Am I still Traveling?

Buenos Aires feels like home. I have my own room in Pati´s apartment. I have friends. I have real shoes because I went shopping for some good fall/going out shoes. I bought them. And also ended up with the most beautiful pair of high heels. Because I need heels for budget backpack travel. I didn´t even wear heels in my ¨real¨ life in New York. But they´re beautiful, and I´m in Buenos Aires, and I bought them and I love them.

Buenos Aires has an energy similar to that of New York City. It´s totally different, but has that great classic big-city vibe that you love about NYC. Like New York it´s exploding with culture - movies, theatre, restaurants, bars, cafes, whatever you want. I haven´t been blogging or journaling this week because I just feel like I´ve kind of gone back to regular life. Familiar faces, walking around for hours getting lost trying to learn the city, my own personal Buenos Aires secret-teller, Pati, the beautiful Buenos Aires Castellaño accent. I could get used to this place. I am getting used to this place. It feels ¨normal¨.

I haven´t done a lot of touristy things as I´ve been awaiting the arrival of my Aunt Jane to really take on the city. But I´ve done a lot of walking and wandering, and am truly feeling at home, getting lost less and less every day. I started Spanish classes at a small institute where I spend most of the class time in conversation with my teacher, reviewing the things I struggle with. I´ve learned all the grammar and the important thing now is talking talking talking.

Living with Pati is the best. If you remember from my visits with her in Chile, she is the 70-year-young aunt of my friend Dominique. She has invited me into her life as if I was a part of her family, accompanying me to movies and afternoon cafecitas, introducing me to her favorite spots and people in Buenos Aires, and chatting with me at night as we piece together our giant jigsaw puzzle. And though she struggles with chronic pain due to her Parkinsons, you´d never know it. She always keeps going and going and going. It´s an amazing experience. We spend a lot of time chatting, contemplating the simplicities of life, and giggling. She´s the best roommate I could ask for, and is really introducing me to BsAs in style. I can never repay her for the love and kindness she has shown me in my first week here, and I look forward to more time with her here. I never got the chance to spend adult time with my own grandmothers, and I am happy that she is so enthusiastic to share her life and history with me. If she has it her way she´ll convince me to stay here forever, and find myself a nice Argentine boy.

I´ve been moving and shaking, catching up with friends from the road who are ¨stationed¨ here now, hitting up the film festival, learning the art of the Argentine late night, and trying to figure out how people can still peg me for a gringa even if I don´t say anything in English or Spanish. I feel like I belong here.

Jane arrived today and we passed the time lunching at a fabulous French bistro, browsing the incredible San Telmo market, and lamenting how it seems like yesterday we were having dinner in NYC and I was just embarking on this journey. I´m glad she is able to visit with me, and we are going to explore this city until we fall down.