Llover

The clouds swelled and darkened. The sky churned restlessly. There was silence and darkness as pressure built overhead. Suddenly, a crack, a tear, and rain began to pour from a gaping wound in the sky.

At night the rain is an orchestra. It hits thousands of roofs of varying heights and compositions creating a rich percussion against the wail of the wind as it hurredly searches the city´s avenues. The rising sun is hastily concealed behind an unyielding covering of dense clouds, which are tinged an unsettling yellow. In the morning the rain decreases to a relentless mist which assails the morning commuters from all directions as if in jest. By midday it has dissipated, only to repeat the cycle again for over a week.

Contrary to what I have believed about Buenos Aires, it is not a magical city. It is exciting, busy, at times beautiful, and always bursting with fresh sensations, but it is real. It is a city full of men and women who leave their apartments every morning muttering a prayer that the subte workers are not on strike or desperately trying to find change for the colectivo in a city which is curiously without coins. They make their way through puddles, blaring car horns, and numerous sites of post-economic crisis construction toward their offices, stores, and schools. They consider next month´s presidential elections and whether Argentina will have its first elected female President. They worry about rising inflation and anticipate which group of workers will be the next to strike.

Today I found myself amidst the crowds and commotion, pondering these thoughts, and bracing myself against the rain. The thoughts and actons occurring in this South American country feel remarkably similar to those occurring at home in the United States; the differences are superficial. Life here is not magic, its not exotic or strange. It is new and exciting, but also vaguely familiar.

In the afternoon I saw the first patch of brilliant blue Argentine sky in days, but it quickly disappeared again beneath the clouds. It will probably begin to rain again soon, but summer is coming to Buenos Aires.