Argentina, Abuelas, and American Authors

Right now we are in Aregentina, doing a whirlwind trip to three cities: Cordoba, Rosario, and Buenos Aires. In general Argentina is much more developed than Paraguay, and feels more like Europe than South America. It is a fun break, although the accent is really different. All the Y sounds are SH sounds in Argentina, and the intonation is more sing-songy like Italian. In Cordoba we did some shopping and visited a town in the mountains. It was beautiful. So great to get out of the city. Although the town was a bit odd--very German inspired and touristy. As if the whole town had decided to pretend to be in Germany instead of Argentina. There was polka music playing from loudspeakers around town, and all the signs were made of carved wood. Strange and hilarious.

At the moment we are in Rosario, staying with Jon´s friend Federico. He is lovely, as is his grandmother Che-Che. (No one knows why they call her that, but everyone does.) We are all staying in her house near downtown, where Fede and his brother live as well. The location is great, but their hospitality is even better. The day we arrived in Rosario Che-Che had gone to her sister´s funeral. But we wouldn´t have know it based on her kindness and attention to us. It has been great to get to know his family and this city. I could definitely live here for a while. It is smaller than Cordoba, but with a lot of culture and great trees. Seriously. And lots of parks and cool public spaces, which Paraguay is lacking. Other highlights include finding two J.D. Salinger books, which will be really refreshing to read in Paraguay. I was so excited. We also visited Fede´s favorite dance club. It was huge. No one goes out until about 1 or 2 in the morning, and there were thousands of people. Literally packed. Hardly room enough to move in some places. A bit scary and definitely outside of my comfort zone, but also a lot of fun. We felt like we were in some sort of 80s music video.

It is great to be here. Refreshing to be around culture--music, art, books. And I blend right in because there are a lot more fair-skinned people. It is nice to be ignored in public--I have missed it. Katie says everyone here kind of dresses like me too, which I take as a compliment. The clothes are definitely better here. I have bought two pairs of shoes already. While I love it here, I think it will be hard to go back to Paraguay. It is a more difficult sort of life there, but I know it is good for me. Plus I miss all my Paraguayan amigos.

Okay, I have to go eat hamburguesas now with Che-Che and Feders and the gang. Hasta Luego.