New Year.

I hope everybody has a great (and safe) New Years eve and fun New Years Day tomorrow.

I was playing tourist yesterday and I went down to Plaze de Mayo (pictures up sometime soon) and as I was standing by the Casa Rosada (Pink House, which is like their White House) I saw people throwing paper out of their window out onto the street. I went to go take a picture and I realized that this was not a solitary event. I don't know it its a purging tradition/new years celebration or if everybody just got the same memo but pretty much all of the downtown area that I saw looked like this or worse.


It's interesting to see how differently things get celebrated down here. I think it being warm prompts some different celebrations than if it were freezing cold like in the states. Of course you also don't see thousands of people packing into a city block to watch a ball drop here. That's rediculous.

Merry Christmas.

Though to be honest it feels a lot more like summer break than Christmas break.

The fireworks aren't helping.

Late night operation.

About two weeks ago some gringo friends of mine and I went on a "photo excursion" at 2am on a Tuesday. Here are some photos:

More here.

Lawsuits waiting to happen (pt 1).

I definitely walk around down here with very North American standards of safety. There are times where I am just in awe of the total lack of concern over safety of the general public here, especially in construction areas. I hope this doesn't sound patronizing because that's really not my intent. In fact usually I just find it humorous as I step over the sidewalk vent with a piece of plywood laid over it 6 inches narrower than the hole itself. But these are things you would never see in the US so I thought it was worth mentioning. And what makes these, and the examples that will follow, notable is the fact that for the most part this city is very modern and urban that it's easy to forget you are in a third world country until you see these.

Please note the elderly lady making her way around this gravel pit in the middle of a sidewalk. This is extremely common to see here.

Part 2 coming later.

From Change in the US to no change in Argentina.

Sorry for the pun.

An interestng/extremely frustrating aspect of living in Buenos Aires is the fact that there is a chronic shortage of coins in the city (and from what I hear, the entire country). Slate ran a great article discussing this problem here: "Yes We Have No Monedas!" (spotted via here). It's an interesting read even if you aren't afflicted by this like I am. I have to say, living with this problem forces you to become very creative and resourceful, especially if you need to catch a bus (coins only).

The other day a bartender gave me two 1 peso coins as change instead of a 2 peso bill and I almost dropped my drink.