Buenos Aries City Culture

It is tempting to write a review of Buenos Aries filled with accolades, however, there are so many curious occurrences happening down there, I think it may be more interesting to talk about the oddities first.  Here are my top 5 things of interest going on in BS AS.

Dog Poop Everywhere - Granted, there are neighborhoods where this practice is frowned upon, but for the general metro area, you are walking looking down.  Every other day there was a fresh heap outside my door.

Lack of Currency - I thought my father was the only one who gave people exact change.  Here, coinage is the rare fare of public transportation and horded by its citizens.  Stacked on top of that, no one wants to break a one hundred peso bill.  Vendors avoid this by either denying the ability to make change or pestering for smaller bills.

Orchestras of Horns - I spent my off hours attempting sleep in the tourist rich bario of San Telmo.  Every morning I awoke to a sea of car horns.  If someone is stopped at a green light, standing, or even just indicating a desire to turn, their horn is pressed anywhere from a quick tap to a ten second stretch.  Once this happens a chain reaction is set off in which a 3 layer montage of horns is quite common.

Service Industry - Typically a waiter will drop off a menu and not reappear till it is patiently resting on your table closed.  Upon return, the conversation is rushed, and if you present too many questions, the waiter takes the liberty of picking one of the items you inquired about at random.  If you aren’t proactive in placing your order, chances are they will only take food orders from those who spoke up.  To finish the experience, often the server will return with a completely different dish.

Beer Deposits - While one liter of the national beer quilmes is only two and half pesos, you have to add an extra one and a half for deposit.  However, it’s not a traditional deposit in which the money is returned to you.  It is more like a fee to enter the beer drinking population.  Bringing the bottle in on your next visit waves the deposit for the current purchase.

Anyone else been to Buenos Aries?