City Street Romance Gone Wrong

Welcome to another post in my Dating in Buenos Aires series. I hope you are still enjoying my pain.

Today’s subject: Damion

I met Damion my second day in Buenos Aires. I was still recovering from my emotional arrival, rushing around the city trying to buy necessary items and get used to my new surroundings. I was just a few blocks from my apartment when I passed Damion on the street. I saw him look at me, lock his eyes on me and his jaw actually dropped. I smiled, pleased to see first-hand that jaw-dropping actually happens in real life and kept walking.

Coffee. Later. Now. Whenever you want!

Damion, however, did not keep walking. He doubled back caught me while I was waiting to cross the street. He told me I was incredibly beautiful and that my eyes were the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. He requested that I please let him buy me a coffee. I asked if he meant right now or later. He seemed to perk up at my possible interest and stumbled over his words saying, anytime, now, whenever, whatever I wanted. I told him I had time right then and he rushed me into a coffee shop on the block.

This girl cannot take a compliment

Once we sat down, he flattered me some more with comments on my beauty. Unfortunately for him, I have serious issues with accepting compliments. I always want to deny them, which I know is both rude and unbecoming, but the best I can ever seem to do is smile and say nothing. This makes for a pretty lame conversation. He eventually moved on to some other conversation points that got me talking. When we got to where I was from, he was shocked I was not Argentine and complimented my Spanish. Luckily, I am much better at taking skill-based compliments and did not mess this part up. He then helped me set up the cell phone I had purchased an hour before and did not understand, slyly texting himself with my phone so he would have the phone number.

And then it went downhill

Now I am sure at this point you are wondering how Damion got lumped into the sad stories of bad dates seeing as thus far, all he has done is flatter me. Well, it went south fairly quickly. I found out he was 30. At the time, I was 23 (and a whole 5 days), so the age gap was questionable, though not a deal breaker. I had always been interested in older men and felt I related to them better anyway, so I brushed the age thing aside as best I could. As the conversation went on, I found out he had moved back in with his parents and had yet to finish his bachelors degree. Really, Damion? 30, in school for your first degree and living with the rents?

The last minute phone calls

I left the coffee shop not really caring if I saw or heard from Damion again, but he had other plans. He began to call me with weird last minute plans, asking if within the next hour or 2 I wanted to get dinner, get a drink, hang out, etc. I may have been new to Buenos Aires, but I had stuff to do. Each time he called I was already doing something else. I found his weird last minute game both insulting and annoying and decided to just stop answering and phase him out.

Fancy meeting you here

There are 13 million people in the city of Buenos Aires. That’s enough people to make it easy not to run into most people. Damion was another story. One night I got off the bus, popped in my headphones and began my walk home. Within a few seconds Damion was at my side, speaking excitedly. I removed my headphones and tried to act like seeing him was a pleasant surprise. He kissed me on the cheek (not just an air kiss as most people do) and decided he would walk me home. The conversation was painfully awkward, though he did not seem to notice. When he needed to take a detour just a few blocks from my house, he kissed me again and told me he would call me so he could take me out again.

I realized that I had also met this guy on the street and told him I lived very close to there. What did this guy do, just circle the streets looking for women to hit on?

I continued with my plan to phase Damion out. It seemed to have worked until about a month later. I was walking home from the grocery store and who comes walking towards me? Yep, it’s Damion again. He decided to turn around and walk with me for awhile, chatting with me about school and whatever else. I was focusing on not letting him see where I lived, racking my brain for reasons I needed to make one more stop before going home. Luckily, after 4 or 5 blocks he said he had to get back going where he was originally headed and left. He seemed to have finally felt the vibe I was giving off, as that was the last time I saw him.

Poor Damion, he was a nice guy, but living with your parents at 30 and coming on strong with last minute invites and random street meet-ups just did not work out for him and certainly not for me.

Stay tuned for another post in my Dating in Buenos Aires series. Up next: Carlos