7 encounters in Buenos Aires: a city of absurdity, magic, and medialunas

I met a lawyer who told me he doesn't practice anymore, because these days he's a chef at his family's restaurant. He invited me to a pasta tasting. By the third glass of wine he confessed he dreams of running away to Uruguay to grow strawberries. When I asked why he'd bothered with law school, he said: For my mother.

A medialuna lesson in the immigration line#

Waiting in line at immigration, I struck up a conversation with a guy from Iran. He showed me the correct way to eat a medialuna* — you have to dunk it in coffee. I had my doubts. Later we shared some mate, and he admitted he'd moved here for a girl who ended up marrying his neighbor. He stayed in Buenos Aires anyway, since he'd already learned Spanish.

The DJ who runs city hall by day, Palermo by night#

I met a DJ who works at the city municipal office. He told me: "By day I stamp paperwork, by night I get Palermo pumping." At the party he played some electronic set layered with Tibetan horns and French whispering. The crowd was in raptures. I was in bewilderment.

Tango flirtation at the coworking space#

At my coworking space I became friends with a woman who teaches tango to digital nomads. She told me tango is the language of things left unsaid. Then she started flirting with me through the pauses in our conversation. I couldn't handle it and fled into a Zoom call facing a blank wall.

The necromancer from Recoleta#

I met a girl who lives in the French-style neighborhood for retirees and studies necromancy. Seriously. She said the energy of souls is most vivid at Recoleta Cemetery. We texted for a while, but then she sent me a selfie with a tombstone captioned "waiting for you". I decided not to continue.

A bar made of old televisions#

I met a guy who works at a bank but dreams of opening a bar just for friends. He showed me the concept: the entire interior built from old TV sets, even the bar stools and the bathroom sink. The bar was going to be called *"Lo que no se ve". I told him it was genius. He said: "Lo sé" and poured another fernet and cola.

Buenos Aires: the city that rattles you but won't let go#

That's how I'll remember Buenos Aires — a city where bank clerks dream of ghost bars, DJs work city hall, and chance encounters in an immigration line turn into life lessons. A city where reality wobbles like a bus taking a corner in Palermo — and that's exactly its magic.