Dear readers! Dear me! It’s been almost a month since I posted. My life has gone topsy-turvy since moving to Buenos Aires. I’ve been here almost a month now and I finally feel ground below me, enough to post again.
To make sense of it I will make a list of all the things I’ve been getting used to in this new version of life, so far south on the globe:
The colors in the kitchen are my absolute favorite–aqua and green. This place was made for me.
2) A new schedule: When someone asks me to have a drink, he wants to get together at 11 pm. The milongas–events where we go out to dance tango–often get going at midnight and go until 4 am. I often went to bed in San Francisco between 11 pm and midnight. It’s taken me a full month to adjust and not feel terminally groggy during the day.
3) A new climate: Hot! Humid! It’s only primavera (spring) but it’s already in the 90s. What will it be like by January? The humidity however is great for my skin.
4) A new bus system: Now that I know the web page to navigate Buenos Aires’ bus system, I no longer fear it and have the utmost respect for it. (I’m eagerly waiting for Google Maps to integrate transit info.) The “collectivo” (as they call buses “collectivos”) system is the best and cheapest I have ever used. Go “big government”–this is what you get when government invests in infrastructure. The buses run through the night; are safe, civilized, extensive and frequent (as compared to San Francisco, where they buses are full of quite uncivilized behavior); they only cost 25 cents a ride; and you can purchase a card to pay for bus and subway rides. Buenissimo! (Great!)
5) A new language: I already knew Spanish but Argentine Spanish always takes some time to switch from pronouncing “calle” “cayay” to “caizhay” and so on.
Me enjoying a gluten-free pancake drizzled with dulce de leche, at Sintaxis, Buenos Aires’ chic totally gluten-free restaurant (yum)
7) New politics. Wow, Argentine politics are fascinating. I’ve been surprised to learn that the left-leaning Kirschner government has imposed new policies this year that have dramatically curbed importation of needed products (even things like shoelaces, medicines, and routers, because they want to encourage Argentines to buy Argentine goods) and restricted the sale of dollars to Argentines who want to travel, making it difficult for Argentines to travel outside the country. These policies are supposed to be for the stability of the overall country bu it’s hard to see how they could work in the long run. We live in a global world. (Obvio, as an Argentine would say–obviously.) I arrived in Buenos Aires at a time of protest and change. There will be a hotly debated anti-government protest 8-N (the eighth of November) tomorrow.
8) A new style of dancing tango. In fact, everything I remembered about how Argentines dance tango–more in the moment, more in the music, more in their bodies–is true. Dancing tango here is something else entirely. The level of dance in San Francisco is very high but it lacks the same feeling. The feeling is here. And there are MANY amazing dancers.
Just another gorgeous city street; the aesthetics in Buenos Aires are tremendous
10) A new recognition that I am possibly the only one on the streets of Buenos Aires eating and drinking. I have noticed a key American part of me and that is my tendency to eat on the go. NO ONE ELSE DOES THAT HERE! I am the only one! I love to buy a Choco-Arroz, which is a gluten-free rice cake covered with chocolate and with dulce de leche, and an agua con gas, a seltzer water, and eat them while I am waiting for the bus or walking around. I have noticed that I have never seen another human being doing this here. I mentioned it to my friend Roberto and he said, “You are right.” Everyone else buys their choco-arroz or their alfajore and takes them to work to eat at their desk but I resist social pressure and eat on the street. 🙂
11) The men: I don’t know what to say about them yet. Except for, there are a lot of good-looking ones and I see them on the bus! That’s why this is eleven and not part of the ten. Stay tuned.
Sasha! I love it…..all of it! I feel like I am experiencing it all through you. You make me want to travel, big time. Enjoy and absorb every second of it!