Buenos Aires – Zora’s Birthday Rock Out

Buenos Aires – Zora’s Birthday Rock Out.
11 April.

Irmante and I headed into the center of Buenos Aires to change money.  We battled hard for a good rate with all of the ‘cambio’ yelling crooks.  The rate of the day was 10.25 pesos for one USD.  We had $400 USD to change, so we negotiated very hard and found a guy who was going to change our $400 for 10.6 pesos/USD.  He made a phone call and then lead us into a building and to a elevator which took us to the second floor to a locked room where a man waited behind a window.  I handed the man my three $100 bills and one of Irmante’s through the under-glass slot.  He took our money and when he went to count it, he looked shocked, and showed me the money.  In the middle of my stack of three $100 bills was a $1.  Somehow, I had grabbed a $1 from my money belt at the house rather than a $100 in the dim room.  It was ridiculous, like the scene in a movie where someone goes into a bed for $1000 that he does not have, so he fronts one $100 bill wrapped around Monopoly money.  Had this scene been in the wild west, I would have been shot.  I could not believe it.  Then the exchange guys would not give us the 10.6 pesos/USD rate because we had only $301 instead of $400, so we took our money back and left.  But, we could not find anyone to give us the 10.6 peso/USD rate again.  So, Irmante and I came back to Zora’s to nap.

It was Zora’s Birthday Rock Out and there was a party at the house again.  Zora and I decided to be the entertainment so I played guitar, Zora the keyboard, and we sang songs like Hurt, Folsom Prison Blues, One, Ruby Tuesday,  What’s Up?, Light My Fire, and Hey Jude.  We had a crowd of about 12 people at the house at the time and they were drinking while we were playing and singing.  It was so much fun, just jamming and singing.  At about 10:30pm, I broke out Where Did You Sleep Last Night? and I played it and belted it out as hard as I could.  I had not sang that in about three years.  There were about 15 people at the house by then and they were screaming and cheering for me after we finished it, they liked it so much.  The the door buzzer rang, and it was a neighbor who had gotten up because we were too loud for him to sleep and he was angry that it was the second night of partying.  Where Did You Sleep Last Night? was the straw that broke the camels back.  We had so much fun, but the music was done then.  So, we moved the the terrace, and just listened to music until about 3am drinking beer.  There were about 25 people at the house.

For Zora’s Birthday Rock Out, she wanted to go out, so her, a guy in a bad hat, and I went to the Unicorn Club to party.  We danced for about three hours.  To get a drink at a bar in Buenos Aires, you have to line up to buy a ticket.  Once you have paid, you take you ticket to the bartenders who make your drinks/pop your beer caps.  Sometimes the bartender might check his i-Phone for messages first.  There seems to be no sense of urgency.   Sometimes you can not even get a drink because the ticket guy is having lunch at 4am.  I waited for about 10 minutes once just to buy a ticket to give to the bartenders who were just standing around the whole time.  Easy no stress lifestyles…  But even in the clubs, a beer is $2.50.  Rad!

At about 6am, Zora and I headed to another club while the man in the bad hat was trying to pick her up, but her and I were hanging out so well.  He could see that she was far more interested in me than him, so he was trying to make me look bad as we were in between clubs.  But, he tried to put me down, so I buried him and made him look like an idiot.  He tried again to ridicule something I said, and I verbally made him look very stupid again.  Then he stopped.  Winner!

The second club, Miloca Bar & Terrazas, was full.  It was about 6:30am when we arrived.  Zora said that is the best tie to meet people because it is so late, that everyone has taken off their masks and they will show you who they really are.  I guess, by that point, all the dudes have given up the idea of getting laid for the night they are just staying out to have a good time to salvage the night.  I took my camera out of my pocket and three minutes later I looked on the floor because I spotted U.S. cash.  I picked it up and there was $300.  In that millisecond where you mind tried to sort out the situation, I went through joy at my luck, to wondering how I can possibly return it to whoever it may honestly belong to, to realizing I am the idiot who’s pocket it fell out of.  All of that thought process happened in about 3/4 of a second.  The mind works so fast.  I was angry at myself for being so careless…

At 8am, Zora and I left the club.  We walked down the stairs of the dark club and was the doors opened, it was pure daylight and the city was busy for the day.  That sun was so bright after being in that dark bar that we were vampires cowering in the light.  It was terrible.  And it felt awful to be going home at that time.  We jumped in a taxi and headed to Zora’s.  She told me it was a perfect birthday.  As we approached her front door before going in I asked her if she wanted a birthday kiss.  She seemed to think that she was alright without one.  I was sure though that it would have made for an even better birthday.