BsAs, me encantás

One of the things I have been surprised and delighted by in Buenos Aires is the way people take care of each other here. I'm not only talking about friends and family, but about strangers too- there's a sort of unity in the idea that nobody is unwilling to respect/look out for the well-being of another. Of course, there are a few people everywhere who would take advantage of good intentions, but the vast majority of people here, like people everywhere else, are honestly just living their lives and every now and then need a bit of kindness from a stranger. A few examples: any time a pregnant woman, an elderly person, or anyone who looks to be in bad health gets on a bus, people leave seats immediately and offer them to the person, then stand the rest of the ride. A woman standing next to me on a street corner the other day tapped me on the shoulder and told me the "walk" signal had turned on when I had been distracted looking at my Spanish notebook. One of my first few days here I was waiting in line to buy a few things at a pharmacy and had gotten to the counter, when a man came and tried to put his things on the counter in front of mine- the woman behind me ordered him to go to the back and told the cashier that I was first. The other night when I was riding the bus home, a man got on and was about 15 centavos short to buy a ticket. A girl next to me had 20 and gave it to him, and he gave her the change, said thank you very much, and got where he needed to go.

One of the other things I love about the people here is the way they get to know each other. Most people will ask you questions after only knowing you for a few minutes than many in my culture wouldn't ask after talking to each other for a week. The conversation is very personal, and this might offend or bother some people- it took some getting used to on my part- but I'm enjoying taking it as an opportunity to get to know myself better. They ask you how you feel and how you think, they ask you why you think the things you do and how you came to think them, and they don't do it in a way that's critical or condescending. It's simply so that they can understand better the person you are, and add the understanding to their own perspectives. In the process it challenges you to understand your own perspective, being completely honest with yourself. In my opinion there are few things as important.