The Last Liquido

So I'm leaving tonight, sitting in the same cafe I came to an hour after arriving (Tienda del Cafe, corner of Scalbrini Ortiz and Juncal, highly recommended).  I'm having a liquido of fresh orange juice, bananas and peaches.  Reflecting on what a great day it was, and what a great trip it's been.

I did most of what I thoght I'd do.  Some stuff I didn't -- I had imagined that I'd join a gym and regularly work out, even brought a bathing suit and goggles in case I decided to swim, but because of the Christmas and New Year's holiday, practically everything was shut down that week, and by the time the new year came around, I was into a rythmn that didn't include workouts or martial arts or swimming.

I had also imagined I'd go every day to a cafe to read the local newspaper and crank through learning that way.  I did, a few times.  But really every morning I spent drinking mate with Hugo,eating toast and fresh fruit, discussing the previous night's events (I still can't seem to get the difference between when to use the preterite and when to use the imperfect), and the upcoming day's events, and whatever else we felt like talking about.  Much better (for me) than sitting in a cafe alone with a newspaper.

Besides Hugo, I made one good friend here, and several acquantances that may have become friends if I had been here longer.  I'm grateful for all the people who let me into their life, put up with my enthusastic but imperfect Spanish.

Some of the best memories:

 Mate with people I had just met

 Camping New Year's Eve

 Partying until 5 in the morning, and being the first one to leave the party

 Biking through the city

 Having Pablo as a friend, who was always up for doing something

 Sitting quietly (sometimes with the computer) in the Botanical Garden

 Lunch w/Hugo, which always started with soup, frequently included wine or beer, and was always followed by a sieta.

 Photo class with Marianna, photo modeling with Deniz

 

The stupidest thing I did on this trip was today, at the end of an excellent day.  Pablo and I met and rode arond all my favorite parts of the city, and I took tons of pictures.  La Boca, San Telmo, the Obelisk in the center, Puerto Matero, the Nature Reserve, the docks.  I had to come back by 6 to pick up laundry (want to travel with clean clothes).  When we came back, I told Pablo one of the few things I really wanted to do, but hadn't, was share a mate in the park with him.  Since he's never tried mate, this was a big stretch, but he agreed.  I got so busy with the mate plan that I forgot about the clothes.  So, some people leave their heart in San Francisco, I'm leaving my socks in Buenos Aires.

But it's fitting, I guess.  Lots of changes at home, maybe some time for some new clothes, new jeans, new shirts, etc.  I'm going home to a different house, much quieter, some new furniture and lights were delivered while I was gone, but it's going to be a tough adjustment.

But I guess it's time, I'm off to pack and then have one more cerveza with Hugo.  What an excellent adventure its been.

Magical Evening

And sometimes things just work out as you want them to.  I had wanted to do something special with Pablo and Hugo my last night in Buenos Aires, and had heard about a place called Bar Magico.  I made reservations, and we went tonight, and it was everything I'd hoped it would be.   I enjoyed the magic, but really what I wanted was for them to enjoy the magic (I've seen plenty).

We got there early, because I thought "Hey, if it's called Bar Magico, it's probably a bar where we can get a drink before the show starts."  But no, and we wandered around a neighborhood that made me appreciate Palermo all the more, then went back to the bar that didn't serve drinks.

But they did have a great close-up show, nice setup, very calm, professional magician.  While I knew most of the techniques (secrets) of the tricks, he did a great job of performing them.  Often I read, or practice, or even sometimes perform, a trick and it's just not that interesting.  Then I see someone perform the exact same thing, and the audience loves it.  Clearly, it has nothing to do with the cards, and everything to do with the audience interaction.

Anyway, close-up was great, then we went into a dining room and had some appetizers (if I had understood how the evening was going to go, we'd have ordered more food, but it wasn't clear, even to the native Spanish speakers).  The parlor show was good, Hugo loved it, and I was very happy about that.

So my last evening here I got to treat my good friends to something they enjoyed, and I'm feeling better about the transition out and looking forward to coming back here, no idea when, but feel like my friends will still be here and be my friends when I return. 

Interviewing

One of my stated purposes for coming is to use my Video Interviewing System to interview Spanish speakers, and then put their responses on the web as a resource for for Spanish learners to listen to native Spanish speakers.  I've really enjoyed the interviews, they've pretty much been what I had hoped they'd be: an excuse to talk with people and ask them more interesting questions.  People are very open and generous, and my interview with tonight's host was one of the best ones I did.

I had posted a message on Couchsurfing explaining the system, and Beatriz responded.  She's a 43-year-old doctor, two boys, lives waaaay out on the edge of the city of Buenos Aires.  I went out Sunday morning, her 13-year-old did an interview with me while she was preparing lunch.  Then we had lunch (empanada appetizer, then gnocchi's, with a nice red wine).  Then we did the interview, she was very open about a lot of things, I think she understood that the interview was more about capturing a moment in time for herself and her boys than it was about language learning.  

Had a great interview yesterday with someone who I'd like to introduce to Pablo.  Lots of common interests, including speaking English with barely an accent.   Great interview, lots of interesting stories.  The sound was bad, we met in a park, and shortly after we got there the leaf blowing folks showed up.  So we went to a coffee shop, but between the TV and the buses outside I'm not sure how it'll come out, but I hope so, the stories were really enjoyable to listen to.

Kissing Guys

I'm a big fan of adopting the local customs when traveling, e.g. drinking mate (though I did go through a half kilo of Starbuck's, too), eating dinner at midnight, speaking Spanish. I also adopted the custom of kissing everyone, including the guys, when greeting or saying goodbye to them. It takes a little getting use to, especially since it's no big deal to everyone else, so they're buzzing along around the circle and I at least want to exchange names. It's an air kiss (mostly), but still the cheek to cheek contact takes some getting used to.

My gay friends in DC do the lip kiss, and it's sometimes odd to be in the middle of a circle and watch someone go around a circle and stop at me to offer a handshake, but I doubt I'll ever be comfortable with that. But here, not offering or accepting a kiss as a greeting is viewed as odd as if you refused to shake someone's hand, it's much more pronounced to refuse the kiss exchange than it is to accept it.

And given my wounded hand, maybe kissing is the way to go anyway.

Doctor's Visit

So now I'm in the emergency room waiting area. My scrapes from the bike fall hurt more now than yesterday, so I'm assuming they're getting infected. I was going to to go the public hospital, which isn't that far away, just to experience socialized medicine, but this clinic was the first one I found, the wait is only about 15 minutes, so I figured it's better to pay the 150 pesos (around $43), and skip the cultural experiment.

But I realize that 150 pesos is a lot of money to most people here, that'd be about 10% of a entry-level professional monthly salary.

And of course, I'm annoyed with myself for not going to a pharamcy to get an ointment to apply, instead of just using the white soap and water.

--

Okay, 12 minutes later, I see the doctor, I foolish accept his handshake, which causes him to squeeze the now very sore scapes on the back of my hand. I explain my problem and diagnosis: I fell, and I think the scrapes are infected. He pokes around a bit, says they're not infected. I say they hurt more today than yesterday, he says that's normal, I say there's a pink ring around the wounds, he says that's normal, and if they don't get bigger, not to worry. He prescribes ice 3 times a day.

The doctor was insistent that an anti-biotic was unnecessary now, and that pretty much it was healing normally.

So $43 dollars (and gratefully not much time) later, I think I'll be okay. As long as I avoid shaking hands.

Winding down and Wrapping up

Although there's always more to do, things seem to be wrapping up nicely the last few days.  I feel like I have enough interviews (though hope to do one or two more), I had hoped to do a tour of the Jewish area but the tour company seems to not respond to email, maybe I'll get it in tomorrow.  I haven't bought much here at all, but found a pair of shoes I like.  I finally found some judaica for Dave and Natasha for their wedding.  I'm probably going to a play tonight.  I still don't have anything for my neice/nephews, nothing jumps out as anything they'd like or use.  I wish my Spanish were better, but I go pretty much go an entire day without using a dictionary or reverting to English, and one-on-one conversations feel pretty strong.

I stopped at a real estate office on my way home today, went through a little brain fantasy about having an apartment in a nice building in a nice area.  I doubt it'll ever happen, but it was fun to think about.

Not all parties are created equal

Well, if it had been my first couchsurfing event, it'd have been my last.  (Si hubiera sido mi primer evento de couch, también habría sido el último.)

There was a pizza party going on tonight (or, I guess more accurately, there "is" a pizza party going on tonight, I'm at the train station heading home, it's not a good fit for me, and I don't want to pretend it is.)  Probably not worth going into the details (a shame, since I tend to be much better at clever complaining than generous gratitide), but the short story is that I didn't particularly care for most of the people there, and everybody smoked.  Not everybody, in fact, none of the guys smoked, but all but two of the women did.  Philip Morris should be proud.  The party was outside, on a small patio, and the smoke put me in a pretty distant mood.

I had wanted to go to the theater, but I hate going alone.  I don't mind paying for others when I invite them to go out, in fact, I have it budgeted to do so, but it's a bit awkward at times, a date would be easier (at least in that respect), but now's not a good time for that either.  So I could go alone, maybe post a message looking for someone to join me, or take advantage of social situtions I'm invited to and go and enjoy speaking in Spanish and meeting new people.  Generally, the last option is a good one for me.

But tonight it wasn't, between the kid that was proud that he had never taken a bus here even after two months (ranting deleted...) and the hour-long ride because no one had the directions and me feeling guilty for asking the driver not to smoke in the car, it really just wasn't meant to be.

One reason I went was because I do like the host, who agreed to be interviewed a few days ago.  At this point, I'll close this post and shift to talking about the interviews, which have been much more positive.