Subway Shopping

Tape measures, hair elastics, markers, 80’s mix CDs, stickers, comic books, freshly baked pastries, and scissors are only a few of the items paraded for sale on the “subway aisle.” In my daily 20 minute commute to school, I see people hawking everything and anything. Unlike other countries I’ve been to where people carry their passed out baby franticly up and down the aisles and wail “Por favor” (it still does exist here) people have taken to selling the most novel of items. I haven’t bought anything yet, in spite of the sweet sounds from the 80’s mix. (I still am fearful of someone grabbing my wallet and taking off.) However, I always find my commute very entertaining. On the other hand, I haven’t seen too much crime other than this one day where I sat next to a guy who was putting on his mp3 player when someone reached his hand into the window and tried to yank it out of the unsuspecting subte passenger's hand! Fortunately, at that moment the subte left the platform and the thief was left empty handed.

Land Mines

It has always been a running joke of my sister's that New Yorkers are always looking down at the ground because the sidewalk sparkles with what looks like millions of brilliant diamonds. Thus, these people become so mesmerized by the floor they forget to look up. Well, in Buenos Aires, people look down for another reason, a not so pretty reason. The roads here are covered in crap, literally. I love the irony of how America is the land where the roads are paved in gold but really quite the opposite is true for Argentina. Walking anywhere in those expansive city you have to be prepared to hop, skip, and jump at any moment. Unlike the United States there isn’t a law to clean up after one’s pet and in a city it can, well, get a little messy. The real culprits are the adorable older women walking their miniature pups, bundled up in cute sweaters and bejeweled with fancy collars. But despite the cuteness of both the women and the dogs, the dogs do their business anywhere. I’ve seen some pop a squat in the middle of the road at the cross sections. These little woman acknowledge that their dog has done what they have come to do, step over the mound and continue on, leaving some unsuspecting tourist to place their Tevas in the heap. It frustrates me so much to see this happening, because these little piles makes it difficult for runners to navigate the streets without constantly glancing down. Furthermore, I find it infuriating because it makes the city appear dirtier than it actually is. It takes all my energy to not berate these street polluters about their evil ways. Instead I smile sweetly at them, look down, and watch where I’m going.