Dinner with Pablo

I posted an ad on craigslist saying I was visiting BsAs and looking for people to meet. While this isn't as intimidating as online dating, there's still an significant element of uncertainty in posting an ad looking to meet complete strangers. What kind of person responds to an ad like that? What kind of person posts and ad like that?

A guy like Pablo. With some trepidation, I exchanged some emails with him and agreed to meet at a coffee shop (again, a lot like online dating!). Pablo likes practicing his English and helping foreigners with their Spanish, evidently he does this a lot, and speaks English very well. We took a long walk to get to a neighborhood with some interesting restaurants, but it was so hot I insisted on place with a/c. Since I'm in Argentina, I ordered a steak and some wine. Since Pablo's a flactito (a skinny one), he ordered a salad. I felt pretty gringo, but we had a great chat about lots of things, switching between English and Spanish so we could both improve our speaking skills.

We returned to the coffee shop at about 1AM. I then began my walk home, and managed to get lost. It was still very hot, around 85 degrees, and it was dark. I knew I was close (within a few blocks), but couldn't get my orientation correct. In part, this is because their maps are upside down (up is South), and for whatever reason following this map was like shaving looking at a monitor display rather than a mirror display (that is, you see what others see, rather than a mirror imaage). Very confusing.

I kept telling myself that I had been in the country for less than 48 hours, and that I always get lost when I'm new somewhere. I finally made it home, sat in front of the fan and wondered if I would survive without a/c.