Week Twenty One: Pride!

I started Pride week on Saturday, when two of my regular meetings had special events.  At Juventud FALGBT, there was a viewing of TransAmerica and a discussion of trans women's issues.  At Sigla, there was a discussion of HIV and an open forum for people to ask questions about HIV anonymously or in conversation.

It was really interesting, although I was kind of shocked at the nonchalance with which the doctor spoke about the spread of the disease.  He emphasized the fact that there was only a very tiny chance of transmission and although I think his goal was to stop some of the fear and paranoia that still exists, it was not done well.  By the time he was finished talking about how using protection is a personal choice, I was extremely uncomfortable.  Obviously using protection is a personal choice, but I also feel like the conversation about whether or not to use protection, if we're going to have it, should be about why one would not use protection, especially in an encouner with an HIV-positive partner.  The doctor mentioned that it's like a game of Russian Roulette where your chances of losing are very small and one audience member countered him by saying, "Yes, you're right, but why play Russian Roulette in the first place?"  I'm with him.

Overall, however, I think the talk was educational, and I learned a lot about new drugs and options for treatment and prevention.

Strangely, I was one of two women present.  Sigla has a number of groups that meet at the same time every week, including a women's group, but while the men's group, the youth group, and the HIV-positive group were all at the chat, the women were not.  They didn't come.

I noticed immediately upon entering that there weren't women present, and at one point during the conversation, the doctor said, "Where are all the women?  We know that this is a disease that primarily effects gay men and the women want nothing to do with it.  We have to support our gay brothers."  It was disturbing to me that the women's group did not choose to come.  I feel like the doctor had a point in saying that the women ought to be interested, supportive, and present.  He said some more troubling things about women being privileged and only wanting to deal with their own issues.  Of course this often means that women left a group after being silenced by their gay counterparts or having none of their needs or concerns addressed.  Still, I was in agreement with his general idea of solidarity, even with the sneaking suspicion that it only ran one way.

It's a divide that I often notice in the community.  There are not a lot of really mixed groups.  The majority of organizations, clubs, and bars are either gender-segregated or have sub-groups that are for men or women.  I understand, of course, that there are different needs.  As Marcela from ATTTA mentioned, sometimes one group needs to have the strongest voice, needs to provide the protagonists, but there's a point at which the division becomes destructive.  Anyway, it is something that I have been thinking about a lot as I meet new people and speak to new groups and it was strange to be in that Sigla room and feel the divide in such a real way.

The Juventud Banner

The Sigla Banner

I was feeling rough and struck a deal with my Mom to take some time to get better.  I definitely didn't want to miss Pride, so I spent the first part of the week researching, cleaning my apartment, drinking lots of fluids, and figuring out how to go to the doctor here.

One lesson that I have learned along the way is that I'm dependent on my community at home in a lot of ways that I didn't realize before this year.  For example, when I'm at home and not feeling well, there are any number of people around with whom I speak on a regular basis who will notice and say something if I seem off or if I am being stupid about things.  Here that is not the case.  I do see people and socialize regularly but building the kind of familiarity that I had at Rhodes takes so much time.  A person here might interact with me on a bad day and just think I'm a little weird (which I am) whereas at home someone would probably ask if something were wrong.  Anyway, all that is to say that figuring out how to take care of myself and how to live this way, with a new community every few months, involves so much that I never would have anticipated.  It has made me even more grateful to the wonderful people in my life at Rhodes and at home generally. 

I took it slow, venturing out to my favorite coffee shop to work and scheduling meetings that I needed anyway, like one with my landlord to address a bug problem that came with the weather change and to ask him a bunch of questions about things in the city.  Jorge, my landlord, also brought me a package slip!  I was soooo excited to go get it.  I also talked to a few friends in the city about where to go to the doctor and what to bring.  

After lots of asking and researching I decided to go to Hospital Aleman, which is a few subway stops down from me.  It's a private hospital, which is faster and more organized, and after wandering around for a bit to find it, I walked into the emergency room and was directed to a clinic where it took somewhere around 20 minutes for me to pay, get a ticket, and see a doctor, leaving with prescription in hand.  It was insanely easy, not overpriced, and the doctor was very helpful and spoke Spanglish with me.  He said there was swelling in my ears from bad allergy stuff, which would explain my bad hearing, and he gave me medicine and nasal spray to help with that.  I headed to the pharmacy, also an easy process, and headed home feeling happy to know that while I can't control my dysautonomia, I can definitely take something to help with the allergies and ear issues. 

Marielle, a friend from Couchsurfers who lives in DC, and I were supposed to go see a tango show Thursday night, but I got an email from the club that day telling me that the singer was sick.  We made plans to reschedule and instead I went to Couchsurfers and talked with lots of people, some of whom I had met before and others who were new to the group.  I like that it's close to my apartment, and it's a great way to meet people from Buenos Aires and from around the world.  Lots of people who come aren't actually Couchsurfers (me, for example) and a surprising number are longterm residents of the city or newly relocated for work or school.  Anyway, I generally make good connections there. 

On Friday I went to get my package!  Because it was an international package, I had to go to the central post office, which is in Retiro, quite a treck from my apartment.  I have never really spent time in Retiro; aside from the central bus station, which is also there, there isn't a lot of draw to the area.  But it was a nice day so I walked around for a little while and explored the parks near the subway and post office.  

Plaza Canada

Train Station

The post office is massive.  There are several entrances but they're marked clearly with the 

purpose, which is nice.  Unfortunately, that was the only part of the process that was clear.  

I walked into a small-ish room with a huge line, grabbed a number, and sat down to wait.  I was confused because nobody was leaving the counter with a package, but I asked someone and he confirmed that I was in the correct office.  I found out when I reached the front of the line that this is the room where they take your slip.  In order to receive a package, I had to go to the next room.  The attendant pointed me in the right direction, and I assumed that there I would take another number.  

Wrong.  This was a huge hall filled with chairs, all occupied, and alternating attendants would announce numbers over a grainy loudspeaker, but I had no idea which number was mine.  I had a little slip from my package, but there were at least five options on it, so I asked a couple in front of me, and they responded that they did not have any idea either. 

They consulted with another couple, and they were also unsure, so one of the men went to ask an attendant and came back with help.  I was sort of relieved that I was not the only one who was confused but also even more confused at the lack of instructions present in either one of the rooms.  

Anyway, it all turned out fine and I left a happy camper with a package but most of my day was spent in the hall.  Because the numbers were not called out in the order of the people who entered the room, the two couples that I spoke with who had both been there longer than I had were still waiting when I left.  I hope they didn't have to wait much longer. 

Waiting

Success!

There was no La Fulana meeting because of Pride; everyone was supposed to meet at 9am at the Plaza de Mayo on Saturday morning.  I woke up and headed out, finding a pleasantly empty subway down to the Plaza.  

The tents were set up in the Plaza de Mayo, bigger organizations at the center and vendors around the outside.  La Fulana, Juventu FALGBT, and a number of other organizations, some political, some branches of the government, had tents setup  with information, merchandise, or food. That early in the morning, we were still setting up, so I helped to put mesh fencing up and then moved on with another group to decorate the truck.  

This was the first time that I had been involved in the set-up of Pride, and it was a different experience.  I am glad I got a chance to see how things work from behind the scenes, even a little bit.  There is a group of leaders from various LGBT organizations who have a committee to put together Pride and each organization puts together its tent, organizes and decorates its truck, and works on the details.

Mostly I tried to provide a set of hands where they would be helpful as the leaders of La Fulana had things put together and had a routine from years of organization.  

We hung banners and made a big rainbow flag.  Erica and Nuria, brave souls, got on the roof of the truck to hang things down the side. It was fun to see the transformation and to be part of it. 

Pride day was also the day of the celebration of the Republic, so there were lots of kids running around in traditional garb singing and dancing and playing instruments.  They performed at the Cabildo, on the back end of the Plaza de Mayo, and I got to hear the Argentine national anthem and see some fun traditional things.  There was a general sense of a tourist performance, and some of the Fulanas commented on the touristy nature of the celebration.  Candy told me that there was some kind of scheduling mixup and that normally there wouldn't be two events of that size at the same time.  

The kids who were performing and their parents came by the booths a little before the fair officially started, and they loved the balloons that the Juventud were making for the parade.  It was pretty clear that it was gay Pride, but none of the kids or parents that I saw seemed super phased by any of it.  Some of the older performers took the sexual education pamphlets from La Fulana.  

After setting everything up and sharing some sandwiches, we got ready for the fair to start, officially.  At 3pm, people started showing up in big groups, and for the next couple of hours, the Plaza got more and more crowded.  I took a walk around to look at everything with Ivonne and I ran into Matias, Sant, and Franco, from Gay Geeks.  They pointed me in the direction of the bigger group meeting, and I got to spend some time hanging out with everyone before walking over to the La Fulana float to get reay to march. 

Getting ready that morning

Erica

The Plaza

Soledad on the truck, pre-decoration

Getting the truck ready

Some of the kids celebrating the day of the Republic

Making a banner

Outside the Cabildo, where the truck was parked as we decorated

Getting there

One of the many political signs 

As the fair picked up at La Fulana

La Fulana did a project where they had members write insults and experiences of discrimination on a white board and pose with them. During the fair, others could participate. 

La Fulana

Hanging out with the Gay Geeks

Pablo!

ATTTA Float

I knew I was going to be "security," but I didn't know what the parade would look like in terms of space or people. I was on one side of the truck with four or so other people.  Our job was to keep people from touching the truck or getting too close to the wheels.  I was ready and after the parade started (1.5 hours late, in good Argentine fashion), I started marching with my side.  It was immediately clear that things were not going to be as easy as anticipated. I had no idea exactly how many people there would be or how difficult it would be to keep them from wandering under the truck wheels.  Seriously. 

One thing that I appreciate about parades in the US that I didn't know I should appreciate is barricades along the sidewalks.  This is not to say that I don't think it's fabulous that anyone can join the march in Buenos Aires but just to say that the proximity between the people and the truck and the size of the crowd was a little overwhelming, mostly speaking as someone who was told to keep people out of a certain area.   At one point, a group of people made a mosh pit and used our linked arms as a pushing off point.  A man from the crowd stepped out to help those of us who were making the barrier, and he walked with us the rest of the way.  

By the time we got going, there was a pattern and it was lots of fun.  People were happy and shouting and dancing.  I sang Erasure with a group of random celebrants in colorful masks and danced, as much as I ever dance, while I was keeping folks distant from the truck.  

We marched from the Plaza de Mayo down Avenida de Mayo to the Plaza del Congreso. It was a great night for the march; it had been threatening to rain all day but thankfully it held off. 

When we reached the end of the march, there was a huge stage set up and there were even more people.  I found the youth group from Sigla and we chatted for a while before I went to meet up with the Gay Geeks.  

I had been interested to see how the lack of overt corporate sponsorship would make BA Pride different from Pride in Prague or Berlin or anywhere else, and it was evident in the organization of the groups and trucks that all of the work was done by members and for the community as a celebration and protest. There were no EasyJet whistles, no massive advertisements for alcohol or clothing brands.  It was a nice difference, and I enjoyed seeing such a massive event from within the community without seeing corporate influence. 

That being said, there was definitely a major and evident government presence at Pride.  I don't mean in terms of police officers; in fact, the security was largely organized by the groups and there was not an obvious police presence, only the prevention officers who wore yellow vests and helped, like in the case of La Fulana, to keep the crowd at a distance.  

There were, however, signs for the government everywhere.  There were government organizations all over the fair.  At the main stage, on the sides where there might normally be signs for whatever corporation sponsored the event, there were signs for Victory, symbols of Christina, the President.  

I thought this was really interesting and learned later that there was a counter protest, a faction of the community that does not like the close affiliation with the government and wants a march without trucks and celebration, a political protest in a very traditional sense.  I wish that I had been able to talk to them but in the massive crowd of people, I didn't even know they were there until someone told me later. 

While I understand the issue with government affiliation, I do not agree that Pride should be an entirely solemn affair.  Celebration and protest are not mutually exclusive, and the presence of so many out and proud people in one place, marching on a platform of political goals is extremely powerful.

At the same time that Pride is a protest, it also provides an opportunity for, well, pride.  It's a chance to be open and happy and loud in a way that is, for many people, unavailable during most of the year.  

It's the same way that I answer questions like "Why isn't there a straight pride day?"

Because every day is a straight pride day. Because straight people do not have to worry the same way that gay people do about their sexual orientation being a barrier to social, familial, and professional connections. Until this is no longer the case, it is not too much to create one day during the year where all of the stress and the worry can be overwhelmed by community, if only momentarily.  In fact, it's shameful that there is only one day, but during that day, queer people deserve a chance to celebrate, to own their identities as sites of happiness and solidarity, not just as markers of difference and oppression.  

It shouldn't be all about dancing, but a little dancing along the way is its own kind of protest.  We refuse to be stifled.  

Anyway, all that is to say that while I might sympathize with a desire to rid the march of so much state influence, I cannot fully buy into anger and solemnity as the only acceptable emotions during Pride. 

I stood with the Gay Geeks watching the performances and speeches, chatting and saying hello as more people joined the group. 

One thing about attending Pride at the end of my time in the city was that I could feel like a part of the community in more ways than if I had begun my time there with the march.  Instead of just meeting people, I was saying hello to people, spending time with people that I knew, and recognizing faces in the crowd.  It was an affirming experience in terms of my project and I was even more grateful to everyone who had welcomed me and who made sure to say hello in the crowd.  

After a bit, we went to someone's apartment. We all crammed on to the bus and had an easy night talking and hanging out.  It was a great way to end Pride and I left that night feeling really positive about everything and sad to know that my time in Buenos Aires was coming to an end. 

This week I'm thankful for: 

1. Pride and all it gives me and the community as a whole

2. The Gay Geeks, La Fulana, Juventud, and Sigla for giving me a place in the city

3. A package from home and access to good healthcare

Weeks Nineteen/Twenty: Birthday, Halloween, Palermo

I should start this post by saying that these past few weeks, I spent a lot of time feeling not great.  Like a fool, I pretended like it wasn't happening and it took a series of weird/scary incidents to make me ask for help and make plans to see a doctor.  It was the normal dysautonomia stuff combined with some really bad allergies and ear stuff.  Anyway, all that is to say, reflecting back on these past two weeks, I get frustrated with myself for taking so long to ask for help and deal with the problem.

Still, there was lots going on, and I got to spend a lot of time with great people for the normal reasons and while celebrating my birthday and Halloween. I also made a point to really walk around my neighborhood, Palermo Soho, and to explore Palermo as a whole.

Originally, Fe, a classmate from El Pasaje, and I had Sunday plans to go to the cemetary in Recoleta and possibly to a museum and the market nearby, but unfortunately Fe's roommate got sick and they spent the day figuring out the hospital system, although thankfully everything turned out well.

It was a rainy, lazy Sunday, so it seemed like the perfect time to go explore El Ateneo, a famous bookstore in the city, housed in an old theater.  It's gorgeous, to say the least.  I could wander around a bookstore forever, but when it looks like this, the temptation is even greater.

Anyway, I started my week exploring a new place in the city and looking at books, which for me is fairly close to a perfect day.

I really needed a haircut. I had been told, kindly, at La Fulana, it was looking a little shaggy. While I didn't take the suggestion of having stars buzzed into my hair, I did take the general advice. Monday I walked to a haircut place and talked to the really nice guy who worked there and had an opening to help me out.

I spent the rest of the afternoon at a coffee shop called Libros del Pasaje, which is also a bookstore filled with rolling ladders and wooden shelves.  It's a great little place and close to my apartment, so I did some work.  I've found in Argentina that the internet is both essential and dangerous.  After all, I had a huge list of places to go and addresses but many of them were totally outdated.  Still, groups like Gay Geeks operate totally online, so there would have been no way for me to make contact without Facebook, and I'm always grateful to meet new people in whatever way.  As India gets closer (I have less than a month, what), I will start to look over the research I did before leaving and try expand, but for now, there's still plenty to find in Argentina.

As part of my mission to explore Palermo more, I went and had dinner at Bio, a veggie/vegan restaurant nearby.  There I met Juan a brother and sister who were in Barcelona to visit their childhood friends. We talked for a while and I had some delicious risotto and a glass of wine with a book.  It was excellent.

Inside Bio.  I went early (8pm is early for dinner here, by the way), so it was not very crowded.  As I was leaving, things were picking up.  

I continued with my classes this week, working again with Anahi, who was my group teacher and who is so nice and helpful.  We start class with conversation but she's also really good at making sure that things are structured and we cover what I want to cover without it being strictly about grammar.

On my birthday, I spent the day wandering through the neighborhood and eating brunch at a really cute local cafe called Voltaire. The food was delicious and I enjoyed reading and being outside in the neighborhood on what was a gorgeous day.  

That afternoon, I went to see a movie.  It's something that I love to do at home but that I haven't done yet on my trip.  I don't really have the time normally, and there's so much to do and see that it doesn't get put on the top of my to-do list.  Anyway, I was really excited to go and do something somewhat familiar in a new place.  I went to see Gravity in 3D at the local Cinemark which is, funny enough, the theatre closest to my house in Mississippi.  The movie was in English with Spanish subtitles.  Fun fact, seats are assigned, and when the woman asked me which number I wanted, I just picked one randomly hoping that it wasn't all the way at the back or front.  It wasn't.  We were all sort of huddled in the middle. I hate to generalize but I will say that this was one of the very few places in Argentina where I arrived and the event started on time.   The movie was beautiful, the plotline was meh, but all in all, it was a great way to spend an afternoon.  I ate popcorn and sat in a cool theatre and it felt a little like home.  

For dinner I went to a Mexican restaurant close to home that got great reviews.  The reviews were correct.  I ate tacos and guacamole with wine (classy, I know) and had an alfajor (Havanna are debatably the best) for dessert. 

Wandered back in the daytime to catch a picture of the restaurant

Not the prettiest picture but really, really good food.  

I chose the chocolate for that night.  The white chocolate has been my favorite so far.  They all have dulce de leche inside.  

I had made plans to celebrate with friends on Saturday because it seemed like the weekend would be more convenient but ended up changing them to Tuesday because in Argentina, it's illegal to sell alcohol the day before/of the election, which was that Sunday.  I guess with a mandatory vote on a Sunday, drunk voters are a concern.  Anyway, I was looking forward to continuing birthday celebrations the next week. 

These are all over.  Where there might have been concerts advertisements or whatever else, now there are political ads, sometimes with commentary.

Friday I had my last day of class at El Pasaje.  I was really sad to say goodbye.  I loved spending time there and my Spanish has really improved with classes.  It was a good place for me to practice language skills but it also provided me with a number of great social connections and with new project information.  It has been an excellent surprise that almost everywhere I spend time in Buenos Aires, and in Argentina generally, provides me with some new avenue to explore related to LGBT life.  Anyway that Friday I finished my classes with Anahi before heading to La Fulana.

At La Fulana that night, we planned for for pride at the activist meeting.  I'll be a guard on the side of the truck with several other people, and we'll get there that morning to set up the tent and decorate everything.

At the group meeting, everyone pulled a piece of paper that had a quesiton on it about pride.  "When did you first start to have pride?"  "Why are you proud?"  "Why is pride important to you?"  It was a really interesting discussion and the general conclusion was that Pride the event provided a really important sense of community while pride generally was something that sometimes came at a specific moment and othertimes came gradually, after years of struggling or doubting or dealing with opposition from others.  I benefit so much from being able to listen to these conversations and hear the stories of women from different backgrounds.

I also learned that contracts between organizations and companies are prohibited at Buenos Aires Pride.  That is to say, nobody will be driving around in an Easy Jet float.  This is an attempt to avoid commercialization and keep the parade political, and I'm really interested to see how this impacts the structure of the march, especially because Buenos Aires Pride is so huge.

To me, this seems like a better option.  I like the idea of a Pride separate from the corporate world, and I'm really eager to see what that looks like.  Even in Memphis, the Horseshoe comes and hands out bags; there's corporate promotion at the event.  This isn't all bad as companies can show their support for the community, but it seems problematic that a political protest would be funded by major companies, if only because it then becomes tricky to talk about some of the problems that the community might have with corporate interests and other policies they support.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to seeing how things are similar and different here, especially now that I know about these rules.

On Saturday, I headed to my usual meetins with Sigla and the Juventud FALGBT.  I took some pictures of the journey to get there because it was a gorgeous day.

Getting off the subway.  During the week, this place is packed, but the weekends are much calmer.  Everybody works here; nobody lives here. 

This is the beautiful old building where Juventud have their meetings and where the La Fulana office will be.  

Plaza de Mayo and Casa Rosada at sunset, as I was walking to catch the subway to Sigla.  

At Juventud FALGBT, we planned for the march as well.  The Juventud tent will be next to the La Fulana tent, so I'll get to hang out with both groups that day. There will be t-shirts and balloons and all the regular fun pride gear as well.

After the official planning, the group stayed around and discussed politics for a while.  I really enjoyed being able to listen and contribute (a tiny bit) to the discussion about the election and who might win and why.  It seems strange to me, but the city of Buenos Aires leans to the right.  People have told me that this is because of the affluence here; there is a hesitation to vote for parties that have policies that appeal to the poor and working class.

After Juventud, I headed to Sigla to say hello to the youth group and attend the women's group for the first time.  The youth group was making t-shirts for the parade.

I got to the women's group late but they were extremely welcoming.  The group is a mix of lesbian and bisexual women and trans women, and when I walked in, there was an interesting discussion about trans identity happening.  Somewhere in there, I heard someone mention a passive lesbian.  This was interesting because the terms active and passive are, for me, more common in conversation with gay men, although really at this point, the need to label in that way is waning and people are much more open about flexibility.

Anyway, I thought it was strange that the terms translated to the lesbian community.  I had only really read or thought about it that way in Stone Butch Blues, which, while it raises a number of good questions about identity and community, also seems dated in many ways.
As the conversation continued, the women touched on a number of topics, and I very much enjoyed being able to speak with them.

On the way to the grocery on the way home, I saw the phsyical barrier on the alcohol aisle.

The next day I went and had breakfast at a local cafe and did some work.  It was a beautiful day so I strolled around Palermo for a while, checking out the local fair by accident before finding my way home.

Waiting outside the cafe.

Delicious breakfast

Cute inside of the cafe

The sidewalk outside

In the Palermo Fair

Some super cool builidng art on the way home: 

I ran into one of the voting stations in my neighborhood on the way.  

That night, I went to Fe's house to have dinner with her, Thais, and Florian, also students at El Pasaje.  We ordered in sushi and drank wine and Fe and Thais introduced Florian and me to the Baile Funk, which is a dance that looks something like the nightmare that one of the Sisters at my high school might have had before our homecoming or prom.  Very little clothing, lots of gyrating.  Anyway they showed us because Florian is going to Brazil for New Year's Eve and he was asking about club life.  Fe and Thais jokingly told him to try that out.

On Monday I did some more exploring, walking through the neighborhood to my favorite coffee place to do a little work.  I did laundry and got groceries and made food for the week.  I don't have a freezer here so the veggies that I don't get fresh I cook immediately and have on hand for the week.  As in Poland, I really enjoy cooking here.  I like the process and the chance to experiment with new things and I think it's calming.

Mosaic  on the walk

Courtney!

Love the trees

Walked back by the cafe at a less busy time

Tuesday night was my birthday party!  That day I went and picked up laundry, cleaned, wrote and researched, and took a walk to the grocery for a few things I forgot on Monday.  That evening, we met at my house and then walked to Magdalena's Party, a local bar that got really good reviews and has a happy hour from 12-12.

We sat around and drank for a little while because several more people came to meet us later, and then we ordered food and chatted for a while over dinner and drinks.  I had a burger called the American, and it was delicious.  Normally I go for Argentine food but it looked so good.

I really enjoyed the night and am so thankful to my friends who came out to eat and drink and have fun, even though it was a Tuesday.  

At dinner. 

Walking from the restaurant.

Since it was Halloween, I decided to go to a Couchsurfers event here in Palermo.  I had heard about it from some friends at El Pasaje, and since Halloween isn't big here in Buenos Aires, I figured I would check out an event with expats.  The event page said there would be a costume contest and a raffle and since I love Halloween, I was really excited.

Because I'm traveling light, I don't have a lot of costume options, but I do have all the clothes of a great tourist.  So, I dressed up in my hiking shoes, shorts, and shirt, put on my hat (muy gringa, as a friend told me), and added a camera, water bottle, and backpack for good measure.  I made a little tag that said tourist just to make clear that it was a costume and then I headed out to the bar to meet the couchsurfers.

I got there about 45 minutes late, because this is Argentina and that's about on time.  I knew from the beginning there would be problems.  The bouncer at the door knew I was going to the couch event and sent me to ask inside, but the waitresses had no idea what I was talking about and clearly did not understand my costume.  They had on cat ears.

I sat down at a table and waited until a group of three two tables over waved to me and asked if I was looking for couchsurfers.  I was so excited.  I was also the only one in costume, and as more and more people arrived, I continued to be the only one in costume.  Worse, nobody knew it was a costume.  They thought I arrived at the bar this way, that I normally brought my camera and water bottle out for beer.  Several people even thought I wore the name tag on a daily basis.  It was one of those ridiculous moments, but I explained to people that it was a costume and normally got a few laughs, thankfully.

I ended up staying out talking to people for most of the night, meeting Callum, who is from South Africa and has connections to the community there, as well as Marielle, who is from DC and also wanted to go see a tango show, something super touristy but essential.  I exchanged contact info with both of them and left feeling only slightly ridiculous.

Walking back home in my costume felt like a pretty good metaphor for my life on the Watson.  There I am, in the middle of the night, walking down the road with a tourist label on my shirt.  I feel out of place and obvious, but I also know where I'm going.  I have a home in the neighborhood and friends nearby and it's this strange hybrid of being a part of a place and being totally aware of my difference.

At home, I might have been nervous to walk by myself at night.  I would have felt absolutely absurd in my costume.  I think here I have learned that I don't really have that option. I can't be intimidated or scared out of doing things, or I won't meet people.  I won't go places.  There's definitely some compartmentalization going on, but I'm grateful that I have learned to live and think in a different way, at least for this year.

The Tourist

The Madres of Palermo, on the way to the bar that night

On Friday I went to La Fulana but there was a miscommunication about the activist meeting, so I ended up in the wrong place.  It was fine.  I ended up going to El Gato Negro, a famous cafe in the city that is very close to the La Fulana meeting place, and writing and working for a while before leaving for a friend's birthday.  

The club was having a Halloween night, and I was really excited, so I put together a Facebook costume.  Unfortunately, I got sick and couldn't go.  

At that point, I had a sort of come to Jesus meeting with myself.  I was feeling terrible and had been for a while.  As I mentioned earlier, I didn't really want to deal with it, so I pretended like it wasn't happening.  Not a smart move.  As I was standing on the escalator out of the Subway, I almost fell over.  Passing out on public  transport or in a subway terminal is not one of my life goals, so I texted my Mom and told her what was happening and asked her to contact my specialist at home and ask about things I can do to help.  We'll see what happens.  Anyway, it was a good few weeks despite the sickness, and I ended Friday night ready to start Pride festivities! 

These few weeks, I'm thankful for: 

1.  The good friends here with whom I can share dinner and beer (or Fernet and Coke)

2. The chance to study at El Pasaje and the helpful people there

3. A group of people who talked to me even when they thought I wore a hat to a club on a really warm night