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2.22.05

The Two Things People Do When They Travel

By Sarah Stodola

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Editor's Note: The Executive Editor of Me Three, Sarah Stodola, just moved to Buenos Aires for three months. We took a break for this, but Me Three still intends to publish daily. The following is Sarah's first euphoric dispatch from down under...

As a steadfast rule, every person does two things when they travel to a new place. The first is to compare the new place to the old place. The second is to imagine oneself living in the new place. I remember realizing this as a walked along the Brooklyn Heights promenade with a new boyfriend who happened to be from another place. We walked along before that magnificent view, and rather than simply appreciating the view, we imagined aloud what it might be like to actually live in one of these brownstones and have that view, every day, from a bedroom or a kitchen.

The past week has once again proven this steadfast rule, and I’ve traveled to Buenos Aires and settled in for what I hope becomes a three-month stint of unrelenting writing. I compare it to New York, because that has been my home for the past four years. And the comparison goes something like this: I think that Buenos Aires may actually have more cars trolling its streets than New York. The part of BA I am staying in reminds me of the Diamond District in Manhattan, with its excessive bustle and working class jewelry stores. New York is hot in the summer, but BA is hotter. Contrary to what a female is told to expect, the men in BA are more respectful than their counterparts in New York. It’s quite obvious that BA is either older or less well kept than New York; probably both.

The Avenida 9 De Julio, BA’s largest street, is also the world’s largest street. I’ve heard that when they built it, the idea was to build a grander Champs Elysee. If this is true, then it is obvious that the goal was not met. There are grand buildings lining the avenue, sure, but if you are standing on one side of the street, the buildings on the other side of the street are too far away to strike one as sweeping, or majestic, especially with all the noise. But it does have its charms; it’s a favorite sport to try to cross the street on foot. I’ve yet to even come close to accomplishing this in one traffic light cycle. The other thing to note about the Avenida 9 De Julio is that most all of the time, the place you need to be is on the other side of it. And also, there is nothing like it in New York.

Buenos Aires does in many ways feel like a European capital. Many of the buildings have taken a direct influence from Parisian architecture, and like Paris, the skyscrapers seem to lie around the city’s edges. Many of the streets, especially in the city center, are small and cramped. There is also something distinctly South American about this city, although I don’t pretend to have put my finger on it yet. It is most like New York in its seeming embrace of capitalism. There are thousands of young men, and a few women, running around the streets in suits and ties, looking eager to make their millions.

On to the second thing that everyone does that I have also done: What I am thinking about, inevitably, now that I am here, is how easy it would be to live here, financially speaking. I have daydreams about recruiting friends from New York and turning BA into Paris in the 1920s. Artists would find cheap loft spaces. Writers would find that they didn’t need a day job in order to support their pursuits. Thus, not a one would be required to rise before noon, which they would find pleasingly suitable in a place that doesn’t head for dinner until 10 p.m., much less drinks and dancing.

I have been working hard to speak Spanish since my arrival, and I like to think that it won't take long to converse freely with the locals. Sometimes it’s a welcome challenge to go out and place yourself in situations where you must speak, and sometimes it’s grueling and intimidating. But it’s never without its bumps. So if I lived here, I imagine the ease with which I might head out for a dinner, or a round of shopping!

On most all counts, it’s easy to imagine living here. So easy. Too easy?

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Sarah Stodola is the Executive Editor of Me Three. She can be contacted here.