Bill's Blog

Fire and Rain and Two More Nights

It has been a crazy twelve days. We were lucky to be in our apartment when water came pouring down from the ceiling above the refrigerator. It was like raining in our apartment. We quickly got a waste paper basket under the largest stream. A maintenance man told me that someone's water heater broke in one of the apartments above. If we had not been home, the refrigerator would have been ruined.

Then there was the fire. We were unlucky the other morning when an apartment, four floors below, caught fire. We had just finished breakfast when I smelled smoke. I figured it was coming from the window, but we checked the hall to see smoke. We grabbed a couple of things and walked out in the hall to find it filled with smoke. Too much smoke to walk down the stairs, the fire must be below. Back in the apartment we trod. It was too dangerous to descend. We checked our balconies and I could see the fire in the front of the building and several floors below. We closed the all the doors and went out on the balcony on the other side of our apartment. We could hear the fire engines approaching. We hoped that they would quickly put the fire out. Fearful as we waited, we were happy when they eventually let us know the fire was out. The only damage to us was an hour waiting on a cool balcony and the lingering odor of chemical smoke in the hall.

A week ago on Saturday, we visited the British Embassy. There was a church like fete in progress, raising money for charity. We went with Pablo and Nick Dragone. They bought books. Betty and I shared a choripan (sausage sandwich) and drank beers, while playing cards. The big show at the fete was the bagpipers and Scottish dancers. At the end of it, Betty headed home and I went out with Nick and Pablo. I had a good time talking with them and their friends.

We took some time to visit Ville del Parque, the neighborhood that we lived in on our last visit to Buenoes Aires in 2005. Some things had changed, an old business had closed and another had opened. Still the neighborhood was much the same. We even visited our house on Cuenca. The folks living there were kind enough to let us look in. Not one wall had been repainted. It all seemed so much the same. The big difference was all the adults living in the house. There were at least four and maybe six in residence.

Yesterday, we went to a show at the National Library. We heard two musical groups playing Tango music. The first was an all-women group called China Cruel with my friend Viviana Scarlassa singing. The other was a group of four guitarists. A wonderful show. A dance lesson followed with Tate and Mariana. We only stayed a bit for that, since it was for beginners.

Well, we will only be in Buenos Aires two more nights. We are very excited to be going back. We can hardly wait to see our family.

Posted by bill at May 17, 2009 10:07 AM