I left my heart in San Telmo

Yesterday, I met up with lovely North-Americans Alex, Alli, Andrea, and Morgan in San Telmo, a part of the city I had yet to visit. I discovered that it’s quite easy for me to get there in colectivo or subte, and that I absolutely LOVE IT.

We ate lunch at a great little Middle-Eastern restaurant (not quite Zorona’s, but yummy nonetheless) and then headed to the huge outdoor market. Junk, antiques, hats, mate mugs, and art everywhere. Lots of artsy folk, which I love, with surprisingly few tourists to be seen.

As I had not planned for shopping, I had little money with me and thus only bought three small items. This means I am full of unrequited material lust, but it’s best that I didn’t buy everything in sight, and I shall return for sure.

Agh I could not for the life of me get this photo to flip:

My purchases, documented through dear old photo-booth...

First, I stumbled upon these vintage clip-on earrings. 30 pesos. In retrospect, I could have gotten something similar for less, but at this point I’m having a problem with the “pesos-as-monopoly-money” mindset, which I think most Americans experience upon arriving here. (Really, the exchange rate is about 4 pesos per American dollar.) I tried to take a girl-with-a-pearl-earring-esque photo, but the result was a little too MySpace-y, so this is what I ended up with:

I chatted for a bit with the lovely hippies that I bought this journal from. It’s handmade, hand-painted (“to inspire you,” they said), and allegedly eco-friendly. I was having trouble choosing from their selection, and one of them told me that this journal was the color of my soul. That totally sold me on it. I am such a sucker for compliments, especially from hippies, even if they are trying to sell me something. So this 25-peso journal is el cuaderno de mi alma.

The last thing I bought was this headband. Well, I’m excited about it! 15 pesos. Note my frustration with taking photo-booth pictures of myself.

Nearing the end of our journey through the feria, we stumbled upon a wonderful band playing on the street corner. Traditional South American music, which I absolutely love (we listened to a similar band during reading time in 4^th grade, major nostalgic joy!). And they were having so much fun! I want to be best friends with them (I find myself saying that a lot these days). I also want their CD, but they don’t have one. Alas.

A few more fotos...

I wasn't actually supposed to take pictures in here, but I'm totally coming back for Halloween preparations:

Side-view of beloved band (there were about eight members):

They started dancing with the crowd. The abuelitas loved it especially!

Anyway, I must return to San Telmo soon, in hopes of befriending that band...in any case, successful shopping experiences await there. I would like to go again with the intention of taking my time and talking to the artists (I'm starting to really be able to have interesting, organic conversations in Spanish!). On a warmer day, perhaps—mind you it is still winter here, and I’ve started conforming to the Argentine mindset that this winter is VERY COLD.

Besos,

Isa

Word of the day: el guardaespaldas - n. Bodyguard (this is not lunfardo, rather an actual word, but I love it because it's one of those great combo-words that Spanish has a few of [lit. "guard-back"])