Just before catching my bus back to Buenos Aires to conclude my journey in Northwest Argentina, I decided to treat myself to a somewhat upscale lunch in Salta´s downtown. As with most restaurants of medium-to-high quality, the waitstaff gives you a few minutes between sitting and ordering and appetizer and main course, which, when dining alone, can prove to be boring. Now that I´ve been traveling solo quite a bit, I´ve become comfortable picking up a book and reading to allow myself to enjoy the digestive time without looking blankly at a wall.
Today, however, I made the choice to pick up a David Sedaris book. Sedaris, as most of you should know by now, has in the last year become my favorite author by a mile, his essays and personal style providing the model by which I try to cater my writing style. Part of being a great essayist is his wit, and it´s hard to read some of his work without laughing out loud.
So you can imagine the surprise of the family next to me, watching a 22-year old gringo eating a fancy lunch and chuckling wildly to himself while attacking his humita.
"Good book?" asked the middle-aged woman at the all-female table of three generations.
After discussing the merits of David Sedaris for a few minutes, and then receiving a few compliments to my Spanish, we ended up talking a bit more and it turned out they were a family from Buenos Aires doing a tour of the Northwest much like I was.
So although eating at the dinner table might be at times considered rude, when traveling solo and with a funny enough book, it can be just the thing to start a conversation with the next table over.
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