It's Friday, Be a Tourist in Your Own City

Since I moved to the US, I have been visiting my native country (Argentina) at least once a year. I am a die-hard "porteña" -as people from Buenos Aires are known- and I enjoy this city no matter what. Yeah, it can be messy and chaotic but that is what I like about it. It is the perfect ground for creativity and creativity has in fact flourish, in part thanks to the crisis we had in 2001.

Some days ago, I found this stencil near my old neighborhood. I can't express in words how I felt when I saw it!



For someone that still knows the shopkeepers around the neighborhood but that has become in some way "a tourist" -specially when I visit with my other half that wants to see all the touristic attractions and can take more pictures than a japanese on crack-, this stencil is a gem. Just the fact that it is in English makes it more special (reminder to some: our official language is Spanish.)

Buenos Aires has become a big tourist attraction in the last years I guess that in part because of the rate exchange, in part because it is really an amazing city to discover. But even when I was living here I always liked to check it out as if I was a tourist.

It is in some way a creative experience. You need to change your mindset but it is a great experiment and now it is easier to do. Just search blogs from tourists that have visited your city and read what they have to say, how they look at it. Then check your neighborhood again with that in mind. You may discover so many new things and details that you have never seen before!