I am so happy right now.
(Well technically I was so happy right then...
as I needed a few days to upload my pictures so you could really visualize just how incredible all this was :)
..................
No, I am not 100% fluent in Spanish yet.
No, I did not find a Gaucho tall enough for me.
No I did not win ___________.
(fill in the blank with whatever would make you feel like you were in heaven)
ENCONTRÉ EL CAFÉ PERFECTO!
While Courtyard Coffee will always be my cafe heart back home, I am proud to say, I have found a temporary replacement.
The story follows...
Roaming the streets last night, Li and I strolled across this little tea shop. While we weren´t in the mood for tea, I thought, "Perfect, I´ll go study there tomorrow!" So after a very long night resulting in my wake up at noon (I never wake up that late! I have to force myself to stay in bed past 8:30am...) I thought "It is time."
I got up, I got out and I got walking. And then I got lost. Along the way I saw a sweet shop nestled into the corner with lime green painted walls. While it intrigued me but it was not the "Tea Connection" shop I was determined to go to. After realizing I left my wallet, camera AND chapstick at home (3 things I never leave without) I turned around and walked back.
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| The "sweet shop nestled into the corner with lime green painted walls" in foto form. aka: Be Frika. Read on for details :) |
After a moment of thinking why that was possible meant to happen to me, I grabbed my prized possesions and made the long journey (four blocks :) to Tea Connection! I arrived, and upon arriving I realized there was no room for me to sit. Not only was there no room for me to sit, the menu was over priced, the room undersized and the staff hardly lukewarm. I took the unwelcoming nature of the arrival and walked out. Back on the street again, no coffee shop success.
Sidenote: It is hot here! Very very hot. Granted it is summer, but it is also humid, semi-polluted and I don´t have that sweet grace of the sea breeze I´ve been spoiled with my whole life. It takes me about 5 minutes outside to start sweating! It doesn´t help that I walk at the speed of a racehorse and it doesn´t help that there are gorgeous people everywhere dry as a desert stone. Buenos Aires is the Paris of South America.
Just as I was thinking this I see a man walking towards me, I can feel him sizing me up and I wait for it, wait for it, wait for it and then he goes¨"¡Que Divina! jbvdbvrnkjsn njfbkjsbf fsjbfbrfob (I couldn´t catch everything he said) kbvghjfkre Divina!" And we both kept walking our owns ways, with no looking back. Then I thought, "Hmm, Maybe sweaty works for some people."
That is how it´s done here. Men call you Divine as you walk past them on the street. At first I found it frightening, then bizarre, then I ignored it and now it´s kind of growing on me. Whispers of "¡Que, Hermosa!" ¡"Muy Linda!" And long (creative I´m sure) sentences sent in my direction and if only I could fully comprehend them I may be flattered or I may be outraged, but for now I´m just pleased. Of course the man sending the piropos does indeed change the reaction. They come in all shapes and sizes, some are younger than me and some are older, so as you can imagine, the majority erred on the side of creepy.
