These past few days have been incredibly bitter-sweet. The majority of people who I have grown accustomed to spending my time with are enjoying their Semana Santa in Mendoza. I made the decision to stay home, relax, and enjoy spending time in the city. The main objective was to complete a large chunk of my school assignments, but those were unfortunately passed up for some QT with Netflix.
When I wasn't distracting myself from my responsibilities with Grey's Anatomy, I was trying mate for the first time with my friend Alexis. We went to this restaurant, Cumaná, in the barrio (neighborhood) of Recoleta (which I would like to visit again). Primarily, I fell in love with the atmosphere, and then I fell in love with the mate tradition. Now, you have to remember that this was two norteamericanas trying mate, so I'm assuming that we didn't do everything how an Argentine would, but I felt lucky just to get to have the experience.
There is a pot of hot water, and one mate gourd which is passed back and forth. There is etiquette, but I'm not really aware of what it is yet. All I know is that I really like the drink itself. It has a very dominating earthy flavor, but I enjoyed learning about and sharing the tradition.
Saturday night, Alexis and I went out again to the barrio of Palermo. We met at Plazo Serrano and when we arrived it was filled with vendors selling clothes and other items. We walked around the area for awhile scoping out our options when we settled on a simple restaurant, Mole Bar, with festive Marilyn Monroe decorations. Afterwards, ice cream at Freddo-of course.
While I had a great time, I couldn't help but feel like I kind of wasted my break "relaxing." I realize that there is so much time for me to go and see everything that I want to here in Buenos Aires, but at the same time, I don't want to waste a single second. So today I woke up and ventured to Café Tortoni for lunch.
After waiting in a line for about 20 minutes to get in, I realized that while Café Tortoni was a bit of a tourist destination, there was a reason: it was beautiful and definitely worth it. After I was seated at my table for one, I received my food 5 minutes after I ordered it, no exaggeration. Everyone around me was taking pictures and meeting their friends for lunch. I enjoyed my time eating, drinking my café helado-capuchino (iced coffee cappuccino) and accomplishing some writing. After some small talk with the waiter I decided it was time to go for a walk on this gorgeous day. I ended up going back to San Telmo and walked for miles looking at amazing hand-crafted items. I also found this separate fair where everything was made out of recycled materials.
Loneliness is really a funny thing because even though I was by myself today, it's hard to be alone in this city. I was sitting at the table at Café Tortoni without friends or family to keep me company, yet I engaged in conversation with the waiter about where I'm from and the fact that his sister lives in New York left me with a feeling of comfort. And although I don't know any of the people who were dancing and clapping in the streets of San Telmo, I couldn't help but feel apart of something as I joined in.
And just like that, I was no longer alone.
Happy Easter, everyone.
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