"Kill Fire" - or, the fun of foreign-ness

One of the best things about being in a foreign country is the way it can surprise you with its strangeness. Things aren't the way you expect them to be, so you become hyper-aware of the small details of life and how weird they can be. Here are some of my favorites:

"Fire Extinguisher" in Spanish? "Kill Fire"

This sign is quite common in Buenos Aires. What does it mean? It looks like a really carefree guy with a briefcase...



A common greeting? "Como Andas?" (how are you walking?). I guess it's not any more odd than "how's it going?" but I see it with fresh and funny eyes.

One last observation - there is a huge Italian influence in Buenos Aires, as you may know already. Several decades ago, half the population of the city was recent immigrants, and many of them were from Italy. That heritage shows up in the language, so it's common when saying goodbye to say "Ciao Ciao" - twice, very fast. If you try, it will sound like you're a bad actor pretending to be Italian. I still can't do it with a straight face.