The "Good Airs"

Some random thoughts re-Buenos Aires. So many people smoke! They´re about 20 years behind the US and 10 years behind Europe in this regard. However, there are some positive signs. Many places such as airport terminals and buses ban smoking outright. Likewise, restaurants either ban smoking outright, or have separate sections. Some hotels that cater to foreigners offer non-smoking rooms.

In the morning I see boys (young men?) pedaling delivery bicycles. On top of the handlebars they have a HUGE basket. It´s about 4 feet wide and 2 feet high, filled to almost overflowing with loaves of bread, fresh from the ovens. The smell of fresh bread in their wake is wonderful!

I also see professional dog walkers. Also, usually young men hanging onto half a dozen or more dogs, all on separate leashes, walking them all over the place. I don´t know if the walkers pick up after their charges or not. From the circumstantial evidence on all the sidewalks, I don´t think so. I took the Subte, BA´s subway. Unfortunately, it´s kind of old. There is no air conditioning, so all the windows are wide open, making it quite loud. It´s also probably pretty dangerous, since little kids are tempted to stick their hands out. The trains pass very close to each other.

Like NYC, this is a great city to walk in. It is relatively flat and the distances are not great. There is a great system of city buses, but the routes are incredibly complex. They twist and turn their way all over the city. They don´t run in straight lines at all. There are well over 100 bus routes. They don´t print a map of the bus lines. It would look like a bowl of spaghetti.They publish a book with grids of the city. You look up the grid you´re in, maybe 5 blocks by 5 blocks, and it lists the dozen or more bus lines that service that grid. You then look up the grid where you want to go and look for one or more common numbers. That´s the bus to you want. Crazy! You then have to walk around your neighborhood to find the right bus stop. Fortunately, they´re well-marked with the number of the bus you want. You just have to make sure you ask the driver if you´re taking the bus in the right direction!

Once on the bus, it turns left or right every few blocks. The bus I took from the airport even turned around on itself several times. It makes its way all over town. Strange. I find myself squinting at the very small print on my trusty city map as the bus goes whizzing at death defying speeds past intersections. I do my utmost to remember the name of the street I´m on, the name of the street we´re crossing, and looking at the abbreviated names on the map, and remembering the name of the street I want to get to. Some typical street names: Avenida General Juan D. Perron, Avenida (it seems like almost all streets are avenidas) 9 de Julio, Av. Inginero Huergo, Av. Paseo Colon, Av. Constancia H. Grualt. Okay, quick, cover your eyes and tell me what those names were! By the time I figure out where we are, I´m pleased if I´ve only passed up my stop by 5 blocks or less.

However, the bus is cheap: 25 cents around town; 50 cents for the 2 hour ride to the airort. The subway is 45 cents. Compared to the bus, taxis are expensive. But they´re still only about $2 to $5. The streets remind me of New York in that about 70% of all vehicles are taxis, and the streets are filled with them.

Almost all the streets are one way. They save money on traffic lights by only posting them in the direction that faces traffic. As a pedestrian, it can sometimes be a challenge to tell what color the light might be in your direction. However, the general rule for all pedestrians is that you leave the sidewalk at your peril. If you get to the other side in one piece, you win, regardless of the color of the day.

Until later!