Live and learn
Cloudy and cool in Buenos Aires today- enjoyed a nice morning of sleeping in after a long Porteno (what people from Buenos Aires are called) night out last night and walking around the city until 3am with friends. Sounds funny but I went to a movie last night around 10- V for Vendetta, if you haven't seen it, you must! Simply awesomke flick, Natalie Portman and the most convincing masked man in movie history it would seem. Absolutely spectactular. After that a nice walk around Recoleta Village which wraps about the Recoleta Cemetary, a virtual city of the dead. It's a funny thing about cemetaries, people either think they are creepy or cool. Personally, I have always tried to find the beauty and peace in them, although I would much prefer to be cremated and scattered to the wind. Personal preference I suppose. I just don't feel like spending eternity in a marble mausoleum like so many Porteno's choose to!
After walking about for awhile, ended up at Piola's, a great funky pizza joint (well it is either pizza or cow parts in Argentina, lets be honest and I am just about sick to death of steak!) and hung out for a bit before returning to the hotel for much needed sleep. Oddly at Piola's I saw a classic plastic surgery case of a portena woman giving me the hairy eyeball and it wasn't until I left and saw her python shoes and thick brown tights that I realzed I had seen her earlier in the day....how odd in a city of 11 million. Still can't place where I saw her though...
As for today, I am going to a Babasonico's concert with friends tonight, they are Argentinian and ridiculously popular all over South America- should be a fun time although I am definiately lacking in the lyrics knowledge department. Today I also got to enjoy a lovely $35 USD Shiatsu massage by Ana Marta who I met the last time around. She is one of those timeless women who seem to have all the answers to the world's problems at her fingertips and could be anywhere between 50 and 70. Seriously, she can do heavy massage and serious osteopathic bone alignment similar (and seemingly more effective) to chiropractic work and she makes me look like an Amazon she is so tiny. Hell the woman said she went to Machu Picchu for the first time 40 years ago!! I aspire to be like that someday.
So, after a serious work out with Ana Marta I am feeling much better and more balanced than before although still feeling a little out of whack with the whole readjustment and reentry process. Also, still trying to find a balance between my life and goals here and how to stay in touch with everything at home without letting it overwhelm me. Its not life and death or anything like that but I tend to get paranoid when i'm gone about things I'm missing out on at home even if it is just usually more of the same. Also, the past few weeks have given me a lot of perspective in terms of how fast things can happen that can change your life.
Long story short there is no doubt that this trip will be even more of a challenge than the last one. Although I have friends and family visiting when I am in Cusco I am committed to a real job (ok so its volunteer but its still full time and serious) and this time I don't just get to up and leave when I feel like going somewhere else. I know Cusco will be great and my Spanish will be so much better and it will be an experience I will never forget but its strange to be in the same places all over again but with such greater personal challenges. Even packing my bags was harder this time simply b/c I had more room! Then again I will be living in a fantastic house with an amazing view of the whole city and living out a different dream than before.
As for leaving Buenos Aires again on Sunday, I'm more sad than I thought I would be- it really is an amazing city. Definiately too big, too polluted, too fashion concious and too many other things but it has its charms, many of which I have gotten to enjoy in the past two days, so I am at least leaving on a high note. Tomorrow night all the friends are going out to a huge party on the water called South Fest (Deep Dish from DC of all DJ's is headlining, as well as Satoshi Tommie, Ladytron and Plump DJ's) and it should be absolutely ridiculous. A busy couple of days huh?
Well, thats all for now, off to walk the puppy and then Babasonicos...
After walking about for awhile, ended up at Piola's, a great funky pizza joint (well it is either pizza or cow parts in Argentina, lets be honest and I am just about sick to death of steak!) and hung out for a bit before returning to the hotel for much needed sleep. Oddly at Piola's I saw a classic plastic surgery case of a portena woman giving me the hairy eyeball and it wasn't until I left and saw her python shoes and thick brown tights that I realzed I had seen her earlier in the day....how odd in a city of 11 million. Still can't place where I saw her though...
As for today, I am going to a Babasonico's concert with friends tonight, they are Argentinian and ridiculously popular all over South America- should be a fun time although I am definiately lacking in the lyrics knowledge department. Today I also got to enjoy a lovely $35 USD Shiatsu massage by Ana Marta who I met the last time around. She is one of those timeless women who seem to have all the answers to the world's problems at her fingertips and could be anywhere between 50 and 70. Seriously, she can do heavy massage and serious osteopathic bone alignment similar (and seemingly more effective) to chiropractic work and she makes me look like an Amazon she is so tiny. Hell the woman said she went to Machu Picchu for the first time 40 years ago!! I aspire to be like that someday.
So, after a serious work out with Ana Marta I am feeling much better and more balanced than before although still feeling a little out of whack with the whole readjustment and reentry process. Also, still trying to find a balance between my life and goals here and how to stay in touch with everything at home without letting it overwhelm me. Its not life and death or anything like that but I tend to get paranoid when i'm gone about things I'm missing out on at home even if it is just usually more of the same. Also, the past few weeks have given me a lot of perspective in terms of how fast things can happen that can change your life.
Long story short there is no doubt that this trip will be even more of a challenge than the last one. Although I have friends and family visiting when I am in Cusco I am committed to a real job (ok so its volunteer but its still full time and serious) and this time I don't just get to up and leave when I feel like going somewhere else. I know Cusco will be great and my Spanish will be so much better and it will be an experience I will never forget but its strange to be in the same places all over again but with such greater personal challenges. Even packing my bags was harder this time simply b/c I had more room! Then again I will be living in a fantastic house with an amazing view of the whole city and living out a different dream than before.
As for leaving Buenos Aires again on Sunday, I'm more sad than I thought I would be- it really is an amazing city. Definiately too big, too polluted, too fashion concious and too many other things but it has its charms, many of which I have gotten to enjoy in the past two days, so I am at least leaving on a high note. Tomorrow night all the friends are going out to a huge party on the water called South Fest (Deep Dish from DC of all DJ's is headlining, as well as Satoshi Tommie, Ladytron and Plump DJ's) and it should be absolutely ridiculous. A busy couple of days huh?
Well, thats all for now, off to walk the puppy and then Babasonicos...
posted by WanderLust at 5/05/2006 03:55:00 PM
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