Today I was going to go to the gym, but it was raining. I will use any excuse not to go. But this was legitimate. I've been enjoying just going to the gym wearing my shorts and t-shirt and not going to the locker room and dealing with the guy who checks my bag and changing and unchanging and rechanging and all that. But since it was raining, I thought I'd have to carry an umbrella and I couldn't just go in and work out and leave, so I ended up not going. Instead I played this stupid word game on Facebook all morning. I like to think I am keeping my brain young.
Leo, my Spanish teacher came by at 1:30, and again we had another good Spanish lesson. When he greeted me downstairs, he said I always seemed so relaxed. This is the 2nd time someone made a comment regarding my low-key temperment (that would soon change...)
I really think I benefit from sitting and talking for two hours and would be perfectly happy if that was all we did. In fact, I'd be happiest if that was all we did.
The first time he came, he gave me a worksheet on the subjunctive. Spanish teachers love the subjunctive. I hate it. My brain freezes up at the first mention of it and my eyes glaze over. I put off doing this worksheet for 3 weeks until today I finally decided to make an attempt. When Leo checked it, of course I had done it wrong.
I did get something out of the exercise however. And I do have a better understanding of the four forms of the subjunctive he was trying to review and how they might be used. But I understood them better because I found myself in situations where I had to use them and that was when they finally made sense. I think my mind does not work with abstract situations, but when I need something, and it becomes concrete, it makes sense.
Leo pointed out that I didn't like this kind of exercise, but said it was important. I tend to disagree with him now that we've done it. I think it is more important for me to have the need to use something to communicate and then get help using it. It's a slight difference of opinion but for me it is major. I wish I could find a Spanish teacher who got that.
It was a good class and I am always amazed by Leo's ability to get me to talk. He'll raise a topic that really gets me going, and when I start to get quiet, he'll ask another question and I'll talk more. Too bad he doesn't have a degree in psychotherapy, I could get therapy and Spanish all in one.
After class I headed to Palermo to meet up with Tess and Lorena. We had planned to meet in Boutique del Libro, the place where I used to meet Juliana for Spanish lessons. As I walked there I recalled the last time I took that walk and started to have a vertigo attack one block before arriving. It was a weird deja vu kind of thing.
When I got to the bookstore/cafe, they had not arrived yet, so I went up to the bathroom. The cafe was empty and I was excited because the area where I had always wanted to sit was empty.
The cafe is in the back of the bookstore. There is a smoking section, where Juliana always sat, and I hated, because I hate second hand smoke, especially in enclosed spaces. It's so 1980's (2nd hand smoke, that is). Then there is an area with a bunch of wooden tables and wooden chairs.
And then, on this little stage, there is a sofa, coffee table and armchair that look out on the rest of the cafe and bookstore.
When I came down from the bathroom I was afraid someone had taken that spot, but it was still open, so I sat down on the sofa.
There were not many people in the bookstore and other than one guy taking pictures, there was no one in the cafe and there were a few people in the smoking section.
Then, all of a sudden, from the bookstore, came a woman who came up on the little stage where I was sitting and sat in the armchair next to the sofa I was seated on. To me it was like she had sat down at my table.
When I met Hernan in San Telmo a few months ago and we sat at an outdoor cafe, a German guy came up and asked if he could sit at our table. Hernan said it was weird, that Argentines would never do that.
I thought that this woman sitting at "my table" without even asking was weird.
But it got worse.
Her friend, who was browsing the bookstore came up and sat on the sofa next to me! And then the waitress brought one of them a cup of coffee.
I said, "excuse me, I am waiting for friends who are going to sit here", and the first woman to sit down showed me a book she had from the bookstore and said something that I didn't understand, but in essence, she was brushing me off. I pointed to the 5 or 6 empty tables in front of us and said, "there are many empty tables", but she ignored me (I was speaking Spanish).
From listening to them, I figured out that they were Brazilian. I sat there fuming and waiting for them to finish their coffee and get up and leave. They didn't. I decided I was not going to give up my seat, just because there were two of them and only one of me. Mentally, I had declared war.
When Lorena and Tess arrived, I said, "my friends are here, can you please move?", but they continued to ignore me. It wasn't as if they didn't understand and said, "we don't understand", they were pretending I didn't even exist, which just made me madder.
Lorena came up first, and I said, "our space has been invaded by these two bitches" - actually I don't know if I used the 'b' word, but I was so mad, I might have. Lorena, might have said, "oh, it's ok, we can sit somewhere else", but I was not going to give up my seat. I said, no, we're going to squeeze onto this couch until they leave. So I moved over and sat up against the other woman on the couch so Lorena and Tess would have room to sit down.
At that point, they acknowledged my presence and the woman on the couch said, "relax". I said, "no, I don't know about you, but in my culture, it is rude to sit down at another person's table, I was here first and you saw me", or something along those lines.
I was really fired up and my heart was beating fast and I was mad.
Eventually, they paid their bill and left.
I felt embarrassed that I had lost my temper in front of Lorena and Tess and made such a big deal out of something that really wasn't such a big deal. But in the end it was worth it. I moved to the armchair, Lorena and Tess had the whole couch to themselves, we sat and looked out on the bookstore and cafe and ordered sandwiches and drinks and had a nice time. I regret losing my temper, but regret even more that those women sat there and made me get mad! I am a Scorpio, and when provoked, can be deadly!
After that we walked around Palermo a bit before taking the subte home. It was another nice day, though it is getting warm again. Lorena and I both have the sniffles, and I think it is allergies. There are so many trees in bloom now and when the wind is blowing there is a lot of stuff flying around. Spring in Buenos Aires might be nice, but it's also allergy season. Ah-CHOOO!
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