7 Encounters in Buenos Aires: A City of Absurdity and Magic

I met a lawyer who said he doesn’t practice anymore — he’s now a chef at his family’s restaurant. He invited me to a pasta tasting. By the third glass of wine, he confessed his dream was to flee to Uruguay and grow strawberries. When I asked why he went to law school, he replied: “For my mother.”

A lesson in medialuna etiquette, straight from immigration

While waiting in line at immigration, I chatted with a guy from Iran. He taught me how to properly eat a medialuna: “You have to dunk it in your coffee.” I was skeptical. Then we shared some mate, and he told me he’d moved here for a girl who ended up marrying his neighbor. He stayed in Buenos Aires anyway — he’d already learned Spanish.

DJ by night, city clerk by day

I met a DJ who works at the local municipality. He told me, “By day I stamp papers, by night I shake up Palermo.” At the party, he played some kind of electronic music with Tibetan horns and whispered French vocals. The crowd loved it. I was...confused.

Tango flirting at a coworking space

At a coworking space, I befriended a woman who teaches tango to digital nomads. She said tango is “the language of what’s left unsaid.” Then she started flirting with me through long pauses in our conversation. I panicked and escaped into a Zoom call — facing a blank wall.

The necromancer of Recoleta

I met a girl who lives in a French-style retirement district and studies necromancy. Seriously. She said Recoleta Cemetery has the best energy for feeling souls. We texted for a while — until she sent me a selfie at a tombstone captioned: “Waiting for you.”I chose not to continue.

A bar made of old televisions

I met a guy who works at a bank but dreams of opening a bar — for friends only. His concept? Everything made from old TVs: the stools, the counters, even the bathroom sink. The bar would be called *“Lo que no se ve”.I told him it was genius. He said, “Lo sé” “Lo sé” and poured me another fernet and coke.

Buenos Aires: a city that stumbles, but never lets go

Таким я запомнил Буэнос-Айрес — город, где банковские клерки мечтают о барах-призраках, диджеи работают в мэрии, а случайные встречи в миграции превращаются в уроки жизни. Город, в котором реальность шатается, как автобус на повороте в Палермо — и в этом вся его магия.