Hernan called me this evening and eventually came over. First he called on my cell and asked me to send him the number of my land line. I don't know why I couldn't just tell him over the phone, but probably he didn't have much time left on his cell phone. I sent him a text with the number of my land line and then he called me about 20 minutes later and said he was going to stop by, but asked me to send him the address. I texted him the address.
Figuring he'd want to have some wine and maybe something to eat, I went to the chino down the street and bought a 20 peso bottle of wine (about $7.00), and stopped at the empanada restaurant across the street and got some empanadas. The restaurant is run by a cute older couple. The empanadas came wrapped in green plaid wrapping paper. When the woman gave them to me I told her it looked like a gift. She smiled. She was very sweet.
I left the restaurant and crossed the street to find Hernan waiting at my door. What timing! We kissed hello and he looked at me and said, "oh, you are slim".
Music to my ears!
As I said before, Hernan is pretty straight forward. I don't know if that is typical for Argentines or not, but I actually like knowing where I stand with people. If my Spanish is bad, I want to know, so that I can work on it. If I'm getting fat from eating too much beef and ice cream, it is good to be reminded of it so that I can do something about it, or just accept that fact. So hearing him say I was slim was a good confirmation of my perception that I was able to shed the pounds from last summer (and hopefully a few more).
We came up and drank wine and ate empandas and caught up with each other. We spoke English. Eventually we'll switch to Spanish because it is easier for him and better for me.
I really enjoyed hanging out with Hernan. He's a very interesting, animated, slightly kooky person, but very sweet, good-hearted, and as I said, very honest. He caught me up on some of the drama in his life and also some of the drama of Argentina.
For him, one of the major things he had to do this year was go to the cemetary and get the body of his father who died 20 years ago and take him to be cremated. It sounds like it was very traumatic. His older brother and sister could not deal with it, so they had Hernan, who was 14 when his father died, take care of it. He was pretty traumatized by the whole thing.
In Argentina, there has been a struggle between the new president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (who they call CFK - perhaps to associate her with JFK?) and rural farmers. According to Hernan, the farmers are beginning to do quite well and have been able to attain a somewhat middle class existence, send their kids to decent schools, etc., but CFK decided she should raise taxes on farm exports - according to Hernan, so that the revenues would benefit the people of Buenos Aires. He said this has been an ongoing struggle between rural and city dwellers (he kept calling them forest people, which I thought was a cute mistake so I didn't correct him). Apparently, the farmers, or forest people, are well organized now, and were able to hold massive protests, blockades, and even burn their fields, causing a huge cloud of smoke to cover Buenos Aires for several days (supposedly this was just a coincidence, but according to Hernan, it was part of their protest). It worked and CFK backed down.
After we polished off most of the wine and empanadas, I walked Hernan to the bus. Tomorrow he is moving out of the apartment he was renting in Palermo and staying with a friend for 4 days before he moves back into his own place in San Telmo.
San Telmo is the old part of the city where the rich first settled until there was a yellow fever outbreak and they fled to the northern part of the city, Recoleta, where I am staying. Now San Telmo is famous for tango, because it is supposedly one of the birthplaces of tango and there is a street fair on Sundays and people dance tango in the park. It will be fun visiting Hernan in San Telmo and getting to know it a little bit better beyond the tourist spots and main drags.
I feel so lucky to have Hernan as a friend. He is my little window into the "real" life of Argentina. I hope I will be able to have more friends like him here. People who will open their hearts and souls to me, tell me about their lives, and especially help me understand this complex, sometimes crazy country.
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