Today, I have recovered from my second flu in as many weeks, at least, to the point of being able to use language on an adult level again. It really is amazing how much a virus can invade and render me a bumbling, blithering, babbling... incoherent imbecile. That was me for the last two days (the second wave of the flu being a bit stronger than the first) trying to articulate that I needed food, in some rendition of Spanglish that only two other residents could understand. I owe a lot to Chris and Antonia for helping me out. In a hostel, where sometimes it seems that German and Hebrew buzz about as commonly as Spanish, you would not believe how dumbfounding this is to the sickened mind.

Heck, I slept for 20 hours straight one day, despite the fact that I kept heaing the crinkling of my sleeping bag and was hallucinating that it was on fire. Try to explain that in Spanish. Frightening!

I don't really see why my immune system should have so much trouble with southern hemisphere baddies. You would think it would be comparable to defending left-footed kickers instead of right-footed kickers in futbol. I really hope that I am just getting this all done with at the start. However, just in case, I am officially declaring myself a mandarin addict and eating three a day just to ensure this is the case.

Despite this, I have been dutifully attending all but one day of language classes, despite my appearance which had one of my teachers thinking I was on the verge of the nuthouse (ah, but how intent i was on learning the conjugation of transitive verbs with two subjects and their subsequent integration pronouns) Muy loco, everyone keeps calling me.

Nonetheless, I went to class. On the way there, I wandered by a very well-dressed and professional-sounding group, using several native instruments as well as some more common ones like a midi synthesizer. With no time to spare, I couldn't break my pace, and while walking off I realized they were playing Stevie Wonder (¨I Just Called to Say I Love You¨)

At class, I took in what I could, then wandered back with a splitting head, down Florida Ave, where a protest had taken root and middle-aged folk where banging pots and pans on walls, poles, and anything else conducive to increasing the decibel level.

Despite my condition, I had to ask what was going on. I asked a whistle blower what was going on and he asked where I was from. Before I had thought through much of the significance, I said "Soy norteamericano." His eyes opened a little wider and the whistle-holding hand slowly dropped to his side. A few others neaby came close to bring their attention to me. I tried not to look surprised at the reaction, and again asked what was going on. If I understood the explanation correctly, the banks were witholding pension payments. As the explanation was delivered, the man moved his hands in circles, in perfect synchronicity with his rising and falling tone, almost musical. Even beyond understanding the words, one could tell its was practiced and frustrated.

At this, all I could muster was a "Que malo. Lo siento." (which I think means: how terrible, i'm sorry) in a heartfelt tone. In my state at the moment, I knew that I could not articulate anything more. With a sympathetic nod to the man and his two watching friends I walked onward and he resumed his intentful whistling.

On the way back I saw the same ¨folklorista¨ troupe I had passed by in the morning. This time they were playing Unchained Melody. It was about this time I mulled the possibility that they were not los angeles everyone thought they were, but were perhaps instead: de Los Angeles.

In terms of visibility, the average tourist to Buenos Aires will notice four important icons that are simply everywhere. They are: Politics, Coca-Cola, Futbol, and Quilmes (the national cerveza). The television often tries to mix the above. Often, you'll hear the sound of an amplified voice and think there's been some rally outside your building, only to see a van with two megaphones blaring out information/propaganda for one of The Four Quintessentials (or is that quatrossentials) Ack... language falls apart... maybe it's the flu

So, over the next week, I plot my potential departure from Buenos Aires. It's sheer tremendous size means I will always have more to discover here, but I have had more than enough for now. In addition, I feel that my Spanish might even atrophy here, as I can easily rely on poorly constructed broken setences to get around. However, if I want to lean further, I will need to speak with someone who has the patience of explaining when small elements are wrong. I believe I might better find this opportunity outside the rapidly moving city.

To that end, I will probably leave this Saturday, if not sooner, out west through Cordoba, Mendoza, and Santiago, to ultimately fly to Bariloche. Or perhaps I will fly direct from Buenos Aires. In doing so I will probably lose the mild warming current that Buenos Aires has experienced the last week, since Bariloche is quite high. Yet onward, for the true purpose of the project, and to see just how far my Spanish can get me.

Last night was the third straight night of thunderstorms. I will always love thunderstorms. They remain one of the final remaining elements of nature that are too grand to be controlled. They echo, high frequencies progressing to low frequencies, and rumble the bedframe with more grace than any speaker could do if it were sitting thousands of meters in the sky. If you were to stumble out of bed and walk out to one of these European-style stone balconies here and look up, you might just catch the outline of lightning, blurred by the ever-present smog of the city. I don't exactly know why, but it will always be comforting, and remind me of something-like-home, and always remind me that cities are meant to be departed.

Update: Since writing this I have more or less fully recovered. In fact, I suspect that either this second bout or perhaps both were not the flu but something close to a minor food poisoning. There was one night where everyone had steak and I had the chicken... doh.