08 January 2011

My car was not ready at 12 pm. He said he was waiting for a belt to come from Rio Gallegos. He said the alternator was fine and that the problem was the belt. It was cracked and broken. I walked off skipping in joy. What divine providence. He said come back at 7 pm.

Then it occurred to me I should start looking for tires. My rear left tire looked flat and the spare was already on and I didn’t want to use a tow truck again. So I went to the gomeria which recommended Que Qui’s. They said they had a tire so I lugged my old tire four blocks from Que Qui’s. The tire they had was worn. And the new one they had was not the exact same size and it was $100!!!!.  So I trekked back uphill to my car with my cumbersome, heavy tire.

I walked to several shops and none had my size 185/65 R14. The PYF was closed. I surfed the net for a few hours until 5 and then went in search of coffee. Behold the PYF mechanic shop was open! Just closed for lunch. They had two new tires for $263!!! Way too expensive but the only place in town so I have to return on Monday for new tires.

While waiting for 7 to roll around I bought a copy of “In Patagonia”, had coffee, and changed my Chilean pesos into Argentine pesos. All the ATMs are out of money but I had enough money to pay the mechanic after I changed my pesos. The car wasn’t done at 7. The belt had not arrived. He called the hostel an hour later and I ran in haste and with even greater joy.

I saw the French family from Antarctica eating ice cream around 5:30. They were headed to Perrito Moreno Glacier. I also saw Jordan and Tanya again around 12:30. I snuck up behind Jordan and rubbed his newly shaved head. He said they were headed to El Chalten that evening. We were going to have lunch but he never emailed me. Now everything is in place. I just need new tires and then I can leave.

I went to a punk rock show at club Lago Argentina. The flyer said 22:30. Nothing was happening at 22:30 so I came back 45 minutes later and waited.  Just kids playing pool. The drum kit wasn’t even set up. The drummer said come back in an hour. An hour later they were fiddling with the instruments. The show didn’t start until 1:30am. It was full blast and pretty good punk pop like what I remember from 1997. They all switched up on instruments a few times. An older man came up to my table to talk but I couldn’t understand him. I think he just wanted some of my beer and was drunk already. He slept throughout the show while everyone was moshing.

There were probably only 40 people there. Maybe less. All 15-23. It was at a sports club, function hall. Each person got a numbered ticket when they paid admission (5 pesos) and they did a drawing but I didn’t win anything.