We set out to explore Recoleta in the morning walking out in sandals and short sleeves. We strolled down the shady streets of Recoleta and by 10 a.m. we had seen at least a half dozen hired dog walkers expertly walking ten to fifteen similarly sized dogs all at once. Never having seen such a sight we were struck by how orderly it all seemed with no dog stopping to do his or her "business" but all just trotting along in sink as if they were used to this daily routine. The dog walker handling fifteen leashes at once strolled along often with an IPod but at the same time cognizant of pedestrians and stopping when appropriate to let people pass. This must be a lucrative business but we wondered where DO they take these animals to do their "business"? We didn't see that part of the routine.
The Recoleta streets are shady because there are beautiful old trees growing on every city street. Wandering towards a park near the famous Recoleta Cemetery we saw nearly 200 year old ombu trees with roots and trunks reminiscent of the ancient banyan trees we saw in India. These ombu trees have huge roots and trunks and enough shade to make a large shelter right in the middle of a city of 12 million people. Buenos Aires is what I would call a green city because there are so many parks and trees everywhere. I sit by a window with my laptop on a desk in my apartment and look straight out into the branches of a leafy tree growing up to the third floor on the busy one way street of Vicente Lopez.
The morning was devoted to getting in some food supplies for our kitchen and we found it all within a two block radius of where we live. A Carrefour supermarket which reminded us of Dubai is a half block in one direction and a more upscale Disco supermarket just two blocks away with every delicacy one could desire and a wine section that leaves you dizzy with so many choices of Argentine wines. But in between the supermarkets are the more enticing individual shops such as the panaderia (bakery), the fiambreria (the delicatessen with cheeses and cold cuts), the verdureria (the fresh fruit and vegetable shop), the carniceria (the butcher), and the small shop selling only fresh chicken and eggs, and the pescaderia (the fish shop). I find these food shopping experiences triggering long ago memories of the vegetable and fuit seller, and the dairy man with milk and eggs, coming down our street in the 1950's in a horse and carriage! Food in Buenos Aires is amazing and only in Dubai have we experienced such luscious shopping however the difference is that ALL of what you buy here is grown in Argentina!
We took our own shopping bags and went from vendor to vendor coming home with goodies to last us several days for breakfasts and evening light meals. We seem to have adapted easily to the very Argentine habit of a big lunch in the early afternoon. We look for the local places where food is delicious and cheap and found one two doors down from our apartment for lunch today. A full meal of Argentine steak and French fries, a drink, and a dessert of the Argentine flan all for less than $8. Delicioso, as we say in Spanish!
As for fashion and dress I walk down these streets and notice the slim people and particularly the well dressed women in high fashion casual dress which might be linen pants and silk blouse and silver sandals with a leather bag casually thrown across a shoulder or perhaps a gorgeous skirt and top outfit with sandals to match and chunky jewelry. You do not see a single overweight person and nothing but tanned women in gorgeous clothes including elegant older women who have spent time on maintaining how they look. I came home resolved to pull out a more elegant outfit to stroll the streets tomorrow.
We have only begun to scratch the surface of life in B.A.. Each day brings new adventures and continued memories as I pick up familiar expressions, remember foods I loved, smell the eucalyptus trees in the park, and struggle to bridge the gap between my childhood spent here and the sprawling modern city I am experiencing each day.
I'm fairly certain that my dog would be the exception to the coordinated and discreet dog walking routine!!
ReplyDeleteI also know how you feel about observing the womens high fashion. Americans are so much more casual. When I first went to Uganda I was amazed that even in the dusty bush under a mango tree people were dressed to the 9s!