Neglecting Time

The impression of Buenos Aires is slowly deepening. The highlight of the day is moving into the studio that I am staying for the rest of the trip. There are other meaningful events in the day. There was the constant search for reliable internet, even though the studio now has that for me. But I felt the pressure to do some work. I want to get rid of this burden and really enjoy the city, unfettered. And yet, why feel fettered by anything? While writing the last programs needed to get the data to my boss, I realized, I was enjoying the process. Yes, the sun was out, there was the famous Recoleta cemetery just across the street with Evita is buried and I that I still haven't visited. But I was enjoying writing my program and see the magic it was doing, thanks to me.

Moral of the story? Same as usual: enjoy whatever I am doing, however it might not be as planned, I could consider it a burden, an erosion of freedom, or I could enjoy it as a mere detour from whatever "plan" I had. In fact, I was enjoying writing my programs so much that I forgot that the clock on my laptop was still New York time, an hour behind the Buenos Aires time. So the phone rang, and I knew it was the landlord, and was quite perplexed by it, thinking he might be stuck somewhere and wanted to warn me about being late. But no, in fact, he was already there, and had been waiting for me for nearly half an hour now. I was very embarrassed. Secretly I had made fun of the South Americans for being very lax about punctuality, something I have a fairly good reputation about. So I got up, paid for my food, grabbed my luggage from the hostel next door, stopped a taxi, and got there in 10 minutes, as promised, this time.

The landlord was a character. He look a dwarf version of a tall, mean, biker, Hail's Angel type. But he was shorter than me, as most Porteños seem to be. His "partner" (i.e. his boyfriend) was much more serious and was the one making sure that every 100-dollar bill I had given them for rent and deposit was real. The landlord, Marcelo, on the other hand, is a very warm man who didn't seem to care much for details. In the end, they both were very friendly and very professional in their brief dealing with me, while I was simply dazzled by how beautiful the studio was. I counted myself lucky to have found something so luxurious and comfortable.

Instead of detailing every single thing in the studio, which would be a wonderful exercise in descriptive writing, I want to share my comparative thoughts. Today I thought a lot about India, a six-month ordeal that started just little under a year ago. I remember, specifically, the apartment where we stayed just over two weeks. I remember, and I compared, and realized how far Buenos Aires is from being "Third World". Here, there's the promise of uninterrupted electricity. Here, the water from the faucet not only is usable at least for brushing teeth but, even more vital and yet taken for granted, there is also a promise of uninterrupted water supply. Hot water comes out without fiddling with some hazardous electric gadget in the bathroom that could kill you if you touch the wrong parts. Here, there is no dust creeping in to the apartment even if the windows were open. And of course, here, the mosquitoes don't carry some disease-bearing parasite that could make your life worse than the digestive ordeal that I could never forget. And of course, I don't have to be on the paranoid alert every time I am hungry but have to think carefully where to get food.

This may be the first time I am staying somewhere alone for travel, and for that reason I call it my most important trip so far. But it is still Argentina, at least Buenos Aires, and not Lucknow, not that scorching incubator of relentless trials on the human body and spirit. And while taking my shower, I suddenly appreciated how easy it was to take a shower, how there were no special gadgets, no special planning for water, no need to think. We say in English "jump in the shower"; that's something you can't do in India.

So far, the past 36 hours have been easy. The milongas, classes, sleeping, everything, easy by many standards. But still, being here, the evocation of my memories of India, made me appreciate how lucky I am. I haven't seen the poor, sad, pathetic parts of Buenos Aires, which exist, but not nearby. Nevertheless, I count not only myself lucky, but the Porteños whose tango lyrics are so full of sorrow, but they must know that there are so many who suffer infinitely greater misery still with as a big smile and as sorrowful love songs as they do.

Now, some other details of the day:

• Actually got that stupid booklet (a guide) for the more than 100-bus routes in the city. It's not a booklet, but a book! Takes time to figure things out and it doesn't bother to draw the routes on the booklet.
• I realized that the electric sockets here are not like in the US! I thought if it's the case in Central America it must be the case here. How US-centric of me. Well, I had to buy an adapter. I saw some in the touristy area, but I didn't want to go all the way down just for that. So instead, I simply asked the hostel lady where I could buy one, and she sent me to an electronics store, which sent me to a "Ferreteria", a place where metal stuff was sold! And lo and behold, they sold me an adapter for only A$5 (that's 1.25 USD!).
  
• Had a tea with the best media luna so far
• Had another class at the super hip DNI school of tango, where you learn all sorts of fancy moves. Most of the followers were really bad; it was a milonga class. But still, I learned somethings. I always do, even though in the beginning it always feels so useless.
• Started shopping for my new apartment, meaning, basic stuff like detergents, salt, oil, eggs, etc.
• Funny that they had to ask if I want a maid to come in each week. I at first refused because, as you could guess, I thought it was expensive, but then when they said it was included, I said, of course. But why did they even bother to ask? Because they thought I might not trust the maid. It reminded a little about all the things I hated about India in terms of how the castes treated one another.
• Had my first Argentinian beef. It was OK, not like I Was blown away. Maybe I should go to a place that didn't have people hawking me. I went there because I explained to them that I needed both Wi-Fi and an electricity socket.
• Reminder: I did all this in Spanish!!!