What better way to enjoy a world recession than to lay in a park. Parks all accross the world are neglected and abandoned because of the emergence of television, amusement parks and tanning salons. In Buenos Aires, parks are not only a place to make out with your significant other, but they are a place of relaxation. Once your feet step onto the grass and release themselves from the pavement prison, you are in another world. No matter what age, size, color or sexual orientation, feel free to take your clothes off and lay. Go ahead..soak up the sun and drink a liter of beer with your dog. Read a new new novel from cover to cover while chain smoking in the sun. Write that short story you have had in your head for the last eight weeks.
Whatever you do during relaxation time in the park in Buenos Aires, don`t think about the economy or global warming, unless it fail to wear sunscreen and your dog next to you starts looking at you like a well deserved lunch. Escape is why parks were created and Portenos and Portenas find a sort of salvation in parks. The parks serve as a place away from the concrete jungle of the city life. Unlike other major metropolis cities in the Americas, for example New York, Buenos Aires offers more parks and more dog mess. So watch out before laying your favorite bedsheet down for a nice clean picknick in the park.
In all honesty and sarcasm aside, it is refreshing to see parks thouroughly enjoyed. There is a park with a fountain/pool, that I often run around. Street children, escaping the summer heat, go swimming in the fountain while on the other side old men play with their remote control sail boats. In the park closest to me, Las Heras Park, futbol is played everyday and night, rain or shine. A mix of colorful dancers and percussionists, wearing clothing from light blue to red, from orange to purple, march with unannounced enthusiasm through the park every Sunday afternoon; sharing with the Barrio a pulse that is inviting to the heart and embracing to the soul. Old men and women sit on the benches, strategically placed throughout the park serving as a front seat at some unpretencious and neverending movie, watching the unfolding Parklife.
