The Buenos Aires Years in A New Chapter

It is funny how the mind sees something and reacts to it..creating links to previous occurrences from our life time. The other day, I was watching footage from the new Mortal Kombat game showed at E3. I grew up in the 90's so I obviously started remembering playing the early versions of the game as a child.

I arrived in Buenos Aires back in 1994. My father had received his first big international promotion at work. The company had first flirted around with the idea of sending us to Santiago in Chile. We traveled there in 1993 to get a feel for it. I remember liking it, Santiago was a nice city and had good food + toys..I was a child so that was all that really mattered.

Ultimately, the company ended up picking Buenos Aires instead. I remember arriving late at night. My dad had spent the previous year in the country setting up his operations with his new team. My sister Isabella had just been born and he only got to see her for six days. Everyone was super nice to us, I am sure some of them were genuinely nice and others were just trying to score points with my dad. Who knows.

We lived in a high rise apartment building in the middle of the city. The first night we arrived, after we settled in and got all our bags sorted out, we went for a walk. We lived in the Belgrano district, one of the more historic areas. We walked around all the high rise buildings, fancy fashion stores and orgasmic smelling restaurants. It was magical.

The Catholic school that I ended up going to was only a few blocks away. Living in the big city, this was the first time that we had access to cable TV. Not completely true, but lets say competent cable TV. I had just gotten my Super Nintendo for my 7th birthday and I was riding the high. I use to sit down with my classmates most Saturdays to watch a now defunct, yet cult-classic-ish show known as "Top Kids."

It's kind of strange looking at a TV show so fondly but it was a different era. We didn't have the resources that people have today. I could not find out any information about a video game, movie, etc just by logging in to the computer. This show was like a gateway drug into the world of fandom. It broadcasted Mortal Kombat tournaments, taught you how to beat bosses, etc. Looking back at it, it was sort of insane. A TV show almost completely dedicated to Mortal Kombat? holy shit.

It was also the first show to broadcast Dragon Ball Z in Argentina (several years before it ever made it to the US.) I guess the reason it comes up is because lately a friend had been pestering me with speaking of positive times.

This was a positive time. I remember being genuinely happy as a child during this time. Having a nice group of friends, none of the worries I have today, etc.

In all honesty, I really really miss Argentina.

I would go back in a heartbeat. Nationality is a fluid concept. It is not as easy as having a paper say that you were born somewhere. It transcends the shit stain that is the modern world. I guess if I had to pick mine it would probably be Argentina. Who knows why? maybe it is because I spent solid years growing up there or its just the one place I enjoyed living at the most. I often find myself rooting for them over everyone else at the World Cup. Their women are also hot as hell too. Hard to top to them.

Who knows what would happen if I go back. The global financial crisis was not kind to them. I would probably not be getting much done if I went there. Who knows? maybe its just better to keep the memory in my head of a beautiful place instead of going to it and finding out it turned to shit.