After a month of people saying it is cold and me thinking the weather was springlike, I will admit it, it is now officially cold. But it is a nice change and now I appreciate the heated indoors and my apartment with the heated floors.
I had a tango lesson this morning and it was really nice taking the warm subway, getting off at Avenida de Mayo and stopping at a cafe for coffee and medialunas before going to my lesson. I went to a cafe on the corner at the very end of Avenida de Mayo, right on the Plaza del Congresso. I don't remember the name of the cafe, but from where I was sitting, I was looking out on Avenida de Mayo, which was deserted. I could see the grand old buildings, trees which were almost bare except for a few dried up leaves, and a chilly empty street. It was nice and warm inside where I shared the cafe with a few other people who sat quietly and read the Sunday papers. I could have hung out there longer than I did, but had to go to my lesson.
I feel like I'm training for the tango olympics! It is really intense taking private tango lessons and dancing with the instructor, and doing it several days in a row! My legs and my butt are starting to get used to the training, but my waist is still inflexible and I need to find some good stretching exercises so that I can move my bottom half without moving the top half of my body.
I sent Hernan a text on my way home that I was cold. He texted back that he was hungry. I was planning on making a pot of lentils, so I called him and invited him over. I made a pot of lentils a few weeks ago that came out really well. At El Sanjuanino, they have really good lentils that have chorizo, pancetta and chunks of meat. Hernan asked me to put chorizo in the lentils. I had some in the fridge, so it was no problem, but he also wanted pancetta, so I had to go to the supermarket to get some. I also went and changed some money. Between the supermarket, where I used a 100 peso bill, and the money changer where I asked them to break a bill for me, I now have a good supply of small notes. By the time I go to pick up my laundry, I should have lots of small bills and be able to get the woman to smile again.
It was nice to finally get home after walking around in the cold air. The streets were deserted because of the cold and because it is Sunday and most shops are closed.
By the time Hernan arrived, the lentils were almost done. They could have cooked more, but we ate them anyway. It was a very rich dish with the lentils, potatoes, carrots, pancetta and chorizo. I also put some Malbec in them. We had wine with the lentils and then settled on the sofa to watch an Ingmar Bergman film.
Believe it or not, I don't think I've ever seen a Bergman film. It was pretty intense. The title was "las Marionetas" -the puppets - in Spanish. I don't know what the real name of the film was. It was an interesting experience watching a Swedish film and reading the subtitles in Spanish. It was definitely good practice for me and very different from watching a film in English with subtitles. Here, I had very little ability to understand if I didn't pay attention to the subtitles because so much depended on the dialogue, and as the characters had these long monologues, it was sometimes very challenging.
After the movie we took a nap in my very warm apartment with the heated floors, and finally got up and decided to go out for a coffee.
We went to a cafe a few blocks from here and I had a submarino. I thought a submarino was a submarine sandwich, but it turns out it is hot milk with a chocolate bar submerged in it. Not like a Snicker's bar, but a bar of good chocolate. It was totally yummy. It came as a glass of hot milk and we had two chocolate bars that we put in the glass. Hernan said one was bitter and one was sweet, but I don't really know. They melted and it turned into hot chocolate, but it was really fun disolving the chocolate in the milk. Lots of people were in the cafe watching the match between Argentina and Peru in the quarter finals of the America Cup. The sound on the TV was off and everyone was very quiet. It was amazing. When I was in Mexico during the World Cup, people were cheering and talking during the game and you could tell on the street who was winning just by the kind of cheers you heard. Here, if I didn't see the TV, I would have never known there was a game. Argentina won and is now in the semi-finals against Mexico. It would be fun if they won the title while I am here.
I walked Hernan to the bus stop because he was meeting some friends, and decided to take a walk as the air was crisp and fresh and I needed some exercise after lounging around all day.
I walked down Florida street which because it is a pedestrian shopping street that is geared towards tourists, still had some shops open and there were lots of people strolling.
It was fun walking and seeing all of the street musicians performing. There was one guy who is normally outside of Harrod's who I thought was Chinese playing a Chinese harp, but now I don't think he is, and I think his harp is just a regular harp, but still the music sounds Chinese. I don't know what kind of music he is playing, but it is different. Next I passed a guy singing tango. I didn't want to stare, but it looked like he had a big black eye. He looked like he was from another time, and he definitely fit the "tango" image, looking kind of down on his luck, especially with the black eye.
As I walked further, I heard this loud music that sounded like a band was performing. Instead it was a guy sitting on a stool singing along with recorded music. He had a huge crowd of people standing around him as he sang old Spanish pop songs. Couples snuggled together to stay warm and when he finished singing, people applauded. It was very sweet.
I walked all the way to Avenida de Mayo and it was great seeing those big old buildings again. When I got there, a guy who had been walking in front of me the whole time said hello. He was a student from Paraguay who is studying cooking here. He asked me if I wanted to have a coffee and since he didn't speak much English, I thought it was a good opportunity to practice my Spanish. We went to another very nice cafe/diner/restaurant and I had another submarino and he had a coffee. We had a nice chat and it was interesting talking to him about where he is from. I know nothing about Paraguay. I was a little wary about just meeting a stranger on the street and going to have coffee with him, but he turned out to be a very nice guy and he was genuinely friendly.
We walked back to Florida street together and he got on the subway and I walked home, back past the street musicians, through the nearly deserted Plaza San Martin, and into my nice cozy and warm apartment with the heated floors.
I never thought I'd take a trip to winter, but it's actually kind of nice having a real winter and having an apartment where the heat is always on. From what I hear, San Francisco is cold and the rest of the country is burning up. I'm enjoying this winter here in Buenos Aires, especially days like today when it is quiet and I don't have a whole lot to do. Cooking nice warming foods, taking naps and enjoying a nice walk down a pedestrian street free of traffic are really nice things to do on a vacation.
I'm very content.
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