Here we are safe and sound in the magnificent Buenos Aires. I was slightly worried that my memories of this city were too positive and that I would end up being somehow disappointed. Thankfully I feel just as happy here in this city as I was over five years ago. We arrived early to check into our apartment in Recoleta so had lunch at a bistro around the corner (complete with our big rucksacks) and then chilled in the foyer for an hour. We tried desperately to converse with the porter at the door, an extremely friendly man in his fifties who spoke absolutely no English. He called the people we organised the apartment through to express that we have been waiting for some time and that they should hurry up and get here!!! We had no idea what he was doing on our behalf until Bernard pulled out our Lonely Planet Spanish phrasebook. Our porter was so taken with the book that he looked at it until our check-in took place.
It was, I felt, a good omen to our time in BA and South America in general. The flat is fantastic. As we are staying here for a month, a flat was more affordable than staying in dorms in a hostel. The bed is small, but we have a spare room with a single bed so we can sprawl out if we need to. So far we have sprawled out because its impossibly hot here and the air is so still that you have to lie star shaped to get comfortable. We have air conditioning in the living area, but not the bedrooms. But we are keeping all shutters closed in the mornings and the whole flat is getting cooler day by day. We have internet (!!!) so can skype friends and family readily as well as keep in touch with events around the world. A few TV channels are in English although i do feel that Coyote Ugly is better in Spanish!!! We have cooked our first meal in the kitchen which will make a real difference to managing our expenses.
We are now in day 2 of our Spanish classes. Yesterday was extremely overwhelming - you hit the ground running when it comes to listening to instructions then trying to retain new information that is relayed to you predominantly in Spanish. I slept like a log last night - the jet lag (5 hours ahead) is a killer and my brain is simply not used to this level of stimulation. But today I felt much much better about the pace and the way my brain is retaining this new information. I am eager to learn more and keep up with Bernard whose Spanish is far more superior to my own. The school is good, even if there aren't a lot of students there at the moment - the teachers are friendly and helpful. We've got a few ideas up our sleeve for new years thanks to their advice.
I think the fact that we are in Recoleta is helpful. Firstly, it takes a full 50 minutes to walk to our school which is not a bad thing at all. After a few months on Shashe its wonderful to be getting two hours of exercise every day. If need be we can catch a number of buses into town for a brilliant 30US cents. The fact we are in a lovely residential area means there are lavendria, fruit store and supermarket in our block, and ATM's, restaurants and cafe's a block away. We are also relatively close to newly fashionable parts of Palermo which we might visit one weekend or so.
Finally, I am loving living with Bernard once more. I was worried about how it would feel being just the two of us again, but it really does feel like home (back in Highbury that is). I am relishing the freedom of being "off tour" and the comfort of not living out of a suitcase. I unpacked everything from my pack within the first hour of being in the flat! We have enough space here to be doing our own things - and we have a city with so much to entertain that I'm sure we'll have lots to do, together or on our own.
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