See you in a week or two

I will see you in a week or two, it’s late you’d better get going

I will see you in a week or two 

I was back in Buenos Aires after a week away. Both Pablo and Nacho had offered me a place to stay if I returned. I had loved the city and there was still much that I wanted to see so I took them up on their offer. I was hoping to make a couple of trips out of the city too to visit Lau & Marcelo, the guys I had met in Rio and get over to Uruguay for a day or two. I caught a taxi from the airport (and yes, I mean caught a taxi rather than the other thing) and headed for Nacho’s office. I had hit BA at evening rush hour and the progress was slow. Sat in traffic sandwiched between a lot of big lorries belching out exhaust fumes the Aires was not so Buenos. By the time the taxi made it to Nacho’s office he had finished work and was outside waiting. He jumped in the taxi and we carried on to his place.

He made us a coffee and we chatted about my week in Chile. I had practiced my Spanish a little and made more of an effort. Nacho said I had clearly improved but he may have just been being polite. I had brought a bottle of pisco back from Chile in order to use up the last of my pesos at the airport and gave it to Nacho. After the coffee we headed to the supermarket so that we could pick up some things for dinner and breakfast. Nacho cooked us dinner and we had a fairly quiet evening in. Despite the coffee I had earlier in the evening I was soon yawning & had an early night.  

The following morning I saw Nacho before he left for work. He gave me a couple of suggestions of things to do that day and I considered getting up and going for an early morning walk but the thought of going back to bed for a snooze was too tempting. I woke a couple of hours later, showered, had some toast and headed to the Puerto Madero area. It was one of the areas that the tourist bus had taken us through but I had not explored it. The docks had been redeveloped recently and tall glass buildings rose from around the water. It reminded me of Canary Wharf. I wandered around for a while as the day was sunny and warm. The centre of the docks is dominated by the Puente de la Mujer (Bridge of the Woman) which was crowded with a tour group. I sat and waited until they moved on and then got some photos. I tried to get a photo of Dean on the bridge and nearly lost him in the water, managing to catch him just in time. I knew I would be in big trouble if anything happened to Dean.

After a late lunch I made my way back down to Nacho’s for a siesta. For the first time on my trip I was feeling a little under the weather. I suppose it was bound to happen at some point given how non-stop my trip and travelling had been. Nacho got home from work early evening, the sound of his keys in the door waking me from my nap on the sofa. Nacho kindly cooked dinner again and I was soon in bed hoping an early night and a good night’s sleep would help stave off a full-blown man cold. The early night and a lazy morning seemed to help a little. I made my way to meet Nacho for some lunch down near Puerto Madero. He asked what I had done with my morning. I was able to answer in perfect Spanish – “Nada”.

It’s late you’d better get going

Puente de la Mujer

I had taken a couple of aspirin that morning to get rid of a headache but I found myself sneezing constantly. It felt more like an allergy sneeze than a cold sneeze so after lunch Nacho pointed me in the direction of a pharmacy that I would pass on my way back to his place. He headed back to work and I headed for the pharmacy. I found the pharmacy and walked around looking for what I needed. A woman in the shop came over to help me. I asked (in Spanish) if she spoke English. She didn’t. I tried to explain what I needed using my basic Spanish vocabulary. She nodded, walked off and returned with a small packet of tablets. I paid for them and headed out of the shop. Replaying in my head what I had asked for I hoped I had said I needed something for “allergia” which was allergy rather than “alegría” which was cheerfulness. If I had got it wrong I may well have ended up with some anti-depressants. I took the tablet when I got home. The sneezing stopped so I must have got it right.

A quiet afternoon followed and by evening I was feeling much better. I was ready for a night out on the town with Nacho and the gang. We made our way over to Dario’s place and had some dinner with Dario, Leandro and Markitos. I managed to follow a little more of the conversation this time and even joined in a couple of times. After dinner Dario showed us a new magic trick that he had been practicing. I asked Dario how he knew magic tricks. It turned out that he works as a clown, doing entertainment at parties.

After dinner we returned to Km Zero but only after I made sure that there would not be a drag queen performing as I didn’t want to be made to go up on stage like I had been the first time I had visited. They assured me I would be fine. There would be a drag queen on but only to introduce a famous Argentine actress/singer/dancer who was doing a special appearance. The star attraction was Carmen Barbieri. I had never heard of her. Clearly she was popular at least amongst the gays of BA as the place was virtually full. She sang a couple of songs and did a lot of talking although I have no idea what she was saying. From the reaction of the audience her stories were very amusing though.

Throughout the night a couple of people chatted to me, starting their conversations in English. It was obvious I was not a local. One of the guys asked me if I knew who Carmen was. I said that I didn’t and he looked shocked. I pointed out that she probably had no idea who I was either. I’m not sure the guy bought my argument. I guess my 80 Gays celebrity status was not yet high enough for me to say “Do you know who I am?”. Maybe one day…

“I will see you in a week or two, it’s late you’d better get going” 
Lyrics from Come back with the same look in your eyes from the musical Tell me on a Sunday