When in doubt, “lo siento” or “es todo bueno”. I have a $1,500 ticket to board this plane, but you overbooked so I might not get to Argentina tonight? Es todo bueno. There’s a $140 US dollar fee to enter your country? Es todo bueno. It’s 0 degrees Celsius when everyone thought I’d be on a tropical vacation for 4 months? Es todo bueno. And, when anyone talks to me in Spanish (host family, taxi driver, man selling magazines on the street, etc)? Lo siento. Hablo poco Espa�ol.
Surprisingly, it’s worked rather well. Hopefully, in the weeks to come I’ll expand my vocabulary beyond “it’s all good” and “I’m sorry”. The good news is that I had enough of the basics and enough of an idea of where to go and how to ask to actually make it to my destination: Recoleta.
After unpacking and taking a much needed nap, I can’t decide whether I’m charged up and ready to go or completely ready to pass out again. There will be time for sleep later, I want to explore this chilly city on foot and why not start at night? Let the street lights guide my housemate and I to places we would have missed in the sunlight. Maybe we’ll hit a caf�, maybe it will be a barra, maybe we’ll just walk around the block. Maybe. Tomorrow we work, but tonight is ours.
******** 3 horas m�s adelante *********
A fine choice, friends. We stepped out of our building, picked a direction and didn’t stop until we saw something awesome enough to stop for. These are the things I discovered:
1) My host family lives in an elite and beautiful neighbor with Mercedes & BMW dealers a block away.
2) BA is a calm, but vivid ciudad at night. It’s humming with cars flying down the 8 lane roads that parallel the fancy shops and apartment buildings, but inhabited with couples and friends laughing over a cup of tea or some helado in a dim & tucked away caf�. As quaint as this was to see and as sure as I am that I will participate in that sometime soon, this wasn’t the night.
3) Invierno (winter) does not stop craftsmen and women from selling their products at the outdoor market. Circling a small parque, vendors lined the sidewalks with their merchandise. Items include leather belts & bags (there’s lots of leather because of the lots of beef thing), colorful ceramic jars and figurines depicting parts of the city and the Tango culture, and more jewelry than you can shake a stick at. Taking our time and walking through leisurely was the best pace. Neither of us intended on buying anything which allowed us to soak in the surroundings and enjoy the swag beats of full blown concert happening in the center of the park.
4) It pays to be open minded. I didn’t know where we were going or what we were going to do, I just knew that it was important to not stall having an adventure.
5) The dashboard translate Widget on my Mac will likely make my life 10,000x easier.
6) These are going to be 4 of the best months of my life.
Best.
Location: Buenos Aires
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