BsAsIt is said BsAs is the way locals abbreviate Buenos A...
BsAs
It is said BsAs is the way locals abbreviate Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. Non-locals reduce to simply BA. Where these distinctions come from or if they actually exist as described is a topic of urban legend that all too often morphs with the person telling it. To believe standard references, even where the city's name comes from has a convoluted history involving conquistadors, stinky marshes, the Virgin Mary, Mediterranean storms, and mosquitoes carrying the "bad air" of malaria. I suspect all of this is totally clear so far.
I could tell you about Buenos Aires with content like this ---
One story says Pedro de Mendoza, a 16th century Spanish sailor, named a new port where San Telmo is now after a religious icon that supposedly helped calm a storm in the Mediterranean. That religious icon was the Virgin Mary of the fair winds or "buen ayre." Another Spanish seaman, Juan de Garay, apparently intent on coming across more devoted than his predecessor, extended the name for the new port to “Ciudad de la Santísima Trinidad y Puerto de Nuestra Señora la Virgen María de los Buenos Aires” or the “City of the Most Holy Trinity and Port of Saint Mary of the Good Airs.” Lucky for everyone, especially airport gate attendants, that name was shortened in the 17th century to Buenos Aires. The portenos or "people of the port," as it's said locals call themselves, seem to like the name fine as it is now. Far beyond icons, their devotions span a much wider array of interests and passions.
Or I could tell you about Buenos Aires another way ---
Talking about an emotional experience often times leaves something to be desired. Namely, the emotional experience. And so, instead of talking about the history and current state of Buenos Aires, I'm going to simply share some photos taken during my recent stay with the people of the port. I'm tempted to claim it's a gallery of fine art - the art of being a porteno. But that would be pretentious as much wrong, as if a single visit from a tourist could ever capture the heart and soul of a place and its people. We know neither words nor photos ever convey the whole array of life in a city. To mix metaphors, it'll never be the whole banquet. At best, it's merely a sampler tasting menu. But oh so good. For that sample I say, muchas gracias Buenos Aires.
It is said BsAs is the way locals abbreviate Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. Non-locals reduce to simply BA. Where these distinctions come from or if they actually exist as described is a topic of urban legend that all too often morphs with the person telling it. To believe standard references, even where the city's name comes from has a convoluted history involving conquistadors, stinky marshes, the Virgin Mary, Mediterranean storms, and mosquitoes carrying the "bad air" of malaria. I suspect all of this is totally clear so far.
I could tell you about Buenos Aires with content like this ---
One story says Pedro de Mendoza, a 16th century Spanish sailor, named a new port where San Telmo is now after a religious icon that supposedly helped calm a storm in the Mediterranean. That religious icon was the Virgin Mary of the fair winds or "buen ayre." Another Spanish seaman, Juan de Garay, apparently intent on coming across more devoted than his predecessor, extended the name for the new port to “Ciudad de la Santísima Trinidad y Puerto de Nuestra Señora la Virgen María de los Buenos Aires” or the “City of the Most Holy Trinity and Port of Saint Mary of the Good Airs.” Lucky for everyone, especially airport gate attendants, that name was shortened in the 17th century to Buenos Aires. The portenos or "people of the port," as it's said locals call themselves, seem to like the name fine as it is now. Far beyond icons, their devotions span a much wider array of interests and passions.
Or I could tell you about Buenos Aires another way ---
Talking about an emotional experience often times leaves something to be desired. Namely, the emotional experience. And so, instead of talking about the history and current state of Buenos Aires, I'm going to simply share some photos taken during my recent stay with the people of the port. I'm tempted to claim it's a gallery of fine art - the art of being a porteno. But that would be pretentious as much wrong, as if a single visit from a tourist could ever capture the heart and soul of a place and its people. We know neither words nor photos ever convey the whole array of life in a city. To mix metaphors, it'll never be the whole banquet. At best, it's merely a sampler tasting menu. But oh so good. For that sample I say, muchas gracias Buenos Aires.
No comments have been added yet.
