"Cómo estás?" she said to me, the usual Argentine greeting. But as the words came out of her mouth, her countenance did a 360 degree turn. Her tone of voice, her expression, her eyes looked like she was in some kind of dreamlike state. All around us, a rainbow of vibrations permeated the air space.
Body language experts say that when it comes to eye contact between friends, it is normal to look intermittently back and forth between them and other things in the room. But when one stares at another individual with an unbroken gaze, it means something else entirely. The only time that you have that kind of interaction between yourself and then other person is when you are in love.
The ambience was that of a magnetic field, electrically charged. When I responded "Te extraño" (I miss you), I could barely look at her for more than a few seconds before diverting my eyes away. Her presence felt larger than life and seemed to be calling my name, beckoning to me and slowly drawing me in.
The service began and our attention turned from that powerful moment to the church service that was happening. 15 mins later when I turned to look at her to ask her something , she was completely back to normal like nothing had happened.
This may seem like a scene right out of a movie but in reality it's a scene right out of a book..........MY book "Argentine Eyes". And my book happens to me an autobiography meaning that this scene between Marisa and I is actually a clip straight from our personal lives. It may seem strange but it definitely is not fiction. But rather it is stranger than fiction.
The interaction between us as described in this scene was my first brush with seeing how Argentines deal with the world unseen and their relationship to it. It's funny because Argentines do not really talk much about the paranormal in their culture. Worlds like "energy" or "intuition" don't come into their vocabulary very often. BTW, if you ever want to talk to people about having good or bad vibes, the word is "onda". Don't use the word "energia" because that is more like the physical energy in your body. If you use "energia" when you are intending to use "onda", you are gonna cause confusion....trust me :)
But back to our topic of today, the world unseen. Just because Argentines don't talk about the mysterious forces that surround us 24/7 doesn't mean that they aren't affected by them. Argentines subconsciously respond to the unseen realm just as much as those of us who live in a culture that talk about it as part of our lingo on our daily basis.
One blogpost is not enough to cover this vastly complicated topic on all the ways Argentines react to the world unseen. When I first got to Buenos Aires, I was told that one way that when Argentines deal with sorrow or sadness or pain within, it will manifest itself in physical symptoms. I believe this to be true when i witness the reaction of a friend who's new puppy unexpectedly passed away. A day or so after the event we were texting and she told me that she was in bed because she wasn't feeling well. I have no doubt that her feeling ill was completely related to the event.
However, when I first witnessed this phenomenon of Marisa's facial expression changing dramatically and then going back to normal, I didn't have a clue what was happening. This observation I made happened while on my first trip but I wouldn't get my answer until almost a year later on my 2nd trip. While taking classes in spanish in the Vamos Spanish Academy, my teacher happened to be a surfer who understood energy, spirituality, and connection. As well she understood both cultures and when I told her about Marisa's odd behavior it didn't surprise her at all. She explained to me that this is how it is when Argentines are manifesting something from deep within, it will come out on their countenance unknowingly.
As it would turn out, I was partially right on my theory. She was looking at me like she was in love, but not in love romantically. When she gazed at me like that, it actually turned out to be the same gaze that a mother has when she looks upon her baby for the very first time. It just never occurred to me that I was the baby.....
***Argentine Eyes is available for purchase at all major online book retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple ibooks, Sony etc. You can also buy the book for 99 cts directly from Bookrix by clicking the cover below
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