Rants and Raves

Rants.

Dog-shit: It's everywhere. I know some of you reading this may know me to dramatize things, but I'm honestly talking about ankle-high dog plops all over the city. There is no legislation here about cleaning up after your dog; some people do, some people don't. It's kind of like holding doors for strangers back in the US. Most people will tend to do it, but for those who don't... watch your boots. 

Raves.

Kissing: As some of you might know, in Argentina, the custom for friends and strangers alike is to kiss each other on the cheek when meeting or being introduced. Women kiss women, men kiss women, and men kiss men. I love this. Thinking about the men in my life back home, I can only imagine the awkward threat to masculinity that would go on if we shared this custom. The first few times I met with my male students, and offered my hand to shake, instead of my cheek to kiss, you would have thought I had offered to castrate them. I was told later that I was acting more  like a manly man than a girl.  I'm guessing they thought this was the first time I had ever gotten this critique. 

Continuing on this sexual freedom theme, I am also a big fan of the man-on-man motorcycle sharing. I'm not talking about 17 and 18-year old schoolmates riding double to save money, i'm talking about big, no-helmet-wearing bad-asses, arms wrapped around the waist, going a buck-ten down cobbled streets kind of sharing. FAAAAAAAAANTASTIC. Motorcyclists here, for whatever reason, don't turn on their headlights, even at night, even in the rain. Riders don't wear helmets (idiots) and i've seen more than one person talking on their cellphone while riding. One handed motorcycling: Buenos Aires = Twilight-zone. 

Public Transportation: The cost to ride a bus or subway here is 33 cents. Enough said. If I wasn't such a freaking liability on the train (falling down, embarrassing myself and my country) I might ride it more. 

Argentine Coffee: Just like the men here, it's strong, hot and frothy. I'm not sure if men can necessarily be frothy (i'm currently imagining them foaming-at-the-mouth with rabies), but the other two make sense. Either way, it's delicious.