None of us could face the idea that we were going to surrender, that our sojourn in the Malvinas would be a disaster, a humiliation for each one of us. We did not talk about it; we remained silent when the news was black, and we dispersed early. Jorge drove me to the station in silence and I walked home without looking at anybody in the streets. Our country was now synonymous with weakness and stupidity, and there was no future here for any of us. I was in tears when the final surrender came. Maybe I should have felt rage that I had been misled by the government and by the men who came to Señor Canetto’s house, but I did not feel rage, I felt shame and I felt powerless and I felt that I had deluded myself and I wondered how any of us would ever be able to face the world in the future.

I had become close to Jorge again without noticing it, and his parents liked me coming to the house. I turned up on time and never stayed too long; my table manners were, I suppose, adequate. I listened respectfully to Jorge’s father; I thanked his mother politely for the food. But I still do not know why they wanted me there. It is possible that no one else would have tolerated the self-importance and pomposity of those gatherings.

After the war, I became interested in what was happening. I listened to Señor Canetto when he talked about Perón and the meaning of Perón’s movement. I was in that house when all the important things happened: when the elections were declared, when Alfonsín and the Radicals won the first elections, when the trial of the generals was going on. More and more, I joined in discussions. It was an interesting time. By now, I had started to hate my work and I had no other real friends in the city. Thus the daily news on radio and television and in the newspapers began to intrigue me. It was, perhaps, like the way collecting stamps intrigues a child. One of the Canettos’ neighbors was in the house on many of those nights; he seemed to have powerful connections in the city. He told me that I should not be teaching English, I should have a better job. I should be working as a translator, he said to Señor Canetto, who nodded. If he came across anyone who needed a translator, he would get in touch, he said. He mentioned this several times.