Days 39-40: The Blunder

Sorry about not posting last night, I meant to but was distracted by a certain event that will not be one of my best memories of my time here.

Yesterday school was great. Marta was back and we had a good time, and I had Paula as a teacher for my private lesson (because Marta and Germán are moving, so they needed the afternoon to attend to all of the associated complications). It was very nice, we essentially just learned, or rather I just learned, a lot of new vocabulary. I just asked for all of the words that I could remember needing but not knowing. We also played a huge game of Memory (paired cards spread face down on a table, whoever gathers the most pairs wins) and I won! Now, I should explain my enthusiasm by saying that my sister has soundly beat me at that game ever since we learned how to play. Maybe Argentina is good for all of my gaming skills: solitaire, memory, I just need to play monopoly to complete the list of games I never win.

Paula had me over for dinner yesterday night as well as one of my vocabulary questions was a traditional food ñoquis and she wanted me to taste it. They are little pieces of a potato-based dough that is shaped into little pieces that look like swollen grubs. Now please imagine the bowl with bits of meat and pepper with about 25 grubs lurking throughout. It tasted really nice.

Now, I am hesitant to share what I did that night because I feel like such a fool, but I must sacrifice my pride for the benefit of truth. I hailed a taxi for the trip home, per usual since the silly subways close at 10.30p on weekdays, and after paying the driver I stepped out of the cab and immediately realized that my wallet was not in my pocket. After scanning the ground around my feet and where the car had been, I sprinted down the street to try and catch the cab at a red light up ahead. But I was unsuccessful. I hailed another cab who told me that the only way to contact the radio system for that particular taxi company, 'taxiya,' was to call from another cab from that specific system. So I spent about 45 minutes scanning every single cab that passed. Just my luck that not a single 'taxiya' cab was driving along my street. Well, I went back to the apartment after failing to get the company's number from a kiosk and Betty was still awake. It turned out that she did not have the number either, but looked it up online.

She called in and I described what I could of the driver, that he had short brown hair and a trimmed beard, he had accepted a call for a client on Av. Corrientes after dropping me off, but they could not identify the man. I have learned my lesson, and in the future I will always call for a cab so that I can know for sure the my trip is recorded; it is safer and more reliable that way too. Well, I sent an email to my Mother asking her to call in and freeze the credit and debit cards that I had on me. I only lost about USD30-35 along with my Texas Drivers' License. Since I have a photocopy of my passport with me and the license will not be expensive to replace, my only concern was that the driver, or more just as possible, a client would take the wallet and charge using the cards and my I.D..

I called this morning to both the credit card company and my personal bank and made sure that both areas were blocked. I have ordered a replacement card and nothing was withdrawn from any of the accounts before the block was put in place. Gracias a Dios, thank goodness.

One thing that gives me the heebee jeebees is that I had just paid the deposit on my trip to Mendoza earlier that day, for me and Flor at the same time. Only hours before I lost my wallet I had more than 900 pesos, about USD240 in my wallet. Got to find the silver lining.

Anyway, for now things have gone as well as could be hoped for, and I have certainly beat myself up enough about the whole deal. I still cannot believe it happened. My conclusion is that I was aiming to put my wallet in my little bag and it just slid down the outside onto the floor. Ridiculous. I had been so cautious on the subway and on the streets in regard to thieves, when in reality I should have been just as worried about me. Another frustrating thing is that I remember looking back onto the seat before closing the door to see if I had left something behind, talk about the subconscious knowing more than it is given credit for...

So classes were a little tougher for me today, just because I was distracted and I did not get much sleep last night. To ice the cake, Luke has been feeling poorly the last few days, and today my throat bothered me throughout the classes. I had some tea with lemon and took a multi-vitamin; I will not get sick. It is not in the realm of possibility.

On the brighter side, tomorrow night Andi is celebrating his birthday, so I am going to a small party that he is having at a friend's house. It will be nice to talk to him again, as it turns out he is roommates with Oliver, the guy in my 'group' classes with me. They are both from Germany, so I have a feeling that the primary language in that apartment is not Spanish.

I have been teaching Paula the wonderful English words like 'discusterous' and 'redunkulous' and 'anywho' so this feel quite appropriate:

Anywho, I am off to bed to go to 'dream with the little angels' as the Porteños say (how much nicer is that than 'don't let the bed bugs bite'?!).

May my foolish error serve as a lesson for more than just me.

Chao.