Living in Buenos Aires

I realized that my blog has been a little neglected lately.  When I started it, I had intended to post lots of thoughts about Buenos Aires, a way of documenting my experiences here, and here I am four months later and I have yet to do this.  Well, today I decided was as good a day as any other…So here goes:

"Banderas Argentinas"

                                                        LIVING IN BUENOS AIRES

My husband Thomas and I have been living here in Argentina for almost five months now.  We both have jobs, a place to live, friends and a grasp on how life in this urban jungle works.  So what is it like?   To sum it up in one word, I would choose the word…different.  Two words: very different.  When I left Denver I decided that mindset was what was going to prevent me from becoming homesick.  I had mentally prepared myself to accept the fact that things were going to change and that the comfortable, yet boring life I had been living was going to be altered drastically.  I knew that I would not be able to bring all the comforts of home with me however, I take solace in the fact that those comforts will be there when I return.   So when I drop landed in this city I decided I was ready to take on anything, and expect anything to happen.

So what is living in Buenos Aires like?  It’s busy and noisy…beautiful, a little dangerous, sometimes frustrating, often times amazing, on some occasions intimidating, more times than not it’s distressing,  a thousand times different from Denver, and yet I often find myself walking amongst a noisy metropolis surrounded by a sea of people, and I could not feel more at home.  When I chat with native Argentines they all ask me the same thing with genuine confusion on their faces, “why would you come to live here?” they ask.  Argentina has had and has its share of problems…especially economically and politically.  The city is not the most modern of destinations, its European style architecture while beautiful is very worn out…this really must have been an amazing city in its heyday...but you might describe Buenos Aires as being a little bit gritty.  However, this city has character.  From the cobble stone streets, wooden subway cars from the 1920’s, yes, the 1920’s…they have been refurbished of course, to street merchants and entertainment.  There is always something interesting to see and do and this is what I like.  So my husband I have learned to adapt.  We are learning to live on less money, in a much smaller apartment, and we anticipate and are never surprised by subway closures, as it happens often here due to striking, and the biggest hurdle to deal with: language.  Thomas speaks Spanish very well.  Me…mas o menos…I know my Spanish sounds like what my beginning intermediate English students sounds like to me.  Oh well, I am learning every day, and most people are both patient and amused by my attempts at communication. 

Stay Tuned:  I plan on doing more writing.  There are a lot of topics I would like to cover and discuss on this blog…also a shout out for my good friend Charis Kotzebue’s blog: An American Artist’s Italian Affair.

http://anamericanartistsitalianaffair.blogspot.com.ar/p/old-art.html  Charis has just embarked on an abroad adventure to Italy, and she is an amazing artist and posts her work on her site.  Worth a look friends!