AMO the ARG: "foto!" and friends...

last summer, i returned from our big, happy family trip to the mother island with a better sense of the place, but wishing i'd had the chance to do one thing--walk. on foot, you can absorb sights and smells and the noise, and feel the surround of space. you discover the pace, the energy, and maybe even your place within it all. but for many reasons (like the hot, heavy air and security concerns), manila doesn't seem to be suited for long strolling. and anyway, no one in my family was going to allow it. it was drive-by discovery.

buenos aires is the perfect opposite. you (and i) can walk for hours. i think you'll notice the folks there are not shy with eye contact. also, porteños aren't transfixed by phones and pdas --instead of talking to the air, they're talking to each other. headphones and ipods? a rare sight, at least for now. (is that what made the energy of the city special--that they seem alive to each other? what makes them so open and friendly? is it that they're all hopped up on caffeine and sugar, god love'em?)

what i do know--and won't forget--is they made me feel a welcomed visitor.

i hope if you make it down there, you'll have the same experience.

***

in recoleta. our first day, and our first "foto!" encounter...

followed shortly by this one...in palermo.

this gentleman called out to me while waiting for the bus in san telmo...

can you see the bus driver here?
he beep-beep-beeped for a bit before i realized he was trying to catch my attention.
i missed the shot of his wave.

our friend from the spanish embassy, in palermo...

young friends at the havanna. they serve the very best "cafe havanna" (a signature coffee, made with condensed milk ), coñitos, and alfajores...
on avenida pueyrredon, recoleta, ba.

i was trying to catch a photo of one of the buses, but got this thumbs up instead...on the way to alto palermo mall.

at cafe tortoni, a landmark, in monserrat.

with dario, at cabana las lilas, in puerto madero.

z, with guillermo--our wonderful handyman--at the apt in recoleta.

and last but not least, our friends at the locutorio on avenida pueyrredon, near santa fe...

we saw them every day, sometimes a few times a day. how do i not know their names?
we simply greeted each other as "amigos"..."chau! chau!"