MONDAY 02/15/10
Did some work and then went to yoga at Thuy’s apartment – I got there with plenty of time – and it felt good to exercise again. I got a little lost again on the way back home, and then stopped at the Chino supermarket (the Chinese tend to have the best prices, even though they have less stock) and then went to look at another apartment. This one was only about 8 blocks from mine, and I had seen it posted on Craigslist in December when I was looking before coming here. When I arrived at the door, it was quite unassuming and did not seem to be the place I had seen in the pictures. Upon entering, however, it was everything I expected and more. The Argentine who answered the door, Nico, was a friend of one of the Argentines who lived there – he was just helping him out to rent it. There were 2 Americans, a French girl and a German guy just hangin’ out in the homey living room. Nico and I went out to the enclosed patio with a nice table, a little pool, and grass, and we talked about yoga and biking…and it turns out he only lives 2 blocks away from where I am now. At the moment, they’re looking to fill the spot within the next few weeks, but hopefully by March 20, there will be another opening. I already found a good empanada place and a bakery with homemade facturas (pastries) in the neighborhood.
As I was relaxing and thinking about which restaurant to go to for dinner, the rain started to pitter patter on the retractable roof. Soon, it was coming down in sheets, and I decided to wait it out. As I was heading to the kitchen to get some yogurt to tide me over, Tyrone and I realized the mess sink was getting quite full from the spout that comes in from the roof. We started scooping it out by the bucketful – wondering what would happen if it were to overflow. No sooner did we think it, the rain started to come down faster and we couldn’t keep up with it.
We decided to let the sink overflow – there was a drain in the floor, and the roof was leaking anyway, so the floor was certainly not dry. The floor drain was equally clogged and didn’t seem to keep up with the rain, so we started squeegeeing the water into the hallway that already had standing water.
Our neighbor walked by as Tyrone and I were taking pictures – she said that she had never seen our apartment this bad. The rain let up and the drains were able to clear. I got ready and headed out to dinner…until I arrived at the front door. The front step was filled with water – a good 8 inches – and the entire road was flowing with water at a rather fast pace.
(front entryway - from the inside)
(front entryway - looking outside)
(the new river outside our apartment)
It was inconceivable that half an hour of hard rain would cause such a flood – the drainage system in Buenos Aires is nowhere near that of the U.S. I went to get Tyrone and we just stood in awe watching the debris wash by us. We went to the 2nd floor balcony where another couple was watching a man try to salvage something from his shop across the street – waist-high in water. As we descended the stairs again, our neighbor and her kids were in the hallway commenting on the fact that the garbage is usually picked up at 11:00 pm, and the flood had started about 10 minutes to 11 – all garbage that had been put in the street to be collected was now scattered about. Needless to say, I was not going out for dinner, so I had some of my Honey-O’s, some cheese and wine for dinner.
Did some work and then went to yoga at Thuy’s apartment – I got there with plenty of time – and it felt good to exercise again. I got a little lost again on the way back home, and then stopped at the Chino supermarket (the Chinese tend to have the best prices, even though they have less stock) and then went to look at another apartment. This one was only about 8 blocks from mine, and I had seen it posted on Craigslist in December when I was looking before coming here. When I arrived at the door, it was quite unassuming and did not seem to be the place I had seen in the pictures. Upon entering, however, it was everything I expected and more. The Argentine who answered the door, Nico, was a friend of one of the Argentines who lived there – he was just helping him out to rent it. There were 2 Americans, a French girl and a German guy just hangin’ out in the homey living room. Nico and I went out to the enclosed patio with a nice table, a little pool, and grass, and we talked about yoga and biking…and it turns out he only lives 2 blocks away from where I am now. At the moment, they’re looking to fill the spot within the next few weeks, but hopefully by March 20, there will be another opening. I already found a good empanada place and a bakery with homemade facturas (pastries) in the neighborhood.
As I was relaxing and thinking about which restaurant to go to for dinner, the rain started to pitter patter on the retractable roof. Soon, it was coming down in sheets, and I decided to wait it out. As I was heading to the kitchen to get some yogurt to tide me over, Tyrone and I realized the mess sink was getting quite full from the spout that comes in from the roof. We started scooping it out by the bucketful – wondering what would happen if it were to overflow. No sooner did we think it, the rain started to come down faster and we couldn’t keep up with it.
We decided to let the sink overflow – there was a drain in the floor, and the roof was leaking anyway, so the floor was certainly not dry. The floor drain was equally clogged and didn’t seem to keep up with the rain, so we started squeegeeing the water into the hallway that already had standing water.
Our neighbor walked by as Tyrone and I were taking pictures – she said that she had never seen our apartment this bad. The rain let up and the drains were able to clear. I got ready and headed out to dinner…until I arrived at the front door. The front step was filled with water – a good 8 inches – and the entire road was flowing with water at a rather fast pace.
(front entryway - from the inside)
(front entryway - looking outside)
(the new river outside our apartment)
It was inconceivable that half an hour of hard rain would cause such a flood – the drainage system in Buenos Aires is nowhere near that of the U.S. I went to get Tyrone and we just stood in awe watching the debris wash by us. We went to the 2nd floor balcony where another couple was watching a man try to salvage something from his shop across the street – waist-high in water. As we descended the stairs again, our neighbor and her kids were in the hallway commenting on the fact that the garbage is usually picked up at 11:00 pm, and the flood had started about 10 minutes to 11 – all garbage that had been put in the street to be collected was now scattered about. Needless to say, I was not going out for dinner, so I had some of my Honey-O’s, some cheese and wine for dinner.
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