We met with Olgui yesterday. She is Diana’s good friend who lives here in Buenos Aires. We went to a little cafe for a merienda yesterday afternoon. Merienda is kind of a little snack that you eat around six o’clock in the evening. Really, there are four meals here. Breakfast, lunch, merienda, and dinner. Dinner is the most important meal, and it can be anywhere from 8:00 until 10:00 at night at home. Monica and I are teaching English at a little private school, and it is always fascinating to ask the kids what time they eat dinner and go to bed. Most of them go to bed around midnight, after eating dinner at 10:00. They wonder why we eat dinner and go to bed so early. So yesterday, we got together with Olgui, and we went to cafe, but it was way too early for dinner, so we drank some coffee and ate some medialunas. And of course we talked for a few hours. Really fun.

We woke up early on Sunday, and we walked over to Fabian’s apartment. It’s about a half-hour walk from our apartment. Halfway there, we have to cross La Avenida Nueve de Julio. They say that this is the widest street in the world. There are three islands in the middle for pedestrians crossing. Altogether, there are about twenty lanes of traffic. It’s pretty busy. Anyway, we arrived at Fabian’s place, the the four of us, Monica and Mike, along with Silvana and Fabian, caught a bus to La Estacion Once, where we got a train out to Moreno, where their quinta is. A quinta is kind of a country house, a weekend getaway. Silvana and Fabian were both a bit embarrassed about the state of the train. “Estamos en el tercero mundo,” Fabian said. Silvana had warned us beforehand. She didn´t want us to be scared. And the train in fact was old and clunky, noisy, dirty, but not so bad. We rode for about an hour, during which time, one after another, continuously, guys stood up and addressed the passengers, pitching their wares. Some of them just walked through, showing what they had to sell, but others made impassioned speeches about how sharp and indestructible their knives were, or whatever they had. You can buy anything you want on the trains.

Before the train, we went to a grocery store to buy meat. Fabian was in charge. He was planning a meat feast, kind of an Argentina tradition. They call it an asado. “Vamos a comprar carne de vacas argentina, las mejores vacas del mundo,” he told us. The quinta was beautiful. A small house out in the country. It was really difficult to remember that we had arrived there on public transit, from the middle of the city. Trees, birds, beautiful weather. We spent all afternoon in the backyard. The neighborhood dogs came to join us, five of them. Lots of birds. Hawks, hummingbirds, woodpeckers, lots of bright yellow birds that we didn’t know.

Dante, Fabian’s fifteen-year old son, was also with us. Soon after we arrived, Fabian started a fire in the fireplace, and the day shifted a little. Monica grated some carrots, Silvana cleaned some spinach. We sat around the table on tree trunks and talked about everything. The bread and wine came out. Fabian put the meat on the grill, and soon the feast was on. The meat kept coming. Four different kinds. Eating and talking with friends is a great way to spend the day. After the comida, we relaxed. Moni and Silvana washed the dishes. Fabian picked up sticks around the yard. When Mon and Silvana came out from the kitchen, I asked, “Puedo ayudarles en la cocina?” Pretty funny guy.

They wanted to accompany us on the bus back to where the train would take us home, but we convinced them that we could do it on our own. They were a bit worried about us, but we were fine.Silvana accompanied us to the bus stop, then we took the bus to the train station. We asked a guy where we could get the train back to La Estacion Once, and he showed us another bus, behind us, that he said was going right there. We asked the driver, he said, yes we are going to the station. We asked him how much money it cost, and he told us just to take a seat, it’s free. So we did, and it was. Another mystery here in Buenos Aires.

September 21 is the first day of Spring!!! The trees are leafing out and the flowers are blooming. Everybody here has been complaining about the long winter, the cool weather and the rain. They´re ready for Spring. So are we. We had made a date to get together with our friend Silvana at 3:30 in the afternoon, so we had almost all day for phun and phreedom. We met Silvana back in 1996, when she was Monica´s Spanish teacher. It´s been wonderful to reconnect with her here. We started the day by strolling down Puerto Madero, which is a picturesque part of town along the water. There were hundreds of school-age kids there also. Group after group after group. Boys with boys, girls with girls, and mixed. Groups of ten, groups of five, groups of six, all laughing and talking and cheerful. We wondered what they were all doing there, then later we found out that since it´s the first day of Spring, the high schools are closed for the day. What a good idea. It´s a tradition now for the kids to get together and go out to parks, for picnics, whatever. And in Argentina, they really do groups well. Way better than they do them in the US. We see groups of people everywhere. Some large groups, some small, but groups. We strolled with the kids in the beautiful sunshine, and crossed the water on El Puente de la Mujer.  Finally we made our way to Silvana´s apartment and stayed there for five hours, talking about everything. Politics, education, jokes, life. We returned home by subway, and we are looking forward to getting together again with Silvana and Fabian, to go out to their quinta, which is kind of a country home.

We’ve been in Buenos Aires for a week now. It feels like a lot longer, because the days are so full of new things. Lots of people, lots of places. We are living in a small apartment in San Telmo. Buenos Aires is a city of neighborhoods, and San Telmo is one of the oldest. Cobblestone streets, narrow sidewalks, little stores, and a really great marketplace. The market is about three blocks from our apartment, and it was built in the mid 1800s. Vegetable and fruit stalls, butchers, little sewing shops, a couple of little bakeries, some clothing shops, a coffee shop. Everything little. We’ve been going there to get veggies and stuff to cook at home. It’s really fun to shop at the little stores, and it’s also fun to go out to eat in the little restaurants. We’ve been doing some of each. There’s a little cafe named Cafe Rivas across from our apartment where we’ve gone a few times in the mornings for cafe con leche and medialunas. Medialunas are little croissants, and they are everywhere, and obviously the breakfast of choice for many portenos. We’re just about locals in Cafe Rivas, with Milena the waitress and Fernando the bartender. Also, Hannah is the barista in the coffeeshop in the marketplace. She’s from New Zealand, and has been here a couple of months.

We’ve ridden the subway three times now. It’s called the “Subte.” Short for subterraneo. Our first day here, Monica took us to buy our sube card. It’s an electronic ticket that you hold up to the scanner before entering the underground. Really easy and convenient. No need for coins. The subte is pretty easy to understand and really fast, and you can get almost anywhere in the city. The first time we rode the subway to the school where we are working, the platform was so crowded, we could hardly stand there. Then the train pulled in, and it was so full of people standing that I didn’t think there was any way we would be able to get on there. We just pushed in, like everybody else, though, and soon we were on our way. We were a little bit nervous because we had been warned over and over about the pickpockets on the subte. However, we survived intact. When we were returning in the evening, we met a woman when we asked her if this was the right way. She talked to us and we ended up exchanging email addresses and a possibility of getting together in the future. This is not so uncommon. Many people have been friendly, and have offered to help us if we need it. Everybody knows, just by looking at us, that we are not from here. Maybe after a while, we might start blending in a little more.

We are looking forward to getting to know more of the city. We’re slowly expanding our territory. Every day is new. Hasta luego.

Our friends Jayne and Mary have been constant and steady for us and for many other people. They are always the ones you can count on. We look forward to getting together with them when we get back.