Mi Ciudad, Mi Corazon

It's been three days now since the wheels of that plane screeched down on U.S. soil. I've had two nights of solid sleep. But when I wake up, for those one or two minutes that exist between dreams and reality, I still think I hear the sounds of traffic, the honking of cars and the screaming of unmuffled motorscooters. As the space that seperates dreams from reality begins to fade away and simply become reality, the sounds of Buenos Aires drift away with it.

I step outside into the bitingly cold morning mountain air. Piles and drifts of snow blanket the ground in white under the tall snow laden trees. Everything is quiet, peacefull, nothing seems to be moving. It is early but not too early, the neighborhood is made up of houses spaced comfortably apart, it seems to be sleeping. I look down at the snow, soft cold and pure. In its solid whiteness I can picture the small tiles of the Buenos Aires sidewalks. My eyes close and the tiles spread out in front of me down the street. Tall buildings replace the trees around me. The snowdrifts become kiosks and small shops. The silence becomes a hum of activity, buses accelerating, horns of cars and the constant chatter of portenos talking while they walk from place to place. The cold clear smell of winter is replaced by exhaust, humidity and grit.

When I open my eyes the hum of city life is replaced by the purity and nature of the mountains. The city fades away again. To my surprise, I am dissapointed. I want it back. I close my eyes again and try to see the small tiles of the Buenos Aires sidewalks, they are there. I try to smell the city but it does not come, only cold clear mountain air passes through my nostrils. I try to hear the buzz of traffic but I cannot, only the soft silence of snow. I allow the silence and clear air to take me back further, to the begining when I first saw Buenos Aires. It was so big, so noisy and fast. Nothing ever stopped or slowed down. I felt lost, like I was in a place I did not belong. I left the city as soon as a could. After three months away, I returned to the capital. It was different, more comfortable, the ebb and flow of life seemed familiar to me and the people were not so foreign. It was romantic.

Now, standing in the cold crisp morning air, the snow around me soaking up all sound and smell a familiar feeling comes back to me. I realize I am a changed man. The sights, sounds and smells of the city rush through my mind one more time in a torrent of sensual memory and then are gone. As I stare into the snow covered forest I long for those things. I long to feel the uneven tiled sidewalks beneath my feet. That familiar feeling comes back to me again, it is familiar but it feels slightly different. I know I am home, but just like when I arrived in the capital, I feel lost, like I am in a place I do not belong.

- AC

Alex and Joanna have returned to the United States. They were away from home for four months and would like to thank everyone who read this blog for taking an interest in their adventures.