Walking the city makes you notice a few things

First, you will get wet. Even when the sun is blazing and it does not call for rain for days. I am referring of course to the inevitable drips from the window A/C units all over this city. One second I'm walking along, thinking I'm so cool, I think I'm starting to blend in like a porteno and then all of a sudden, I'm attacked. I have to quickly decide whether I just got shit on by a bird... or, nope, just the A/C again. I know this happens in NYC, but it's tenfold here. Once it happens, it's a consistent downpour of tiny little sprinkles for a few feet. Trying to avoid the drops would be fruitless, they're so frequent. I think you just come to accept them and eventually embrace them, because, hey, they do lend some respite to the 90 degree weather.

Second, you can't walk against the light or jaywalk like you'd want to in the States. At least like a NY'er would want to. The main streets have these crazy fences along the corners of the sidewalks at the major intersections in the city, forcing you to walk halfway down the street to cross in the middle of the block. I can only imagine how many people must have gotten killed or injured crossing at a corner before these gates were put up. One of the first pieces of advice Amy gave me was to not walk too close to the curb because the buses literally zoom out of nowhere and get within an inch of the sidewalk. One miscalculated step could ruin your days.

Finally, these portenos love their dogs. Mostly small, fluffy, generic dogs. Seems like chows are rather popular as well. Which of course is great, except for all the dog shit on the sidewalks. Curb your dog, what? The second piece of advice Amy gave me was to always look down when walking. Between the broken, crumbling, uneven sidewalks and the crazy amount of dogshit, looking down will avoid many a cursing. And I finally saw a Frenchie! Right around the corner from my apartment. I'm definitely going to keep an eye out for him again... Adriana & Jonathan, it could have been Jack's brother!