Feliz Cumpleaños!

I'm finishing off the last of my cafe con leche, pondering the surreality of ichat. After a mega-ichat session with my entire family in the US, I feel a little exhausted and generally overwhelmed with life - but I'm absolutely sure the last 36 hours have contributed greatly to this bizarre beauty I currently feel.

The last day of being 20-years-old was miserable. It was such a bore, an ugly ulcer that kept pushing me down...

I awake uncomfortably on May 29th to the sound of heavy rain. I peek out my bedroom window and see nothing but an overweight white sky crying on Buenos Aires. I am alone in the house and will remain alone for the majority of the day, trapped in by the imposing weather, but escape to eat lunch by myself in Aquarium Cafe - I hate eating alone. Eventually, my host-family returns to relieve my sorrows. Abril and Juan, my good friends, come by for pizza, a warm change from such a cold day. It's getting late and we are way behind schedule. My friend Kyle is already waiting at the Konex Theater - on the far end of the city. Damnit! Abril, Juan and I grab our umbrellas and trudge through the heavy rainstorm, climb on the 152 bus, and head for Abasto. I accept that I am carrying mala onda, or bad vibes, and share my feelings with my friends. Juan lifts my spirits by saying that there are two points on a cycle of life: the bad time will pass, return to good, and will follow this circle - so I should remain positive, think happy thoughts, and move forward. I try my best, but I can tell Abril is tired and agitated. I feel terrible that I am dragging her along by my mala onda. We finally meet Kyle at the Konex, a minute before I turn 21. I take a happy birthday swig of Quilmes beer and receive plenty of loving hugs. Abril and Juan decide to go home, but I am so happy they were there for the start of a new chapter of my life.

I carefully cross the street and buy my "entrada". We are about to enter La Bomba del Tiempo (or The TImebomb) - Argentina's hottest live music show. La Bomba is also celebrating a birthday - their birthday! - 4 years of intensely fierce percussion explosions! Tonight, things get wild. Directly front-and-center is where the real action is - a massive moshing mob of human flesh and energy. Obviously, I am letting loose in the nucleus of this force. I realize that moshing is a physical form of escape - a raw natural human necessity to express our rage - controlled!- in a loving manner. Long story short, I dance my ass off. Speaking earlier of cycles and connections: The first person I spoke to inside La Bomba was a flyer-giver-outer named Luis. It was a quick, short conversation, but I was drawn to his vibes. Vibes is the recurring theme of the night. Anyways, during an intermission, I fled to get some air and crossed paths with Luis again. Another quick word and we split. I attempted conversations with some hot women, but got no bites. Then, LUIS AGAIN! We buy some drinks (La Bomba has huge beers, cups of wine, and Fernet and Cola). We buy all three and go fishing. At one point we catch two good-looking portenas who also have "buena onda". We talk lots, I am knighted a new nickname "Tito", and we head inside to dance. Luis takes Tamara, I try with Florencia but get shot down. O well. I move on. Luis will be traveling to Cordoba and North Argetina at the same time as me. He has many friends in Salta and Jujuy and will hook me up me with his friends. I am sure that there is something positive connecting us... Entonces, I taxi it back home and awake at 12:15, and like the day before, no one is home.

Today, Cacho, Elvira, and I head over to their daughter Maria Jose's house for an asado - AKA a giant gathering of family and friends around delicious beef and wine. We eat, laugh, laugh some more, eat some more, run around with the cute 2 year old twins, and after food we gather to play some "folklorico" - or traditional Argentinean music consisting of the churango, a ukelele-like guitar, tamborines, and hand clapping. It was awesome. One family member was a professional churango player. Maria Jose's husband is a music teacher and can lay-down some sweet Latin guitar. I contributed vocals. At one point, a danced with my host-mom and it was so beautiful. We loves me so much. I love her too. Argentina has a lot of love... We eat cake. Drink more beer. And leave with huge smiles.

Ahora, it's two minutes before May 31st. i am so happy with my birthday day. It was the complete opposite of yesterday's misery. Looking back, La Bomba was a great great way to blast into 21ness. During the day, we celebrated in the sun and lived fruitfully. As I told my host-parents during the ride home, "este cumpleaños fue muy Argentino!"