Adventures in South America

My Birthday!

Yesterday was my birthday. I am at the age where I am going to decline to say my age, but many of you already know ;-) Thank you so much to all of you friends and family back home that remembered me and sent me birthday wishes. Its nice to know even though I am FAR away, I am still in your thoughts.

The weather was perfect yesterday. Seth took me to a wonderful lunch in Puerto Madero at Ifresh Market. We sat outside and had a nice, leisurely lunch.

It was definitely a little strange to be celebrating my birthday on a different continent. I pulled together some last minute plans that involved some text messages and emails on Thursday. I invited my closest friends here and those that could make it joined Seth and I at Acabar on Honduras between Bonpland and Carranza. Acabar is a crazy place. It is HUGE and was formerly a toy store; there are stacks of board games that you can play while sitting at the tables - Pictionary, Jenga, etc.

I was dissapointed at first because I had passed by the place on Thursday night to get some information about making a reservation for groups. The nice host/bouncer at the door gave me a card and informed me that I should call the next day and that they only take reservations for groups of 10 or larger. Well, by the time we called on Friday (around 2:30pm) the tables for large parties were completely booked. This, of course, caused a bit of a stressful situation for me because I had already told my friends to meet there. Desiree was extremely sweet and helpful in trying to find another venue, but at that late stage, I did not want to change the plans. So we decided to get their early (meaning 10pm for dinner) to get a table. The place was already packed, but the nice bouncer from the night before was sweet enough to remember that today is my birthday and he immediately escorted us into the crowded restaurant and sat us at the table. The food was ok; cheap, standard Argentine fare. The company was great! We arrived there with Desiree, Sergio and Gabriel. Over the course of the next couple of hours Vanesa, Martin, Liliana, Claudio and Roxana also came by. We had a great time (with very little alcohol I might add!) sitting around, talking (Liliana and Roxana were especially interesting in polishing up their basic english skills) and playing creative games with Jenga sticks (we managed to shatter a glass when these blocks of wood fell on the table!). All in all it was a memorable night. Seth and I have found the Argentines to be fast friends and genuine people. I hope to maintain the friendships we have made here.

posted by Kathy T @ 9:11 AM