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Published: October 15th 2006
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La Boca
The brightest neighborhood in the world, La Boca is right on the mouth of the Riachuelo river and gets its distinctive color scheme from when shipyard workers brought extra paint home with them and splashed it on their corrugated metal walls. What do I have to say about Buenos Aires except . . . ¡Me encanta BA!
Several weeks back as I was traveling I received a message from my friend Scott from UGA saying that he had just moved down to Buenos Aires with another friend from UGA and that I was welcome to crash at their place. Free place to stay? Buenos Aires? Yes please.
I showed up on their doorstep over two and a half weeks ago, and I’m still here. The amazing thing was that the very first night that I was here they told me, “You’re just going to want to get a job and stay here.” “No, no, I can’t, don’t say that.” But by the end of the night I had my head and heart set on it.
Buenos Aires (or BsAs or BA or whatever you like) is constantly getting compared to Paris and New York, sometimes appropriately, sometimes not. The city itself has around 3 million inhabitants with another 9 million living in the Greater Buenos Aires area. Like any other large city, it shares certain characteristics with its colleagues, and at times it seems all too easy to forget
Tango por las calles
Tango performers in the streets of La Boca show of their skills in this traditional type of dance and music that emerged from the fusion of immigrants that flooded into Buenos Aires at the end of the 19th century (Argentine, Spanish, Italian, African). that you’re in a Latin American country. However, every once in a while you’ll see something that reminds you of it—the passion of the Boca-River
superclásico soccer match, the way two man watch a woman walk past them in the street, or an impassioned conversation at a newsstand. What it does share with cities like New York and Paris is a plethora of museums, hip restaurants, small corner café, bangin’ clubs, and everything else you could ever want to find, plus some added cultural bonuses such as
tango,
parrillas, and
fútbol.
Beyond all the great things to do around here, there are a ton of great people to meet, and in my time here I’ve made many friends,
porteños (citizens of BA) and foreigners alike. A few cab rides have definitely provided some good stories afterwards. Merely one example was that as we were coming home one night, we started talking with our driver, and within minutes he ended up give us his phone number and address and inviting all of us to his family’s home outside the city for a big
asado (barbeque) in our honor. That’s just the type of people you’ll meet here in Argentina.
La Facultad de Ingenería
An enomorous, beautiful neo-Gothic building that was once the city's School of Engineering. It’s been things like that that have kept me here for over three weeks now. If it’s seemed like I dropped off the face of the earth, it was merely because I’ve just been, basically, living here. Despite (literally) crashing on the floor of Scott and Bonnie’s apartment every night, I really feel like I live in this wonderful city, and over the past few weeks I gotten to know all the distinct neighbors, the subway, buses, places to eat, shop, anything. I’ve even given directions to Argentines countless times since I’ve been here.
Another thing I’ve had a really fun time learning has been the
porteño Spanish. There’s always an adjustment going from one country’s Spanish to another, but Argentina’s is one of the most distinct. For you Spanish students out there, coming here means you have to learn to use the
voseo which exists in very few other places in the Spanish-speaking world (i.e. the “vos” form instead of “tú,” ex: “¿Cuántos años tenés vos?” “Usá este ascenor acá.” etc.) Also, the leters “ll” and “y” are given a very distinct “j” sound. Additionally, there is a lot of vocabulary that is simply different (“frutilla” instead of
¿Dónde está el baño?
My first morning in the city, I found this greeting me at a major intersection and couldn't let the photo op pass by. “fresca,” “acá” used far more than “aquí,” etc.). Of course, there’s also the ubiquitous “che” that is equivalent to our “man” or “dude” and is heard constantly in the streets. Beyond that, Buenos Aires has its own particular slang known as
lunfardo that is essential to learn if you want to speak with anyone young in the city. At times it’s all felt like learning Spanish all over again, but it’s definitely fun once you get the hang of it.
One other thing that’s striking about this city is that, despite its size, you feel like you can really get to know it very intimately, and very quickly it starts to feel almost small in a way. Almost every other day, I randomly run into someone that I know in the street. And I’m not like talking about the guy that works at the magazine stand outside our apartment; I mean like being all the way across town and running into a friend who works as a courier and lives outside the city or a friend who was in my study abroad program in Spain four years ago. It’s just that kind of place.
So, if you can’t
La Casa Rosada
Sort of like the White House, except it's the Rose House. It's also set on the Plaza de Mayo, a very popular place to stage protests if you're into that sort of thing. tell, I’ve absolutely fallen for this city. I’d love to stay here and was even looking for jobs for a while, but nothing quite worked out. Plus, I’m once again feeling the itch to get back on the road. So, very soon I will be saying some sad goodbyes to my friends here and one giant sad goodbye to this amazing city before getting back to the traveling thing. Everything’s winding up, and I only have a month or so left, but I’m looking forward to what’s ahead: another three weeks around Argentina and then a few days in Peru, Costa Rica, and Miami. Good times ahead, good times behind.
Nos vemos pronto, che.
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Nicole Hoffman
non-member comment
man ... you just made me want to go back to argentina. when i was there i didn't get to truly experience it. it is a goal of mine to get back there one day to travel and experience all the culture and country has to offer. i'm glad you're getting to! peace nicole