But the good thing is, I love airports. And I don't mind sleeping on benches.
The past few days in Buenos Aires have been quite eventful. I arrived to Buenos Aires quite unprepared with just my backpack and a piece of paper with the name and address of a hostel I had booked a few days earlier.
Much to my expectations, the Spanish spoken in Buenos Aires is unlike anything I have ever heard. Generally in Spanish the word "tu" is used to say "you," however, in Buenos Aires, they use "vos" instead. "Yo" sounds more like "jo" and "ll" is pronounced "zh," rather than how I learned it for years to be pronounced like the letter "y." To add to the confusion, my knowledge of Portuguese has helped me to create my own unique Portu-span-glish language that nobody seems to understand.
Despite the language barrier and the delay (word of advice: never fly Aerolineas Argentinas), I figured out the bus routes and made it to my hostel before dark. And unfortunate for the traveler before me, but fortunate for me, the hostel bed I was supposed to stay in had bed bugs and I was given my own private room for the same price ($12 a day...I love hostels).
Most of my time in Buenos Aires was spent aimlessly exploring. One of my favorite parts of traveling alone is the ability to just walk in whatever direction my legs seem to choose at that moment in time. Sometimes my nose guides me, other times the sound of music or the noise of markets, but I always seem to end up somewhere interesting. To sum it up, Buenos Aires is a great city with tons of beautiful plazas and parks where you can stop to eat fresh croissants, empanadas or alfajores (delicious cookie/cake type desserts filled with dolce de leite and coconut). Each barrio, or neighborhood, is unique in its own way. And I managed to see all of them.
Some things I learned about Buenos Aires:
Some of the neighborhoods are not the safest of places. When a man just ten feet in front of me was drunkingly swinging a wooden stick around, a police officer voluntarily escorted me to my destination. In just four days, I heard three stories of mugging attempts.
Much to my expectations, the Spanish spoken in Buenos Aires is unlike anything I have ever heard. Generally in Spanish the word "tu" is used to say "you," however, in Buenos Aires, they use "vos" instead. "Yo" sounds more like "jo" and "ll" is pronounced "zh," rather than how I learned it for years to be pronounced like the letter "y." To add to the confusion, my knowledge of Portuguese has helped me to create my own unique Portu-span-glish language that nobody seems to understand.
Despite the language barrier and the delay (word of advice: never fly Aerolineas Argentinas), I figured out the bus routes and made it to my hostel before dark. And unfortunate for the traveler before me, but fortunate for me, the hostel bed I was supposed to stay in had bed bugs and I was given my own private room for the same price ($12 a day...I love hostels).
Most of my time in Buenos Aires was spent aimlessly exploring. One of my favorite parts of traveling alone is the ability to just walk in whatever direction my legs seem to choose at that moment in time. Sometimes my nose guides me, other times the sound of music or the noise of markets, but I always seem to end up somewhere interesting. To sum it up, Buenos Aires is a great city with tons of beautiful plazas and parks where you can stop to eat fresh croissants, empanadas or alfajores (delicious cookie/cake type desserts filled with dolce de leite and coconut). Each barrio, or neighborhood, is unique in its own way. And I managed to see all of them.
Some things I learned about Buenos Aires:
Some of the neighborhoods are not the safest of places. When a man just ten feet in front of me was drunkingly swinging a wooden stick around, a police officer voluntarily escorted me to my destination. In just four days, I heard three stories of mugging attempts.
It is not very difficult to survive on just empanadas, and at $1 each, quite affordable.
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The clothes in Buenos Aires are fashionable and cheap. And there is tons of shopping. I had to force myself to avoid these places because I would get too overwhelmed and I had no space in my backpack for more gifts.
No matter how many times I try, "agua con gas" is just not as good as "agua sin gas."
Don't take pictures of the tango dancers performing in the outdoor restaurants. Trust me, the male tango dancer walked off the stage in the midst of his performance to tell me this.
La bomba is very entertaining. But the drunk Argentines dancing are even more entertaining.
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Don't go out on a balcony in a skirt when there is a parade composed entirely of men on the street below. If you do, casually wave your hand to enact a large cheer from the crowd.
The people here refer to themselves as both Argentines and Argentinians.
There might appear to be many poor, homeless dumpster divers in Buenos Aires, but in actuality they are hired by companies to sort through the trash. These wastepickers pick out recyclable elements from mixed waste baskets throughout the city every night.
Buenos Aires is home to the widest road in the world. And it is pretty darn wide.
My last night the entire hostel decided to go out together to a local dance club. Apparently it is customary here to go out around 2am, and return as the sun rises.
- The clothes in Buenos Aires are fashionable and cheap. And there is tons of shopping. I had to force myself to avoid these places because I would get too overwhelmed and I had no space in my backpack for more gifts.
No matter how many times I try, "agua con gas" is just not as good as "agua sin gas."
Don't take pictures of the tango dancers performing in the outdoor restaurants. Trust me, the male tango dancer walked off the stage in the midst of his performance to tell me this.
La bomba is very entertaining. But the drunk Argentines dancing are even more entertaining.
- Don't go out on a balcony in a skirt when there is a parade composed entirely of men on the street below. If you do, casually wave your hand to enact a large cheer from the crowd.
The people here refer to themselves as both Argentines and Argentinians.
There might appear to be many poor, homeless dumpster divers in Buenos Aires, but in actuality they are hired by companies to sort through the trash. These wastepickers pick out recyclable elements from mixed waste baskets throughout the city every night.
Buenos Aires is home to the widest road in the world. And it is pretty darn wide.
My last night the entire hostel decided to go out together to a local dance club. Apparently it is customary here to go out around 2am, and return as the sun rises.
Buenos Aires was a great ending to a great five months.
"Portu-span-glish" Hahahahahaha!
ReplyDeleteMust be wonderful!
To dance La Bomba you just have to swing you arms and legs at the same time?? Seems to be funnier than the dancer from Baden! hehehe
Before i forget: Merry Xmas!
:)
Can't wait until you're home so I can finally have a good nights sleep.
ReplyDeleteyeah, Camila said the same i was going to say.. this new language of yours... it looks like that everyone stares at you and think "oh my god, what is she trying to say?" rsrsrsrsrs. hey, the guys missed you at the last weekend game....so they starts to joke..."hey, when you're next english soccer player teacher will arrive?" and i keep answering..."maybe, we never be able to see or have any other english teacher that plays soccer and is a female again...." oh, and for you to know, i avoided another penalty kick last game... now i'm unbeatable by 2 games in a row... rsrsrsrs i'll send you a Xmas phrase for you later... see you!
ReplyDeleteand i wrote it wrong... is your english teacher in that phrase of the joke...!!!!! sorry !!!
ReplyDelete