Canada and the US are quite orderly countries. There are many rules and regulations for everything and they are enforced. The rest of the world is not so strict.

It still drives me nuts in Japan that after a traffic light turns red, several more cars will keep going. However, going to a city like Bangkok where dozens of cars, bikes and tuk-tuks will keep squeezing through red lights makes me realize that Japan is tame in comparison.

Those standards are perfectly normal and accepted for the respective countries. Everything we take for granted as “normal” is just a cultural artifact that the rest of the world would likely deride as excessive.

@Kristin: Totally, and I’m all about blending in when I travel (not a big fan of the tourist-style of travel, though I know many prefer the opposite and really seem to enjoy themselves), so it’s extra important to me to get into that rhythm!

@J.D.: Ah, I intend to make it to Brazil, as well! Hopefully on this trip, in fact. Got a city in mind? Timeframe? Maybe we’ll be there around the same time? As for Flickr, you can see my page here (it’s erratically updated at the moment, but that will change very soon!).

@Sean: The no apartment thing definitely made my first few days in BA exciting, frustrating and a little scary. That being said, I did manage to get something lined up and I moved in without having to take more than the two nights in the hotel I allotted myself (and the first day was all travel!), so I feel pretty good about my prospects of being able to get a place to stay quick in other places as a travel. Then again, BA is a big city, and a lot of the work I did was online (which won’t be the case in a lot of the other places I go).

@Mr. Arvizu: Glad to have you aboard! I’m in Argentina because I’m traveling from country to country, a new one every 4 months, to experience living and working in different cities, different cultures, etc. Argentina in particular was chosen by my amazing readership (which reminds me: I’ll be posting a new blog on Monday that will ask where I should go next…the first 8 countries will go on the list and a poll will go up shortly thereafter so you can vote where I go in January when I leave Argentina!)

@Gordie: I imagine that’s especially terrifying because you can’t hear them coming!

@Rasheed: Thanks Rasheed! Hopefully I’ll be able to make a direct comparison sometime in the future!

@Dave: Thanks for reading, Dave, and for the insight. It does seem to be the little things that catch my attention when I go to a new place. The devil’s in the details!

@Jane: Thanks Jane

@Thrice: I’m hoping to see some of the rest of Argentina while I’m here, perhaps spending a month in Patagonia or Mendoza. Any suggestions?

@Jennifer: Thanks for the kind words, Jennifer!

@Tristan: Nope, my experience with Santiago was limited to looking out the airport window into the fog at the Holiday Inn (a very cultural experience, you’ll note). I’ll definitely have to tap into your Chilean knowledge…I’m hoping to visit there for a few days while I’m down south.

Thanks for the great comments guys!

Can’t wait to hear more about the beginning of your journey down in BA.

Dave
LifeExcursion

It sounds like Karachi, or any major city in India or Pakistan, for that matter, and probably most of the Asia.

Kudos to you for adapting so soon.