A couple of observations from the past weeks...

Exploring a new place always leads to surprising discoveries. Some conclusions you reach the hard way (eg. Constitucion is quite the unsafe neighbourhood...). Some you more or less ease into (eg. Argentines do not go to work/arrive late when it rains?!...). Either way, good or bad, these little daily moments of shock are part of what makes the entire experience exciting, refreshing and unique.

I deduced the following:

1. San Telmo/Constitucion are authentic, raw and historical neighbourhoods to explore in broad daylight. Not to live in, or stroll about when the sun has set.
I mean, let's face it, I should've known from the first day - the broken glass and wood, the garbage everywhere, the drunken pervy grandpas and the topless chavs smoking up in the smelly streets...yes, that was definitely a big hint. The nice gentleman climbing onto my balcony in the middle of the night was just the confirmation. I sort of chuckled nervously when a cab driver asked me "so erm...why do you live here?"

2. Girl/Guy relationships are definitely twisted. It casts a light on a brand new dimension of tension, confusion and intensity. Since the female sex thrives on drama, this is the place to be to direct your own telenovela ladies!
a. Girl/Guy friendships does not seem to exist for argentines.
b. Constant cheating is a socially acceptable act: why wait to find out your boy was shagging some other lustful latina when you could be having a piece of fun on the side too? Quite the vicious circle.

3. Every single time it rains here, you feel like it's the apocalypse, that you ought to befriend some douche named Noah and buy "How to Build an Ark for Dummies" with him.
The sewage system is so dreadful that within three hours of heavy rainfall, streets can actually be flooded. As in, water up to the knee and water up to car windows. One could argue though that having to swim back home after a night out is the perfect way to sober up.
This would also probably explain why it is acceptable to be very late/not show up to work when it is drizzling outside. Of course.

4. Chinese people here all work in supermarkets.
I go to get my groceries and the cashier will be asking me "Oh herro, so you work here?" "Yeah, in the centre." "You count money? People give you food, you count money?"
I duno, I kind of want to explain to him that my yellowness is deceiving. I can now make empanadas (cf. photo) but after all these years, the closest I've come to making a dumpling was dumping a bunch of frozen ones into some boiling water.