Argentimes

This has been a very special week, because Milo and I have gotten to meet Juan’s family and friends from his hometown, Punta Alta, in the southernmost reaches of the Buenos Aires province. After living as a transplant among so many others for all of my adult life, you get used to knowing people in isolated circumstances and having meaningful relationships without ever meeting a single person related to them. In fact, due to some strange misunderstanding, I mistakenly thought that one of my best friends, Karim, was an orphan. Still, there is no substitute for meeting someone’s family and understanding instantly what facets of someone’s personality comes directly from the people they grew up with.

From Buenos Aires, we made our way to the “Argentine Riviera,” Mar del Plata, to meet up with Juan’s nephew, Nicolás, and his fiancée, Jessica. The beaches of Mar del Plata were hands-down the most crowded beaches I’ve ever set foot on. Every square inch of sand is occupied by a family with an umbrella and beach chairs. If it hadn’t been for the roped-off pathways from the lifeguard stations into the ocean, I don’t think we could have navigated our way to the waterfront at all. The exception to the crowded beach are the private (paid) areas, which are both sort of creepy and completely desirable.

After two nights in Mar del Plata, we made our way through the pampas (the plains), where we made pitstops to see some of the architectural works of Francisco Salamone, a sort of pre-brutalist architect who made crazy things like this cemetery in Saldungaray (ie, the middle of nowhere).

Finally we made our way to Punta Alta, where I met the rest of Juan’s family, his sister Adriana and her partner, Hugo. We are staying in Juan’s childhood home, which is connected to the family business, a printshop bearing the Bühler name.

When we arrived, Punta Alta was nearing the tail end of their month-long summer vacation, during which time many businesses (like Imprenta Bühler) were closed. So, we got to spend time going to the pool, and visiting the nearby seaside town of Pehuen-co, where Juan spent many of his summer days as a kid.

We were also lucky enough–through a family friend–to get a tour of the Puerto Belgrano navy base, where Juan spent many days playing rugby and riding his bicycle around.

An added bonus to all the festivities was that we also got to celebrate a birthday of the son of one of Juan’s close friends.

Bautista had the most epic cake I’ve ever seen.

With so much socializing, I have had to adjust to the Argentine schedule of taking a siesta after lunch, drinking yerba mate with a snack around six pm (which not only keeps you awake but staves off hunger for a while), and then going off to a long dinner around ten pm–or later. I’ve never eaten so much meat in all of my life.

We’ve enjoyed such tremendous hospitality here that I really do feel at home. Hopefully one day we can return the favor and show our Argentine family just as good a time back in California!