I stand out a lot in Parramos. There aren't any tourists here, so when folks see white people they tend to stare a bit (and occasionally yell out "hey gringo!" but in a very loving way). Anyway, one consequence of standing out in the crowd is that people love to strike up conversation, frequently trying to practice whatever few words of English they know. Case in point: I'm in the local convenience store buying some pasta. Older dude walks in, sees me and smiles, and then walks over to where I'm standing. "Good night!" he says. (Buenos noches is a courtesy greeting here, like we say good morning to people). Instead of trying to explain to him that "good night" isn't actually a way to greet someone, but rather to say goodbye, I just smiled and repeated it back. "Good night!"
He stands there for a moment, both of us looking straight forward at the pasta. He turns his head, looks at me, and with an incredibly serious face says one thing to me: "Bacon"
I nod my head slowly, put on a somber face and repeat it back: "Bacon."
I paid for my pasta and left the store without another word. The people of this country are amazing.
On a completely unrelated note, my incredible friend Tracey comes to visit tomorrow!! It's my first visitor here and I'm super excited about dragging her all over the place and making her do all sorts of adventurous things. First up on the list: candle lit tour of bat caves!! It's going to be so cool!!
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