Bs As

I guess that is the abbreviation used for Buenos Aires, like so many other things here, it is just a guess, and I act like I know what I am doing. Everything is like that, for instance, typing this blog is more difficult than at home. The keyboard is different with question marks, backslashes, apostrophes, shift button, etc. are in different places or marked differently. Worse still is asking to use the internet at the locutorio, or internet stands that blanket the city. Like all transactions, I am sure I sound completely retarded, but the people seem to understand what I am getting at. When we go out to eat, I have usually just ordered something off the menu not even knowing what it was. I have not been disappointed in what is served though.

Last night, we came across a restaurant which was really more like a barbeque cook out, the locals call it a parilla. This restaurant consists of a bar with huge grill up front where the taps should be. With various kinds of beef cooking up it is interesting that they do not serve anything else with this tremendous slab of meat, no potatos, salad, or rice; of course you can order that all separately, but that is not how it is done here, at the parilla, just a large hunk of cow, which is delicious. I ordered asado, which was a steak and Sarah had chicken. Both were awesome, the chicken was better, and with a salad and soda, the bill was 24 pesos with tip, or eight dollars.

These internet stands are interesting. The fact that there are so many internet shops is illuminating in itself. The people here all know how to use the internet and sit down and rifle through this foreign keyboard as though it were in their own homes, but of course it is not. It is a developed country, but it seems to be a step or two behind the U.S. the cars are older and many of them blast emissions into the streets as though there were no regulations whatsoever. However,I have been told that there is, they are just not enforced. This is easily my least favorite part of Bs As, oh yeah and the dog poop. Here is a city with tens of millions of people, and if that was not enough, everyone owns a dog. Literally on every block you walk down there is a nice present waiting for the misguided pedestrian, as it is said in Espanol, Ojo! However, the smog in our neighborhood is not bad, we are far from the downtown area, in the more affluent neighborhoods most drive new VWs and Fiats.

It should be noted that the subway system is very efficient, and most people do not drive. It is a good thing because driving is insane. I am reminded of Rome, there seem to be few rules as people go blasting down narrow one way streets. Many people drive little scooter/motor cycles and will pop right up on the side walk to manuever through traffic. There is even more foot traffic, and they will simply pop out in front of traffic and make them wait as well. I saw on the news the other day that at least one person is killed per day, many more I guess, by the buses and traffic. This was the subject of a civilian demonstration and protest, and as someone who would like to see more activism in the United States, I must say that it is almost too much here. Everyday, we see some sort of protest or parade, a man with a bullhorn reciting god knows what down the corridor of a government building, even a few old fashion riots in the smaller pueblos outside of town. However, it is difficult to understand exactly what is being said, I just know that there is no shortage of protestors in Argentina.

However, the fact that they seem to be behind the U.S. is exactly the charming aspect of this place. There are no massive chains that have taken over the markets here, at least that I have seen. When walking the street there is a large selection of little shops. A supermarket on every other block, pizzerias on every corner, and many different cafes to choose from. The people are of European descent and describe their city as the Paris of South America, I am not sure how Parisians feel about that, but I am certainly reminded of Paris in many ways. I recently read an article about the construction of Avenida de Mayo, one of the premier avenues in Buenos Aires, which was constructed with the direct objective of copying the French style.

Of course the images that I had created in my mind were more Mexican, even though I read and heard how European it is here. However, I have not seen a taco stand yet. The cafes, the subway, the art, the music that accompanies the famous tango dances are very European, and the European architecture never gets old, as one building is followed by another in an endless display of grandiosity. I still do not even know where the city ends, we are at the end of the subte line, but all I can see from the top of my building is more buildings to the north. However, toward the bay, or the "river" as they call it, we can see out to sea as well, just the very top of the horizon and the incoming airline traffic of domestic flights. It seems about the only thing they share in common with Mexico is a language which is still quite different. They speak Spanish with an Italian accent, half the time I wonder if it actually is Spanish, but they seem to understand what I have learned from the Mexicans in San Diego.

Well more later I guess

hasta luego