Magdalena

Tonight, we went to dinner with our new friend Magdalena. We met her at the café across the street two weeks ago. She lives on the building across from us. Like Helen, she is a pharmacist.

She took us to a lovely place in Palermo Hollywood, a trendy section of the Barrio Palermo, called Cabernet. It was a beautiful evening so we dined outside. The restaurant is an old residence built in the colonial Spanish style.






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After a nice meal, Magdalena, who has a car, took us on a tour of the city. Speaking of having a car, we encountered another strange Argentino job. After she parked on the street, a man came up holding a shop rag and said something to her, she thatnked him. She told us that he offered to "keep an eye on the car" while we are in the restaurant. When we returned to the car, she thanked him and tipped him a peso. This enterprising man has set himself up in business watching over people´s cars while they eat--either that or it´s some kind of protection racket.


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We have walked around quite a bit during the day, but the city looks very different at night--some parts really pretty, some parts really scary.

We were also able to see parts of the city we have not seen on foot or from the window of the #110 colectivo. We drove past the obolisque, the Congress Building, La Casa Rosada, El Hipódromo Palermo, past many embassies and elegant residences.



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She speaks excellent English, but is very good about indulging us with our (somewhat improved) Spanish.

Our first class at UBA is now half over. We take final exams, written and oral, on February 2 and 3. That determines if we get to move up to the next level. That class ends March 7th after which we plan to visit Córdoba for about a week. Shortly after that, we will have to make a weekend trip to Montevideo Uruguay to start the clock over on our 90-day tourist visas.


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Tomorrow, it´s off to the races where Ken tries his hand playing the Argentina horses.