I took a quiet morning on Saturday. It was a gorgeous day, spotted clouds with sunshine but without the normal humidity or killer heat. In the early afternoon, I packed my backpack with some water, a book, and my iPod and walked down to the Parque Rivadavia. There, after strolling around for a bit, I settled myself down under a tree and read for a while. Well, honestly, I did about as much people watching as I did reading. After a little while two kids came over and started playing on the tree. This was not just some little cherry tree, but a grand old tree with a trunk wide enough that four or so people would need to form a circle to hug it. They were both very cute and I was pleased to be able to understand most of what they said when they were on my side of the tree. I think that being able to understand people under the age of 7 or so is a good sign. However cute they were, once they found some drunk's leftover plastic soda can that still had some wine inside and decided to toss the bottle back and forth between the branches of the tree, I decided to leave before I was killed in friendly fire. I took my time all afternoon and enjoyed it a lot.
When I got back to the house, Betty told me that Paula had called, so after reaching her I headed out at about 5.30p to meet up at Paula's house. Paula took me to a market full of artisans that were selling all sorts of crafts, this weekend being specifically more handmade items. There were tons of stalls that lined large grass patches, one of which had speakers and chairs set up for live music. About half way through our viewing, we settled down on the grass to listen to some folk music from a few different genres each of which (according to tour guide Paula) have a different style of associated dancing. I bought myself a pair of alpargatas, which are shoes traditionally worn by the Gauchos in Argentina. They are sort of zebra-stripped, very comfy, and I wore them all day today. I might have to buy another pair since there were some that had great patterns on them, and they were super cheap. Paula bought a little leather bag that had hand-done pressed and stained designs decorating the skin. I may or may not have purchased a gift while I was there, I was definitely on the hunt. I hope to go back again since the stalls are not always the same, next time I will be bringing more money.
In the evening, Paula and I ate some takeout Chinese food (yummy, cheap, and essentially the same as in the United States, go figure) and then met up with Juan Pablo (Paula's friend who was mentioned in a previous blog) at his apartment. We went to Plaza Serrano, where I had met up with Anique and Thijs so long ago, and spent the evening with some friends of Juan's from Ecuador.
I had another sleepy morning today, because when I first woke up the sound that I immediately noticed was rain. It rained essentially all day today, not hard enough to cause flooding in our neighborhood, but a constant shower. So, with no huge drive to go out and walk the city, I lounged in my new shoes, sweatpants (yes, it was cool enough to wear sweatpants). The biggest downside to the rain today, of all days, was that today was scheduled to be one of the biggest days for Argentinean fútbol, the super-classic between River Plate and Boca. Unfortunately, the teams only were able to play 10 minutes of the game before it was suspended due to the wet conditions. They kept hoping to resume play, but now it will have to be rescheduled. Quite sad for everyone. Luke had even bought himself a River P. uniform to wear while watching. It looked very nice, I might have to buy one, although I think I'll go for the Argentinean national uniform so I am not beat up for supporting the other team. Besides, I do not have a very strong bond to any particular team.
Well, for this week's agenda forecast: last full week of classes coming up, with a national holiday on Wednesday and a slight chance of receiving a PIN before the weekend. From Buenos Aires, Argentina, this is Dylan Sabb signing off, thank you for tuning in and see you next time.
Chao.
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