Yesterday marked one month into our stay. It has flown by! We have settled into a lovely apartment and almost into a routine since Boy and Girl are in enrolled in a bilingual school and we have regularly scheduled meetings with a Spanish tutor. An au pair now helps with the kids, so Husband and I are going out to dinner and cultural events. We are eager to do, see, and taste more!
Following are lists of my reactions to the city so far. I expect these lists to change and grow by the end of our stay. Look for forthcoming blogs about some of these topics.
What I love about being in Buenos Aires:
- Every time I step outside it is an adventure.
- Meeting other expats -- fascinating people with amazing life stories.
- The Malbec.
- The beef.
- The ice cream.
- Cheap taxis.
- Fresh pasta.
- Delivery service for everything, including ice cream.
- Argentines are generally incredibly kind, pleasant, and helpful.
- Dog shit everywhere.
- Bus and car exhaust is nauseating.
- Having to be on guard all the time -- fearful of being mugged or taken advantage of in taxis, stores, markets, etc.
- Beggars with children.
- No car seats or seat belts in taxis.
- Children's birthday parties -- totally intense and over the top.
What I both love and don't love:
- Dulce de leche, which is in everything.
- Not speaking Spanish well -- both freeing and frustrating.
- The Latin way of doing things slowly and inefficiently.
- Riding in taxis and city buses -- both thrilling and slightly terrifying.
- The custom that everyone kisses on the cheek at EVERY greeting, even at first meetings -- charming but a bit much.
- That no one bothers you if you sit in a cafe for hours.
What I miss from home:
- Driving, but I do not want to drive here.
- My espresso machine.
- Holding The New Yorker in my hands. I don't mind reading the New York Times online, but it's not the same with themagazine.
- Being able to use my iPhone, especially the map feature, as I wander around the city.
- Friends, of course (but Skype, Facebook, and email are amazing for keeping up with everyone!).
I need to take more pictures. Here are a few from the last two weeks:
Boy and Girl on their first day of school at the Florence Nightingale School.
Girl enjoying one of the many playgrounds in Palermo.
On a bus touring the city. The bus was equipped with a tape of ten languages and headphones to listen to the tour(when you could hear the narrative over the tango music). Girl listened to the tour in Arabic.
Who knew???
The Three Graces in Plaza Belgrano.
Jennifer - so good to see another post. Wondered what was going on with you and family. Love to all, Mary
ReplyDeleteI, too, am glad to see another post. I'll be interested to see what you think of this list 5 months from now--what gets added, taken away, and moved around. Alain de Botton wrote an essay on 'the exotic' in his book, "The Art of Travel", and he offers the view that what attracts us to what is exotic is the sense that this exotic thing--whether its some foreign custom, or bit of architecture, or way of living--is somehow more in tune with who we are than is the relevant parallel at home. (E.g., you love the custom of late dinners and wished people ate late back in Columbus.) All of which leads me to ask if that is true for any of the things which you love about B.A. Are there things about B.A. which you wish would be a permanent part of your life, or which you wish you could transport back to Columbus?
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