the quirks of the city

I was hoping for my next post to be solely about food but i'm still working on getting pictures of everything so.... it'll come soon(ish) :)

I have been thinking a lot about the little things that I have noticed about the city in general (because i'm an anthropology major and constantly observing the world around me). There are lots of things that are probably just true to big cities but i've never noticed because i've never lived in a big city, so maybe some of these are obvious to other people but for me, they're new!

1. The dogs. There are dogs everywhere. Stray dogs, owners with dogs, dog walkers who walk 18 dogs at a time.... (see picture). They generally leave you alone but there are so many! (They also are allowed to go to the bathroom on the sidewalk. Lovely)

2. Sometimes, when you're walking alongside a tall building, you might feel like it's raining. But actually, it's just water (hopefully) falling on your head from up above. I think this is generally due to people watering plants on their balconies. I usually look at the ground to see if it's wet, and avoid that area when possible. Something i've never really had to think about!

3. The buses are extremely strange and confusing to me compared to the public transportation in Madrid, at least. You get on, and first of all you have to tell the driver your destination so he can put in how much you need to pay. Usually people scan their Sube card, a reloadable card for the subte (underground) and colectivo (bus). If you pay with cash, it has to be change (hard to come by in general) and more expensive. This ranges from about 3-3.75 pesos (with Sube card), from what i've gathered (that's about 30-40 cents, depending on how you exchanged your money). The porteños (people from Buenos Aires) usually just say how much they are going to pay. I still have no idea how they determine this, and why the driver just trusts them to just use that much distance, but who knows. Also, there is no indication of when the bus is stopping next. I have been looking at my map on my phone and seeing when I seem close enough and just getting off then. In Madrid, there is a message that says "next stop blah blah blah" none of that here. It's a guessing game for me, it'll be interesting to see if I ever feel completely comfortable riding it.

4. There is so much slang here. Holy crap. Even if you're really good at academic spanish, if you come here, don't expect to know what everyone is saying all the time. So much lunfardo. So many new words that don't mean anything like they sound. I apologize in advance for possibly using these words in class in the future.

5. The cell phone system is quite distinto (i literally can't think of a way to say this in English, it was the first word that came to mind). Distinct doesn't cut it, different doesn't cut it.... sorry guys. It's something along those lines. For us foreigners, we won't be here the entire time for a contract, so we have to use a prepay plan. For this, you get a phone, then you go to one of three major cell phone companies to get a SIM card. These are generally pretty cheap. Then, you go to any kiosko (like a little convenience store) to load money onto your SIM. Then, texts are a certain amount, minutes are a certain amount, and internet is. For my internet with Movistar, I have 15 GB a day for like 3,60 pesos (yeah, less than a dollar. super cheap). If I go over, it just gives me another 15 GB for the same price. Then you just keep loading money on as you go. Calling is significantly more expensive, then texting, then internet, so EVERYONE uses whatsapp. Like look at anyone's phone on the bus and that's what they're doing. It's like texting but over internet (think iMessage but between any smartphone). If not, they're texting. Barely anyone is talking on the phone. Also, not a ton of people have iPhones like where I am in the US. They're extremely expensive here and likely to get stolen.

6. Going out. If any of you know me well, you know that I have turned into quite the grandma in the last semester. Like when everyone else wants to part, I want to drink wine and watch Netflix and go to bed at 10 pm. Which is totally fine! So when I came to Buenos Aires, I was like oh darn. This whole going-out-all-night thing is gonna kill me.
Here, we eat dinner at 9 pm (actually quite early). Normally, people on the weekends eat at 10-12. After, they get ready and head to previa (pregame) at someone's house or a bar to drink and meet up with friends. At around 1-3, they head to the boliche (club). And then you leave at 6 or 7, go eat something, and go home and sleep all day. For me, this sounded like my worst nightmare.
The other night, the organization Argentina for All (that does events for international students and Argentine students) was hosting a welcome party at a boliche. The hours on the Facebook event were 11-6. Like at night. PM to AM. My roommate and I were determined to have the whole experience, so after dinner (at about 10 pm), we got ready, and headed to a bar to meet some other friends from ISEP. We got there at about 11:15, where we drank and hung out until about 1. And I think the only reason we left this early was because before 1:30, you got in free to the boliche. So we found the boliche, danced the night away, talked to some people (more like yelled in their ear, it's a club), and then 6 am finally rolled around. We were thirsty, hungry, and exhausted. The sun was rising overe the city. After finding our way home on the bus, we had to go get some food. So we waited for our favorite confiteria (bakery) to open at 7. Previous to this, we got asked by a couple of guys if we were European (ok, I can handle that). We ended up talking to them. We got some empanadas and medialunas, ate on the way home, chugged a whole bottle of water, and got in bed. The entire day consisted of sleeping, Netflix, and food. It was an insane experience, but totally normal for people to do this 1-2 nights a weekend. And it was much easier for me than I expected.

General note, don't believe everything you read about a city online. I read multiple things that i'm seeing are different here. For example, I read in multiple places that people don't wear shorts and flip flops unless they go to the beach. Tons of girls wear shorts here! And sandals! I would say 50/50 wear pants and shorts in the summer, which would be all shorts in the US, but still! I almost didn't bring any shorts with me. And I feel totally comfortable wearing them. Also, people said that porteños could be really rude, but everyone has been really nice from what i've seen! From now on, i'll take caution when reading about a place! Discover it for yourself!

Thanks for reading my ramblings, I hope you're enjoying them!
-Anna