OK so call me privileged trash, but until now I had not realized the toll your neighborhood can have on your mental health and overall mood. I just moved out from my little 3-female-shared room (more on that later) downtown Buenos Aires. Not exactly the nicest area in the city. For context, my very white-like privileged background includes private schools-only, violin classes after school, and secluded little houses on residential neighborhoods. Walking down the street of my latest lair I was like: “why are this people so moody all the time?” Until I (capital I) was moody all the time.
Was it the trash? Was it the gripping feeling of insecurity? The long faces of the comunal commuter? The loco screaming and singing at 7am? The reek of pee, trash juices, and what not? Soon enough I became m-i-s-e-r-a-b-l-e. Me, whom I decidedly thought could thrive in any environment, no matter the circumstances, the day, or mercurial situation. ME, the strong, resilient me. I wasn’t even in a villa (think of favelas in Brazil). It was just not mon, red brick pg-13 green clean situation I grew up in.
Don’t get me wrong. In Seoul, Korea I spent 9 months staying at an even by locals, unheard-of remote neighborhood, to the brim of ajjeoshis, broken light poles and shady looking oppas. It was basically a basement. My roommate was an Indonesian guy who could barely keep himself clean (he was a terrible representation of Indonesian people!), and the cold air would blew in through the windows every freezy winter night. But, and here’s my next point: it was so easy to escape. One, two, three steps, and I was on my way to gypsy-trendy-Seoul (shoutout to Seoul’s amazing public transport system).
I could not, though, escape so easily from my latest settlement, both physically and psychologically. Located in close proximity to the nation congress, I was a privileged witness of every discontent the Argentinian people had @ the moment. Lots of Che Guevara massive pancartas and all that. Some stuff was fun, like, uhm, the gay parade! My friend’s friend had her phone stolen tho. That wasn’t so fun.
Being as I am, I tried to adapt and build my routine around what was around. I signed up for the local gym, had a specific market and pastry shop I frequent and even became friendly with the local loco. Just kidding! They terrify me.