet alone English… “what, Garfield?” So, I opted for with my first name, Andrew (Andreas) and it stuck. My alter-ego is now Andreas the Bartender.

Needless to say, when I finished up at about 2:30 last night my head was spinning from everything I had to absorb: Spanish, cocktails, food and everyone’s name! Luckily the girl who trained me last night spoke very good English. However, tonight is a different story. I was told the guy training me tonight doesn’t speak a bit of English… interesting.

Regardless, this is already better than my days of “bartending” at Applebee’s in Dunkirk, NY. For starters, I don’t have to ask every customer if they would like to try our “Perfect Margarita”. And, at Appleebee’s they would limit people to 4 or 5 beers a night, where as at Buller they have a wall-of-fame behind the bar for whomever can polish off at least 18 pints in one sitting! This one has your name all over it dad.

I realized this was the place for me when the night ended with a full-fledged water war between waiters, bartenders and management.

I guess we’ll see what happens.

 

My name is Gareth Leonard, a Marketing Director turned World Traveler with a passion for slow, meaningful travel. I have been traveling the world full-time for the past 9+ years and document it all on Instagram and YouTube. Come join me!

One Comment

  1. Hey, this may seem random or an odd question or maybe you have been asked this a few times. I’m curious as to whether when you went to Argentina did you enter in on a Tourist Visa or did you get a Working Visa? I am asking because I am going to be studying in Argentina (going in a few days) and living there until the end of next July. I have been told by my University back here (in the UK) that I can enter in and study on a Tourist Visa, but have to exit the country every 90 days and then re-enter. I want to know would I be able to work on a Tourist Visa? If you do not know the answer that is fine. Thanks.

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