The Smell of Buenos Aires

One of the things I said I wanted to do on this trip was to record the smell of Buenos Aires. I know that these first few days here, once I am recovered from the minor jet lag, will be days of hyper sensitivity to things like sights and smells. After that, I'll get used to things and stop noticing.

Well, it turns out it would be impossible to describe the smell of Buenos Aires. San Francisco has a very distinct smell, which for some reason is stronger when it is foggy, but also is not noticeable from every part of the city - I think it is the smell of the eucalyptus trees, but for me it is the smell of fog. It might be salt air plus eucalyptus.

I thought Buenos Aires had a distinct smell because I recalled something last year when I first got into my apartment. Now I think it was probably the smell of cleaning products mixed with exhaust fumes. My current apartment had its own smell, which turned out to be some home spray that is in the bathroom that Ralf probably sprayed before I arrived.

But walking through the streets today on a quest to find something to hang some clothes after I wash them (I decided I want to wash out clothes from the gym, underwear, socks, etc., rather than have to take them to the laundry), I tried to mentally record the different smells I encountered.

It turned out that the smells changed every few steps depending on where I was. The overriding smell however was of exhaust fumes, at least while I was walking down Santa Fe. Mixed in with that were smells such as food, pizza, beef, fried things, lots of different colognes and perfumes, cigarette smoke, incense (if I was passing a vendor selling incense), occasional dog shit and roasted candied peanuts. It also smells like spring.