I’ve been asked recently what I do all day. Well, I’ve been here for just over three weeks, and I’m starting to figure it out….
First, just living here takes a little more time than I'm used to – obviously not nearly so much as in a rural area or less-developed country, but like what I lived in Southern Europe (Italy and Spain). For example, it's so wonderful that the fruits and vegetables are all very fresh, but that then means they do not last as long and so need to be purchased every few days. I’m finding my way around the shopping here, but since the area of town I live in is a bit wealthier than others, it’s also pricier, and so I go a few blocks from the train station/bus stop now for my main grocery shopping.
Right now I’m washing a few of my clothes by hand.
They sell great front-loading machines here, but I don't have one yet and the laundromat near me has some pretty vicious machines, plus clothes get dirty really quickly here -- perhaps because it's such a big city, or maybe it's something in the air.
Buenos Aires is known as a place where houses must be cleaned frequently -- I came across this passage from Julio Cortázar, an Argentine author, in his short story
Casa tomada (
Taken House ), last night and had to smile since I've heard something similar, though less poetic, from several porteños (people from Buenos Aires). I've quoted the passage and added my rough translation below:
Buenos Aires será una ciudad limpia, pero eso lo debe a sus habitantes y no a otra cosa. Hay demasiada tierra en el aire, apenas sopla una ráfaga se palpa el polvo en los mármoles de las consolas y entre los rombos de las carpetas de macramé; da trabajo sacarlo bien con plumero, vuela y se suspende en el aire, un momento después se deposita de nuevo en los muebles y los pianos.
Buenos Aires may be a clean city, but this is due to its inhabitants and not to anything else. There is too much dirt in the air, just one small burst of breeze and the dust settles in the marble of the furniture and in between the patterns on the macraméed carpets; it’s quite a task to remove it well with a feather duster, it flies and is suspended in the air, and a moment later settles again on the furniture and the pianos.
Okay, in an upcoming post I'll talk about the part of my life that you would recognize as my job!
