On a High Note

I am a firm believer of each city revealing herself to each individual in different ways.

There are plenty of people who think of Venice as a tourist trap and that Roman waiters are rude. But Venice murmured only sweet nothing to me and my experience with Roman waiters? Um, let's just say I found them almost too friendly.

Buenos Aires has chosen to reveal to me her multifaceted self. In this chaotically attractive city, I've made firm friends, acquired a family and a beautiful apartment.

On the other hand, I have also experienced the kind of bureaucratic horrors which I can't share in print. If you read this post and imagine something 100 times worse with a large sum of money, in USD, being requested from me which in turn led me to seek Consular assistance...you may just get a glimpse of the tip of one of the many icebergs I encountered in getting acquainted with Buenos Aires.

I am proud that I fought that battle among many other battles when everyone, especially the corrupt parties involved, thought I couldn't. (I once read an interview of some young North Americans who set up a business here; they made an almost too deliberate point in saying there wasn't any funny business under the table, etc. Incidentally why would anyone be foolish enough to admit, in a newspaper interview, to bribing officials when it is officially a criminal offence with a gaol sentence?!)

Anyway, enough time has passed to enable me to look at those incidents as character building experiences. On a good day, I can even see them as blessings in disguise because I will never ever have any naïvely romantic illusion of this city.

I am also glad that I persevered with mending my differences with La Familia. I can look back now and feel a sense of achievement, and look forward to a new chapter in life; be it in Buenos Aires or another city.

December 2006 for Guillermo and me is definitely a better place in time than that of the previous year. Both of us are really excited about what 2007 would bring.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Hasta 2007!