Monday 29 March 2010

Re-encuentros

Gabriela fue mi mejor amiga en la secundaria. No solo nos veiamos en las horas escolares, sino los fines de semana y hablabamos por horas y horas cuando cada una estaba en su casa.  A pesar de los gritos de nuestras madres para cortar. Nunca fuimos de ir a bailar como las demas chicas de nuestras edades, pero si nos quedabamos en casa viendo peliculas hasta el amanecer y criticandolas como 2 periodistas importantes. No recuerdo ninguna pelea, siempre nos llevamos bien desde el dia que la conoci. Un instantaneo click!


Desde que me fui a Hawaii en el 95, no la volvi a ver. Primero nos comunicabamos atraves de cartas. Me abra llegado algunas cartas de ella, a Gaby nunca le llegaron las mias ( me entere ayer) cosa que no me sorprende ya que a mi mama tampoco le llegan mis cartas. EL correo Argentino!. Yo segui mandandole cartas pero nunca recibi su contestacion. La vida sigue su curso.


Pasaron los anios, la tecnologia siguio avanzando. Ahora con facebook uno se empezo a encontrar con miles de ex-amigos desaparecidos, con fulanito y menganito...y asi nos fuimos encontrando, amigos de la primaria, conocidos de la secundaria, etc! 
Siempre quize encontrar a Gabriela. Viviendo en el extranjero nunca llegue muy lejos.
Tuve la oportunidad de volver a Buenos Aires 2 veces desde el 95. Las 2 veces trate de llamarla a su telefono, pero me atendio una viejita que no sabia nada de una tal Gabriela Perez. A veces me imaginaba encontrarla en las calles de nuestros vecindarios, pero nunca tube esa suerte.


Desde que abri mi cuenta en facebook, trate de buscarla, para encontrame a miles y miles de personas con ese nombre y ninguna se parecia a mi amiga. Hace poco lo volvi a intentar, pero nada. Hasta que empeze a buscar a su hermano. De pronto encuentre una cara familiar, pero no estaba muy segura si era el. La ultima vez que lo vi, era un adolecente de pelo largo que ni se le podia ver los ojos. Me anime a escribirle y preguntarle si era el hermano de una tal Gabriela. 
Me olvide del asunto, y a los pocos dias recibo un e-mail departe de el, diciendo que si, que es el hermano y me da el numero de telefono de Gabriela.


Wow! No lo podia creer, enseguida tome el telefono y la llame! Hasta que escuche su vos, no me lo crei! 17 anios despues, logre encontrar a mi amiga! Empezamos a hablar como si no hubiese pasado un dia de la ultima vez que nos vimos! De pronto fue como si me haya trasladado a mi adolecencia. 
Nos pusimos al dia en un tiron, recordamos viejos tiempos, reimos, y estabamos las 2 euforicas sin parar de hablar como por 4 horas seguidas! El tiempo pasaba, eran casi las 3 de la madrugada, y teniamos que cortar, ninguna queria decir adios. 




English version:




Gabriela was my best friend in high school. We just not only saw each other in school hours, but also over the weekends and spend hours and hours talking on the phone while each of us were at home, in spite of our mother's nagging to hang up. We never went out dancing and making out with boys as the other girls did. Our thing was to rent lots of films, watched all day and night and then critique them as if we were 2 important journalists. I don't remember ever fighting. We got along so well, since the first time we met. An instant click!


I haven't seen her since the day I left for Hawaii in 1995. 
At first we used the good old fashioned way, letters. It worked a bit at first. I got a few of hers. She never got any of mine ( I found out yesterday!) It was quite upsetting but not a surprise to me, since my mum never gets my mail either. That's Argentinean mail for you! I sent a few more, never got a reply. Life went on.


Years passed by, technology kept advancing. Now with facebook, old friends finds each other all the time. Friends from primary school found me, girls I knew from high school, etc!
I always wanted to find my lost friend. But living in a different country makes it a bit difficult.
I had the chance to go back to my home town twice in all these years. I tried to called her many times,  only to hear an old woman's voice saying she never knew a Gabriela Perez. If you know what it means to find the John Smith you were looking for, then you know the task I had before me. Sometimes I imagined meeting her in the streets of Buenos Aires, but I never had that luck.


Since I opened my account in facebook, I tried many times to search for her, but thousands of girls with her name appeared and never a familiar face. I tried to look for her brother, but neither one was to be found.
Just recently after so many people found me from back in the day, I tried again. No Gabriela Perez. But when I tried her brother again, this time suddenly I saw a photo with a familiar face. I wasn't 100% sure, since last time I saw him was this teenager with long hair that you could hardly see his eyes. But, I took courage and sent a very polite e-mail to see if this man was my long lost friend's brother.


A few days later, I got an e-mail from him, saying that he was Gaby's brother and here is her phone number. Wow!
I could hardly believe it! I didn't have time to jump of joy, I just ran to the phone, babble something to Marc about her, and rang.  Until I heard her voice, I couldn't believe that it was actually happening! 17 years later I found my friend!
We started talking as if not even a day has passed since last time we saw each other. Suddenly I felt as if I was sitting in my living room years back into my adolescence.
We got up at to date with our lives, we remember old times, we laughed. Oh how loud we laugh! We were both so euphoric that we talked non stop for 4 hours! Time flew by, it was 3 am and we needed to hang up. Neither of us wanted to say goodbye.

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