Our sweet porteña friend Delfina invited us to spend the weekend with her and her six friends in MDP, a big city right along the Atlantic coast. (sorry this post is photo-less)
On Friday morning, I woke up at 10:36.
"Shit."
Our bus was it leave at noon all the way in Retiro, aka the other side of the big city. I threw a handful of clothes in my backpack, inhaled a couple bites of yogurt, and set off running to hail a taxi to Jordan's house. No luck. I took the subte instead, luggage in hand, blasting the new music I'd downloaded the night or two before, sans headphones, shamelessly. When Jordan and I united, we quickly hailed a cab to Retiro, terrified we would miss our bus to MDP. Funny enough, we beat Delfina. Ha. Argentine time... Jordan got us the best seats in the house, front row on the second floor of the bus. That way we got to see the excellent view of green grass and cows chillin in their pastures.
Six hours went by quickly and the three of us (cass spent the weekend in cordoba for Oktoberfest) arrived at Julie's house. Julie is Del's forever friend. They've known each other for ages. Julie has her own apartment there because she goes to school in MDP. She lives alone on the sixth floor in a one bedroom apartment, complete with a kitchen, a bathroom and a big living space with a dining room table, a tv and a trundle bed. That's where Del and I slept- Jordan and Julie slept in Julie's big bed. We settled in just in time to get ready to go out. Julie hosted a previa (pregame) for her friend Jose who had just turned 21. The party was the four of us, Jose, Tina, Tili, Luz and a few boys. The girls spent the entire weekend with us, which was wonderful because we got a chance to speak and understand true Castellano in the way that our peers speak.
Post previa, we went to a boliche right on the shore for a pizza dinner first, then dancing of course. Unfortunately, I had a persistent migraine and could no longer tolerate the electronic music and strobe lights (basically every chronic migraine sufferer's worst nightmare)! It took a while, but at about 3:00, I rounded up Julie, del and Jordan and we went home. I can't even express the joy I felt to put my head on that pillow! The next day was gorgeous, but unfortunately just way too cold to beach it up. Apparently beachin' doesn't properly take place until January. Either way, we spent the day walking about town. Julie showed us the center of town, as well as the coast. I was warned that it resembles New Jersey much more than Florida, but I still found it to be lovely, especially seeing the waves crash over and over again against the big boulders that dotted the coastline.
We met up with the rest of the crew in the afternoon to shop around and enjoy each other's company. Each girl was so kind. They all went out of their way to ask me questions about myself and to really get to know me as well as they could in a short period of time. Nelly this, Nelly that. Jordan this, Jordan that. As much as you know how much I enjoy living with Elena, it was awesome to have an immersion experience with girls my age. If anything, it made me want to stay even more than I already do. Tili is this teeny tiny ball of fun with giant eyes and pale, perfect skin. She, for god knows what reason, decided that instead of Nelly, y name should be Popi, the. Popiz (pronounced pop-peace). We laughed every time she said it and I would answer her without a question. Tina, short for Augustina, had already met me months ago, briefly, outside of Rosebar in BA. Of course, I was the only one who remembered this fact, so she found it extra funny when I reminded her that she'd taught me how to say "entiendo" without sounding like an idiot.
I loved how she was constantly teaching me correct pronunciations and little sayings, while still being hilarious and friendly. Jose called me her baby- she was constantly looking after me, making sure I was content. She ran to me with napkins when I spilled ice cream on myself, she comforted me when we lost Jordan at the boliche that night and dove into the crowd and didn't come back until she had Jordan on her arm. But I haven't gotten to that yet. Before the boliche, called Sethai, also on the water, we met up at the other girls' apartment for a little dinner party. Tili and Jose prepared the fanciest: Lay's potato chips and ham&cheese pizza.have these girls ever seen a vegetable before? Who's to say... Either way, it was a ton of fun, all 7 of us seated at the table, laughing and telling stories. Of course, Jose tried to shove cupcakes from her birthday in our faces, just as any maternal argentine would do. We continued the fun with some super loud Cumbia music, and the girls taught us how to properly dance lie argentines. (See my fb page for a tagged video... hint: it's all in the right arm).
So we set off to Sethai to continue the fun. It was empty when we arrived at 2, and overly packed when we left three hours later. There was a great band that played, and as the people filled the empty space, Jose tugged my shirt sleeve. "Mira, Nelly!!!" (Look behind you!) sure enough, every single person was shaking that right arm EXACTLY as the girls taught me. I couldn't help but laugh! Another hour passed. I decided I really didn't want my beer, so I gave it to the drummer. Typical me move, and a terrible mistake, as he proceeded to follow me around the entire night, whispering to Tina that he "likes" me like my middle school "boyfriend" would have in the Paradiso parking lot. But I couldn't be preoccupied in tha matter, for Jordan had gone missing in the gigantic, three-story establishment. Thank god for Jose running into the crowd as if it were a house on fire and saving my beloved pal.
The next morning was our last full day/night in MDP. As soon as we woke up we walked over to Luz's apartment for homemade ñoqis (gnocchi) made with love by her mama. Dat meat sauce doe. There was especially plenty to go around because one of us (anonymous) had a moment of weakness on the street corner on the way. I won't go into that but JEJE we lolled. But my poor pal was sick all day long and the whole crew, Luz and her mom included, decided to chill out in the park by the shore. We concluded our night with empanadas and great conversation, going over the same story about the profession of my faces when we lost Jordan. Oh how we laughed and laughed! It felt so great to be able to converse with these girls, many of whom do not know a lick of English. Although MDP itself isn't that special, or gorgeous, or distinguished, I'm not lying when I say this has been my favorite trip so far. I can't wait to see my new friends again when they come to BA for a visit-or maybe I'll just have to make my way to them. Look Mom!! I'm experiencing things!!
The next morning (Monday afternoon) we all said our sad goodbyes. Jordan and I hoped on our 6 hour bus ride ready to get back home. Unfortunately, someone on the bus had some sort of a medical emergency (NOT Ebola don't fret) and we were forced to pull over to the nearest hospital. And wait. For three hours. Phew. At least they kept the engine running. I thought Jordan and I were going to lose it. We maintained our sanity though the majesty of wheat crackers and Snapchat, just like any resourceful girl would know to do. We finally arrived in BA at midnight, and I was welcomed by Elena with a big mama bear hug and a kiss on the cheek. Life ain't so bad.
That wraps up my travels until my parents attempt to visit me (part II) on the 24th when we go to MENDOZA!!! Sluuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrpppppp.
Stay tuned for more very very soon!
Un abrazo,
Nelly
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