Next year in......Buenos Aires?

Well, its Passover again. I know, that´s exactly what you were thinking. Last year I found myself at a seder table in Cape Town, and last night I found myself at a seder table in Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires...so far it appears to be a land where potable, hot water flows from the taps and espresso machines abound. I showed up early to a Chabad house last night to try to smile my way with broken Spanish into the seder without a ticket...the ortho rabbis just had to look my direction to make me feel guilty, but a nice family with three teenage girls invited me to their table, and the oldest daughter practiced her english with me, and tried to convince me to visit the biggest disco here in BA. I didn´t tell her that I forgot my heels (read: I dont own heels) so maybe next time. Anyway, it was a huge seder, mostly because there was a group of some 60+ young Israelis who appear to just be traveling for some months, so it was a boisterous, multi-lingual evening. Also met some fellow American travelers who just showed up for the seder too. It was lovely. As for BA, it´s a big, very European city, so European in fact that it's a bit pretentious, but that also has to do with the Argentinian stereotype I think. But there is nothing nicer than a hot shower. Well, maybe chocolate. And then another hot shower. How indulgent. Yesterday I walked around after not sleeping hardly at all on my 3:30 am flight from Lima to here, and ended up in the very fancy shopping mall. I didn´t go into any of the stores for fear that I would have one of those "which way does this go, is this a shirt or a skirt, I think the price tag has too many zeros..." moments. If Peru is the $12 fake Lacoste shirt (which Peruans seem to really like), then Argentina appears to be the $80 real thing. And now, in my fanciest outfit (black t shirt and less baggy jeans) I am going to hit the streets of Buenos Aires until I hang out with a friend here tonight, a guy from my spanish classes in Mexico. I think that all was an overshare of very little information. But whatever.