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Published: June 21st 2006
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Carlos Gardel (NOT)
Impersonating the late, great tango singer is an easy way to make a few bucks. On Sundays, San Telmo, a neighborhood south of the city center that is known for its bohemian, artsy vibe, which usually equates to young people living just a hair above squatter level "by choice". The guys from our building are moving there....we finally found out their names..it was definitely turning into a Seinfeld episode where a group of people hang out and feel like they should know each other´s name by now, but don´t wanna ask so to avoid the awkward moments, you have to always wait till they´re looking at you before you address them....it´s funny, to do....and I was waiting until they addressed each other, but as luck would have it all they do is grunt or bark "yo" to the other person. Napolean Dynamite, I soon learn is named Ean. He´s cool in a geeky sort of way...but he and Kyle, as I find the other one is called, are a bit shy and do this thing where they begin a sentence in a normal voice and when they realize you´re listening, social anxiety forces them to fade off into a series of mumbles making Nicole and I strain to hear something we most likely could care less about.
Nicole and I have cable TV in our apartment and Nicole has a portable DVD player that we hooked up to the TV. She bought the series "Curb your enthusiasm" and I bought "The Wire", so we´ve watched a few shows when the guys pop in unexpectedly. We suspect their using us for our cable tv and yummy Sangria, cuz these guys always show up empty-handed. At least bring a $1 bottle of beer for the fridge! I won´t drink it, but at least they won´t look like freeloaders. Futhermore, these guys don´t leave!! Enough is enough...they´ve hung out till 9 AM one day, after arriving at like 2 am...and we were tryna find a diplomatic way to say, " Okay! Enough! Go Home and let us rest you cable whores!" Once we tried to say we were sleepy and Ean just casually responded, "we´ll do you mind if I watch TV while you guys sleep?" Uh...yea!
(Napol)Ean, especially, has this knack of showing up no more than 2 minutes after we get in, and it kind of freaks us out. How does he know when we get in? Their windows face the back, and we use the elevator, so it´s Nicole's suspicion that they´ve bugged the place. One time she and I were at the internet cafe and she left to go to the bathroom (our place is down the street), and when she returned she said the elevator stopped on the 2nd floor and it was Ean. She asked him if it was the 4th floor (ours) and he said No, but he was just on his way up. Great. Nicole said she was only stopping in for a minute and he left. Then, I left the internet cafe, about 20 minutes after she returned to also use the restroom (detail in chapter marker Hell-ado), and as soon as I got in, our doorbell rang. Are you serious? I panic, and survey the area. The lights and the TV are on...can he hear it? I stealthily walked across the hardwood floors, barely making a sound. I peeked out the peephole, and was relieved to see no one. (Sometimes the neighbors doorbells are loud) I relax but for some reason, I keep my eye on the hallway, and BAM! There´s another eye looking dead into mine! It´s encased in glass frames and attached to the head of EAN!!!!!! He saw me, he saw me, what to do, think Shima, think...I can´t NOT open the door, can i? So I open it, and casually tell him that I am just returning to the cafe, and that Nicole was still there. He stayed in the doorway, and after several awkward seconds, bowed out, but not before vowing to return. Could we be so lucky?
The next day we leave to visit the fair...it´s a Sunday and San Telmo is known for having this great antique fair in Plaza Dorrego, the meeting place and open air hangout of the SanTelmonians. WE consulted the map and found that the closest subway stop was on the C train. There are only 5 lines A-E, and not many stops where you can transfer...because we lived by the D line, we had to take it a bit out of the way, and then change to C. When we exited the station, we asked the token booth clerk (she sells paper metro cards) how much a cab would be to the fair and she said it would be 13 pesos which is a lot to spend on a cab...she suggested we get back on the C, and take it back 6 stops, change to the B and take that for like 10 stops...we realize that its taking us back towards our home but on the east side rather than the west...go figure. WE exit st the stop named Dorrego, and the fair is in full swing. At least, that´s what I think it is....Several stands offering what can only be described as "One man's treasure", with old Nintendo cartridges, knives with carved handles, key chains, a few large objects, and some old ladies selling their clothes from the 60´s. Their were a few guys selling old bills for those coin collectors, and I was even curious until I saw amongst the pile was a quarter! How are you tryna sell me $.25 by charging a Peso which equates to $.30!!
Nevertheless, Nicole and I still leave a little bit lighter in the wallet as I purchase two copper/bronze cuff bracelets, and some other junk that I thought was so cool at the time. We return home, and we run into Kyle and Ean, on the street, and we tell them of our day, punctuating it with "and now we´re so tired". Kyle mentioned that the B didn´t go to San Telmo. Huh? But the lady said.....and we went....but it seemed so..... We consult the map, and sure enough the place we went to was way up north and San Telmo was in the south....But the stop was called Dorrego, and so is the Plaza...but the B train doesn't even go there!! The C train stop that we got off on was actually just a 4 peso cab ride away! Where did she send us and what was her motivation for doing so? Wierd...
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