Going from traveller to normal person

As I'm sure anyone who reads this blog has been noticing, the frequency of my posts has gone down since I got here to Buenos Aires. As opposed to the action-packed, here today, gone tomorrow itinerary one keeps while backpacking, I'm here in Bs As for a longer period of time. You get into your little routines of school, work, buying groceries at the grovery store and doing laundry and though you never stop exploring and experiencing new things, they may be a little less noteworthy. Like, yeah it's weird how you can buy yogurt in a bag here ( seriously, like a litre bag of yogurt, just like your litre bags of milk) but I don't know if I could pontificate a whole essay on it. ( Hmmm, actually, maybe I could...)

But it's sort of cool staying somewhere long enough to get into a routine. For me that's sort of the point of going somewhere for longer than a couple days or a week. Routine means repetition and by extension familiarity. And it's that familiarity with a new place and culture, even if it's with the most mundane things, that makes me feel like I've really been there. I could come to Buenos Aires for a week and take some pictures of the Obelisco and then leave; but when I'm riding the subway in the morning with all the commuters to get to my 8am English class I'm doing the exact same thing as countless other porteños across the city and so I feel like I've gotten closer to the city than just seeing the tourist sights. Not saying I've necessarily gotten closer than someone who just makes the rounds of the tourist sights, but I feel like I have.