An update on my travels from last night. I found a small neighborhood resto that I had read about on the net and just like the article said ...the food was cheap, the food was FANTASTIC. I found the restaurant on Defensa Aveniedo and the name of the resto was DesNivel.
Report 2...Thursday PM
Summer rain fell today....at least thats what they call it here. Well it was not the normal cloud burst of 20 to 30 minutes but it lasted over 3 hours of hard rain....and I mean like cats and dogs.
I was having my second cup of cafe at my now favorite corner Lima and Belgrano, when it started raining. People ran to take cover, ran to take a bus, tried to hail down taxis...well guess what everyone else was thinking the same thing. But most BAs know where to take cover and that is under BAs famous awnings. Why did Ottawa ban awnings anyway???....it does protect us on those rainy days. While under that famous awning sipping my coffee I noticed this guy and his daughter trying to figure out what they were going to do....hail a cab, take a bus....I did not really know. As he stood there he glanced at the book I was reading ...you all know that book...the one that translates English to Spanish.
Finally the rain got to me....so I moved in the resto to take cover. Well guess who else took the same direction...the guy and his daughter. As I took the first table after the suggestion of my waiter....the guy and his daughter glance over and asked if they could join me at the table for four. By this time the resto was almost full so...grab what you can.
Hence this started another day of cultural exchange. We introduced each other and his name was Chechen and his niece Mathilda. She was seven years old and was not concerned about the weather one bit, as she sat there quietly drawing pictures on a small pad. Chechen and I struck up a conversation with his small amount of English and with my small amount of Spanish. We both would grab the book when we did not really understand each other. Body language really does work when you don't have a hoot what the other person has said to you. He told me he was babysitting his niece for the day and they were going museum hopping. He asked me if I wanted to join them....so I said what the heck...so off we went. We took a bus to our first destination and when we arrived it was closed for the day. Then we hopped a taxi and went to another area of town where the famous cemetary is located. Next to the cemetary was this church that was built in the 1600 an amazing place.
From there we went to the Art museum and walked around as we dried off. Mathilda was so excited seeing some old art...paintings and she was more interested in some of the old sculptures. Most of the time we were there she kept drawing. I hope to able to scan them and share them with you later. She drew three of them while we were together. I think she has talent. As time fly by....we were getting hungry so Chechn recommended that we take the bus to our next destination...a resto where we had Pizza. Now that bus ride was something. As it was late in the day...around 4 pm....there were at times 20 people getting on the bus all at once. In BA if you got your foot on the floor board the driver can take off to the next stop. I did notice a few interesting things on the bus....as we crossed a number of churches...I noticed people doing the sign of the cross. Since this bus was packed and like buses in Ottawa the driver was in a hurry to his next stop...by the time i got to the door...he was moving and I had to jump out of a moving bus to get off. Not my favorite thing to do!!!
Chechen, Matilda and myself parted company in the government district of BA, first trading off email addresses and web sites and finally getting a picture of him and his neice.
What a cultural exchange day.....thank you Chechen and Matilda.
Report 2...Thursday PM
Summer rain fell today....at least thats what they call it here. Well it was not the normal cloud burst of 20 to 30 minutes but it lasted over 3 hours of hard rain....and I mean like cats and dogs.
I was having my second cup of cafe at my now favorite corner Lima and Belgrano, when it started raining. People ran to take cover, ran to take a bus, tried to hail down taxis...well guess what everyone else was thinking the same thing. But most BAs know where to take cover and that is under BAs famous awnings. Why did Ottawa ban awnings anyway???....it does protect us on those rainy days. While under that famous awning sipping my coffee I noticed this guy and his daughter trying to figure out what they were going to do....hail a cab, take a bus....I did not really know. As he stood there he glanced at the book I was reading ...you all know that book...the one that translates English to Spanish.
Finally the rain got to me....so I moved in the resto to take cover. Well guess who else took the same direction...the guy and his daughter. As I took the first table after the suggestion of my waiter....the guy and his daughter glance over and asked if they could join me at the table for four. By this time the resto was almost full so...grab what you can.
Hence this started another day of cultural exchange. We introduced each other and his name was Chechen and his niece Mathilda. She was seven years old and was not concerned about the weather one bit, as she sat there quietly drawing pictures on a small pad. Chechen and I struck up a conversation with his small amount of English and with my small amount of Spanish. We both would grab the book when we did not really understand each other. Body language really does work when you don't have a hoot what the other person has said to you. He told me he was babysitting his niece for the day and they were going museum hopping. He asked me if I wanted to join them....so I said what the heck...so off we went. We took a bus to our first destination and when we arrived it was closed for the day. Then we hopped a taxi and went to another area of town where the famous cemetary is located. Next to the cemetary was this church that was built in the 1600 an amazing place.
From there we went to the Art museum and walked around as we dried off. Mathilda was so excited seeing some old art...paintings and she was more interested in some of the old sculptures. Most of the time we were there she kept drawing. I hope to able to scan them and share them with you later. She drew three of them while we were together. I think she has talent. As time fly by....we were getting hungry so Chechn recommended that we take the bus to our next destination...a resto where we had Pizza. Now that bus ride was something. As it was late in the day...around 4 pm....there were at times 20 people getting on the bus all at once. In BA if you got your foot on the floor board the driver can take off to the next stop. I did notice a few interesting things on the bus....as we crossed a number of churches...I noticed people doing the sign of the cross. Since this bus was packed and like buses in Ottawa the driver was in a hurry to his next stop...by the time i got to the door...he was moving and I had to jump out of a moving bus to get off. Not my favorite thing to do!!!
Chechen, Matilda and myself parted company in the government district of BA, first trading off email addresses and web sites and finally getting a picture of him and his neice.
What a cultural exchange day.....thank you Chechen and Matilda.
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On a happier note....the PIG got broken into. It was a gift and it was quite the treat.
A couple of closing comments on today post....
1. Men and Women kiss each other when saying good bye.....yes both sides of the cheek
2. In traffic jams people honk there horn to get the traffic moving but this morning rain produce over 2000 cars honking all at once....almost too much to bear
3. Most people here don't do eye to eye contact, very rare to see someone doing eye to eye contact with me....maybe its because i don't have any hair....most men have hair even in the later years.
4. At the Church there was a book with sign in/out and i browsed the book and saw that people from Quebec were there yesterday. Also at the museum we met a couple from Iceland who were interested in Mathildas work.
I want to say thanks to those emails wishing me a good trip and those email from people who are asking question about BA. Keep them coming and for those who don't have my email.....
VAET2@hotmail.com
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