Opinion Sur Joven

Buenos Aires city’s past and present go hand in hand. That makes it somewhat different from other cities in South America. It is filled with nice places, beautiful women, passion for reading, music, theaters and other cultural activities. It’s a beautiful city to stay at on vacations, but living in it is a bit more complicated. Why? Because some things are shocking, such as prices rising from one week to the other, the lack of kindness, the disrespect for people and contracts, the lack of safety on the streets and other attitudes by some people, which make Buenos Aires a little less wonderful than its architecture and the rest of its inhabitants. I want to remark the fact that these attitudes take place mostly in the capital city, because the situation is very different in other cities of Argentina: they seem from another country.

I’m particularly surprised by their food. I think there’s no variety. It all boils down to cheese, meat, wine, mashed potatoes or squashes and bread. Fruits and fresh fish are hard-to-find pleasures due to the high costs. And I’m shocked at the tiny size of cups of coffee and glasses of juice; however, I do love asado and choripán, they are delicious. But you have to be lucky too, because some restaurants don’t treat their customers right. It’s outrageous, because customers are paying for a service. I believe most Argentine businesses lack kindness and touristic culture. They need to be trained and controlled to stop overcharging tourists.

Rents are another headache. Additionally to the guarantees and the obstacles to rent apartments, these are usually very small and you’re lucky if you can avoid real estate agencies -they charge excessive guarantees (about 1,500 dollars)- and some lessors who overcharge and even do it in dollars, an immoral attitude in this country since its currency is the peso. Upon all these obstacles, hostels are a convenient choice, but I wouldn’t recommend them for their lack of both cleanliness and security. So that’s the way things are in Buenos Aires due to its high property demand.

Regarding porteños, except for some polite people and my colleagues, the rest of them takes advantage of tourists both with prices and the treatment, not kind at all. Anyway, living in this city is difficult at first, but after some months you adapt to it and can find beautiful things. Even if you’re still bothered about some annoying attitudes or hate it when waiters at restaurants almost throw your meal at your face or overcharge you.

What have I discovered here? People with a vision and beautiful women, especially in provinces and cities like Santa Fe, La Plata, Mar del Plata and Mendoza. I’ve realized that the Argentine, except for the fair-haired and light-eyed ones (mostly immigrant descendants), are very similar to Peruvians and Bolivians. That when you get to know people you can make them be nicer and broaden their vision of America. That there are slums, just like everywhere else, and that poverty is more noticeable than in other cities because you can see poor people in parks, squares, buildings and squats. That, except for the sun that doesn’t burn and their ego, the Argentine are just like any other Latin American. That they live in the past, constantly worshipping Maradona, Charly García and Peronism.

And that these are people you can live with and make friends with; talking about football with them is an enriching experience; you can enjoy dancing with them at a party or playing PlayStation games or doing just about anything, until you adapt to them, because many porteños are nice people. Perhaps if they were kinder, Buenos Aires would be a beautiful city to stay forever. But we, the people from abroad who study here, find it hard to adapt to some people’s rudeness and indifference. And those few people are the ones that make people think Buenos Aires is a different city. But living here allows you, in time, to get to know them more and better. And, of course, I wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t mention the wonders to visit in this city, such as the riverside of Tigre river, the train, the subway, the European-like buildings, 9 de Julio avenue, the “wonderful” people (especially the women) who help you, and the people you learn and take good experiences from to remember forever. So, in a nutshell, Buenos Aires definitely has its B-side.