Exhaustion

I'm pooped.

I had plans this morning to meet Ralf, the director of BA Apartments 4 U, the agency that I rented my apartment from. He was going to show me some apartments that they have available.

They have been great and Ralf was so nice when I locked my keys in my apartment on a Sunday evening and he had to come and meet me to unlock my door for me. I've been really happy with my apartment and with my dealings with them.

So I met Ralf at 12:30 and he showed me three apartments. Larry also met us.

The first one was called Speedo. I like the names of the apartments, but the apartment I have now doesn't really have a name - it's just listed as "Cozy and Quiet" - I think I might call it City Escape, because it really is that. It's located in a very busy area during the week, but when I come into my building, I escape all of the craziness outside.

Anyway, Speedo was very nice, and I liked the location.

Next we saw Evita. Evita is a loft studio, also in a nice area, but a little smaller than Speedo, would be nice for a short stay, but I think for a longer stay, I'd get a little cabin fever.

The last apartment Ralf showed us is tentatively named Honeymoon Suite, but Larry and I suggested he change the name. It is in the thinnest building in South America. First Ralf showed us the outside of the building from across the street, and it is very thin! It's an old building that I think has been designated a historic landmark.

We entered a nice lobby with a beautiful cage elevator and somehow ended up on the wrong floor. I took the marble stairs up one more floor to meet Ralf. The apartment reminded me of the inside of a home of someone with old money back East. Lots of wood and very nice details, very masculine and rich. It's the kind of place where you'd smoke a cigar and have a scotch. It was really very nice. Ralf wasn't sure how much they were going to be asking for it, as it is a new listing.

After our apartment viewing, Larry and I stopped and had lunch at a small restaurant on the corner. We're both tired of beef. Larry had chicken breast and I had chicken and polenta. It was good. Nothing particularly great to write home about, but a nice lunch. We then went to Freddo because we needed change and Larry had to get the taste of chicken out of his mouth. Today I tried a new flavor - Malbec with red fruit - (Malbec con frutos rojos) -I don't know what red fruits are, but Malbec is a kind of wine. I paired it with marscapone with rasberry. I liked the malbec. It was kind of a sorbet, and I could see it as a nice desert after a heavy steak and potato dinner.

I had to rush to get to my tango lesson and it ended up being farther than I thought from where I was. As I rushed over, it started to drizzle and was very cold. I wanted to just pop into a cafe and have a hot chocolate.

The lesson was good. Marcelo added some new steps and continued to focus on proper form. Today he had me dance milonga, which is a very fast style of tango, and I had to focus on touching my ankles together when I passed my feet. Impossible! I've learned that laughing when things get really difficult is a really good thing. He suggested I oil my waist to make it more flexible. It is amazing the ability he has to separate his torso in two, the top and bottom parts, for me everything is connected, and when I try to turn my hips, my shoulders go with them. It's something I need to work with, but at my age, I wonder how much flexibility I can get. Maybe yoga would help.

Marcelo walked me to Avenida de Mayo before he headed home to sleep. We passed lots of cafes that looked really inviting and I thought I might go see a movie I've been wanting to see, an Argentine documentary called "Final de Obra" that is something about the dictatorship, but is a part of a series, and maybe I should see the first part first. I also thought I might fall asleep, because I was feeling really tired.

Instead I walked through the "tango district" again. I'm not really sure if it is a tango district, but an area where there are a few stores selling tango shoes and stuff. I looked in the windows again and saw a pair of shoes that I might buy, but nothing had any prices and I don't know what would be reasonable. I'm going to ask Marcelo tomorrow.

I finally did stop in a cafe and had a steak sandwich. I thought it would be a snack and I'd eat dinner later. By the time I got to my apartment, I was feeling very tired. I went to my bed to take a short nap and ended up sleeping for three hours. Now I'm feeling rested, and still a little tired, but not sure if I can go back to sleep. I'm going to see what is on TV or maybe read a little before turning in for the night.

It feels good to be so tired, and to not have to worry about doing anything. This is what a working vacation should be like!