Day 10 and I still LOVE Buenos Aires. This city is alive with music, people, and more food than I can eat in one sitting (and yet I have a clean plate every time haha). For how wonderful this all is, it has managed to surprise me on almost every turn. Some surprises are better than I expected, others are not so great.

This city has so much beauty in it that I would never have guessed would be true. They have millions of trees for one. I went on a walk with my host mom on my first day here and we walked along tree lined avenues with great huge branches reaching out across the street putting the whole area in shade. At the time, I suspected that she was just taking me on the prettiest streets so that I would only see the best on my first day, but as it turns out, that is just completely normal here. All across the city are massive trees with tons of shade and beautiful green. Almost as pretty, although much less natural, the city is filled with graffiti art that covers entire buildings with strange and fantastic images. Some are prettier that others, but they are all unique and so cool to see!

This is just one of the ones that I have seen, but it is by far the best picture that I have managed to take 🙂

I was told by many people that this is a very European city and very refined. While that is true, they also are very American. Riding the bus back and forth from school and home, I see a whole ton of stores that have english in the window, and there are a whole lot of US brands that they love. As well, they love our music. It is rare to walk into a store and not here artists like Adele, Katy Perry, or Train. They love it, and yet I have not met many people at all who actually speak English.

There is a weird dynamic here of being in a relaxed rush. People rush to cross the streets, get on the bus even if its packed, and drive like maniacs in order to get to their destination as quickly as possible. But then once there they seem to feel like they have all the time in the world. Meals are completely centered around the social aspect. You go to a restaurant, eventually order (if you ask for another minute to decide, they seem to think that means you will order in like 20 min), and then they wont bring the check until you ask. Most people will spend 2 hours eating dinner simply because they eat and then sit around talking for as long as they want. Instead of kicking people out after a while, waiters instead charge a service fee for your meal. It surprised us the first few times because we werent expecting to pay for the table. But when in Rome, do as the Romans do I  guess.

On top of the service fee, people also have to pay for water. It comes in a glass bottle (that are refilled by a truck that drives by) and is around 3 dollars (US). You can ask for tap water which is either free or around a dollar but you get a dirty look and they get confused. The tap water supposedly tastes gross, but none of us seem to notice and it is completely safe. Not only is the water not free, it is also carbonated. Not like soda water at all, just bubbly. I actually really like it, adn you have to specify if you want it “sin gas” and I dont always remember, so its probably good that I like it with gas!

I mentioned it before, but the driving here is insane. Quite frankly, they suck at it. There are marked lanes here, but they dont need them for all that they pay attention. Best I can tell there is a heirarchy of who can cut off whom. Buses have first priority (whether because of size or importance Im not sure), then taxis, then bikers, and then normal cars. Oh, and pedestrians have no right of way whatsoever. Except if you are truly about to hit them. Then you lay on the horn, slam on the breaks and throw up your arms. Even if they are turning and you have a walk sign. Took a few false starts to get used to crossing the street, but I am used to it now. I will never get used to riding in a car though. Ever.

Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina