CM3's Argentina Adventure

Mar del Plata - Wed. Jan. 11

I made a point of waking up by 9 am that morning, thinking that the guy who was going to measure the windows may come. Alas, the guy didn't come and Camila woke up early as well. Mika, OTOH, was a sleepy head so once again it was quite late before we made it out of the apartment. Once again we collected Gladys and Luisa but this time we headed towards the other side of the coast, by the casino, the hotel provincial, the torreon and so on. There are often shows on the esplanade by the casino/hotel provincial and this time we stopped to hear a guy telling jokes about people from Santiago del Estero (whom I only now learn are known for being lazy and napping all day).

The jokes were quite dirty, but fortunately Mika wouldn't have been able to get them even if she could understand what he was saying. She was a good sport and hang around for a while without complaining, while Camila for once quietly sat on the stroller. The guy was quite good and I got a couple of tapes for a friend of mine from Santiago.

We also stopped for lunch, and then did quite a bith of shopping at the little stands that line up through much of this area. I got myself a few necklaces and mates. I'm still at a loss as to what to get for everyone else. Maybe a postcard ;).

Gladys and Luisa abandoned us after the torreon, but the rest of us made it a bit further.

We considered going to the port, but the wind had gotten quite bad and I was feeling quite tired, so we headed to the apartment instead. Here, of course, everyone but me fell asleep. *Sigh*, it's always the same way, no matter how tired I am, I never get to sleep. Hey, it's even that way now (Thursday night). Mike and Mika are out, Camila is sleeping, I could be sleeping but no, here I am blogging instead.

Anyway, I had plans with Betiana to go to a show that night but I hadn't bought any tickets so I decided to head out to try to do that. Unfortunately it didn't work out. There are three theaters within half a block of the apartment, but two of them only had shows that evening that I'd already seen, and the other had one show too late and the other one half-full (I wanted better seats), so I decided to try somewhere else later. By the time I came back everyone was awake so we all headed out again, collected Gladys and Luisa from the hotel, and went to walk downtown.

We stopped to do some window shopping, take Mika to the bathroom (twice), and - when I found a theater - to buy tickets for a show that evening (and a magic show the next). Finally we made it to the plaza where I wanted to get Glady's portrait painted, but many other people had the same idea so it didn't happen.

We returned to our apartment, where we met Betiana at 8 pm for a quick dinner at a nearby tenedor libre (very tender vacio) before we rushed off to the theater. I didn't know anything about the play other than the fact that it was a revista. I didn't recognize any of the names so I was going with very few expectations. It turned out to be a very good show that I enjoyed very much.

The show was called "Inolvidable" (unforgettable) and it was the first endeavor of its star, something Cherutti, (I've had to make a brief pause to go console Camila who'd fallen off the bed, I'd wondered what that big noise coming from the apartment was, but it wasn't until I heard the cry that I'd realized what had happened) as a producer. The guy seemed to be quite full of himself, but soon I realized that it was with good reason (other than being an Argentinian). He's a singer-imitator and he's quite good. About a third of a show consisted of his singing, most often imitating other famous singers, and he did it amazingly well. Once again, the fact that Argentina's cultural life is frozen in time helped, as most of the singers he imitated where once I was family with, and who are probably a few decades my seniors. In any case, I enjoyed it.

The jokes were also generally funny, though I found the two sketches kind of stupid. The dance numbers were nicely produced and they had actual dancers so they were good for people who enjoy that type of thing. The main vedette was, once again, someone in her 50's - but she actually seems to be in good shape (though she has had her share of plastic surgery and also wears a huge pair of static boobs) and she was a dancer so she didn't look ridiculous in the dance numbers. All in all it was an enjoyable show and, best of all, Betiana LOVED IT. I was sooooo happy.

We finished the evening by having something to eat before coming home.

Mar del Plata

After the events of the night before, we all woke up fairly late on Tuesday. So much so that we didn't make it out of the house until nearly 11. Mike had told Gladys that we'd meet her in the morning and I guess they'd gotten tired of waiting as they were downstairs when I got down.

Our first order of business that morning was to get Gladys a wheelchair. She was very, very resistant to the idea but she can barely walk and there is little point in coming to Mar del Plata to stay in a hotel. She can also barely see, so I'm not sure how much she enjoys the walks - but there isn't much I can do about that. Fortunately I found a place that rented them so we all took a taxi there and back. Unfortunately I could only rent them for the month, but at U$20 a month rental that didn't seem so unreasonable.

Once back we decided to walk by the coast towards the La Perla beach on the north. We hadn't walked that way before and Beatriz had mentioned they had built a new area for the cumbre. It was a nice walk, the day was gorgeous, but Luisa was in pain by the end, so after getting something to drink at the Alfonsina balneario (so named as it's near the place where Argentina's foremost poetess - who happened to be Gladys' professor when she passed away - offed herself by walking into the sea), Gladys and Luisa took a taxi back to the hotel. We walked back and after getting ready we went to the beach - once again to the Popular beach near our hotel.

We couldn't stay there long as we'd told Beatriz we'd go to her house by 6 pm so Mike could finish working on her computer. This time he managed to do that, while the rest of us hung out, got some sandwiches, ate them and so forth. Then we headed back to the apartment where Marina and Betiana babysat the girls while Mike and I went to see a show.

The one we'd chosen was called "Miti-Miti" and had a couple of names in it I recognized from my youth, Graciela Alfano and Adriana Salgueiro. Alfano had been a bombshell and the star of many comedies when I was a little girl, which means that she must be at leat in her mid to late 50's. Salgueiro was a TV girl when I was about 14, so she has to be at least 10 years older than me which would put her in her late 40's. In the poster, however, they both looked just like they had 20 and 30 years ago when I'd seen them last. Once again, I was curious as to how plastic surgery could have stopped the passage of time.

The poster for the show - with Alfano dressed up in a skimpy outfit that barely covered her areolas and other intimate areas had suggested to me that this was another revista but the show was actually a comic play - about a couple that decided to divorce and divide the apartment in two, then each brings their fiancees into their own part and a lot of presumably funny stuff ensues. Unfortunately most of the play wasn't funny, the premise was old and obvious, most of the actors weren't that great and the jokes mostly stale. But I did enjoy seeing this actor, Rodolfo Ranni, which after a while I recognized from TV shows I'd watch as a kid. And seeing the two actresses form up close (we were seated in the 2nd row) was interesting. Both looked their age, and didn't look like the poster at all. Both had clearly their breasts done and their faces lifted, but Salgueiro looked pretty normal other than that (and good, for a woman her age). Alfano, however, who paraded around half-naked, had obviously spent more time under the knife. Her face seemed to be almost stuck into a perpetual smile - like the joker. Her voluminous breasts had no bounce whatsoever and she seemed to have added some belly-muscle implants. The only thing she clearly hadn't had done - perhaps because it can't? - were her arms and hands, where the skin was clearly sagging. Well, the woman is in her late 50's (at least) so you can expect that, but it's really ridiculous how she still tries to pass off as a young sex symbol. Kind of sad.

Mike didn't enjoy the show much, as he couldn't understand most of the dialogue, but he was a good sport and didn't complain. Hey, we at least were away from the kids. Both of them were sleeping when we got home (yeayyy!) and this time we both soon joined them.

Mar del Plata - Day 26 (?)

I trust that Mike will finish blogging about the weekend, and I'll raise ahead and start blogging about this week. The days have been pretty quiet and I have 2 1/2 days to get through so I'll try not to go into tons of detail.

Monday morning we woke up late. The plan had been to go to the Punta Mogotes beaches with Marina, but we didn't get out of the house until quite late, and by then it was quite windy. Wind is a huge problem in the Atlantic coast, even when the days are nice and sunny the wind makes it be quite cold.

The weekend before Gladys had let us know that she was coming this Monday, so the first thing I did that morning was make reservations at the Hotel Antartida for her. In Argentina, many unions and health plans (often themselves associated with unions) own hotels which offer preferential rates and reservations to their associates. The Hotel Antartida is owned by the Navy's health plan.

I stayed at the Hotel Antartida with Gladys once, I think it was the summer before I turned 11 years old but I'm not too sure. At that time, in the midst of the military dictatorship, it was the hotel where the officers - and their families - could stay. Non-comissioned officers and below had another hotel for their use. It was never a grand hotel, mind you, but it was comfortable enough and it's located right in front of the beach, a block away from the peatonal, so the location is excellent. It's also a mere block from our apartment building.

I do find it a bit weird to go into a hotel that is probably filled by the relatives of people I find so distasteful. Unfortunately I don't have any human rights t-shirts I can wear while hanging out there.

Anyway, time went by and we didn't get out of the apartment until it was near lunch time, and then we decided to go to the Pescadores restaurant. This restaurant is located in one of the piers - the one closest to the hotel - and is distinguished by an enormous lighted sign that says "Quilmes" (the name of an Argentine beer).

The wind was overwhelming as we made our way there, and perhaps that's what keeps people away, 'cause otherwise it's surprising that such a nice restaurant, in such a prime location would be so empty. Well, it meant we had our pick of tables next to the windows with a great view of the sea and the beach - but none of the wind. The food was also pretty good and reasonably priced. I had a simple milanesa a la napolitana, as I'm not really into seafood, but Mike honored the restaurant's name and went for a shrimp cocktail and a chernia (aka wreckfish, a local fish) with crawfish sauce. I've mentioned many times how Argentina is still stuck in the 70's, and that's just as true with food as with anything else. The shrimp cocktail was a bunch of fish served with an immense amount of golf sauce. It wasn't bad, but not what Mike expected. The chernia was just another white fish, but Mike did like the sauce. The seafood was expensive, seafood usually is in Argentina, but the restaurant was otherwise very reasonably priced.

On the way out, Mike was carrying Camila in the stroller down the stairs when he slipped, resulting in the stroller and Camila being upside down. Fortunately, we had strapped her in and she was unhurt.

After lunch we returned back home and Camila fell asleep in the short walk. Mika kept insisting that she wanted to go to the beach despite the cold and wind, and as I can only encourage her desire to play in the waves, given her initial dislike of them, I agreed to take her while Mike stayed here with Camila. We took just a minimal ammount of stuff (I should remember to always bring a towel for me - getting out the still wet sand without it is really hard) and the small boogie board we'd bought her that morning and hit the waves. The water, after the initial shock, was quite nice. Indeed, it was much warmer inside the water than outside, where the cold wind hit you mercilessly. Mika had fun playing with the waves but she didn't want to try to body surf or do anything with the boogie board. She'll lie on the sand and let the water reach her, but not deep enough for the waves to actually move her. Oh well, she's still little. She still had a great time, though.

After returning it was time to go to my aunt Beatriz's apartment, as Mike wanted to fix/secure her computer. As usual it took him longer than he'd predicted but we all hang out there meanwhile. My cousins and uncle came and we ate the arrollado that Marina had made and the pizzas Beatriz made. I was impressed as to how good her pizza - made over a store bought crust - was. I'm thinking perhaps I should try that Boboli stuff.

Around 9:30 PM, Mike had to leave to pick up Gladys and Luisa, her companion, from the bus terminal. He also got tickets for our return to La Plata. After getting Gladys installed in the hotel he collected us and most of us went to sleep. ZZZZ. Mike went out to do internet and he didn't come back until 3 am. By that time Mika had woken up, gone to bed with Camila and I, and peed on the bed and myself! I'm not proud of how I responded. Mike fortunately was able to difuse the situation and put Mika back to sleep - while I couldn't go back to sleep for hours :(