Thoughts on BA

Sunday & Monday were lazy days, as always. I love my Sundays and Mondays. I slept in late, walked around, shopped, ate at great cafés, and "prepared" for the week. I started class on Tuesday at 9:30 am, which is never easy. I had 2 classes which I liked- Education and then Film. I took the Subway home with a friend after class on Tuesday.
1) Subways: The D line subway, which I ride frequently, is the most crowded place I have ever been in my entire life. People get running starts on the side of the train and literally thrown themselves onto a packed train. No one can move, you can't breathe, you're sweating more than you would be if you had just run 14 miles in the desert. People get stuck in the sliding doors. When trains come, people clap. If you ride one line long enough, it will clear out enough for a seat. It is like this at almost all hours of every day, except weekends.
Wednesday, today, I had class a 9 am pretty far away- takes a good hour to get there on public transportation, which for me means bus, subway, bus. Luckily I found a bus on the way home that takes me exactly where I need to go! I am home after a great, great lunch at a place called Cluny in Palermo.
Here are some more thoughts on BA before I get ready for a big night out:
2) Bathrooms: A good, clean bathroom with a toilet paper, soap, towels, a hook to hang a bag or jacket, and a smell that doesn't make you want to run for the hills does not exist in Buenos Aires, except for a few nice cafés that I have been so lucky to have frequented. The public bathrooms here are so incredibly small, sometimes I cannot even fit inside. They are so dirty and there is usually a shortage of toilet paper. It is the worst at the public university. This is not a joke. I don't understand why the bathrooms have to be so small and disgusting! My bathroom at home is fine, although extremely small.
3) Skinny jeans, converse, and a mullet: If you would like to pass for Argentine, a girl must never be without her converse sneakers of any color, skinny jeans, and long, choppy, mullet-y hair with clips and bobbypins everywhere. Some girls make it work. Other girls do not (at all). I really need to invest in some converse.
4) Dog shit and dog walkers: You cannot walk one block without coming close or stepping on dog shit. It is everywhere on almost all blocks because the stupid dog walkers who walk at LEAST 10-20 dogs at one time all on the same leash-pod do not clean up after the dogs! People say that it is lucky or a "rite of passage" to step on dog shit, but I don't want my $625 peso boots anywhere near it. (Already happened :( )
5) PDA 2.0 The PDA here is completely out of control. There needs to be laws against it. I'm sure its great if you're in love and desire to make out on the crowded bus for 19 blocks straight, but no one else wants to see that. Restaurants at night may as well be hotel rooms, where couples straddle and snuggle one another as if no one else in the place can see them! And don't even get me started on parks!!! People are rolling around (probably on dog shit), but they don't care, they are in love! People in relationships here cannot be in any place without touching- walking in a store, a bookstore, running to the subway, always holding hands, linking pinkies, rubbing, kissing, laughing...its the worst!!!! People say its great when its you, but again, I don't care to see it.
I'm sure I will have more observations soon, but for now just imagine walking down the streets with all these images in mind.
PS- I love it all. I'm finally starting to feel like I live here ( a little ) and know my way around (a little!).
PPS- An Australian boy is coming to live at the house for 3 months...fingers crossed! haha.
LOVE YOU!!!