Las Marias

Our host family, like many other porteno families, has a quinta, a small house in the countryside designed for weekend gatherings and asados. The qunita is in La Reja, a working class town about 40 minutes outside of Buenos Aires, and is named Las Marias, for Anna and her two sisters, who are all named Maria (Anna Maria, Maria Carmen, and Maria I haven’t met yet). We went with the family to the quinta this Sunday for an asado. I also had high hopes for an afternoon of lounging by/in their swimming pool, hopes which were cruelly dashed when Anna informed me that the pool was empty for some singularly ill-timed pool maintenance.

Pool or no pool, we still had a lovely day in the country. We arrived prepared with several kilos of meat, and a pile of wood. The quinta is down a dirt road, completely hidden behind a massive fence of shrubbery and ironwork. It’s a lovely house, but when we arrived it was in full lock-down mode, with metal bars and heavy security screens on every window. Anna seemed apologetic for the extreme security measures, explaining that there had been two break-ins in the past. Carlos confessed that he found the provinces around Buenos Aires very insecure, and did not care to spend nights at the quinta, preferring to leave Anna and the children there while he returned to Buenos Aires.

Security issues aside, the quinta was a great place to spend a hot summer day. It’s surrounded by surprisingly tall fruit and nut trees planted thirty years ago by Anna’s father, and we sat in the shade of a walnut tree for an asado. Anna’s cousin Enrique joined us, and we had the pleasure of answering his many questions about American habits and customs. “Why do Americans wait so long to get married? What is wrong with them, and why are they so selfish? I’m asking in a general sense only of course, this has nothing to do with you personally.” He also told Nate that he should go to Brazil because the women there are mad foxy. -EMW