Recoleta Cemetery is the perfect metaphor for Buenos Aires. It is hauntingly beautiful and a little sinister even on a bright day. I felt this way prior to the bird poop scam although that incident reinforced my viewpoint. For every kind stranger there were two trying to rip us off or worse. We had our worst AirBnB experience in this city. The taxi drivers were especially aggressive with their gouging techniques. The Argentinian financial system with two exchange rates made all kinds of commerce more difficult. Most disturbingly there seemed to be a deeply entrenched fear and suspicion mentality. The physical beauty of the people and the buildings is a strange contrast to what simmers beneath. This country is more insular than many of its neighbors and certainly more angry. We know their financial crisis has taken a toll, but we have traveled to many cities in difficult financial situations and have been treated far better. As a visitor I felt kind of isolated. Perhaps I am making too much of my particular experience and extrapolating too far. Ultimately, I believe that the majority of the people here are goodhearted, but trapped in a city that is losing the battle against time and desperately railing against irrelevance.
