Last week we moved into our new old apartment in Palermo. This pic is the view from our balcony looking down onto the street - taken my first week in BA. It's a weird deja vu kind of thing. Walking around the neighborhood, familiar shops and streets but I'm seeing it all with new eyes and an ease with the language. Rather than pointing at the fruit and vegetables I want, I have a short chat with the shopkeeper to ask about what's fresh, what a nice day it is, whether Utta is "macho or embra" (she's embra) although the mosquitos are tormenting me - just like when I arrived and last lived here. Utta remembers the building and the apartment. Animals are funny that way. She knew to turn to the left when the elevator arrived at the fourth floor. She's happier here and so are we - calmer and more relaxed. With the rugs Hugh brought back from our storage in SF the place feels homier and more like us. We have settled in finally (although we are living very simply and trying not to accumulate much, it took 6 taxi rides to move all our stuff when the first time it only took 2). Our portero Carlos is having trouble remembering my name. Ambi is too foreign sounding for him i guess although 90% of the argentines i've met say it easily. so, he's taken to calling me "mujer de senor hugo". back in my radical angry feminist days that would have sent me into a real tizzy. but carlos is sweet and not at all patronizing. it's just part of the language. in fact, its not uncommon to see Cristina Kirchner (soon to be President of Argentina, current Senator and wife of the current President) to be referred to as "mujer de Nestor Kirchner". Yes, she's much more than that and if she's ok with the reference, i can live with mine too.
today I went to Jumbo (the biggest grocery store/home depot like monstrosity in town) to pick up a few necessities - mosquito repellent and the thingy that plugs into the wall and sends off some kind of disarming smell, tupperware, pot holder, baking dish and some food - had grilled salmon for dinner (first seafood in 2 months). Joni arrives tomorrow morning for a 2 week visit. Fortunately this apartment has a small second bedroom with a wee single bed - nothing fancy but for one person it should do. We haven't seen each other since my trip to Mexico and Joni's not much of an email person so we have a lot of catching up to do.
When Jen and Jackie were here, we visited an estancia for a few days near a colonial town called San Antonio de Areco. I got caught up in the whirl of vacationdom and "forgot" one morning about my lactose intolerance. They served cafe con crema - with the crema likely straight out of the cow that morning. well, four hours later my body reminded me. it lasted 5 days this time. wasn't able to eat anything but bread and bananas for days. made it a bit rough the later part of their visit but it was I guess a necessary reminder. so, during that time i stopped drinking coffee altogether. now that my tummy is back to normal, i am on to a new morning routine of mate to jump start my day. whenever i mention my love of mate to an expat they look at me with shock and awe - also will usually burp out some inane remark like "wow, you've really taken this whole argentine thing to heart haven't you?" it's said in uruguay everyone walks around with their mate thermos slung over their shoulder in a fancy little mate bag so they can sip it all day long. i'm thinking of getting one...
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