On Sunday afternoon, we decided to walk over to the Hippodromo Palermo to watch some horse racing. Gambling on an Easter Sunday wasn’t exactly part of the plan but it was a great excuse to walk through the parks and get some sunshine.
During the hour-long trek over, I thought a lot about why it is that I’ve decided to spend another 9 weeks in this city, in the middle of Autumn, in a place that feels a million miles away from home. Buenos Aires is as far south as Capetown.
Besides obvious things like matters of the heart, an affordable cost of living and some interesting business opportunities, there’s definitely something more about this place that keeps me close. Right now, I’m sitting at a corner coffee shop on a Monday morning watching dog walkers run their daily routes. There is a butcher around the corner that sells fresh meats and chickens, a pizzeria down the street and a fresh produce stand with the most gorgeous garlic bulbs I’ve ever seen.
There’s a feeling of community here that’s hard to find in other big cities around the world. The grocery shop will deliver any purchase over $150 pesos (30 USD) to your door. Similar to big cities like NY and London, grocery chains here understand that urban living in large apartment blocks requires a level of service unheard of in the suburbs. Grocery delivery isn’t a new idea to me. But here, as we walked home with our few bags of food a few nights ago, I was stunned to see delivery boys walking wheeled carts across the street ready to deliver groceries around the neighbourhood. I don’t know why I found it so humbling. I expected a large Carrefour truck to come barreling around the corner ready to tackle the day’s orders in record time. Instead, a small army of ‘walkers’ hand deliver each bin to apartments big and small. I laughed. It is so charming.
That same evening, we stumbled across a local video rental store. Amazingly, they too deliver. With delight, I tweeted about it:
dcg another reason i love buenos aires: video rental delivery. choose a movie, phone the store and they come with the dvd to your door. =)
My friend replied:
@dcg you need netflix instant play
To which I replied:
dcg @christosap but i like the door-to-door delivery precisely because it is so old-school. simpler times, simpler times. =)
And maybe that’s exactly why this place pulls at me so. It’s a modern, crazy, bustling mess but somehow, in the heart of these tree-lined neighbourhoods, there’s still a way to connect to simpler times, where lives are lived not only in the confines and securities of home but also at produce stands and butcher shops and coffee terraces along sidewalks and parks. Here, I feel a part of the community. And that’s important. Being a part of something bigger than yourself is important. It feels nice.
