You know how the light turns yellow during a green light to warn people that the light is about to turn red. They have that here too, but they also have the light turn yellow during a red light to let you know that the light is about to change to green.
The stars that you see in the sky here are different than the stars you see back home.
Here is what their pedestrian signs look like. I can’t help but smile when I see them.
Dogs Dogs Dogs!
There are dogs everywhere here in Buenos Aires. It seems like everyone owns a dog.
Being a dog walker is a serious profession here. It’s not unusual to see someone walking 10-15 dogs at once. The profession is called paseadores de perros (essentially that means dog walker).
You also need to watch your step on the sidewalks, because a lot of people do not pick up their dog’s poop, so it’s everywhere. Also, a lot of the male dogs still have their manhood.
People stay out in the parks once it’s dark, it’s not illegal like it is back home. I won’t be doing that, but the parks are still pretty full at night.
Whenever I travel to a different country and I introduce myself as Liz, no one has ever heard of that name. I usually tell them it’s short for Elizabeth and I always get the response, “Oh! Like the Queen.” So I figured I would just go by Elizabeth while I was down here. They do know the name Elizabeth, but for short, they call me Eli (pronounced like Ellie). I thought that that was interesting. My host mom calls me Eli and introduces me to her friends as Eli, and the kids I work with call me Eli, and my Spanish teachers call me Eli.
For the first week I was here, my host mom was telling me a lot about everything. Some of the time, she would point to her eye while telling me something. I had no clue why she was doing it. I just thought she just really wanted me to hear what she was saying. In class I asked my teacher, and she said it’s a gesture that means to be extra careful. I’ve seen a few other people make that gesture too.
This is a loud city. Everyone seems to honk at everything, all the time. The morning is the loudest. It’s been lovely waking up to honk after honk after honk. Even when you are on the highway, and the traffic isn’t moving, people just lay on their horns. It’s pointless.
Their shops look a little different here too, especially their shoe and bra/underwear shops. It looks as if they put all of their merchandise in their windows on display. So when you look at their shop from the outside, you’re just overwhelmed with shoes or bras. I think the bra shops are the funniest.
The trash gets picked up really late here. The first pick up is at around 10:30 pm, and it’s so loud! If I am skyping with someone when the trash is picked up, I can’t hear the other person. The second round is at 12:00 am.
In the hallways in apartment buildings there are timed light switches. The light stays on for about a minute or two. It’s a nice way to save energy. They have those in Europe too. I guess in America we just love to waste a lot…oops.
The mayonnaise, ketchup, and other condiments can come in bags instead of containers. I was told it’s cheaper to package them in bags compared to plastic containers. I was also told that they started putting them in bags in 2001, when money became tight for everyone.
These aren’t particularly about Argentina, but just something I found out about the rest of the world. When people go to college, they refer to it as their Uni years (that’s what all the Ausies call it, and a girl I met from Germany). I thought that was interesting. It’s also very common to take a year off before you go to college. There are a lot of kids here who are 19, who are taking the year off before they go off to Uni. There are also a lot of people who are in their late 20s early 30s here volunteering. They said they needed a break from work; they were already burnt out. That makes me a little nervous about the real world!
When it’s really nice out, it’s more common to find older men shirtless laying out getting their tan on than women tanning.
Hard-boiled eggs are a common side dish for lunch and/or dinner.
Eggs, in general, are not for breakfast.
If you hear drums and/or whistles, there is a protest going on. It seems like there is a protest about something almost everyday.
English is everywhere. A lot of the tv channels play American shows that are in English with Spanish subtitles. American music is everywhere! My host mom doesn’t really understand that much English and she only listens to music that is in English.
There is this terrible row of restaurants near a mall here that has McDondalds, Starbucks, Benihana’s, and TGIFridays (of all the chain restaurants in America, I do not understand why TGIFridays is here). There are a lot of Burger Kings around as well. Starbucks is really big here just like it is back home, no surprise there. It’s the same with McDonalds.
At most restaurants and cafes, the napkins are really small and plastic. I don’t really like them. I need big sturdy napkins!
They write the date differently. If we were to write May 13, 2011 it looks like this: 5/13/11 but when they write the date it looks like this: 13/5/11
There are these shoes that are made by Nike and Sketchers that separates your big toe from your other toes and everyone here wears them. They look a little odd to me. (Sorry for the giant image)
People wear a lot of Converse shoes and Ray Bands. Those are really popular brands here.
There is no daylight savings time in Argentina.
When you really like something you are eat, you don’t say that it’s really good. Instead, you say that it’s really rich (muy rico).
The school buses here are orange.
The pipes for the plumbing here are really old, so at a lot of places you are not suppose to put toilet paper in the toilet. It’s supposed to go in the trash. At my apartment, I can put toilet paper in the toilet, so when I’m at other places I often forget, even with the signs to remind you. It’s a hard habit to break.
The public transportation is really good here. They have several subway lines and so many buses. In total, they have 749 buses that take different routes. It’s really overwhelming to try and figure out the buses. I’ve taken them often, but I am still a little intimidated by it. However, there is this pocket size book called the Guia T, that is probably the most important thing you could carry around with you. In the front it has every single street in BA, in the back it has all 749 buses with a picture of what the bus looks like and what their routes are, and in between are grids of the city. The subway closes around 10:30; whereas, the buses run 24 hours a day. However, I prefer the subway because you don't have to sit through traffic.
Young couples here have to problem with showing their affection in public. I see a couple making out on the street almost every day.
Here in Argentina, they pronounce their y’s and ll’s differently than they do in Spain and other countries. In Spain, they are pronounced the same way ‘y’ is pronounced in ‘yellow.’ In Argentina, they are pronounced the same way ‘j’ is pronounced in ‘just.’ The first couple weeks I was here, the difference pronunciation was difficult for me to adjust to. I’ve gotten use to it now and it doesn’t cause any problems; however, now when I try to think of how to pronounce words with those letters in them with the Spain accent, I struggle a bit. I think it’s interesting how the brain (well at least mine) adjusts to things. I’ve been really nervous about going to Chile because I’ve heard the Chilean Spanish is really difficult to understand, but I think I’ll only struggle for a few weeks and will eventually adjust. Then when I come home, I’ll have to adjust again to Mexican/Central American Spanish.
That's all the things I have noticed that are different so far. If I notice anything else, I'll let ya'll know.
Until Next Time,
Liz
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