Changes and things i miss

Some of you might know that i recently moved from Buenos Aires. This is just a quick post to mention a few of the things i miss about Argentina and the things i'm enjoying here in Chile.

A few of the many things i miss about BA:

-Buenos Aires' energy and atmosphere. A kind of electricity that envelops the city that i've never felt anywhere else.
-Argentine's stupidly cheap utility (gas, electricity, water) prices.
-Beef. Nothing more need be said.
-The crumbling, faded beauty of BA's pre-war architecture.
-The cultural life (not that i ever took much advantage of most of what BA had to offer but i enjoyed knowing that at some point i could if i wanted to!)
-The parks and the way Argentines take advantage of their public spaces. Sundays down in Puerto Madero and the Costanera Sur were one of my favourite things about BA.
-Argentine courtesy and language-so much more polite and 'hablador' than Chileans who are far more direct and aggressive in their speech. Queueing is non-existent in Chile, where the elbow rules.
-My old house.
-The way that every barrio has a friendly hardware store, a grocer, a glazier, a baker, a butcher and all the other independent shops that died a death in most of the developed world, and Chile, 20 years ago. And the way that these shops are usually cheaper than their mega-store competition.


Things i'm enjoying in Chile:

-Valparaiso, one of South America's most unique and spectacular cities. Like BA, it has a ramshackle charm that is slowly being regenerated.
-Waking up and looking out across the Pacific.
-Drivers who know how to drive.
-Policemen you can trust.
-A hideous bureaucracy that at least has some vague kind of logic to it. The only ridiculous bureaucracy that has so far driven me crazy was the Argentine consulate.
-Fried shrimp and cheese empanadas.
-Excellent sea-food
-Excellent international cuisine. When i first arrived in Chile 3 years ago, the food was, to put it mildly, appalling (with the exception of sea-food). Now, Chilean international cuisine is the finest i've had anywhere on this Continent.
-Peruvian food. Wow.
-Cerro Concepcion's (where i live in Valpo) village atmosphere.
-Beer that tastes of beer and not rat's urine.
-Sunshine without humidity.
-Cool summer nights.
-My new house.
-Being able to pay for almost everything with credit card.
-Lack of blatant, in your face corruption.

Well these are just a few things that i can think of right now. Over the coming months i'm sure many more will come to mind. Although i really miss BA, i'm happy to have made the move over to Valparaiso. My girlfriend is back closer to her family and we can start really making plans for our business and what we want to do with our lives. The next few months are going to be kind of crazy, renovating part of our house, setting up a business, travelling, entertaining and more. But it's going to be fun and i love making new starts. Finished things are boring...