Countdown

I've officially been here too long. I am bored beyond belief. I believe extremes in emotion are doorways to transcendance. Therefore I hope I am on the verge of enlightenment. Otherwise, I don't know if I will survive the next few days.

Well, it isn't that bad, but it is pretty bad. Now that my language classes are finished, I have absolutely nothing to do. And to make it worse, even my Spanish teacher canceled our class tomorrow. Hernan has a friend visiting from Canada and he is tied up with her, and it is too damn hot outside to do much of anything that requires any walking.

Today I had to get up and get out early because Norma was coming to clean. I didn't want to get trapped. I pushed my luck, and as I was just about to leave, I heard the keys in the door.

"Hola", and then she began speaking (in Spanish) - 'oh you have only one more week I won't see you when you leave unless you want me to come here and say good-bye or we can just leave notes, I was talking to Ralf yesterday and I told him my client was going to rent an apartment with a beautiful terrace, I had a cup of coffee Colombian coffee, it smelled so good and the taste was so smooth, it was Colombian coffee, do you know Colombian coffee? How are you going to pass the holidays? Will you be here? My husband has to work until 9 p.m. on Christmas, so I will just spend it on my terrace with my kids. It is too difficult to go out, but for New Years we will go out. On Christmas I will just be on the terrace. I don't want anything complicated. I will wait until my husband returns from work....."

She said a lot more, but that is all I understood, more or less. I don't think she breathes. I was standing there with the door open and one foot in the hallway. Finally, she let me go.

I went to the gym where it was too hot to work out. I've been feeling like I might be on the verge of another meniere's attack again. I think it is stress, the fact that I have been eating too much salt, and this pain in my neck that just will not go away. I need to make a list of all of my ailments so that when I see my doctor in San Francisco, I can be sure to talk to him about everything that is bothering me.

I didn't stay long at the gym and knew I could not come home before noon. So I walked down hot and crowded Santa Fe and stopped in a bookstore to buy a book called "Yo Cumbio", which is written by Argentina's most famous flogger. A 17 year old boy, whose nickname is "Cumbio". I started reading it and am still amazed by the flogging phenomena (flogging = foto log = kids take pictures of themselves, post them on a foto log, other kids leave comments like "you are divine" and those who receive the most comments are transformed into superstars). It is wild. Now when I look in the shop windows on Santa Fe all I see are flogger fashions. I don't think I could ever be a flogger, but I wonder about Hernan. He was always taking pictures of himself in Buzios.

From there I went to El Ateneo, a wonderful bookstore on Santa Fe that used to be an opera house. It is one of those places you take visitors to impress them. It's also a nice bookstore. I posted a photo from the web until I can take my own.

There is a small cafe in the back, where the stage used to be. I stopped and had a coke and the air-conditioning was on and nice and cool. Now I know it is a place to duck in out of the heat. I then went and bought a Thai cookbook for Hernan for Christmas.

I came home and thankfully, Norma was gone.

I played on the computer for a bit until I started to get hungry. Even though I have some salmon and some tofu and vegetables in the refrigerator, I got a craving for pizza. I ordered a pizza and a calzone from Romario online, without having to talk to anyone. It was very easy, and one of the many ways I avoid speaking Spanish. My pizza came and somehow I got two pizzas - no calzone. Oh well, they were small, so I ate one while watching a movie and put the other one in the fridge for later.

Then I took a nap.

It is now 5:45 and I've wasted another day.

My friend Diane arrives on Monday. I have a few more days to keep myself entertained until then. Fortunately, I do have some editorial work to do and that helps me pass some time, but otherwise I have no idea what to do with myself.

Based on my ideas of what I thought I would accomplish on this trip, I have to say that I am feeling like a failure. I stopped tango dancing, my language exchanges didn't work out, and my attempts to meet people by studying languages other than Spanish also were a flop. I only hope that next year my health will not be such an issue, the weather will allow me to get out more, and I will meet some people to spend time with.

I guess it's time to watch "Everybody Loves Raymond".