Holiday

I woke up to powerful wind blowing through the courtyard. A thick layer of grey clouds hung low and refused to move. My stomach rumbled. I have been fighting a digestive bug that makes it impossible to keep food in my system. Food in equals food out. In the bathroom I discovered that I had managed to use up three rolls of toilet paper over the past three days and that the paper supply was running dangerously low. I zipped on my hoodie and left the apartment to pick up more paper at the grocer five doors down. 

Out on the street, I immediately sensed that something was off. The streets were too  quiet. Where were the people smoking cigarettes on the stoops or the old ladies chatting about discounts as they returned from the supermarket? Where were the taxis rudely edging forward to cut one another off? The stores remained dark, their gates padlocked to the ground. Even the grocer was barred with no explanation as to where everyone was or when they would be back.

I pulled up my hood, stuffed my hands into my pockets and walked back home sifting coins between my fingers. After a quick search on Google, I read that today Buenos Aires celebrates the Día del Trabajador--the Day of the Worker. This makes the sixth national holiday over the past few months. Just last weekend, Argentinians took a four day weekend for Easter. The country supposedly voted last year in favor of the creation of more national holidays, so this year was the first time several were ever observed. I can appreciate the sentiment behind these days off, but as a visitor without a job these holidays are no cause for celebration. 

The Day of the Worker has put me in a foul mood. To be clear, I have nothing against workers getting a break and I do feel that it is unfortunate that their day off is actually a Sunday. My bitterness is not directed at any worker, but rather at my own inability to find good consistent work myself. I am tired of being underemployed or unemployed. I want to work and today I feel frustrated. Tomorrow won’t be a holiday anymore and I will probably feel a bit better.