It has been a while since I posted. It has been one of those seasons. Moving season.
I am starting to settle down in a new part of town. There have been financial worries and family problems. But now I have things back under control. It is time to kick off the shoes and get back to writing about my memories of the big move some years ago. The big move was me, coming from an English speaking country to this one in the deep south, where the culture is Italian gestures and Spanish lumfardo (slang). It is commonly believed here that the word "slang" stands for shortend language. I am not sure if that is the truth, just believed here, or some internet definition, posted for ad revenue. Last I wrote, I had found that my name was taken on the other platform, so I took a new one. A Spanish word for "dude" - you will have to find me over there if you want to know what I chose.
Sometimes you have to stop and smell the roses or in this case, pet the wildlife. This little bugger looks like it lands in all the wrong place and forgets to fly away when humans pick him up.
Normally, I would not play with bugs. These are just so beautiful and they are usually hard to catch without a net.
I want to talk about the culture here. The night life is amazing. I got into it when I first arrived and it can be brutal. Let's say there is a get together or birthday party happening and the plan is to meet up at the boliche. That is the word for what used to be called a Disco. It is a very large bar where people go to drink, dance and socialize. They can be meat markets or just where friends hang out and have fun. Singles do go there a lot, maybe even those who are attached or married. When I used to go there, I was single and there was no real way to talk to a lady. You cannot hear anything except the beat coming from full volume amps and woofers. It is the same now but all songs are tailored to that one specific beat. It is almost tribal.
So, it is a work night. People commonly get home from work and, since dinner is not even considered until 9:00 or 10:00 at night, you go to bed and get four hours sleep, wake at ten or eleven, eat dinner, and head out to the boliche. There is typically a line at the door and a cover charge, so you do that routine. Then you begin the evening at midnight or when the place really gets humming at 1:00 a.m.. I used to stay out till morning light and work my way home, shower and get on the bus to work. Most jobs have a strict 10:00 a.m. start time.
If your ride any bus line in the morning, I noticed this after quitting the clubbing life, you will see people sleeping on the bus. I never understood how you avoid missing your stop. Where I work, I can get in anywhere from ten in the morning to half past 11:00 and still be considered on time. I work in a computer store that sits in a mall - midtown.
The routine is the same if you want to party on the weekends. The difference is that you do not need to get your shut-eye on the bus or subte (subway). Everyone likes to sleep in!
My hang out when I was partying was called The Museum in San Telmo. It looked to be a place where plays used to happen. It was a large main floor and there was room for a stage at one end. The ceiling was about three stories up. There were bars on both sides of each upper deck where I assumed that the seats would have been back in the day. I learned about the place when I was invited to a birthday party. You know the rest of that story and also how I got to work the next day. Back then, I worked for a bank and everybody there would be in the same shape as I was after a birthday party.
As I said, dinner here is never before what my culture considers late night, around the time the news comes on TV - because I moved here before smart TVs and streaming services began. The next culture shock, and I may have mentioned it on my earlier posts, is the dinner invitation. It took me forever to learn this one. I had always gone to dinner parties in The States and my habit was to arrive with an apatite. For many years, I did that here and I always had difficulty lasting till dinner was served. It may be a spin off from the night life, but everyone starts drinking coffee after dinner and dinner usually ends at 12:30 or 1:00 a.m.
It does not take two hours to eat. There is a custom here to eat and then do sobre mesa, which could be translated "envelope table" but that makes no sense. Another translation could be "on the table" but I do not want anyone to thing that everyone gets on the table after dinner. The real idea and translation is that everyone stays at the table, talks and laughs. I was never brought up doing much of that. Family get togethers were a bit like that but not to this extent. Wine is big here so drinking is the thing to have with dinner and after dinner. Then, as I said, they break out the coffee. I am lucky to get to bed by 3:00 a.m.
None of what I am saying is negative. It is all normal here and part of life. I see people trying to get the most out of the day. When work takes up the whole day, as it does in The States, there is not much time for "a life" after work.
The negative for me was always eating so late. I am not used to going to bed with such a full stomach. Now, I usually eat a regular dinner at the regular time (between six and seven) then I go to any dinner invitation I might receive and try to eat a bit lighter. That is hard to do because the food here is delicious, especially the meat.
This was ordered medium-well. It might be a little too well done for the every day Argentino though. It used to seem to break some core truth if I asked to have the meat cooked a bit more, so I have gotten used to it on the red side, but that also took time.
Well, that is my little slice of experience for now. I am hoping to detail what the culture is like here, post after post, so that anyone planning to come here may be a bit more informed before they get on the plane.
It is Independence Day here.