10 Days Later in Buenos Aires

Taking down the flag at the Casa Rosada It’s amazing what a difference a week makes. After not having anyone to hang out with the first few days here, I spent last night trying to coordinate plans with three separate groups of friends. I met a few people while wandering around in Palermo last Saturday night (asked them for directions), and was connected with Hugo and Diana, a couple that met my friend Elaine when she was in town a few years ago. Since then, I’ve had more free time and people to fill it with, and the city has taken on a new light. Sunday I went to the famous La Recoleta cemetery, which has the tomb of, among others, Eva Peron. All the tombs are above ground, and pretty marvelous. Some are huge marble boxes with statues and rooms underneath where whole families are buried. Right nearby was a street fair with fresh strawberries and cream and a thousand other trinkets, mostly aimed at tourists. On Monday Hugo and Diana took me on a tour of the microcenter, and gave me a full tour of the Plaza de Mayo, the Casa Rosada (their version of the white house where Evita came out onto the balcony) and a number of other sites in downtown Buenos Aires. I also found the only bookstore that sold books for teachers and students of spanish. Unfortunately, I picked up a grammar book and came home to realize that all the explanations are in Spanish too! Not a single word in the whole book is English. I guess it’s a good way to start the immersion process. Currently, I’m contemplating changing my ticket and staying an extra few days here before returning to NYC, so that I have a chance to visit Mendoza, the wine country in the Andes. It would also allow me to catch my nephew’s birthday in Chicago on my way home to Seattle from NYC. We’ll see what happens…