Expats galore

Was a 3 day weekend here in BA. Monday was Malvinas Day - national holiday to honor the Argentines who fought (unsuccessfully) to take the british Faulkan Islands. Was nice and quiet yesterday in our neighborhood. For once we slept in without waking to the sound of a jackhammer with construction on a new apt building across the street.

Sat nite we were invited to a dinner party with a group of expats. Gay couple from SF and several single women from the US and UK here trying to make new lives for themselves. After dinner half the group went home (inc Hugo) and I joined the ladies for my first girls nite out. We tromped around a trendy bar district in Palermo Hollywood until 5:45am. Not sure how I stayed up that late but I never got tired. The scene seemed to just get going around 5. It was so warm - mid 70s and humid that most people hung out in the bars with rooftop terraces and back patio areas. had a great time.

Sunday we went to a friend of a friend of a friends expat brunch in a barrio on the outer edges of our known neighborhoods. This area called Baracas is next to San Telmo. Lots of old beautiful buildings but more run down looking and not as safe as where we've been. also more affordable to buy and rent. The host of the brunch party - Russell, owns a very spacious loft that he also uses for his export business. It was the kind of afternoon I never had in SF. A truly diverse (sexual orientation, profession, culture, religious background) mix of people - no one in any kind of rush, enjoying the food and each other for hours. Most stayed 4 hours or more. Early in the gathering, there were several children and two dogs inside too. There were two argentine ladies cooking made to order omeletas and a constant flow of mimosas. Hugo and a new friend from LA played ping pong for an hour. I chatted up two interesting women. One from Chicago who came here to learn spanish and is now working for Russell's biz. The other from Colombia who's been here 3 years now and spoke very good english so i learned a lot about the Colombian way of life. She thinks the mafia in Argentina is actually worse than theirs. The friends we came with are another gay couple from SF who are here to 1)take up a new life as a painter, 2) finish dissertation on the mythology of "nothingness" and how one needs to come from a space of nada to create something entirely new. Another guy I met bought a building to live in and also used part of it to open an art gallery (which apparently didn't work out). Now he is thinking of using the space for a private club (popular trend down here) and a kind of salon space where smart people come to philosofize on art, politics and the meaning of nada.