“Buenos Aires es un quilombo!”. This is one of the first “slang” phrases I learned when I got to the city. Buenos Aires is a mess! I real mess! [The literal translation of “quilombo” comes from Africa and means “an orgy of a mess”]. And after living here for 8 weeks, I can understand why Porteños will say this. It’s huge, it’s crowded, it’s polluted, it’s chaotic. And I love it! The madness and craziness of this place is what makes it so charming. It’s a mix of the old and new, the very poor and the very rich, of all things beautiful (design, language, the arts) and all things tragic (poverty, failed politics, corruption). It is REAL. It isn’t Parisian perfection nor Canadian cleanliness. It’s not Italy’s la dolce vita, nor is it the other-wordliness of ancient places like Marrakesh. It is here, it is now, it is raw. The economy is hurting (like everywhere else), people work hard for a living, there is crime and theft and a growing desperation and neediness, but somehow in the chaos, even in the mess of things, everything works out. In the last month there have been floods and subway strikes and citizen protests. Cabbies can scam you, the police may rob you, and beggars will always ask for more than you’re willing to give. It’s like any big metropolis.
But oh there are treasures to be found. Beautiful boutique shops on cobblestone laiden streets in Palermo. Sophisticated cafes in the “grown-up” neighbourhood of Las Cañitas. Ancient hidden coffee shops in Caballito. And breezy riverbank terraces in industrial Puerto Madero (pictures below). There are quiet bookstores and granny-kitchen eateries. And there are trees, trees, trees. Everywhere! They rain purple blossoms on the streets and provide an atmosphere of quiet simplicity to a city that has suffered its history’s changes and tragedies.
It’s easy to get caught up in the tourist traps of the place: the tours, the commercial tango lessons, the restaurants and shopping. It is world-renowed now as “the Paris of South America”. However, if you take the time to stroll, to smell, to let the atmosphere of the place engulf you, you will discover so much more than the souvenirs and the photo-ops and the great shoes. You will find a city rich in all things that matter: the love of family, the camaraderie of friends, and the space and time and importance behind a shared meal on a warm lazy night in a street-corner cafe. Good food, great conversation and an ease and peace that washes over you unlike at any other time before.
