Diane!!!

Diane is here!

It's really nice to have a good friend visiting, especially now after I have been here for almost 5 months, I'm tired, achey, and pretty bored, but I know my way around quite well, and am happy to make the rounds of the must-see places. Diane is super easy to be with and has very few requirements, other than a need to shop. She likes to eat, which is important to me, and she's really chill and laid-back to hang out with.

Yesterday I wore myself out showing her around. Today I'm going to try not to walk as much.

I met her at her apartment, which is also one of the BA4U apartments. It's in a building on Santa Fe near Ecuador, where they have 11 apartments. They are all super chic. Diane's is a one-bedroom. The others are all studios. It is really nice, and makes my apartment look like a dump. She has a balcony in the rear and a patio off of her bedroom (which seems mostly designed for hanging laundry). It's nicely decorated and very comfortable. It even has really nice dishes in the kitchen. I would consider it for next year except I can not spend three months living right on Santa Fe. Walking out of my buidling every day onto a busy, crowded street would be too stressful. My new neighborhood is quiet, and even though my apartment is kind of funky, it has a nice terrace and kitchen.

So anyway, I met Diane, who was raring to go after 20 hours of travel. We went to La Payuca, a parilla near her apartment, for lunch. She had a steak and I had a few bites. It was perfect! I had a salad and we shared a provoleta (I had already eaten 4 empanadas before I met her because I was starving).

After lunch, we walked to the Recoleta Fair grounds and visited the cemetary. I actually found Evita's grave this time. 9 times out of 10 when I go there I am unable to find it. Evita is buried in the Duarte Family mausoleum. Duarte was her father who was married to another woman and had his own "legitimate" family. Eva was a bastard (can you say that about a woman?), and it was a scandal that she was buried in the Recoleta Cemetary. Apparently her body was removed several times, sometimes for safe keeping, but was eventually returned by her husband Juan Peron when he came back into power (so they say). Some people dispute that she is actually there.

From the cemetary we went to a money changer nearby. I was so lucky to find the money changer that Ralf recommended, because changing money can be a real hassle. We had to stand in line. Diane had to show her passport, tell them where she was staying, her occupation, her telephone number, and then they didn't have 100 peso notes (which was actually a good thing because they are so hard to break). Then she had to stand in another line to get her pesos. All the while, the security guard kept telling people to stand behind the line. It was super high pressure and very rigid. Worse than standing in line to go through immigration. My money changer is very low key. I give her the dollars, she gives me the pesos. No talk, no muss, no fuss.

By this point in the day we needed ice cream, so we went to my favorite Volta on Callao and Pacheco de Melo. I had maracuya and limon (lemon and passion fruit) which was very refreshing. Diane had chocolate and coffee. Very creamy. It was a yum.

I brought Diane back to Santa Fe and showed her where my money changer is, I showed her the Volta on Santa Fe, and we stopped in El Ateneo, the bookstore in the former opera house, and then headed over to Arenales, towards my place. We stopped in the foot massage place and made appointments for pedicures and foot massages on Friday. They are totally booked up now for the holidays and of course closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

We came to my place, skyped her friend Jonathan for his birthday, had a glass of wine and then went to Diane's Disco (the supermarket across the street from her building) and to her apartment and hung out a bit before heading out again.

I took her for a walk up Charcas and showed her the area where there are no cars, and lots of restaurants and cafes. We passed an Indian restaurant on the way and I asked Diane if she wanted to eat there. "Sure", she said. Which is her response any time I ask her anything. I love that!

We walked up Charcas, visited the little plaza in front of the basilica at the end, and headed back to Tandoor, the Indian restaurant. It was about 10:30 and the restaurant was packed. More people continued coming while we were there and when we finally left around 12:15, the restaurant was beginning to slow down.

The food was good, but not great. I've definitely had better. Still it was good to have something different than steak and potatoes!

I walked Diane home and by this point I could hardly walk. My feet were killing me, my legs were cramped. I didn't think I could make it the 5 blocks home. I tore off my clothes, brushed my teeth and collapsed in bed.

My building is normally very quiet. The only sound I can ever hear is a neighbor moaning (I assume she is having sex). It is funny that that is all I ever hear. Well, last night I heard someone watching TV. It must have been very late because I know I slept well and long and hard. I woke up and heard the TV which kept me up for a while until I fell asleep again and was woken up in the morning by construction.

Diane just called me sounding very worn out. I think the travel and all of the walking caught up with her. Today we're heading to La Boca and Puerto Madero. Tomorrow we have massages, which we both are going to need.