Buenos Aires: First Impressions

My first, albeit brief encounter with Buenos Aires was in 2012 when I was backpacking around South America for five months. The city immediately gripped me; it is an innate mix of thriving culture, friendly people, eclectic architecture and wonderful food (where else in the world can you find a perfectly cooked steak for $10?!) It is therefore not really a surprise then, that three years down the line, I am back, this time for twice as long and with the intention of fully immersing myself in porteño life. Having been here for almost a month now, here are a few of my impressions so far:

Every street is utterly unique

Perhaps the first thing that struck me about BA was the completely random collection of old and new buildings. No two streets look the same; turn any corner and your eyes are drawn to a marvellous mishmash of architecture. From wide tree lined avenidas to San Telmo´s cobbled stone streets, wandering around BA is an eye opening experience.

It is colder than you might imagine at this time of the year!

Touching down in Buenos Aires, my suitcase was fit to bursting with summer dresses, shorts and t-shirts. Alas, they are yet to have an outing. Although summer is within sight, jumpers and coats are still out in force. Cut to two months time and I am sure that I will be regretting ever complaining about the cold!
 

The Argentinian accent is very distinct

It was a bit of curveball to discover that the Argentinians have an entirely different accent to any other Spanish speaking country. Fairly confident with my conversational Spanish, I was immediately wrong footed when asked ´¿Como te shama?´ Similarly, ´playa´ becomes ´plaisha,´ `yo´ becomes ´sho,´and so on. In BA, the dialect is much softer and, accompanied by Italian style hand gestures, is wonderfully expressive.
 

Mate is an obsession!

Made from the leaves and twigs of the Yerba mate plant, which are then dried and added to hot water, mate is a drink that the people of BA are crazy about! Beautifully decorated mate cups are refilled in cafes, offices and parks, and more often than not, from thermoflasks in the street!

Everyone is super friendly

Arriving in any new city is incredibly daunting and can be extremely overwhelming. However, I was immediately put at ease by all the friendly locals willing to offer as much help as they could with anything from directions to topping up my Argentinian SIM! Similarly, arriving at Elebaires was like being welcomed into an extended family. All my initial worries were put to rest and from the first day I felt fully immersed in the school.