In Buenos Aires, alive and well!

Greetings from the south ... the very, very, very south, that is. We touched down in Buenos Aires yesterday afternoon, moved into what will be our pad for the next six weeks, and did the necessary aimless and slightly awkard meandering that seems to come naturally after a two-prong 13.5 hour flight experience (sounds reasonable). We emerged from the walk more confused than anything else; we did the same exact thing when we arrived in Paris. We landed and got ourselves and our luggage to the Latin Quarter, exhausted mind you, signed the papers for our apartment by the square, tried to busy ourselves with setting up the place but then succumbed to the urge to wander without aim nor the mental capacity to understand any stimuli presented before our eyes. What justifies the Paris meandering is that it was our first time. The Buenos Aires affair, however, is simply a case of us being, you know, fools. So, we walked, we stared at the buildings, we quietly took in the images in an almost solemn way, and then resigned to the fact that we needed to go and sit in our apartment and essentially do nothing; something that I think is quite difficult for the both of us. Such is life after travel.

With all of that said, I have to say that I am thrilled to be in BA, alive and well. Alive and well refers both to the city and myself, that is. There was a bit of turbulence on the journey southward and while I am not usually a terribly nervous flier, I could not but help remembering the internet fatality statistics I had recently read (that was a bad move) for the Brazilian TAM airlines we used to get ourselves to BA. Again, I knew I should not have done that, but I couldn't resist the temptation to know how many people died and when. Simply stated, I am a bit of a jackass, but thankfully a member of the majority statistic of survivors of day-to-day air travel.

I love this city, in a really big way. I can't wait to share my photos, my stories, and the love with you all for the next set of weeks while I am here. This city has all of the spirit (and great food and pretty people) of Naples with the added set of extraordinary memories I have of its streets and people that I was so fortunate to receive with Pizmon a year and a half ago. Plus, there aren't nearly as many vespas with a vengeance on these streets as there were in Naples. In fact, I am not sure if I have seen one.

Instead, they have pretty public gardens with families of cats as permanent inhabitants and with leaf-bearing ants that have more work ethic and organizational skill than I have seen on the part of human citizens in most locales over the past two months. I remember seeing a whole string of two-lane ant traffic when I was in Uruguay a while back and being amazed both at how much they could carry and how long the work line was. I also remember standing right before the shore in Uruguay, staring at the ground to the bewilderment of most passersby, gah. But next time you are stepping through a green area, look out for the ants, it is a great spectacle indeed.

Also, after Rome, we were fortunate enough to have time to stay with Amalea's good friend Charlie, get some sun and some much-needed home cooking, and see gorgeous, vibrant Marseilles (I hope to post a picture or two of this time once I find some wireless for my elderly laptop). For the three or four days we were in Nice, it was all about preparing our minds and bodies for the big trip to the south. It was kind of like detox, but instead of methodone we had, you know, pasta, wine, X-files dvds, and sunny beach time (some of the finest of all times I might say, sunny beach time). Thanks for the hospitality Charles! All the best to you my good friend.

Anyway, I digress. To sum things up, it is phenomenal to be here in South America again, and specifically fantastic to be back in BA. More substantive stories to come!