khairyexpat
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- Apr 28, 2013
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The wealth of info in this BAexpats forum are REAL and much more useful than what you would read in a Lonely Planet or alike. There are many many reasons to love THE WAY OF LIVING in BA . I will just list only one tiny example, even though it might sound shockingly outrageous. TRAFFIC !!!!
Initial impression of driving here: it is dangerous, aggressive, idiotic and even offensive. But now after 5 years of driving I yet have to report a single (non trivial) fender bender. None. Yes they cross you ... cut you off .. . The worst that could happen is an exchange of "La co**** de la madre" and on your way you go. Traffic lights are synchronized GREEN here. I used to get flabbergasted every time I tried to beat the damn thing not to slam the breaks on every single one of them .... they spend money to synchronize them RED (I would have had a better chance if they were left alone ... random). There are not a stop sign at every single intersection, you don't have to slam the breaks to a screeching complete full stop at every intersection if in your judgment you can see it OK.
In 5 years I had no more than $300 pesos in official tickets, and no more that $200 pesos in unofficial (in the policemen`s hands, mostly because I am still driving with a Canadian Driver License as a 9 year perma-tourist). Grand TOTAL no more than $500 pesos. In Toronto in the 1980's a policeman once handed me 3 tickets in ONE SHOT for US$470 (don't know how much these would be worth now ... a thousands?) because I dared to argue with him speeding to 20km/hr in a 15km/hr zone (a short cut through High Park to work). Of course he had to detain me for 1/2 an hour to lecture me on how people get killed speeding. Here, he is not out to get you to fill his couta.
Calles here are so narrow, yet a bus driver can maneuver it as if it were a bicycle. Toronto streets and highway are wide enough for a jumbo jet to take off, yet how often did they always seem like a parking lot. Wait time for buses and subway range from 3 to 5 minutes, It is not even unusual to see 3 or 4 buses of the same line in a row, whizzing by simultaneously. Of coarse majority of people do not depend on public transit there .... but there are a lot of people including little ol' ladies who would be in the bitter cold, snow and sleet for 20 minutes or more ... a lot.
Subway here is unbelievable ... how many lines .. 7 or 8? how many stations each line? Good ol' Toronto subway is 2 lines (called the ROCKET), and most of the stations are above ground once you leave the downtown core. Your house will be go up more than a US$100,000 if on the subway (that is how scarce it is). They added 2 new stations in a span of 40 years. Here .. 3 or 4 new stations are added every single year.
Trains to the suburbs ... how many lines 12 or so? really don't know .. In Toronto 1 Go Train from Ajax to Hamilton.
Accidents apparently may seem excessive here, but per passenger (there are 13 million people moving here everyday) it might not be too far off from any NA city standards.
Of course there are a lot things that are difficult here, but for me, all in all, it is more than worth it ......
Initial impression of driving here: it is dangerous, aggressive, idiotic and even offensive. But now after 5 years of driving I yet have to report a single (non trivial) fender bender. None. Yes they cross you ... cut you off .. . The worst that could happen is an exchange of "La co**** de la madre" and on your way you go. Traffic lights are synchronized GREEN here. I used to get flabbergasted every time I tried to beat the damn thing not to slam the breaks on every single one of them .... they spend money to synchronize them RED (I would have had a better chance if they were left alone ... random). There are not a stop sign at every single intersection, you don't have to slam the breaks to a screeching complete full stop at every intersection if in your judgment you can see it OK.
In 5 years I had no more than $300 pesos in official tickets, and no more that $200 pesos in unofficial (in the policemen`s hands, mostly because I am still driving with a Canadian Driver License as a 9 year perma-tourist). Grand TOTAL no more than $500 pesos. In Toronto in the 1980's a policeman once handed me 3 tickets in ONE SHOT for US$470 (don't know how much these would be worth now ... a thousands?) because I dared to argue with him speeding to 20km/hr in a 15km/hr zone (a short cut through High Park to work). Of course he had to detain me for 1/2 an hour to lecture me on how people get killed speeding. Here, he is not out to get you to fill his couta.
Calles here are so narrow, yet a bus driver can maneuver it as if it were a bicycle. Toronto streets and highway are wide enough for a jumbo jet to take off, yet how often did they always seem like a parking lot. Wait time for buses and subway range from 3 to 5 minutes, It is not even unusual to see 3 or 4 buses of the same line in a row, whizzing by simultaneously. Of coarse majority of people do not depend on public transit there .... but there are a lot of people including little ol' ladies who would be in the bitter cold, snow and sleet for 20 minutes or more ... a lot.
Subway here is unbelievable ... how many lines .. 7 or 8? how many stations each line? Good ol' Toronto subway is 2 lines (called the ROCKET), and most of the stations are above ground once you leave the downtown core. Your house will be go up more than a US$100,000 if on the subway (that is how scarce it is). They added 2 new stations in a span of 40 years. Here .. 3 or 4 new stations are added every single year.
Trains to the suburbs ... how many lines 12 or so? really don't know .. In Toronto 1 Go Train from Ajax to Hamilton.
Accidents apparently may seem excessive here, but per passenger (there are 13 million people moving here everyday) it might not be too far off from any NA city standards.
Of course there are a lot things that are difficult here, but for me, all in all, it is more than worth it ......
