17 Feb

After a very late night round at Virginaia's house and the latest artesenal ice-cream run ever, waking up at 8am meant I had slept a total of 4.5 hours. It was a mad rush of a morning, buying ingredients for malva(think sticky-date pudding without the dates ) traditional South African pudding and a hair appointment at 12.30. The three very happy and serene hours I spent reading magazines and taking in every last minute of my last hair do in Arg. God bless Mario!
Got back to the house for some mate and chicken sandwiches and a catchup with my cousin and a wonderful gift from Catto- a boina(typical knitted cowboy(gaucho) hat from the rural areas of Arg. Think beret but so much funkier. Chuffed and somehow lost for time to bake puddings , get some rest, find clothes and breathe. The hours flew by. Tonight was to be my farewell party or one of many which naturally comes accompanied with consumption. This last week has been all about consumption, time, people, shopping, alcohol as was the case last night and FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD. Hah I feel as if there is a special farewell party going on for each food group!!!
Naturally by the time we left to walk to the location it was 11 and much to our delight in the middle of nowhere all muddy and surprisingly cold the place was closed. Soon enough we were on the fone though and the people on their merry way to get the party started. Dinner consisted of picadas (antepasto platters in that you pick but basically chips, peanuts, chees, olives and various cube of cold cut meats. There were also some little pizzas and home-made cakes and a cabsha which is dulce de leche, chocolate and chocolate based bliss.
The girls went out of their way to make the night a special one and gave me a very groovy and Argentinan countryside screaming diary with case made of carpincho which is a type of moleskin they get from a small animal that scampers about the place. Very pricey infact and really so unnecessary. A few more girls arrived and I finally got up to say a few words in Spanish....most of them cried and well me being me laughed instead. Really such a nice going away party. A whole group of boys arrived and music and dancing , photos and I'm not sure how many hours followed before we headed to the one and only and fateful nightclub. Bizarre being there with all these people and memories and realising as dawn approached how little time was left how much time had passed...how quickly and slowly and all the emotions involved. Won´t say I want to leave but I think I am finally ready......
Walking home amongst hundreds of birds practically enveloping us with a food run of fresh croissants at 7am....I couldn´t have asked for a better way to say goodbye!