It's funny because when friends visit me here... I take them to my fav places here with excellent service, awesome people, incredible ambience and all round buena onda and unanimously their reaction is... "I could totally live here." To which, I simply reply with a sly smile... Knowing full well that they don't have the 'big picture'... Because It took me a long time to source these places, cultivate the relationships and in short... a lot of sifting through dirt to discover the gold.
I think when you talk about 'hate' you might actually be referring to a general frustration... A frustration that it DOES take so long to find places that meet a very simple set of criteria and expectations... A frustration from many who have lived here long enough to know how great a place it once was and now watch it deteriorate before their eyes for a variety of reasons... A frustration that things so simple at 'home' that didn't even bear consideration... Basic services... Apartments, Phone, cable, clean sidewalks... Are actually now HUGE sources of stress. And perhaps the biggest frustration of all... knowing that it will not change.
I can tell you that the thing which ENRAGES me the most is the victim's mentality which exists here.. Let me be clear, it is NOT THEIR FAULT.. But the truth is far too many Argentines believe that the system exists simply to f**k them over... While it may be true... They are the only ones in a position to do anything about it... And the vast majority seem to think it is pointless to try. The solution is far too often to simply shrug and bear it because soon a new power mad dictator will supplant the last and the cycle will begin again.
I'm mad because I have to endure A LOT just to live in a city I love and it somehow doesn't seem fair. Too often I find myself thinking 'it doesn't have to be like this'... And frustration is a daily, or hourly occurence on most days... with the smallest things causing the greatest amount of stress... But it IS WORTH FIGHTING FOR..
So don't confuse frustration with hatred... Even in extreme quantities. The only thing I hate is that there is a grand beautiful B.A. that exists below the surface that has nothing to do with pizza, ice cream, tango, asado or any of the other travel brochure amenities... And it is the city we have to struggle to find... but lately??? It really feels like we are losing.
