dimanche 3 novembre 2013

Thinking of Buenos Aires...

Mi Buenos Aires Querido
Poverty and Elegance in the South

The signs are everywhere. Even upscale neighborhood’s are covered with graffiti. And there are no constructions going on.. And lots and lots of Out of Business/For Rent Signs.
Street urchins with dirty nails menacingly looking at our handbags
Amidst this despondency, there wafts in incense smoke-lavender, sandalwood. I counted three “Hindu” stores in just one street.. selling inspirational books, incense paraphernalia and of course the ubiquitous Yoga books. Rows of shops with SALE signs without anyone in any hurry buying anything. Elegant restaurants sit idly with polished glass and starched tablecloths. People are busy buying their lunches at Hamburger stands and Fast Food is selling like hot cakes.
I stood behind a woman at Carrefours Express (why so many stores selling prepackaged products!) and looked at her take home commodities:
All prefabricated foods
High in carbohydrate, sugar and salts
Processed meat!
This in the land of excellent cuisine!
In a city that prides itself in her looks, young men with Tango Look and young women with their seductive styles are slowly gaining weight.
Then why am I here, attracting looks from the passers by?
What is normal for them is refreshing to me.
I am looking for the hairdresser who used to cut my hair in the shop with palm trees on front along Jorge Luis Borges street.. The palms symbolic of her Cuban origins (Matanzas)
Buenos Aires gave me memories and an appreciation of the writer, Jorge Luis Borges
And the sadness of the Tango..

JLB is gone, only the sadness remains..

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