RJ Arrives, Dubious Begining

Uf. RJ got in yesterday and I´m not sure whether you could call it a great begining or not. I´m inclined to say not, but I´m also inclined to not let it put a damper on the weekend.

Everyone got off the ferry and RJ´s friends all split off to go to wherever they were staying, mostly because they had brought a lot of luggage, but RJ had only brought one backpack. I live about an hour and fifteen minutes to an hour and a half, or a really expensive cab ride, from Downtown, so we opted to go to Van Koning and wait for his friends to get ready before meeting up with them later for dinner.

We had been sitting down for about 10 minutes when the manager came over and asked: ¨Are you missing anything?¨ Um, no. ¨Did you have anything, a bag maybe?¨ RJ starts feeling around on the ground, can´t find it. I know we both experienced an indescribable sinking feeling. ¨Yes, I had one.¨ The guy gestured for us to wait, and ran outside. He didn´t find them, but apparently he had seen two guys stop behind RJ for a minute and somehow grab his bag. I say somehow, because I don´t know how they managed to do it; at the time this happened there were 11 people in the place, not counting the staff. 11. He should have had the bag inbetween his feet, not at his side, but it just didn´t seem like anything could have happened in a nearly empty bar on a Thursday. These guys really are pro´s, and they are good at what they do.

So that was obviously a very dissapointing way to start the night. RJ lost his camera and North Face backpack, not to mention 3 days worth of clothes and a pair of shoes.

We still needed to eat, so after staying there for about an hour longer (what else did we have to lose? -- get it?) we went to go find dinner. There is a really hip place around the corner that is known for having large lines to get in and really good, reasonably priced food once you do get it in. It was about midnight so we were able to find a table for 2 without waiting, but it was still packed, and we ordered like real Argentines, without seeing the menu. Parrilada para dos. What this means is that as soon as it came off of the grill they brought us more or less a whole cow, including the innards. Blood sausage, intestine, flank, ribs, sweetbreads. All of the delicacies. Plus a big bowl of fries. And a litter of Stella Artois. 61 pesos ... a little under 20 bucks U.S. You will be hard pressed to find that kind of deal at the most popular place in any neighborhood in the country.

Of course, it was cash only, and I realized that after we ordered, which led to me leaving RJ stranded while I followed the hostess´instructions to the nearest ATM. The instructions, of course were wrong (honest to God truth: I´m not sure that I have ever received accurate instructions from an Argentine on the street. EVER. And they give them readily, they just don´t know where they are going). I asked another guy: ¨There is one two blocks that way, I think.¨ Wrong again. So I end up sprinting about 10 blocks to the bank nearby where I used to live and then sprinting the whole way back. I´m hurdling garbage on the side of the road, cutting through traffic -- people are pointing, wondering what´s going on. I felt like Clark Kent, urgically looking for a phone booth with none in sight. It was that dramatic.

So between Van Koning (they comped everything -- about 25-30 bucks U.S. -- for us because they felt bad, and because the waitress, apparently is responsible for watching for stuff like that) and Las Cholas (the Parilla where we ate) we consumed a great quantity of excellent quality food and beverage for about 20 bucks U.S. All things considered, it could have been better, obviously, but I suppose it could have been a lot worse. We could have not already done all the great stuff we have done, could not have tickets to what is gonna be a great concert today, and could not have great plans for the rest of the weekend. As I justified it to RJ, using Mom´s famous 5 year plan -- when you look back in 5 years, you are going to remember having a great weekend and doing all kinds of cool stuff a lot more than you are going to miss 500 bucks.