Tiempo

* this entry 2/2 *

Early Early Morning, Ostinatto
It’s a familiar sound. One I hear on the hour every hour, only this time it doesn’t stop. Beepbeepbeepbeep. My dormmates are sleeping (or were). Frantically I push buttons on my watch. Each one makes a beeping sound. One button triggers a blue light; it flashes on and off. Someone shuffles in their bed. I bury the watch under my pillow muffling the sound. Eventually the beeping ceases. As I settle back to sleep, the beeping starts up again. This pattern continues until finally, I’ve pushed enough buttons to disarm the alarm as well as reset the time.



Encounters, Part 1 (2/1)
We meet on the stairwell. She's bubbly, says hello cheerfully. She walks past me and into room 202. My new roomie. She tells me about her planned 11month stay in South America, about the volunteer programs she has lined up. Her charged energy brings life to the hostel. She greets everyone she walks by.

By evening, a mix of travellers are brought together at the Hostel Bar. Over Malbec (Argentine red wine) and Quilmes Beer a myriad of conversation takes place. One lady when asked what the goal of her South America travels was, answered that she didn't know it until she experienced it -- after drinking a hallucinogenic jungle vine concoction. Another responded that he just wanted to be more tolerant, to take off his watch.



La Bomba de Tiempo, Palermo
Each Monday, a sort of phenomenom occurs near Palermo, a "hip" and large barrio of Buenos Aires. In the early evening, round 7 or 8, a live percussion band (La Bomba de Tiempo) performs at Konex, an open air, warehouse-like venue.

In my roomie's company and a few fellow hostellers, we hitch a cab and make our way to the Konex. We're deposited in an intersection crawling with people -- young locals and expats. They stand in lines extended on both blocks, wrapped around the venue. Inside, the music is electric. People are bobbing thier their heads, dancing, drinking&smoking, and/or taking pictures. From what I understand, each Monday a special instrument is played. Today's special guest -- the accordian.


After the show, we hop on the subway back to San Telmo. It's raining as we walk back to the hostel. Jagged lines of florescent lightening flash across the night sky -- a fitting ending to an electric evening.



...at the moment
it's 1:56, am in Ushuaia (Free Style Hostel) & feeling quite sleepy
Good night :)