[Paisleychick-lj] Observations - Stream of consciousness about Buenos Aires

[Beatrice M's blog]

Buenos Aires, Argentina 1/8/07  
  
Our time here is coming to a close and a new year has begun. These almost two months passed by quickly. This cosmopolitan city reminds me of San Francisco & of Europe. The boulevards are wide, the statuary graces the parks and the people are a combination of the old & the new worlds. The music and the theater makes me feel like I'm back in the Bay Area. The cafes, the long lunches and the sun dappled trees lining the streets remind me of Aix-en-Provence. The Spanish is difficult to understand and my accent is all mixed up. The colloquialisms are different everywhere we go. Chevere in Venezuela is Genial here in Argentina. Aqui and ahi become aca and aja. People says "por favor" when you say "disculpa" or "perdon". The Spanish here is heavily influenced by the Italian immigrants. The food here leans more toward Europe than the rest of Latin America. It's a funny mixture of pasta, pizza from Italy and then white bread sandwiches with the crusts cut off from Britain. The empanadas are delicately baked savory pastries rather than deep fried cheese in cornmeal that drip grease on your fingers. People here are almost all white rather than the various shades of bronze. The Latin culture here is all mixed up - does Latin mean from Italy or from Latin America? I wonder what the identity issues here are like. Driving is a challenge, except that it's calmer than in other Latin American countries. I don't hear as much honking, people stop for red lights. Lanes, however, are mere suggestions. Cars lane-split here. I've never seen anything like it before. Stop signs are mostly ignored - I don't know why I don't see more accidents than that one I have seen. Taxis rule the roads, with their black bodies and yellow tops. The buildings look like they would be at home in Florence. The shutters on the windows block out the sun & the neighbors' eyes. The huge front doors are made for giants. The water drops from the air conditioning run down the sidewalks & make you watch where you put your feet and your body. The bicycles are used for both transport and for exercise. The food delivery service extends to ice cream shops! The buses are proper buses, not converted minivans. The bus companies are all private and different, not one standard run by the city. Change is a dying breed. No one has any and it's difficult to do laundry without it. Vinegar, especially balsamic, exists here as grapes our bountiful and limes not so much. No worries about drinking the water. Table service is slow, and included called a "cubierto", but we still leave tips. People are very courteous when we try and speak Spanish. Not many folks speak English but the literacy rate is up around 98%. Bookstores abound and literature is highly respected here. People are still disappearing, but not that frequently when they do, it is a *big deal*. Politicians are corrupt everywhere it seems. Dinner is eaten at the earliest around 9:00 pm, but lunch is the main meal of the day. Steaks are tender and delicious, but American style feed lots are creeping in. Cars are smaller and are mainly European brands, lots of Peugeot & Renault. Spanish sentence structure still evades me, but reading helps. Recycling is done by people scrounging through the garbage at night. People have pets & take care of them & love them. People are mostly thin, I'm thinking European diets and lots of walking. Wine & alcohol permeate the meals, but it's rare to see a drunk on the street. People smoke here almost as much in Europe. Keys are wildly different and heavy. There are lots of tourists, things are cheap, but the economy is still recovering from the crash. It has been compared to the states in the 1970s. _Dulce de leche_ is sweet and goes well with tart Granny Smith apples.

URL: http://paisleychick.livejournal.com/285382.html