moving on entirely from self-reflection

Footbridge in Colegiales, Buenos Aires (my own image)

So I feel like it's time to offer a little bit of insight into the city of Buenos Aires. It's big and not so scary anymore but still, when faced with the idea of writing anything about it, I feel overwhelmed by the sheer extent of ideas and experiences from which to garner inspiration. So, maybe a bit boring, but I thought I'd start with things to do with traffic and movement around the city of Buenos Aires.

There are few things that I now realise about this place. The first thing I noticed was that traffic here appears to be really bloody scary. As in, things like lanes, indication and 'common' courtesy don't appear to mean much to anyone here. So far I have gathered that as long as you honk to inform another motorist you are behind/taking over/about to side-swipe them, you are in the right and should continue driving in this manner. Four lane main roads can actually be up to six lanes, and taxis and buses (colectivos) are kings of the road.

What is surprising about this is that until two weeks ago, I had not seen any traffic incidents where any vehicle/person appeared damaged. I did witness an amusing row between the bus driver of the colectivo I was taking and a micro (coach) when the driver of the micro nearly sideswiped the colectivo pulling away from the curb. The squabble lasted three or four red lights with each of them cursing each other out in Castellano, claiming their right to the road, and rather amusingly arousing the attention of several passengers on the colectivo who joined in the row, using the best parts of the super Italianised Spanish used by Porteños to make sure the coach driver knew he was in the wrong. I was sitting in the backseat trying not to laugh as more older women joined in the cussing at each light, feeling quite happy that both drivers had evaded disaster and that both vehicles were still in one piece.

The only other traffic incident I have seen here was again from the comfort (nb: sarcasm, these are often packed, stinky and sticky in the summer and during peak times slow and jerky) of a bondi (Lunfardo for colectivo). This particular incident looked deadly - traffic was slowed down for two blocks as two of three lanes were closed for about a block to make space for emergency crews who were at the scene of the brutal looking crash; it was only one car - a little white sedan had flipped over on its roof and while I have no real idea what happened, I can say that's been the only accident I've witnessed in spite of the craziness on the roads here.

Another recent experience helped me conclude that the level of insanity on roads in Buenos Aires doesn't necessarily indicate poor driving; rather it demonstrates a certain commitment to the need to rush at all times. The lesson learned here was that when you inform your driver that you would like to get to point B as quickly as possible, you're going to get there before your stomach, as the words 'as fast as you can' apparently transform cab drivers into rally drivers. Cabs are equipped with seatbelts here but until this particular incident I had never used one. The cabbie drove slowly enough until he reached a substantially large road with many lanes (Paseo Colón, I think) when he opened 'er up completely, I think clocking probably 90km/h in a 60km/h zone which was fine, until we came to a traffic light. In the far right lane, we would have rear-ended the car in front but very skilfully our rally driver maneouvred us across not two but THREE lanes into a space on the line. He sped off the line before it was green and my companion and I scrambled for our seatbelts, exchanging looks of terror mixed with some strange sort of delight - my reasoning for that is that if I was indeed about to die I was going to enjoy my last few moments. Honestly though, in hindsight I can say it was terrific. We arrived at the bus statoin with 8 minutes until our bus left - and approximately 5 minutes before my stomach. I was very impressed by our drivers' commitment to our need to be where we wanted to go in good time and his excellent handling of his vehicle so needless to say, he got a very good tip.

This collective experience has helped me conclude that public transport here is really good. Really really good. Coming from Canberra, I can safely say it's the best network I've ever used. I haven't even mentioned the subte (subway) but it is also amazing. While uncomfortable, the micro was also very good - long stretches in a confined space are never going to be great - and connects passengers to practically every part of the continent. I'm not sure I would ever recommend taking one from say Buenos Aires to Santiago or further, although the trip through the Andes would be breathtaking, but overall I will say all systems (colectivo, subte, cabs and micro) are efficient and affordable. Though colectivo can be very cramped - something to bemoan in the humid summers of Buenos Aires - the routes are comprehensive and for less than AUD 0.30c you can't really complain.

I guess coming from Canberra I am very shocked that across the board, public transport is preferable to owning your own car but I will say with admiration and respect that this is one system from which the ACT public transport system could learn a thing or two. It's also been endlessly beneficial to my cultural experience here as it is the lifeline of the city, and whether on the way to la facu (university) or on my way home from a boliche (nightclub) at 6am, I have been shoulder-to-shoulder with a brilliantly broad array of folk, an anthropological experience I would not trade for any amount of private transport.