It’s been a bit more than 2 months since we are in a city called El Calafate, in the southern part of Argentinian Patagonia. We reached here by hitchhiking after getting tired of walking for 6 months across Argentina. It was time to settle down.
The city has nothing going on, at all. There is no calendar of events or activities, people don’t get together or organize anything. It’s dead cold in winter, can reach minus 30 on some nights and during summer it’s full of tourists that come for a day to visit the Perito Moreno glacier and then they leave.
There is something about it though, a certain charm that few people can appreciate it. It’s has something to do with role-playing games. El Calafate makes for the typical city a hero must pass through during the game. Every game has a city like this one.
Staying for more than a few days in this city means you become a non-playing character, get absorbed by the city and become a part of it. To aid and contribute in some way or another to the quest of the hero that is obliged to pass through here.
In my case, I took the role of the receptionist at a local Inn, so when travelers come looking for a place to sleep I arrange the room for them, answer their questions and do the kind of repetitive small talk non-player characters usually do.
If I talk to the travelers outside the Inn, I tell them the story of how I used to be a teacher before I retire. I tell them about my dog, my life and things about the city that they may find interesting.
The reason to make this post was not to tell about the city but to get into the habit of writing in short paragraphs, and experimenting with what makes a post easy to read and understand.
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