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Published: January 17th 2008
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First, a little business......most of you may not realize how much pride I take in having the specific details of my location for each blog. On the website where I host this blog there is a database that stores all locations and I am proud to say I have added many of the neighborhoods in Buenos Aires city...and in fact most are so obscure that I am the only one who has used these locations. I have once again, needed to ad another location to the database and due to changes on this website can't at this time.....I am sorry. Not only am I sorry to the readers of this blog, I am also apologize to the Partido de Quilmes.
Quilmes....what is Quilmes? No, it is not JUST a beer. Quilmes was (and I mean was because it doesn't exist anymore) an indigenous tribe from up north in what is now the province of Tucuman. One day the government of Argentina thought it a good idea to start walking this tribe to just south of Buenos Aires City....phew.....I can't even imagine how many pairs of New Balance tennis shoes you would go through on this walk. There is nothing left
cutting a lamb
Exequiel, Tito, the lamb and Mariana of these Quilmes people.....only a ruined city in Tucuman and a suburb named after them. Quilmes....oh, and let's not forget the beer Quilmes. And guess what folks? Quilmes the beer is manufactured in the suburb Quilmes....get it?
Anyway......this post isn't about the stupid and annoying changes of TravelBlog. And its not a history lesson of Quilmes....instead it is a blog about how Mariana lost Jesus.
Sarah was suppose to go to our friend Mariana's house with me. We were going to go together to Mariana's house in Quilmes (oh yes, are things starting to make sense now??) but Sarah decided to take an invitation from a friend she has found a fondness of kissing. To be honest, I was scared shitless about going alone to Mariana's house. It's not that Mariana is scary, or that her parents would be scary, or that going to the suburbs would be scary. None of this was.....it was the idea of speaking Spanish.....and Sarah was going to act as my security blanket. However, Mariana had invited a friend who is Jewish, because as she put it "He has nothing better to do today", and she reassured me that I would not be
oh goodness...what is going on?
Mariana, Exequiel, Tito and the lamb alone. This was the first my indication that Mariana is a social genius. She some how anticipates peoples needs and gives them a solution before they know there is even a problem. I was scared about meeting this friend, I was scared about going to her home and I was scared about meeting her family. But then....I met the friend....and he had crazy hair and was worried that his choice in clothes may appear too "mormon". To put it simply, this boy instantly put me at ease and by the time we got to the bus stop the three of us were talking like old friends.
Mariana grew up in a big home in the quiet suburbs. A place where birds are louder than traffic, there is a constant breeze, and the sky is littered with stars. Exequiel and I were delighted to find childhood pictures of Mariana on the walls, tiny bowls of nuts on varioius tables and a large Christmas tree with a manger under it.
The evening started with the cutting of a lamb, eating a massive meal where the response "no thank you I'm full" was not acceptable. We drank bottles of beer, bottles
Marian found Jesus
Lizzz, Mariana, Jesus the walnut and Exequiel of wine and when this ran out bottles of cider. At 12 corks popped, there were rounds of kisses and spontanious explosion of fireworks. Mariana fell down the stairs and cut her head pretty bad....but what is a real Christmas without a little blood? And I swear to go she didn't feel a thing.
After the presents were opened the three kids, Mariana, Exequiel and I went outside to finish off more cider. We sang Bon Jovi songs and Mariana was the precussionist. Around 2am we went into the house for something and Mariana flew into a frenzy. "Where was Baby Jesus? I've lost Baby Jesus. I need to find Jesus. I've lost Jesus. I need Baby Jesus" In many ways Exequiel and I were culturaly ignorant of what Mariana was saying......we knew she was Catholic......had she really lost Jesus? As Mariana turned over things and opened and closed cupboards and drawers we were informed that at 12am you are suppose to put Baby Jesus in the manger....and she had lost the little Baby Jesus.....We assured her that we could make a new Baby Jesus by using a walnut and a ballpoint pen.
In the morning we woke
up to coffee and sat around in Mariana's brother's old room. He hadn't lived there for a long time and the place was trapped in a time when Pepsi logos looked different and so did women's hair. We sat in that room in barefeet with steamy coffee mugs and soft filtered light. We looked through books and talked about ideas. In those moments I realized this was a lazy favorite pastime of mine that has almost been forgotten in my current life. Perhpas this was my real Christmas present.
At 2pm Mariana's brother and his family came over and the asado festivaties soon commenced. There was chorizo, blood sausage, lamb ribs, and just plain lamb meat. There was salad, ice cream and chocolate. There was beer, wine, and soda. There was talking and laughing and dishes to clean. Again the responce "No thank you I am too full" was not acceptable.
What I loved so much about this Christmas was how comfortable and normal it felt. I was in a suburb that i felt at home in, laughing and sharing with people that made me feel comfortable, and talking about things and doing silly things that I seem to do too little of. I wasn't at home and I wasn't allowed to dwell on my home sickness or think about what I was lacking. Instead I was filled with the present.
* Update.... Quilmes has been added to the database....thank Jo, but still, its not as fast as before.
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