How Was Your Very First Day In Argentina?

[Gringoboy]

How did you get here?
What were you expecting?
Were there any defining moments during those first few hours before your first light refreshment?
I can't remember the last time I spent a day so packed with expectation, wonder and magic.
One of many defining moments for me was the aeroplane's landing gear clunking down and the knowledge that I had finally arrived.
And since it was 0700 am, the exp<b></b>ression 'wake up and smell the coffee' certainly took on a very real meaning.
But of course the most defining moment was seeing her face for the first time in 30 years, somewhere in the crowd and rushing towards her.
Heck, call me an old romantic, but there are some things that should be bottled.

 

[Meri]

First vacation by myself, studying Spanish flashcards on the plane (what a dork), the warm air on my face as I taxied into the city in an exhausted zombie state, the kindness of the rental agency people who met me at the apartment, the electric feeling as walked through the streets, the sites, smells and sounds both foreign and welcoming, the feeling of possibility, fear and aliveness that I hadn't felt in years. Ahhhh Argentina...

 

[Dublin2BuenosAires]

Flew from Paris, last few days of Asian honeymoon, picked up at Ezeiza by the father in law who chuckled and said welcome to the city of craziness of words to that effect in Spanish. The day after was my birthday...

 

[RichardP]

I'll never forget the cold winter day, a crazy taxi ride from Ezeiza, and the buzzing activity of a metropolis after arriving from a small college town in the US.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

How did you get here?
What were you expecting?
Were there any defining moments during those first few hours before your first light refreshment?
I can't remember the last time I spent a day so packed with expectation, wonder and magic.
One of many defining moments for me was the aeroplane's landing gear clunking down and the knowledge that I had finally arrived.
And since it was 0700 am, the exp<b></b>ression 'wake up and smell the coffee' certainly took on a very real meaning.
But of course the most defining moment was seeing her face for the first time in 30 years, somewhere in the crowd and rushing towards her.
Heck, call me an old romantic, but there are some things that should be bottled.

On my first day in Argentina, in 1979, a milíco strode into the restaurant where we were eating in Río Mayo, his body language clearly communicating that "I could pull out my sidearm here and blow away anybody I care to, and none of you would dare say a word about it."

 

[lucha54]

Cloudy winter day Aug 2011, driving up and down Cabildo realizing I was passing through the Belgrano neighborhood I had studied so much on the map... that night a friend of my now bf took me all over the city for a midnight tour, strange to be up so late!! Going down Libertador and passing all those amazing statues, I felt a sigh of relief as I had moved here site-unseen but knew instantly that I had made the right choice because... IT WAS AWESOME!!!! We went to Plaza de Mayo, then all through Palermo Soho and when we passed Plaza Serrano, I made him mark with arrows in the Guia T 2003 he had given me (price tag still on the front reads : 2 pesos!). I loved it instantly and vowed to live near there, yet still have not. Then that weekend I went to my first asado and could not BELIEVE it when I realized it was 6AM and that I was still awake. Needless to say, I WAS HOOKED!!!!!!

 

[dennisr]

I'll never forget the cold winter day, a crazy taxi ride from Ezeiza, and the buzzing activity of a metropolis after arriving from a small college town in the US.

Cold Winter day
Ha, ha! First visit, August 2007. Totally escaped me, "it is Winter in the Southern Hemisphere dummy" Arrived and it was colder than a "Well Digger's ass." Not a stitch of Winter clothing with me. Felt like the village idiot.

 

[internationalguy]

My first day (or night for that matter) in Buenos Aires was about 5 years ago when I came here first on vacation. I came with a couple of friends in early December, we landed at night and it was all very exciting. The turn coming in from the highway into the 9 de julio was just like letting me know we were here. I'm a guy who likes that kind of moment. We checked in, we walked for a little bit, then we had dinner facing the Recoleta Cemetery. It was all very nice. The next morning we walked Florida St for the first time and I was loving the city. I could then tell for sure why people say it has such a European feel. I like that a lot.

 

[fifs2]

Off the plane with our tiny baby in tow and we dropped the bags at our new home before heading to San Telmo Sunday market. Sadly I forgot I'd packed my jewellery in my baby bag for the flight and it was stolen in a distraction theft at the market. I wept for hours to lose my grandmother's engagement ring in particular. The locals were outraged and sincerely disgusted and sympathetic. The local police spent hours with us looking at photofits and stressing how they were trying really hard to clean up San Telmo. A horrendous memory but also one that showed the compassion of Argentineans. My husband was held up at gunpoint on the golf course 6 days later..he, needless to say, hid that news for many years as he suspected I'd have been on the next plane out of dodge with that incident in the same week...A bad start. It could only get better.

 

[allcraz]

Great thread. Feb 2007. Warm and balmy. The taxi driver talked the whole way, and I only understood about 10%, but my only vivid visual memory is turning onto 9 de Julio while he was warning me "cuidado con tu plata." And I responded, "Ah, no uso mucha joyería." And he said, "No, no, plata significa dinero acá!" And I was so confused. Thus my first Argentine Spanish lesson. I was staying with a host family in an apartment in Once short-term, and he pulled up and said something like, "Are you sure this is the address? This area isn't that safe." And after helping me with my bags and making sure I got in ok, he wrote his phone number on a piece of paper and told me to call him. 1st day was fine. 3rd day my laptop got stolen (in Puerto Madero - not Once), and I almost decided to change my ticket to go home early. BsAs didn't make an amazing first impression on me. It's a city I had to get to know to love, but I'm glad I stuck it out.