This city is HUGE!!!!!

The most shocking thing: Buenos Aires is HUGE! I knew coming down here that it was one of the largest cities in the world, but I couldn't have visualized how incredibly huge it actually is! My first 3 weeks here my roomate, Amy, and I walked the "city" and I thought I had a pretty fair handle on my bearings and Buenos Aires. Then, looking at a map I realize that the ground we have covered putting our feet to the cement hard core is only actually a small portion of the true city! It is just unbelievable! That might be the hometown in me coming out, but it is crazy how huge this city actually is!

Right smack in the heart of it all, I have had the amazing fortune of renting an apartment in the infamous Recoleta neighborhood. I have traded walking bare foot down Del Playa Drive, sprinkled with beer cans and students casually strolling to the beach on bikes for posh marble looking sidewalks where door men greet you all along the small, tree lined streets adorned with old European architecture that make it seem like you are strolling any of the gorgeous Rue du Blah blah in Paris. It is a trip!

We are really lucky, our tiny apartment is nestled behind a courtyard so all of our huge windows in the apartment look onto a nice, fresh view of a garden, boasting HUGE palm trees and lots of greenery. . . a nice little escape from the bustling streets. Our kitchen is smaller than a normal sized shower, but we have actually become quite acustomed to the midget area and have learned how to position ourselves just right so that we can both cook in there at the same time. Although, dinner parties make it even more interesting :) I have become semi-friends with our smiley, bald door man who thinks we are crazy because we wear flip-flops everyday, and in turn I think he is loco because he stands there and waits to open the door for people who are more than capable of turning a key. But, I have to say that when you are walking home loaded with groceries overflowing in your arms, it is nice to have the little, bald smiling man open the door and wave you in :)

Although Buenos Aires is probably the most massive, craziest city I will ever live, I am finding my little niche even in the midst of all the chaos. I have a little fresh food stand that I buy fruits and veggies from just down the block where they are slowly but surely learning how to pronounce my name. The cafe on my corner makes an amazing cafe con leche and a perfect spot for reading the paper and people watching. I am now a member at the neighborhood gym and am loving the Spinning classes and Sauna and the Shamrock Bar on our block is slowly becoming a place where Amy and I are meeting lots of people and making friends. So, I guess that the hugeness of Buenos Aires, or any city, is all just relative to where you are. Either way, I am loving it!!!!