Meeting Sandra in Buenos Aires

Some time ago I had contacted a Rotarian in Buenos Aires asking if he could make any suggestions for what we should see during our day here. Umberto replied right away and put me in touch with his sister-in-law Sandra, who he said would love to show us around.

We emailed back and forth and she was going to pick us up at 9:30 a.m. on our arrival, just outside the dock area.

So there we were at the dock’s exit shortly after 9:00 because we didn’t want to be late. We each knew what the other looked like, having emailed photos, but no specific information was exchanged, such as what we might be wearing, would she have a sign with our name, or should we have one with hers, what colour is her car, etc. This lack of foresight made the waiting very uncomfortable. I stood in the road with a make-shift sign that had her name in pen, which I’m sure no one driving past on the road could read. Hans, wearing a Rotary shirt, was walking through the throngs of cruisers looking for anyone who looked like Sandra. And Teddy was going to each new car as it parking to see if Sandra was the driver. No luck. Meanwhile, we were fending off aggressive taxi drivers but as the clock ticked on, we were beginning to think that maybe we would have to change our plans.

And then, there came Hans with his arm around an attractive woman, big smiles on both faces.

He had heard a voice in the crowd asking, “Are you Lolita? Are you Lolita?” so he went up to her and said, “I’m Hans, and Lolita’s my wife.” Hallelujah.

We were so relieved to get into her car. Not only because we had finally connected, but because her car had blessedly cold air conditioning. It was partly sunny but the weather was really muggy. Rain was predicted for the afternoon and the air was heavy with it. I could already feel a bead of sweat trickling down my back.
As we drove, Sandra gave us an engaging history lesson about Buenos Aires. She is incredibly knowledgeable about her city and her country and we spent a delightful hour touring around, visiting the Boca port, which was the original port, and the soccer stadium nearby.

Across from this port is the most charming marketplace street called something like Caminita de something (sorry!) filled with the most charming and colourful houses, most of which have been converted into restaurants. Lots of cute little shops and outdoor cafes, some of which were featuring a free gaucho dance performance. We walked around and I would have loved to stop for a drink but there was much more she wanted to show us.