Advertisement
Published: October 12th 2005
Edit Blog Post
I have arrived safe and well in Buenos Aires.
My plane flew in at 5pm on Monday night. I couldn´t see anything coming in because the air was so thick with what I thought was rain. It turned out to be the humidity. When I took my first breaths outside, the air was thick and smelt spicy, like cigars. This could have been because I was walking in the smoke trail of someone actually smoking a cigar, but I thought it was very romantic. The air now doesn´t actually smell that romantic, just the usual smell of any large city; exhaust.
My shuttle bus took me to the ´Milhouse Hostel´ where I stayed in a dorm for the next three nights. The hostel was nice and clean (which I have since realised I didn´t appreciate enough at the time), but my sleep was constantly broken by my 5 roommates coming and going throughout the night, and by drunken backpackers staggering into the Hostel and singing at the top of their lungs. 160 full beds in a Hostel doesn´t count for a quiet night´s sleep.
Keen to get away from the dorm situation I booked a single room in
Casa Rosada
The presidential palace where Evita often made appearances on the balcony. the ´Alkimista Hostel´ for the next three nights. When I arrived yesterday, the Hostel reception was nice clean and pleasant and I expected my room to be the same. It´s not at all. The room is the size of a large coffin and the wood-grain contact wallpaper is peeling off the walls. The bathrooms are also pretty horrible and a nice big poo even greeted me in one of the toilets this afternoon. So, the place is a dive, and if the state of the room and bathroom didn´t already indicate this, the occasion when i tried to turn on the bedside lamp and sparks flew from the bulb, certainly did.
On the up side, it is nice to have a single room and not have to put up with swaying bunk beds. I also love the old-fashioned, ornate cast-iron lift with one of those doors that you have to slide across to get in (though I haven´t tempted fate in it yet). The hostel is in a good spot on Avenada de Mayo, which is one of the main city streets so it doesn´t take long to get anywhere or to hail a taxi.
The main street
through the city is ´Avenada 9 de Julio´. This ultra-busy street houses 20 lanes of honking, fuming cars, trucks and buses. Because of the number of lanes, it normally takes 3, sometimes even 4, traffic light changes to get across. As well as the ubiquitous windscreen washers on Av. 9 de Julio, there are lots of other kids trying to get a peso or two by juggling. No-one seems to be making any money though.
On the city streets, every 5 metres or so, someone is trying to shove a flyer in your hand, advertising cheap watches, restaurants, cambio (exchange houses) and every possible bargain around town. The ground is, therefore, littered with the stuff.
Also, around every corner there are lots of buskers. On my walks today I´ve seen a man putting swords down his throat, professional Tango dancers, traditional musicians and, my favourite so far, two rappers in-front of a band with make-shift instruments. It was pretty damn good.
It seems every day there is a political demonstration of some sort going on. There is a massive one going on today that has cut off all traffic to Av. 9 de Julio (which made crossing very easy). People are drumming loudly and setting off fire-crackers that sound like gunshots. It´s all very exciting. I wish I knew what all the hoo-ha is about, though.
Wandering around the city are many ´pasaperros´, professional dog-walkers, with 10 or more dogs on close leashes. The dogs are all of different shapes, sizes and breeds (but, oddly, always with a sausage dog). One of the hazards of walking in the city is stepping in their little gifts to the gods.
The city is pretty safe if you can avoid the dog droppings, men leering and making kissy noises at you and the occasional broken footpath tile. Most places are open pretty late (except when the soccer is on), so there are always lots of people around. I haven´t come across a whole lot of danger apart from some street kids looking very intently at my bag as I passed them.
I can´t, for the life of me, figure out how the locals manage to keep slim, when the only food on offer is really high in artery-clogging fat. I´ve struggled to find food that doesn´t contain any cheese or hasn´t been fried to death. When I finally find meals that have vegetables included they've had the ´bejesus´boiled out of them so you can´t taste them or even chew them. A straw would be the appropriate cutlery to use in this instance. All I can do is cling to the hope that what I´ve just eaten may contain at least some nutrients.
My Spanish improves every day and every day I become more confident. I´m constantly thinking about the language and it´s already become weird to sit and write in my journal or write an e-mail in English, where I don´t have to think about converting what I want to say into Spanish words.
I have enrolled in Spanish classes that start on Monday and I am hoping to find some long-term accommodation with a family in Buenos Aires. I´m looking at a place this afternoon. Hopefully no more dodgy hostels for a month.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.191s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 11; qc: 76; dbt: 0.077s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb