Sunday April 13th, 2003
A Lazy Sunday
I woke up around 2 in the afternoon this day. I showered and headed out and the streets looked really quiet. I first headed over the Download Center to check email. It was closed. Then I walked up to Santa Fe and I figured I would check out the action at 1707 Santa Fe and get in an early session. I buzzed and there was no answer. Then I headed over to 2254 French Street in Recoleta. Nothing. So I went back to Design Suites and pulled out a Clarin. After a few calls and no answers, I decided to punt and call the GF and see if she wanted to see a movie.
Her mother and her niece were still with her. She told me that she couldn’t see a movie just yet. They had to take the niece somewhere. She had told me where, but I couldn’t understand her. So now I had a choice. Did I want to sit in my hotel room alone for the rest of the afternoon until some of the clubs opened or should I spend the afternoon with the GF, her mother, and her niece? I think in most situations I would rather gnaw of my right arm than spend an afternoon with the GF’s mother and niece, but since this wasn’t most situations I decided to go for it. I hopped in a taxi and went to the GF’s apartment. That is when I got to find out where exactly we were going.
I guess the Powerpuff Girls are really popular in Argentina. When I arrived, the niece had them on the television. Then the GF explained that the Powerpuff Girls were making an appearance somewhere and that was where we were going so the niece could see the Powerpuff Girls. I will say this, watching the Powerpuff Girls and the Simpsons in Spanish is pretty damn interesting, if not outright funny.
So we take the Subte on a short ride and when we get out, I have no idea where we are. Both the GF and the mother seemed pretty surprised at all the people that were in line. And boy were there a lot of people. I had no idea where the line started, but it wrapped around almost two or three city blocks. We kept walking and walking trying to find the end of it. We finally did and there were still tons more people coming after us to get in line. We weren’t in line for more than about 10-15 minutes when a security guard comes up and tells the crowd to disperse. Some people seem to check a couple of times before leaving and some just ignore it and stay in line.
The GF and mother break the news to the niece and she starts bawling. While the niece was bawling, I was taking a look around to try and find where the hell we were. We seemed to be towards the back of a mall. I saw a sign that said “Alto Palermo.” Is that a mall?
So now the GF and mother are faced with what to do with a bawling 5 year old who really wanted to see her heroes, the Powerpuff Girls. They think quickly and say we are now going to the Japanese Gardens. So we take a short taxi ride somewhere else (I have no idea where) and we get out at the Japanese Gardens. There seemed to be a lot of people there.
We walk towards the back and find the stall to buy food so the niece can feed the fish and get her mind off of the Powerpuff Girls. Damn. These fish had to be the fattest things I have ever seen. I guess that is what happens since they do nothing but get fed all day by tourists and visitors. The niece had a pretty good time feeding the fish but quickly got bored. The mother was watching the niece for a while (I think she was running around) and the GF and I sat on a rock for a while just kind of relaxing and holding each other.
We walked the gardens a little more and then found the mother and niece and took off. We started walking, again I had no idea where, and eventually found a coffee shop the mother was looking for. We go in and grab a table and the mother and GF ordered coffee and the niece got some juice. Me, I got a soda and then ordered something to eat. The mother and GF looked at me in astonishment. It was around 6:30 at night and the GF was explaining to me that it was not dinner time until 10 or 11, it was now coffee and media luna time. I was thinking to myself I don’t give a shit what time it is, I am hungry and I am getting something to eat.
Hey, I am all for respecting the cultures of other countries except when it interferes with my hunger. I was hoping I didn’t commit a major cultural faux pas or something, but then I really didn’t care too much after I started to think about it more. When the food came the niece caught a look at it and had to have some as well, so I ended up sharing. I guess the two “kids” got to eat while the “adults” had coffee and media lunas like they were supposed to. This is probably why at 28 I still have to sit at the “kids” table during Thanksgiving and Christmas. (Ha ha. Just kidding).
At one point the GF left to use the restroom and I was left alone with the niece and the mother. If that wasn’t the longest two minutes I’ve ever experienced before I don’t know what was. She of course was trying to make conversation with me and was speaking way too quickly for me to even make out the few words I normally can. I think I almost grabbed the salt at one point and began applying it to my right arm so I could begin gnawing.
After our afternoon coffee, the niece and mother caught a bus home and I was (finally) alone with the girlfriend. We were walking around and before I knew it were back in the Alto Palermo area at a CineMark move theater. We decided on seeing “The Recruit” or as they say in Spanish, “El Discipulo.”
But we still had about an hour and half to kill before the movie started so we walked around the mall for the while. We also checked out some of the stores and shops outside and around the mall. She had been looking for a new pair of boots for a while so we went into many of the shops. She was kind of choosy and was looking for one style in particular, but it really wasn’t that bad for shopping with a female. She eventually found what she was looking for and bought them.
After the boot shopping we headed in and watched the movie. I kind of liked it. It wasn’t too bad. I had heard a review and synopsis of it on the radio a few months back which gave away some of the plotlines and spoilers, but it was still enjoyable to watch. After we finished the movie the GF was kind of funny with one of her comments. Before this movie the GF’s favorite actor was Ben Affleck. After the movie it was Colin Farrell.
It was finally time for dinner so the GF and I started walking and as usual I had no clue where we were. That was, until things suddenly started to look familiar. Then I recognized that we were on Santa Fe Ave. and I knew exactly where we were. We weren’t that far away from my hotel at this point. We ate dinner at a place called Babieca on Santa Fe. I think I was able to avoid talk of marriage during dinner this night but it probably came up at least once.
With dinner and everything else out of the way it was finally time to head back to her apartment and get after it. We watched music videos for a while and I gave her another massage. She goes absolutely bonkers every time she hears the Ronan Keating/Paulina Rubio duet “When You Say Nothing At All.” We watched this video the first night we were together so I guess it was becoming “our” song now.
I wouldn’t rate the sex tonight as good as it was the first night, but it was still pretty good. We fell asleep in each others arms.
