Gaby, (far left in sunglasses)is so far, my best friend in Buenos Aires. We hang out at least a few times a week - usually one night out for drinks or dinner on a week night and on the weekend we often meet for mate in the park to lay out and chat, or see a concert, run in a race. Last Tuesday we met in Puerto Madero - to have happy hour with Judith (captain of our running team) and enjoy the summer sun. Puerto Madero is currently the hippest, most expensive, modernist area of the city at the old port. For me and most foreigners, its not so alluring. Reminds me of the area in SF near the ballpark - recently built up with high rise apartments and loft like expensive restaurants. Been there, done that. I'll take a tattered french building with hole in the wall parrillas any day. But it was fun for a night. Gaby was celebrating her new job - situated a block from the water at a french cosmetics firm. Judith also recently got a new job in HR for a well known HR consulting outfit - her first real job after a two year search. Thursday, Gaby, Laura and I met for dinner at Tandoor Indian restaurant after I took a yoga class nearby. We all three share a fascination with India and are making tentative plans to vacation there together in the next year if we can manage it. The food was tasty and typically spiced. Argentines have notoriously sensitive palates. After one bite of the chicken in coconut curry cilantro sauce, Laura couldn't eat anymore. We also had to stop at a kiosco on the way home so she could buy water to drink before bed since her tongue was still "on fire". Gaby too complained the next day about the spiciness even though she loves the flavor.
Friday, Gaby and I took a roadtrip to Las Tonninas for the weekend. Her grandparents bought a small shacklike casita there many years ago and now her parents own it. Everyone in her family takes turns staying there over the summer. I wasn't sure what to expect as I've not traveled much and only been to the beach once since we got here. The town was, how shall I say this...third worldy. The buildings were mostly run down, dirty and ancient. Reminded me of how people live in tiny villages in Mexico - wrinkly old women sitting in broken chairs on the front "lawn" while soiled naked children run in circles chasing a half starved dog. Wow -I thought, this is going to be a real taste of how the peeps here live.
The house was filthy and I am not a fastidious person. In fact, most people who've been overnight at our place here or in SF will attest to our mutual piggyness. However, even I have my limits and they were tested this past weekend. The casita upon entry reeked of dust and mildew as if no one had been there for years (her brother and friends had just visited the weekend before). Bathroom and kitchen had not been thoroughly cleaned since her grandparents bought the place 40 years back. I think the same shower curtain was in use. Technically I think it was white but carried a patina of black soot with the ever growing spores of mold. We slept in the bedroom with two sets of twin beds. The mattress I slept on was but a 3 inch dust bunny and mite encrusted piece of old foam. The sheet covering made me yearn for a Motel 6 bedspread. Oh, did I mention the "shower" drickled water. None of this seemed to bother or embarrass Gaby. She was so used to it and said that when she was younger and her grandparents were still alive, they'd have 15 family members all stay the weekend - yes, sharing that same bathroom and the one dingy gray towel.
We were just a half block to the beach so I saw a lot of the ocean which was nice. It was windy so the roar of the waves was also always in ears reach. We brought books and mate to the waters edge and watched mostly families play in the rocky surf and pitch tents on the sandy dunes above us. We ran at dusk, ate oodles of meat at a local parrilla and strolled the town's main strip at midnight. Teenagers littered the arcades and ice cream shops giggling and swapping saliva. It wasn't as warm at night as Buenos Aires but it oozed summertime and was in the end, an all around good time.
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