What does it take to go up to random people and not get blown off, a blank stare, or worse? Lots of things. It's knowing the right thing to say, being funny, finding any connection and exploiting it in a positive way, and it doesnt hurt to have a friendly looking face too.
Tonight, Josh, Brian, Bill and I went towards the pier to grab a bite to eat at any steakhouse. We went out at around 9. Two and a half hours later, we had not eaten a single bite. It wasnt that we couldn't find a restaurant, but that while walking down the pier, passing a concept bar called something like RadioBar, Bill found a group that he wanted to chat up. Josh, Brian, and I were all hungry at this point and looking for the right restaurant for some steak, but Bill went up to this group and started talking.
I wasn't in the mood to be tremendously outgoing (as usual) with these strangers while Billy was doing his stop n'chat, maybe partially because I 90% of the time wouldnt appreciate someone coming up to me while I was out with my friends/coworkers, but also because I'm from New York (think Borat on the train). So I grabbed a seat on a nearby bench and waited for his latest stop and chat to end so we could eat.
Ten minutes or so passed, and the water was beginning to look really boring, and Billy was controlling the group as usual, so I decided to head over to see just what was up. Keep in mind, Billy speaks about 20 words or Spanish, doesn't drink or smoke, and this is a group of young Spanish speakers doing tequila shots at an outside table. So finally, I go over and Bill tells me to pull up a chair. Bill found a lady named Alejandra, totally stunning, (will post pic tomorrow) by far the most beautiful Argentine we have encountered. Billy was making the group laugh with his attempts at Spanish and were chatting a little in their limited English.
Billy starts asking me to translate a few questions for him, and it was off to the races. Bill asked me questions to translate to Alejandra, and she would answer and I would translate back. Questions included: what do you do for a living, (studing to be an interior designer and working for Samsung) what is most important to her in a man, (family and a lifelong commitment) would your mom like me (dont remember the answer to that one), want to come visit me in Florida (little early for that one), etc. As a single Floridian, Bill was most supremely interested in this chica, and I was playing the role of the wingman (en espanol no less) like a seasoned professional about to earn a top tier year end bonus.
Soon, the conversation shifted from Billy's directly asking me questions to translate, to a conversation between Alejandra and me. More specifically, about the Argentine and Alejandra's perceptions of Americans and the differences between her and their image of us as Americans and what she believes her country to be in contrast, all while Billy looked on and occasionally asked a question. I will tell you, it was probably the most interesting conversation I have ever had. I now better understand foreigners' perceptions of Americans.
Alejandra's perception of Americans is that we are a cold people, who distrust our neighbors, whose population is deeply divided and discriminatory, whose children shoot up schools, whose army murders innocent people, whose government uses terrorist attacks to invade another country. These are true-ish are they not? I tried to explain to her that while these may be somewhat truthful, no good news about America is reported on Argentine news, and American movies are just a caricature of true society. The Americans I know are just the opposite and I did my best with my near fluency to articulate these points. Rather deep concepts right? Believe me it's not easy for a gringo like me with just a few years of Spanish under my belt to convey these ideas, but somehow I managed. I explained further that America is made up of estados azules y estados rojos, liberals and conservatives, coastal states, and interior states. That we and so so many believe that Bush is an idiot who has mangled our country's reputation and set us back decades with respect to being known as good people, liberators, and respected the world over for being a country of immigrants who coexist peacefully.
Between the political talk, I was also wingmanning for Billy, helping him build a potential relationship with this gorgeous Argentine. Was she interested? Well, in a word, yes. She was very interested actually. Oh yeah, but she has a boyfriend. And she felt the need to explain to me about their relationship. That he is a womanizer (she showed a pic of him...yes pretty good looking) and goes with other girls, probably tonight in fact, while Alejandra was out with her coworkers (promoters for Samsung cell phones). I explained to her (and I was getting very confident with my speaking at this point) that if her bf is a womanizer today, he will be tomorrow, next month, and next year, and that someone like her with incredible looks and a great down to earth personality deserves someone of her level...Billy of course! I swear to you, I saw tears in her eyes like she knew inside what I was saying was true (and believe me it is). She even said she is going to break up with him very soon. Truth.
Meanwhile, Josh and Brian were buying shots and drinking with the jefe (boss), supervisor, and 4 other co-workers (2 girls 2 guys) (also realize this would never ever happen ever never ever in America that the boss, supervisor, and co workers in a 1:1 girl/guy ratio would go out and drink together) while Billy and I kept chatting with Alejandra. Oh and we were still famished.
Finally, after two hours, we exchanged email and phone numbers and we are having dinner and going out with them all tomorrow at 10PM! Alejandra tells me she is working until 8 but to call her at 7, and we will all go out at 10. Now this is the point in the blog where I tell the love of my life Sara that I was 10,000,000% only wingmanning for Billy, though I was definitely not complaining about the view, and while this girl has goddess like looks, my focus was tonight and will be tomorrow to get my friend Billy a wife, shiksa may she be. We took some pictures, and it was off to the steakhouse where we had a good but fairly unmemorable meal. Boy am I excited for tomorrow's experiences. Oh and if you skipped this blog because it's a bit long, now is the time to go back to where you started skipping and read on.
DS
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