Tandil

I had a four day weekend. Every other Yanqui in Buenos Aires was heading to nearby megalopolis Cordoba for their Oktoberfest. Yes, they have an Oktoberfest there. It struck me as rather stuoid to go to Argentina for a beer festiva that we have in the United States, so I polled some kids in my radio class where I ought to go. They listed off a bunch of party destinations and some place that I had never ever heard of before. Hmm. Beach, beer, booty or a an exciting journey through the happy-go-lucky crazyplace of the Argentina dairy country.

Well, you all know me:

Yup. That's cheese. Yes. I went to the Wisconsin of Argentina. Truthfully, I didn't know that before I went.

The plus side of my vacation selection is that it put me in with a whole bunch of argentines who were in my boat. Tired of Buenos Aires and looking for some place to recharge their batteries. Turns out Tandil is the typical sort of destination for a real portenho. So, two things. Maybe I am fitting into Buenos Aires if I get sick of it like real portenhos do. And, the city was chock full of argentines. I didn't see or hear another yanqui de mierda the entire weekend.

And tandilenses clearly are a more positive sort that portenhos. Looking confused in the retiro bus station, I ask a guy what the hell my ticket is supposed to indicate and it turns out he is returning home to Tandil. Funnier coincidence, he will be teaching skiing in Steamboat Colorado starting in the same month I return home. I offered to show him around KC if the opportunity presents itself. He invited me to hang out over the weekend.

But first problem first. Tandil is a popular long weekend getaway for Portenhos. Nathan shows up in town at 6 AM on a thursday with no reservation. So Nathan spends the next couple hours pounding the ground in search of cheap lodging. Unanswered doorbells, turnings away and high prices have Nathan being sent to some women's house to rent out some kind of lodging.

Turns out to be a sweet deal. Mary, as she is called, is a sweet ol' gran who says to Nathan upon his arrival:
"A, Hola chico. Chico lindo. Tan lindo, de donde sos?"
"Why hello boy. Handsome boy. So handsome, where are you from?"
It's the best female attention I've gotten yet, I stayed.

I spent the first day wandering around the city/countryside climbing rocks covered in cacti and generally thinking it was nice to see the sky. That lasted about 5 hours and then I decided that there was so little in Tandil, that I oughta book it to some other part of the country.

I took a siesta at 6, being exhausted from the little sleep and blistering activity and I woke up sometime the next day. In time to meet some people that turned this trip around!

Meet Yami (Shahmi) and Laura. To my horror, English teachers, but thankfully users of british english and totally disinterested in my unapologetic provinicialism.

But they were some sweet cats. We tackled a few of the sites of tandil, like a huge crucifix, but it started to pour. So we high tailed it back to our pad get into dry clothes.

And then, I met some other people that had blown into hostel. Ernesto and his girlfriend eugenia, who{s face bore striking resemblance to an aunt of mine. In any case, he taught me to play the Argentine card game of Truco. Epitomizing the italian element in argentina cutlure, its played with a "spanish" deck of cards whose suits are clubs, coins, swords and cups and its key gameplay element is lying.

In summary it was a great relaxing trip. Im not gonna give you the play by play on everything, suffice to say that I got to see what it was like to be an argentina on vacation. I soaked in this vibe of truly being away from my culture. One of the highlights of the trip was when I was the silent witness to a conversation between the people present concerning what it was like to be from different parts of the country. I guess it would be similar to hearing some californians talk to a guy from Ohio about how people from New York City are really unfriendly.

Thats all for now. Maybe more another time.

Oh, in unrelated news. My friend Brad, who is a yanqui that does not suck, hipped to me some music via his external hard drive. Im 100% hipper and blacker than I was.

I also lost my passport. Whoops.

Nathan