Today was my Italian exam that I didn't take. I am now officially finished with my classes. I missed my Arabic exam on Saturday while I was on the beach in Buzios, and today I just didn't want to take an exam that was going to test something we were not taught. Fortunately I don't need it since I am going to study Portuguese next year.
I had to leave the apartment because Norma comes to clean on Wednesday and normally came while I was in class. I didn't want to see her, especially first thing in the morning. But first, I had to do something about the smell of the salmon I cooked last night, which really smoked up the kitchen, and also I had to wash my dishes and put everything away because if she did it, she would put things where she wanted them. Finally, about 9:30 I got out of here and went to the gym.
Fortunately it was cooler today because we had some rain yesterday, but the gym was still hot, mostly because the air-conditioner doesn't really work when all of the windows are open. I am not sure if the intent is to cool down the gym or the neighborhood. Still, since I was trying to kill time, I spent 45 minutes on the eliptical trainer watching "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "Married with Children" reading only the Spanish subtitles. I had my headphones on and was listening to music, and they had the sound turned down on the TVs anyway. It's a good exercise, and I wish I could do it more in the states.
I went to the gym yesterday and did a full body workout, so today there wasn't much I could do. I stretched and did some leg work, but it was crowded and many of the men take up a lot of space, so I kept feeling like I was bumping into people. I left, knowing I still had at least an hour to kill.
I went to a little restaurant called La Madeline or something like that. It's a strange place (I think) because it is narrow and long, and everyone sits facing the door. I didn't want to sit with my back to the restaurant though, so I sat in the first table facing in. Everyone was looking at me, and I was looking at them. We kind of avoided each other's eyes, but it was 'interesting'. I had a cafe cortado (espresso) and a medialuna that was not that good. I stayed there as long as I could and then walked slowly towards my apartment, thinking I might find another place to kill time.
I didn't.
So I headed to Juncal which is one block past my apartment, to the little produce stand on the corner where there is usually a long line of people. I got some yummy cherries that were about $3 per kilo (I got a half kilo), some nice peaches and some basil. Finally, I had no choice, I had to come home.
When I entered the building I thought the fact that the elevator was on the ground floor was a good sign. It meant that someone had left recently. Maybe it was Norma?
But when I got off the elevator on my floor I saw that the bag of trash was not outside of my door on the stairs and knew that Norma was still in my apartment. I thought about going back down, but I was loaded down with fruit and my gym bag. I took a deep breath and opened the door. "Hola?", I said.
Norma talked my ear off for about a half hour. I was so exhausted I eventually had to sit down. She commented on the fact that I like to cook and I smell up the apartment, which is why she had to open the windows. She told me that Ralf told her I was away, she asked about my trip and my health, but mostly she just talked, and talked, and talked. She talked about other tenants, she told me about her kids and her husband and her house outside of the city and her dogs and her duck. She told me how Ralf does not want to give her a raise. She told me that she doesn't like the apartment I am planning on renting next year and that there are many apartments in that area with terraces (the two things I said I liked - the neighborhood and the terrace). She told me she knew I was in town because she can see my window from her window and she saw that my window was open (that is kind of scary that she can see my apartment). She told me to tell Ralf I wanted her to clean my apartment when I come back. She told me that one of the other tenants gave her a plant (a hint?). I don't remember what else she told me, but I was literally drained. Finally, when I knew she was done in the bedroom, I told her I had to check my e-mail. She stayed in the living room and finished up and eventually came to say good-bye. Whew!
After eating a light lunch and watching the Daily Show online, I decided to go to Chinatown. Well, actually I decided earlier, but I finally made the decision firm and left. I wasn't sure where it was exactly, but I had an idea. I got on the subte and looked at the options for stops I could get off that I knew would put me close. The one that seemed to be the right one was Juramento. Right before that was something Hernandez, or something like that. Then there was Olleros, which I knew would put me at a major intersection in Belgrano. I also knew Olleros was too soon. But, as we pulled into Olleros, I decided to get off anyway.
I walked down a lovely avenue with big shady trees and tried to work up the nerve to ask people. I never found anyone who looked like they were ready to be asked for directions, even though as I was walking to the subte, a guy rolled down his window and asked from his car where the Hospital Aleman was. I get asked for directions all the time, but I was nervous about asking someone else. So I walked down this avenue until I reached another one. I thought I had gone too far, so I walked one block and turned back towards the direction from which I had come. I was about to ask a guy who was mopping the steps of an apartment building where Chinatown was, when a woman came across the street. I asked her.
She told me to go straight, cross something and then I'd hit Chinatown. I walked back to the avenue I had just come from, saw stairs going up over the train tracks, and assumed that was what I was supposed to cross. It was getting warm again and I was sweating, and going up and down the stairs didn't help. I then wasn't sure what to do so I asked another woman. She told me I was going in the wrong direction and sent me in a completely different direction.
By now I had broken the ice (on asking directions) so I stopped at a police officer who was standing outside of a kiosk and asked him. He told me to turn right and go three blocks and then make a left.
I did that and found myself on Juramento. I saw a few Chinese shops, but it didn't look like where I had been with Hernan, so I asked another police officer if I was in Chinatown. He said, "no" and smiled slightly. He told me to go to the corner, turn right and it would be "todo chino" (everything Chinese). I thought I detected a bit of condesencion in his voice and wondered what portenos think about the growing number of Chinese in their midst.
So, I went to the corner and turned right and there it was, all of the red and gold paper lanterns, all of the cheap souvenirs, restaurants, and even Chinese people (as well as a lot of tourists). I was back on the street where I had first asked for directions. If I had just continued walking straight as my instincts told me, I would have gotten to Chinatown sooner and less tired.
I found a great Chinese supermarket and went crazy buying things like soy sauce, sesame oil, plum wine, things that I am not sure I will be able to finish before I leave. I only have 3 weeks. But I know Hernan likes this stuff, so if I don't finish it, he'll get the leftovers.
I left one store and then entered another. Buying more stuff. I have fresh mint and cilantro, tofu (which I have not seen in over 4 months), red peper flakes (which have been impossible for me to find), nothing really substantial, but things that made me feel oddly like I was more at home in the Chinese supermarket than I am in the Disco. My sister teases me that I am not Italian but Chinese. Maybe she has a point. I would have bought more, but I was so far from home and couldn't carry everything, even though I was planning on taking a taxi. They had fresh seafood, including fresh prawns (which are impossible to find in this country with an enormously long coastline), they had really nice produce (I did get two mangos), and they had tons of other stuff that I would have bought if I weren't so far from home.
I walked a few blocks and caught a cab with a crabby driver who told me not to put my bags on the seat. It cost me 19 pesos to get home (a little less than $6), and considering I was pretty far from home and there was a lot of traffic, that was a good deal. Now I just need to figure out what I am going to cook with all of the stuff I bought and who is going to eat it!
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