It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new.
But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful.
There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.
Alan Cohen
"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
Groucho Marx
The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Kissing

There are times that I cannot wait to get the apartment sold, the airplane tickets booked and get on with our next adventure.
Then I think about the day I have had and I think how I won't be having days like this anywhere else.
Not that I won't have good or great days, not that they won't be special in their ways, but the things that charm me about living in Buenos Aires, almost always have to do with the people .

We had a long lazy morning ( well, I did, someone else is up and dressed and ready to go quite early... I am a bit slower ) .
We had a list of thing to do, places to go .. we were organised and off we went.

We walked to the Bakery.
We bought fresh baked ( this morning ) bread.
I noticed that the girl that always waits on us, has a little bit of a belly.
I said something, she said yes, she is pregnant.. we hugged.
( when was the last time the  lady at your bakery hugged you ?)

We walked to the fish market, we walked to the mercado, we bought our veggies , we almost stopped to buy flowers but they were looking at bit sad.
So we will be flowerless for a few days.

Along the way we saw people we knew, they waved.
There have been times that we have seen people we knew and they stop, hug us, kiss us and talk to us. The Flower man is not on the corner in winter, if he were, we would both get a bristly kiss and have to tell him how we are and how is he and then on our way we go.

If we run into a neighbour, it is repeated, Stop, Kiss, How are you ? chat chat, on we go.
Running simple errands can take a long time, but you come home, well kissed and a bit cheerful at how it seems that everyone is happy to see you.

These things just don't happen in the area we are from.
You can't stop the car and jump out and kiss a neighbour when they pass you ... that has a lot to do with it.

And I think, from what I remember, people in some other lands don't kiss upon greeting, kiss upon saying good by and now that I think about it, that is sad.

Imagine how different things would be if they kissed you wherever you went in your town.
Imagine the man that you buy flowers from, kissing you, kissing your spouse and on the way out the door, giving you a little free flower with another kiss.
Just because .

If you run into a neighbour on the street, settle in for a nice long chat, kiss hello, chat chat, kiss goodbye. A simple walk down the street can take quite a long time, but it has the possibilities of all kinds of nice things happening.

There are so many things that I am going to miss when we leave here.
Maybe I should start kissing everyone when we move back to the US .. maybe it will catch on !

4 comments:

  1. Greeting each other with a two-cheek kiss is definitely the norm here in Montreal. But, I must say I don't think I've ever been greeted in that way by the flower seller, or the baker - just people I know or am introduced to. Not in a business milieu, however - just socially. It's a nice tradition, and does seem to break the ice quickly!

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  2. Rosemary, it took a bit of getting used to but it is so ordinary here for everyone to kiss upon meeting. Neighbours in the hall, on the street, our realtor, our lawyer :)
    It is a lovely tradition .. and so easy to adjust to lol.

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  3. most in my circle kiss each other but that's because they are lovers of France and have adopted alot of the culture and it's become second nature.

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  4. cigale, I think the French/ Italian and Spanish influence is at work here .. mostly it is just a single kiss but now and then someone will grab you and give you both cheeks .. Part of the fun , which will it be :)

    ReplyDelete

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