I found a noisy cafe

I've been passing this cafe on the corner of Adolfo Alsinas and Saenz Pena on the way to my tango lessons. The first few times I saw it I had already stopped at a cafe on the Plaza del Congresso, one block away. They had some really nice looking tarts and things in the window and it looked like it was a bakery where they made their own pastries. On Monday, I tried going there instead, but it was crowded and there was no place to sit.

Yesterday I went and even though it was crowded, I found an empty table. I sat down and the waitress came over. There was no menu, so I asked her if they had some tarts, tortas, apple pie or anything. She said "facturas", which I thought meant a bill, I had no idea what that was. So, I said, "medialunas?" - and that's what I got. Three medialunas with cafe con leche - the same thing I've been having every morning in every cafe I've been to. Medialunas are very similar to croissants - they are shaped like half moons, thus the name.

So as I sat there and did my homework and ate my medialunas, which were very good, by the way, I noticed something strange about this cafe. It was very noisy! People were having loud conversations at their tables and they were also shouting to one another across tables. It seemed like everyone knew everyone else. Also, the people had a very unusual look to them. These were not conchettos/as that you'd find in the Recoleta, but they looked more like people you'd see on the Sopranos or find in New Jersey. There was one guy with a very rough looking face who had long gray hair and was bald on top. His hair was kind of greasy and hung straight down the back of his head, coming to about the top of his shoulders. He was wearing a suit and a long gray coat. He really looked like a mobster.

At one point he lit a cigarette and started smoking it before he walked outside to smoke. Another younger guy went out and joined him. A little later, someone drove by and started honking his horn outside. The godfather went out and spoke to him.

Soon, the three tables of Sopranos got up and left and the place got a little quieter, but not much. It was very interesting to notice the difference between this cafe and others I've been to.

Last night after class and my haircut, I met up with Hernan and we went to a cafe called Notorius, on Avenida Callao. As we walked in there was a record store in the front with CDs and computers that I think were listening stations. There was a cafe in the back and we sat near the piano. Hernan said they have jazz performances every night. Even though it was crowded and it was a music store, it was very quiet. I enjoyed watching two tables nearby. There were two guys sitting together and two women sitting together. They were both sitting so that their profiles were facing me and they were sitting across the table from each other. I could observe all four of them very clearly. Even though they were only a few feet away from me, I couldn't hear their conversations at all.

The two women were talking, but one was talking and the other was listening. The woman who was talking was moving her hands as she spoke, but just kind of waving them around, not making any particular gestures at all. But they two guys, who were both in their 20's, were going wild with their gestures. I loved it. There is one gesture I've noticed where you make a circle with your index finger and thumb and kind of move your hand back and forth, and another which involves both hands. In this one, you touch your thumb and index finger, but more like you are going to snap your fingers, not making a round circle, but more of a teardrop shape. Then you hold both elbows close to your body and shake your hands, palms up.

Well, both of these guys were doing all of these gestures back and forth to each other. It was hysterical.

Yet, the funny thing was, you couldn't hear a word.

So, even though I've found many cafes that are very quiet and great places to have intimate conversations and even read, there is at least one cafe on the corner of Adolfo Alsinas and Saenz Pena where people shout across the tables at each other. I guess I will never understand why, but I might go back and buy one of the cakes to take home.