I love walking through the city. I love love walking a lot through the city. Easy, Buenos Aires is a very big city. Partly because walking is actually the best way to see and get to know the city, and at the same time it is a good physical exercise. And maybe it is also a bit about saving money. Taxis have become quite expensive these days; Or let us say, the days when you could take a ride for less then 10$, and the driver would refuse a $100 bill, are long gone. And with that, so have my interesting talks with the drivers. Strangely, the main subject has always been politics. Strangely, most taxi drivers hate the current president (whoever that is), and usually they blame politics for Argentina being a ‘bad country’, all this in contrary to Europe, where everything is all perfect in their eyes. But as I always say, ‘cada pais tiene sus cosas’, every country has his problems.

But that is not what this post is about. It is about change of season. After 3 weeks of totally perfect and stabile autumn weather, the type of summer weather every Belgian would sign for without thinking( sunny, 25°C during the day and 15°C at night), we have had a cold, rainy day. Yes, temperature dropped to 16°C, it rained, and it was cold. While at the same time my family in Belgium was happy and boasting about the sunny spring weather of yes, (hope you are sitting down when reading this) : 12°C. Which immediately got me worrying : how will I survive Belgian summer, wearing summer clothes in these wintery temperatures?

Of course that was the discussion I had with the taxi driver who has just brought me home. He told me is was in such a pissed off mood because of the rain and the cold (OMG, you too?!!), he said he is an old man and remembers the good old times, when he was just a kid, when they had their typical Argentine 1st of May celebrations. He told me that a good 1st of May celebration begins with going to a soccer game. In the rain. After that comes the typical family ‘asado’ (BBQ), ‘under the roof’, as it was always freezing cold. The puddles used to be frozen in the morning of May 1st and ice would come back in the evening. Yes, on the 1st of May. I found it really hard to believe, considering the past weeks’ weather, and even today : we are still a long way off to freezing temperatures. I could probably count the days under 0°C that I have experienced over the last few years on one, maybe 2 hands. And it immediately made me think about my parents and grandparents, weren’t’ they always boasting about how cold winters used to be and how there used to be lots of snow each winter? Are seasons really changing? Or do we only remember the exceptions and take them for reality? I wonder. In the meantime I am hoping that this nice man is wrong, and that we will have a nice, warm, and sunny 1st of May. I wish you all a great 1st of may day!

photo : ©Katti Borre 2014