Another relatively lazy day in La Plata. After being woken up by Michaela far earlier than Margarita or I wanted, we made our way downstairs to breakfast. Today is a national holiday and we heard patriotic tunes belted out by a band coming from the plaza. A few medialunas and showers later, we headed off to Plaza Italia (at least we think it's called that). With Michaela in the stroller, we stopped at Norte, a supermarket, because we needed diapers. We also ended up getting some cereal for Michaela, conditioner, and some cookies for Lia, who is 90 years old today and resides at a geriatric hospital. An older couple stopped and played with Michaela for a little while as we were grabbing the diapers. After paying for everything, we placed the cereal in the front of the stroller, so Michaela can feed herself as she is wheeled from place to place. The supermarket staff thought that was very cute.
We were headed to Plaza Italia because we had seen what seemed to be an open air market there when we were on our way back from Replubica de los Niños. Unfortunately, we had arrived before anything was actually set up, so we sat down to let Michaela out of the stroller. A woman nearby was letting her puppy run around and, of course, Michaela was soon crawling after it. This is really what Michaela likes about traveling here - lots of opportunities to interact with animals. While it's nice that plazas are so common here with their open grass and paved areas, the paved areas are often littered with broken glass and the grass areas are a maze of dog feces and bottle caps from Quilmes beer. I'm frequently frustrated by how unsafe some of the plazas are for a crawling baby. It makes me want Michaela to start walking sooner.
Since we were close to the restaurant (Don Quijote), we called Margarita's aunt and told her to meet us there while we would walk. When we arrived at the restaurant, it was obvious that I was underdressed with my t-shirt and my jeans with a hole in the knee. Oh well. Margarita had Rabbit provençal while I had Salta in Boca (or something like that). Gladys (Margarita's aunt) had some chicken dish with roquefort cheese. For dessert, Margarita tried a Don Bosco (which I finished) and Gladys had an apple pancake flambé, which Margarita finished. Michaela fell asleep while I held her before we finished the meal. Although the restaurant was elegant, it wasn't any more expensive than the other places we had eaten.
We had seen a merry-go-round at the plaza across the street from the restaurant so we walked over to it after lunch. I paid 70 centavos for a ride for Michaela (she was the only one) and set her in a jeep. While at first she seemed uncomfortable, she was soon waving and smiling as she went around. She also spent a lot of time looking at herself in the mirror near the top of the merry-go-round. Gladys and Margarita were singing along to the childrens' songs playing over the sound system. When the ride stopped, I went to remove Michaela but she had become enthralled with the ride, and she didn't want to leave. So I gave the attendant another 70 centavos for another ride. She gave me a lollipop for Michaela and another girl joined the ride. Now Michaela got even more comfortable, and I had to yell no when she started to stand up in the jeep. She understood and kept seated for the rest of the ride. Meanwhile, the attendant was playing the role of the brass ring for Michaela and the other girl. She made it easy for both of them to grab the ring, which entitled them to a free ride - very nice. However, we wanted to be going so off we went and grabbed a taxi across the street.
After spending some time at Gladys' apartment, we called a taxi for our ride to see Lia on her birthday. She is 90 years old and is being cared for at a geriatric center on the outskirts of town. We gave the taxi driver the name of the street that the center was on and the number of kilometers from town that it was located. After he realized he wasn't going to get any more detailed information than that from us, he called his dispatcher for help, but she was unable to be of much assistance. We made our way to the street, past Carrefour, McDonalds, Wal-Mart (ack, it's here too), and Burger King. After driving far enough that we were concerned we had passed it, we turned around, and the driver stopped to ask directions at a newstand. They didn't know and then the driver went into a store and finally across the street. Still no luck. So we headed back down the street again, while I recalled seeing a sign saying how many kilometers down the road we were. We used that as a guide and finally found the geriatric center. Of course, we had already passed it, so we turned around again and parked. Since we were unlikely to be able to get a taxi easily, we had the taxi driver wait with the meter running.
The geriactric center is a one-story building set very far back from the gate and fence that separate it from the street. We hit the buzzer at the gate and said we came to see Lia and were buzzed in. There was a raised stone walkway that led all the way from the gate to the building. I thought that it was odd to have a raised walkway which would be a falling/tripping hazard for elderly residents, but what do I know? Michaela liked the walk to the building because the sides of the lot contained trees where there plenty of birds to look at. There was one woman in a wheelchair outside the building and I thought that it might be Lia waiting for us, but neither Margarita nor I knew what she looked like and Gladys' sight isn't too good, so we headed inside and asked the staff. We were directed to Lia, where she was sitting with a friend who comes to visit about once a month, in a large communal area.
The large communal area consisted mainly of tables surrounding by elderly people in chairs or wheelchairs. Most of the tables were empty - they weren´t playing cards, reading, or doing anything else that I could tell. Some were staring off into space, while others appeared to be talking, while others were visiting with relatives. Lia was on a couch with her friend next to a person in a rocking chair. When Gladys introduced herself, Lia seemed very happy. She got happier still when Margarita, Michaela, and I were introduced. Now my Spanish comprehension is not too good, so I only learned later that Lia only appeared lucid. She kept forgetting things or saying things that didn`t make sense or were untrue. Still, she appeared to enjoy the visit. Michaela enthralled Lia and some of the other residents. They had nothing but attention to lavish on her and she ate it up, babbling loudly, waving, clapping, and putting on a show. She also spent some time crawling around to other tables and walking around using Gladys' cane. She also found the two dogs that could be seen through the glass door outside the back of the building. We had bought some clothing for Lia's birthday, which the nurse had said she needed and Lia seemed to enjoy the presents. We also brought Yerba, cookies, and a cake for her birthday. Margarita signed what appeared to be a receipt or log of the things we had brought for Lia. Michaela began exhibiting signs of being very tired and we bid our farewells and headed back to the waiting taxi.
On the way back, Margarita remembered that we were somewhat near her parents' "country" house. Alas, 20 years ago it was country, and now it was the suburbs. Margarita kept saying "Those buildings weren't here before" as we got nearer to the house. Finally we arrived and drove slowly by the house. It looked like a nice little house but the top of the house looked like it needed some maintenance - maybe just some paint. The road was the same, Margarita noted, with its potholes and semi-paved state.
After a long drive back to Gladys' apartment, the taxi ride only totaled just over 30 pesos - what a bargain! We stayed a short while at the apartment until it was time for dinner. Then we grabbed a taxi for Wilkenny, an Irish pub/restaurant that one of the relatives works at. I had the crepes Wilkenny which was supposed to smoked salmon and shrimp. It was good, but the salmon wasn't smoked. Oh well. Margarita had Irish stew, which she liked. Gladys had a pasta dish. Michaela was a delight during dinner. She made a huge mess, but she was well-behaved and we didn`t have to let her crawl around this time - a first. When we first ordered drinks, we forget to get one for Michaela, which she made very clear when they were delivered. She ended up drinking quite a lot of the mineral water throughout dinner. And to our delight, she ate lots of peas from Margarita's Irish stew. After ice cream for dessert, we headed back to the apartment and loaded up for the walk back to the hotel. It was past 10pm now.
The walk back to the hotel is only about 6 or 7 blocks, but Margarita was worried because of the stories about people being robbed and it being night. I was not as concerned, as we were on fairly well-lit and well-traveled streets, but I am always aware of my surroundings. By the time we got back to the hotel, Michaela was straining to stay awake.
Chau and good night.
Posted by mike at May 25, 2003 08:45 PMMike, what you ate was Sandimboca a la Romana. I use to eat it in my College days at a Restaurant in calle 50 7 y 8. I can't remember the name, maybe Gladys will. I've seen it in a couple of menus here in the Valley, probably at La Porteña. Now I remember, it was at La Protectora on calle 49 8 y 9, I don't know if it is still there.
Marga, bring me back my baby ASAP. Hugs Daddy