Just stuff, by Helen

More Beckham. And we still don´t really know who he is.

Women here are all about the shoes. Shoe stores every where. And for all the walking they do, they really like these flimsy Jimmy Choo type shoes. Little sandles with no support, or, really big is the plain old rubber flip-flop, for boys and girls.

NY bus drivers are just plain old sissies next to the BA bus drivers. I´m talking 2 inches from a car, wrong side of the road, a mile in 60. Don´t get me started on the taxi drivers. These guys have a death wish--I´m just not sure if it´s for themselves or their passengers.

Despite all the poop, I am really loving the multitude of dogs. And the love of a dog is the universal language. Wanna meet a porteño, make over their dogs.

If a line looks important, stand in it.

Everything here is delivered. It is actually easier to get your groceries delivered to your home than to carry them there yourself. And there is no take out, but they are happy to deliver--sin cargo.

Coins are at a premium. None of the negocios want to give coins. They even round in your favor to avoid giving you a coin. And there is no $1 note. The smallest is a $2. We have not seen a penny and do not expect to. We rarely see a five centavo coin.

Many people don´t have phones or computers of their own and go to places called locurtorios to use the Internet and make a call. The internet is cheap $1,50 an hour (about fifty US cents), but it costs fifty-centavos-a-page to print. That adds up.

Smile pretty, it makes up for a lot.