Weekend Nostalgia

Saturday and Sunday were two very full days. Good thing I took today off to recover...

A wondeful surprise came on Saturday in the form of Andres, one of my mom´s friends from high school. He and my mom have been in touch over the last few months, and she had told him I was going to be in Argentina. He lives in Bariloche, a city in another part of the country (and coincidentally where my grandma and I are headed tomorrow for a few days), so I had planned on giving him a call then. Turns out he and his family are going to be on vacation in Buenos Aires while we´re on vacation in Bariloche. The universe is very funny like this. I had pretty much resigned myself to the idea that our meeting wasn´t going to work out while I´m in Argentina, when I got a phone call from (you guessed it!) Andres. He said he had come to Buenos Aires a few days early and he was close by, and could he, his wife and son stop by to see me then. So of course I jumped at the chance, and we all spent about an hour catching up and talking about when all the kids were little and how my parents and he and his wife used to spend so much time together and all the activities we did together. I do love me my nostalgia. He and his wife are two of the sweetest people I have ever met. No wonder my parents loved them so much.

That evening my grandma thew a little tea party so that some of her friends could come over and see me. I could only stay for about an hour because I had other plans, but the time I spent with them was great. There's nothing quite like some older folks complimenting you for an hour to make you feel golden. Let's hear it for the seniors of the world.

My other grandparents took me and my cousin Lucas out for dinner that night, and I stayed the night over at their house. I got a chance to interview my grandparents a little bit like I had wanted, and they told me some great stories about their lives. Where they were born, what their parents worked as, when they found out they were going to be parents. Turns out my grandpa was also a bit of a socialist in his day... On Sunday we went over to another neighborhood for lunch, so that I could see as much as possible. Afterwards, my cousin and I went back to the Recoletta, (one of my favorite places still), and spent some time at the arts and crafts fair at the park. I bought many souvenirs and people watched my heart out. There were people playing music on the grass, children playing on the swings, and tourists making their money go far. I loved every minute of it.

Last night was one of the best nights yet. I went to a family friend's house for dinner, and got a chance to see most of the friends that I've had since I was very little. They all tried to make it over there so I could catch up with everyone, and it was amazing. There were my parents' friends, who told me stories about when my brother and were little and my parents took us everywhere they went, and there were my friends, who told me about their lives and their dreams, and their hopes, and all the things that you don't realize you've never asked someone until you start talking. Susy and Marcelo, a couple my parents have known forever, look exactly like the last time I saw them a few years ago. I swear, there must be a portrait of them aging in a closet somewhere. I met some new friends too. People whom I had never met before, but as friends of my friends, became friends of mine this time around. I found out that the son of one of my parents' good friends is now 22 and plays for one of the most important soccer teams here in Argentina. Brian, next time River Plate plays I'm pulling for you!