Monica woke up early on Saturday to go out and sit zazen at the dojo at the Japanese Association. There was a strict Japanese monk in charge of things today. They sat for forty five minutes. Moni came back home all zenned, then we ate some lunch and got ready to go out on the town. We had a date to get together with Silvana, Ana, and Fabian at a restaurant downtown at eight o’cloc. This was really early, because Ana had to take a bus, then a train back to her home, and we didn’t want her to have to be out too late. As it was, Ana didn’t get on her bus until 1:30 a.m. but at least we tried. The restaurant where we met was called “Bodega Campo.” It specialized in rustic country food, mostly from the north of Argentina. The area in the northeast of the country borders with Bolivia, and it is the least developed area of Argentina. Small mountain villages that still retain their traditions. We look forward to getting there some time in the next few months.

We had hours before we were supposed to be at the restaurant, so we decided to start the day by taking the subte, then walking to a super-modern shopping mall called “Galerias Pacifico”–just for kicks. The ceiling is painted with murals by French painers, and it is quite impressive.

After the mall, we had to recover. There were too many people, too many stores, everything was in hyper-mode. We walked out of the mall, and right across the street, there was a church, La iglesia de Santa Catalina. Santa Catalina is the saint of nurses. There was a little courtyard where you could sit and drink tea. There was a sign that said that its mission was to attend to the spiritual needs of people working in the neighborhood, and those passing through. How could we go wrong. We stayed there in the beautiful afternoon light, drinking tea and enjoying the springtime, until we were ready to head for Bodega Campo.We walked down Corrientes Avenue on our way. Corrientes is one of the main arteries in the city, and we were walking toward El Obelisco–The Obelisc–Which is perhaps the most well-known sight in the city. Maybe it’s not as impressive as the Eiffel Tower, but it serves the same purpose. It’s the landmark of Buenos Aires. It is located in The Plaza of the Republic, at the intersection of Avenida 9 de Julio and Corrientes. This has to be one of the most awesome intersections in the world. Usually I’m not impressed by city scenes, but when we arrived at the intersection, we had to sit down just to look, boquiabierta. (open-mouthed) We were overwhelmed by the immensity, by the lanes of traffic, the openness, the size, the giant TV screens, everything. Avenida 9 de Jlio has twenty lanes of traffic, ten in each direction, and Corrientes is no slouch itself. The plaza where they meet is huge and round, with the obelisk soaring into the sky like a rocket. Monica said that finally she felt like we were in Buenos Aires itself, at the heart. Our neighborhood is quiet, with cobbled streets. The school where we work is in a working-class neighborhood. This at last was the world-class city that we had heard about. We continued on Corrientes, looking for the street where the restaurant was, Rodriguez de PeÑa. Corrientes was booming. The guidebook says that it is the Broadway of Buenos Aires. There were lots of bookstores, lots of pizza places (I think that if they eliminated pizzas and empanadas, half the city would die of hunger) and lots of theaters, large and small. Saturday night. People everywhere. Finally we found the street, and turned down it, looking for Bodega Campo. The street was kind of dark, and we walked right past it without seeing it. Finally, we backtracked, and I went into a hotel to ask where the place was. The concierge laughed, and said there it is, right across the street, but it’s only 8:00, and it’s not open yet. That’s why we didn’t see it. Soon, Silvana came along, then Ana, and we went to a little cafe across the street to sit and wait for Fabian. He was coming from work. We stayed there a few hours, talking and remembering. The lights on the whole block went out. Nobody even seemed to notice. Pretty soon, they came back on, and we left to go to the restaurant.We got to the restaurant at 11:00. Not bad for an eight o’clock date. The place was small and dark, with about fifteen tables. We sat down and ordered a bottle of wine. Everybody got a bowl of stew, served with bread. Very delicious, served in stone bowls. We stayed there for a couple more hours, and customers kept on coming in, well past midnight. Finally, we were ready to go, at one o’clock. Silvana asked the waiter what time they closed, and he said, well, maybe around three or four. Ana got on her bus, and the rest of us walked through town on our way home. There were lots of people out, and walking through the big city at 1:30 a.m. was very pleasant. We reached the street where we separated, and Monica and I walked home the rest of the way. We finally went to bed at 2.30, and we felt like verdaderos portenos!!