Okay, today was the lazy day

And by today I, of course mean yesterday.  That´s the nice thing about blogging from here, as long as I post before Noon, it´ll be brand new by the time any of you wake up!  Except for my mom of course, I´m pretty sure she wakes up at 3 am and starts rototilling.

But today really was a different kind of day for me.  I really did not do much.  I think I spent a total of 5 hours in this internet cafe, bought a sandwich at a legitimately local sandwich shop where everybody knew each other (description to follow) bought my bus ticket, and generally just hung out at the hostel.  Given that that was my day, this is going to be somewhat of a pontificatory post. (ya like that, I just made that up, my skill with making up cognates has now bled over into adjectoiding words - quite successfully if I do say so myself)

This is me walking around Palermo Viejo

(Do I look like a bad boy who you shouldn´t mess with cause he knows his way around?)

(or just a scruffy tourist with remarkably white arms?)

That´s the neighbor hood that I´ve been staying in here in Buenos Aires.  Some interesting things occured to me yesterday.  I was thinking about being in a place, and remembering what it was like to visit a school, and then my first week there, and how the place smells different, and looks different, and feels different in those first days, then it EVER will again.

Well I am in that transition period here.  I am noticing different smelss, and I know the streets, and the people in the store on the corner recognize me and smile now when I walk in (¿mas cerveza?)  Feeling settled in a place has also made me think about home a lot more, and the things and people that are there.  My mom, my dad, my sister, MY PANCHO!, Jay, Bryan, Nikki, Mark, all those other people, and the life that I walked (well...flew) away from not 1 week ago.  (by the way folks I just mentioned, that shout out is like a verbal contract to leave a comment.  I know, my sister´s a lawyer)

It´s so interesting though to think about the difference of traveling through a place versus staying there.  And the same goes with relationships.  I meet people here, we have a connection over too much beer (can you tell I drank a bit much last night) but the next day, we might never see each other again.  It could be the slight hangover talking, but the last 24 hours have been quite surreal.

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The sandwich shop

It was bustling!  Tables were full of locals.  The paint was peeling off the walls, and the menu was one of those old felt reader boards with the letters stuck on, but it was clear that the menu hadn´t changed in quite awhile as letters were missing from nearly item, yet everybody had clearly been able to order their food.  The tables were filled with steaks, salads, sandwiches, and old glass botlle sodas.  Next to the counter there was a Godfather-looking Police officer, who´s uniform had clearly seen years of service, but his hair was slicked back and jet black.  People kept walking by and shaking hands solemnly with him and he would close his eyes and nod.  When I ordered my ham sandwich, the woman who took my order went and grabbed a hunk of meat out of the chest freezer and handed it back to the stooped old man who was hunched over a work table in this back little room that also housed what looked like a kiln and a cement mixer.  After a couple of minutes, she wrapped up my sandwich in paper, and I left - only to discover that when they were asking me "¿jamon, solo?" with incredulous looks on their face that they really meant "Only ham?" and I should say "si, si" a little less.

As I mentioned yesterday, I am going to Sierra de la Ventana, which is a small mountain town just North of Bahia Blanca.  I am taking an 8 hour bus ride that leaves from BS. AS. at 10:00 tonight.  My ticket is for a semi-cama, which means my chair won´t recline all the way back into a bed, but I´ve got my tunes, and a lack of sleep from the night before, so I expect that I´ll be fine.

Good News!  I finally found a couch to surf!  A man named Fernando said that he would be able to host me, and he lives just a little bit outside of town, so that will be very fun and interesting, and an entirely new way to travel for me.  I also found my old friend Jaya on there, and I am well on my way to being a legitimate, trustworthy couchsurfer!!

Well, I think I will leave it here for today.  I have no idea how easy it will be to get back and continue to post daily, but I assure you I will continue to take notes and pictures, and will post whenever I can.  If you can´t tell, I LOVE comments!  You all should know also, that the comment box is a two-way street, and if you like, check back on them, because I do respond to most comments, so there´s always new stuff!  I will leave you with this abhorable thing that I saw the other day, and couldn´t help capturing. 

  Little do they know there is only 1 SuperPancho, and he gave no permission to Coca-Cola to profit off of his name.  His lawyer will be in touch with Coca Cola soon I´m sure.

ohhh, Mr. Pancho...

La Palabra Español del Dia:

Fugitivo - ____________  (hint: it´s a cognate)