The Chinese Syndrome
10 June 2005 (Friday) – Buenos Aires, Argentina
I woke up this morning and knew it was time to move on. I would leave tomorrow to Porto Alegre, Brazil. Heh, I think.
But first, I had to try and find free accommodation through Hospitality Club. I felt a little bad because if I leave tomorrow, I would arrive on Sunday, and I am just giving them 2 days’ notice. That was not very nice. But what can I do? I only just made the final decision through my sleep last night.
I selected and spammed 6 persons. Then I prayed. To my disbelief, within half an hour, 3 of them replied, 1 offering apologies as he is travelling next week and 2 offering accommodation!! Wow, excellent! So, that’s settled.
Next, my bus ticket to Porto Alegre. I had to go to Retiro Bus Terminal to buy it. Retiro Bus Terminal is immense. There are 205 booths selling bus tickets to E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E. I heard Flecha Bus is nice, so I made my inquiries there. Alas, they only have 1 bus per day, leaving at 1pm. But tomorrow, Saturday 1pm, I already have an appointment. So, I guess I am leaving Sunday then. Also, they needed my passport and I was not carrying it. Oh well, I would have to make another trip here tomorrow to make the purchase.
I returned to the Tenedor Libre along Av. Corrientes for lunch as I thought it was really a good deal for 9 pesos and I was quite hungry. This time, the waiter who served me is Chinese. He asked me in castellano where I was from, etc…. We chatted a little until finally, he asked if I speak Mandarin. Yes, I do. Then, he blurted out in Mandarin, “Then, why are we going through the trouble to speak in castellano?!”
I asked for tea. He suggested, “Do you want Chinese tea?” Chinese tea? I looked through the menu again, there was no separate item for Chinese tea. “You mean you have Chinese tea? It doesn’t say here in the menu.” “Well, that tea is for the foreigners! It is bad. For you, I will make Chinese tea.” And off he went.
Foreigners? We are 2 Chinese, both slitty-eyed and button-nosed, yakking away in Mandarin in a restaurant in the dead centre of Buenos Aires, Argentina… and the Argentines are ‘foreigners’?? The irony.
I have been looking for something with fileteado designs. This is the traditional colourful Buenos Aires designs done mainly on signs or bookcases or doorways, etc… OK, it is a little kitsch for it to be declaring ‘Buenos Aires’ or ‘Tango’ or whatever. But I wanted something with the design but not with the touristy crap words.
The last time I was here and did not get it, I returned home, thinking about it. So, this time, I kept an eye out for it. I spotted some in the Feria de Mataderos but did not buy any as it was just one stall with not many designs. Rats! I should have. Now that I was seriously looking for them, I just could not find them anywhere.
The last place possible was La Boca, where I had not visited on this trip yet. So, I took a bus there.
Boy, this place is TOURISTY!! I felt so strange, so ashamed that I would have to pop into all these touristy shops like the other tourists and browse the souvenirs. My nose was assaulted by the smell of leather, my vision blurred with the 3 million poses of tango dancers made from all materials and in all sizes to suit the display cabinets of the tourists. I crawled from shop to shop, having fainter and fainter hopes as there was absolutely nothing with fileteado. I heard it is a dying art. I think it is already dead. I finally spotted them – 50 to 100 pesos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Soy turista pero no soy estúpida. (I am a tourist, but I am not stupid… it just rhymes, heh)
This evening, I had a pleasant surprise. I just finished using the internet in my favourite place along Lavalle (coz it costs 1 peso per hour) when the Taiwanese lady collecting the money from me asked if I had been here before. Been here before? Yeah, I came here a few times over the last 2 weeks. So, I answered, “Sí”. “¿Por que volviste?” (Why did you return?), she asked. Huh?? Returned?? Finally, it dawned on me that she RECOGNISED me from 2.5 years ago! Wow, I cannot believe it!! This lady had seen me briefly a few times 2.5 years ago in this city and she now still remembers me. I was so so so so surprised. But indeed, it gave me a warm feeling to know it as it connected me with my life here 2.5 years ago.
Tags: 01) Imagining Argentina, Buenos Aires
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