I arrived in Buenos Aires about 5 weeks ago and shortly afterwards I developed a nasty cough. Unlike a normal cough which goes away, this one just lingered and actual got worse and more violent. Though it's only just subsiding now.
At first I thought I was detoxing after staying with a friend who was always smoking - as I was sharing one or two cigarettes with her every day. But it doesn't normally take four weeks to detox from ten days of chemical stress.
I know I'm not ill, so I have been thinking what it could be. I thought maybe it's my body re-adjusting. I even thought it might be the water! But I think I now know what it is - the pollution!
As I walk down the street big buses spew horrible fumes out of their exhausts - into the air, into our lungs. I guess in time I will get used to this and then stop coughing. But I don't want to get used to it - that would mean my systems have adapted to the constant toxins whirling around in there. Do I have a choice? No, but my body is fighting hard, and my ribs, abs and back are hurting from coughing so hard. Thank goodness I know a good Chiropractor here.
Buenos Aires is Latin America's third largest urban centre. Although it has a population of 3.1 million, this number jumps to 12 million as workers, students and tourists flood through the city every day. There are over 8 million cars and large fleets of buses which account for 60% of the total number of vehicles in Argentina, obviously creating serious health problems.
Ironically, Buenos Aires means "Good Air."
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