Father Figure

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Oh shit. Dad comes in today and I’m not sure how he’s going to like it. There’ll be a lot of young people with their bad language, drinking and carrying on. Though this might be my most chill group that I’ve ever had, I’m not sure he knows what he’s getting himself into. Anyway, it’ll be interesting.

He’s flying in around 10:00 am and so I wait around in the small café of the hotel. He gets here late as he took a bus into town as a taxi would take up almost ¾ of his daily budget. We go out to lunch and have a little reunion. It’s good to see him and he looks well. Over pasta and salad we catch up, and then I give little tour of the area and take him back to the hotel. He’s been traveling all night and is pretty tired. The other thing that came with Dad is a big bag of stuff mainly sent by my Mom. Down here, I’m always scrounging for books. I’ve read everything on the truck and I’ve asked her to send some down and she’s come through. In the bag is about 40 books, underwear, shorts and some Merrell shoes that are my Dad’s Christmas gift to me. Pretty exciting if you’re me.

That afternoon we head down to the main plaza of B.A., the plaza de Mayo. As its Thursday the mothers of plaza de Mayo are marching and my pax want to check it out. Back in the late 70’s and early 80’s thousands of people “disappeared” due to political disagreements. Basically if you disagreed or were suspected of disagreeing with the government you disappeared. The mothers of plaza de Mayo get together every week and march around the plaza which happens to be in front of the Casa de Rosa (the presidential palace) with signs and pictures of their lost loved ones. They’ve been asking for answers since the military government was still in power. It’s a poignant symbol to remind us how near in the past this repression was.

As poignant the symbol is, the reality isn’t that exciting. While I appreciate the bravery that these women showed in the face of oppression and understand what they signify, I can only watch old women walk around in a circle for so long. Luckily it was about time for our tango class. After last night most of the women in my group and one boyfriend (Damon) who was less enthusiastic asked me to sign them up for a class. Once again, I think reality didn’t match expectation. As with salsa or any Latin dance, it takes a couple of weeks at least of lessons before it starts to get exciting. We spent most of the class shuffling behind the instructor learning the basic step. Finally towards the end he let us dance in couples and do a couple of basic moves, but nothing like the flurry of kicks and lifts like we had seen the night before.

That night I took my group, my Dad included, out for a steak. Argentina is world renown for its beef, especially in England, and they wanted a sample. Afterward we headed back out to Palermo where we once again had to play pool to kill couple hours before the clubs opened up. I lose to Claire again and have the added bonus of losing to my Dad. I’m in a slump.

Once again, by the time it’s time to go out we’re tired. Like I said a couple of days ago, B.A. takes some getting used to and we’re not there yet. Also about 400 grams of steak is sitting in the pit of our stomachs and making it difficult to want do anything. So we hop in a taxi back to the hotel. On the way the taxi driver starts going on about his bar. Apparently, he’s not usually a taxi driver, but a bar manager. He’s just filling in for his friend. He gives me his card and makes me promise to come see his bar the next night. As soon as I get out of the cab I forget and go to bed.

Thankfully nobody wakes me up in the middle of the night tonight.