Que Pasaooo chicos?
Buenos Aires has been a trip! We were there for a total of 8 days and it was insane. So what do I mean by insane? Im talking huge steak dinners with bottles of wine and appetizers for 10 USD a person. I´m talking about going out clubbing until the sun comes out, and even later. This city is nuts.
The first night out we went to something called La Bomba del Tiempo. It takes place every monday and probably was one of the coolest concerts I´ve been too. It is a huge drum circle in a warehouse and they play for like 3 hours and everybody is just partying and drinking and having a great time. What made it even better was that all the other travelers we have been meeting along the way, met us there. We even randomly ran into two friends who we met in Cordoba in the subway on the way there! This night was out of control. And afterwards, I ran into another friend I made way back in Salta! I was overwhelmed with joy.
My cousin Hilda got me in touch with a family she knows here and they have a daughter, Melany, around my age. She contacted me and we hung out a few times. She was an awesome host. My friend Joey knows a local girl here, Denise, who he met back in Puerto Rico and she also took us out a few times. We really got a good feeling of what it is like to live here as a local.
Denise took us to a neighborhood called La Boca, where they have El Caminito. They warn you that La Boca is dangerous but it was all good. I found El Caminito to be a tourist trap. It is a few blocks of extremely bright colored buildings and tango dancers in the streets. La Boca also has the stadium for the club team Boca. They call it La Bombonera. This is a very famous team that Maradona used to play for. They have a rival team, River Plate, and this rivalry is insane. This event was rated the number one must see sporting event by several sports websites and newspapers. We had to get tickets to this game but it was so difficult. They only give tickets to the club members and only sell a few to tourists. All the hostels and hotels where selling them for 750 pesos each! More on this subject to come later.
After visiting the neighborhood, we went to check out Puerto Madero and the bridge that Santiago Calatrava built. I have seen this bridge 4 years ago but it was so amazing to see again. The bridge resembles a couple dancing tango. We just got to see it from a distance as I had to leave to meet up with Melany for an Artists Inauguration. Melany took us out to an artists inauguration. It was modern art, and it made me want to rock out. My favorite piece was a dresser cut in half with a mirror on the front, and all if this is on a mirrored platform. Don´t know what it means but I don´t think you are supposed to understand anything anymore.
Joeys cousin, Albert, was in buenos Aires at the same time. He invited Joey and I to eat lunch with him in Palermo before he left to go back home. We went to this delicious restaraunt where we ordered amazing steaks (3 different kinds) and a bunch of beer. It was a real treat since I was eating pasta and fruits for the past few weeks. (Quick side note. This neighborhood used to be called Palermo Viejo. But for some stupid as reason, they changed the name into two separate parts. Palermo SOHO and Palermo Hollywood. What the hell!) This night I went out with a bunch of Israelis (these isrealis also cooked me shabbat dinner!) and just started talking to a local group of kids next to us. One of them happened to work for La Bombonera and said he could sell us tickets for 300 pesos each! I got his number and prayed that he was not lying. Turns out he wanted to sell them for much more and they were shitty seats. (There are two sections in the stadium, one is Popular, which is standing only and notorious for being super dangerous because of the insane fans. The other is Platea, which is assigned seating which is said to be safer. He was trying to sell us popular) We were pissed. No, we were super pissed. Then, Denises Mother remembered she knows someone who works at the stadium as well. AND WE GOT TICKETS TO THE GAME FOR 300 PESOS! This was going to be insane! That night we celebrated by having a steak dinner with Samuel and Marc. (Samuel from Iguazu and we met Marc at the hostel) This was the delicious meal for 10 USD a person. Unbelievable. Shout out to Katie Fraas who recommended it to us.
The following day, I wanted to check out the bridge again and walk across it as I only saw it from a distance the first time. I went with to amazing Swedish girls I met who knew everything about indie rock. Just like the new yorkers! They were super cool. I ended up going to this club that night with 20 kids from the hostel and partied until the sun comes up. I slept 3 hours before going to the BOCA-RIVER match. I bought a Boca shirt to wear to the game so I can fit in. We got to the stadium and it is POURING rain. And it doesn´t ease up at all. Puddles up to my ankles, huge droplets of water, and no overhangs to stay dry. At first we were pissed but then we just accepted it. We go to get into the stadium and the tickets were so wet, they did not scan. They told us they were not going to let us in but Denise, being a local, begged them. She saved the day yet again. We get into the stadium 2 hours before the match and people are already going nuts! This is a solid concrete structure and with all the chants and jumping, it was rocking back and forth like a shitty picnic table.
Now, I wish I could describe the energy there, but this is only something you can feel. These people are soooooo loyal to this team people are beaten or even murdered from the opposing team. They warned us a million times to wear different shirts and put the jerseys on in the stadium. There is a section only the River fans can sit in, and they are guarded by armed policemen and barbed wire fences. They also like to piss off the balcony onto the Boca fans and sometimes they even throw chicken! Live ones. Yeah, pretty weird. When the River team comes out, everybody is booing as hard as they can that the stadium is vibrating, as if this boo is at just the right frequency to crack a diamond. But when the Boca team comes out, HOLY SHIT!!! Everyone went nuts! People are throwing balloons and rolls of receipt paper and glitter and cannons are going off and air horns and chanting and jumping and singing and everything possible is going on at this moment. Then, all of a sudden, a banner comes flying over my head. this banner is part of every game where they hang it off the balcony and shake it left to right. It was probably 150 ft wide. I couldn’t see anything underneath the banner but the people around me and they are all singing and jumping and going nuts. Finally the match begins and its a joke. The field is so soaking wet that the ball would get stuck in puddles everywhere and people are slipping and falling and nobody can control anything. They end the match after 10 minutes and reschedule the game for next thursday which really sucks because we left on Tuesday. It was so worth it, though. The energy in that stadium was off the charts! (Another side note: If you wear your Boca jersey in the street, a lot of people stare at you, yell at you, and tell you to change your shirt. It seems there are a lot more River fans.) After the match, the River fans are escorted by police on motorcycles with another policeman on the back of the bike with a shotgun. This is not to prevent the Boca fans attacking the bus, this is to prevent the River fans from getting off the bus and causing havoc on society.
It was such a cool thing to see. The last night, Melany and her family took me out to dinner and it was so refreshing. We had delicious dinner and it was nice to meet a full Argentinean Jewish family. They are so nice and talked so well about the Mitrani´s (My mothers side of the family). We had to get up really early to catch a flight to Calafate which is where I am now. Tomorrow we are renting a car and going to see some mother effing glaciers! The next day we are heading to El Chantel which is the trekking capital of the world, and after that, and fucking 2 day bus ride to Bariloche. YAY I CANT WAIT FOR THAT! Should be some amazing times here with the glaciers and then this trekking is supposed to be incredible. This city kind of sucks though because its a tourist trap and everything is so damn expensive, especially transportation out of here. I hope everyone is well back in the states or where ever you may be!
Much love,
Robert
