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Published: August 7th 2007
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The Boca Band!
Found these fellows after hearing drums and feeling the floor move underneath me!They stand and bounce on metal bars while holding onto the big sashes!The guy that sets them up charges a fee! From where I left off, I had been forced to leave Brazil, and come to BA and I have been here for about a month, with a quick visit to Iguazu just to break it up (see previous blog). The hardest thing when I got here was trying to remember all the spanish I learnt back home, and switching from Portuguese to Spanish, I kept saying Obrigada instead of Gracias and things like that!! But it's ok folks, I now have it under control. However I get grief from Pancho, who works in the Hostel, that I should speak more spanish than what I actually do.
I have set myself up in a hostel in San Telmo, an area in BA that has quaint little antique shops, cafes and one of the best steak houses ever! On sundays there is a market along Defensa street, which I have attended 3 times, and I never get sick of it. The vibe is so much more chilled, cobbled streets, street vendors selling caramelised Peanuts, couples tango-ing for small change, and many beers sitting in the plaza just chatting with others. I could definately live in BA, its much like home for me.
I
It takes two ya know!!
Couples Tango for small change! had come here with the plan to see all the sights then move on, but my laziness has reared it ugly head and as mentioned previously,I have been here for a little over a month. Many travellers rent out appartments and teach english for a living, whilst still enjoying the BA culture. Makes sense to me, thats what I would do, its much cheaper to rent an appartment for a month or two than stay in a hostel.
Buenos Aires is definately a nocturnal city, eveything happens much later than back home. For example, dinner isn't untill about 9-10ish, you dont go out to clubs untill 1.30-2am, which means if you start drinking at 6pm, your screwed! Then of course you could always have a nap! The clubs are huge here and I have been to a couple of them, getting to bed no earlier than 7am. I even saw some of the Argentinian Big Brother housemates at Sunset club, where they also have shirtless buff men and girls in G-Strings dancing on the podiums, its crazy!
Apart from the clubs, the shopping is cheap, I managed to pick up a pair of Converse Boots for $90 Pesos ($40
Street art!
Found this along Avenida del Mayo AUD), plus the most of the big brands are considerably cheaper than back home. I just wish this was my last destination so that I could go shopping crazy! I have also managed to visit Caminito in La boca, the birthplace of the Tango, a place some of you may associate with BA. I didn't really like it too much, it was very touristy, I got sick of being hassled by venders and It felt like Disneyland (minus the rides)! Instead I would suggest attending a Tango class instead, followed by a visit to a Milonga club where the Men ask the Ladies to dance and couples embrace cheek to cheek or forehead to forehead while they dance. It´s nothing like the choreographed Tango that can be seen on the streets! I went along one night and sat transfixed watching the couples as they made the Tango look as easy as pie!
However one of the most entertaining experiences was attending the RIVER Vs BOCA Superclasico at the Boca stadium "Camilo Cichero". Now, these two teams are the biggest rivals in Argentina, they both originated from La Boca, however River is considered to be the "Miliionaires" when it moved
Defensa Acrobats
Just one of the entertainers along the Defensa street Sunday market! to more up-market neighbourhood. Boca is considered the "People's team", the fans of each team have an extreem dislike for the other, which sometimes leads to violence,but promises for an interesting experience none the less. We left for the game at 11am (kickoff was at 4) to start the line up experience. When we arrived at Camilo Cichero a lady got on the bus and spoke to us about the days preceedings. She told us that the hostels organisers nearly cancelled the outing as its getting a bit too dangerous for "Gringo´s" to be attending these matches. We were also asked to stick together, to not take our camera´s out untill we were in our seats, and to be on our best beahviour! After waiting a couple of hours on various parts of a street leading up to the stadium, it was finally time to enter, and nothing could prepare me for what was ahead. The turnstyles at the entrance were blocked off with a metal fence so that only the people with tickets could get in and to prevent a stampeed of people. There were heaps of people around this tiny entrance trying to get in, Julio (our host)
As boredom sets in......
Pato and Burls get creative got in and was yelling at us to push ourselves in! Men were yelling at each other, pushing and shoving each other, I turned to the guy next to me and said "How the hell are we ment to get through that?" . Next thing Julio starts yelling at us again to push through, so I pluck up my courage and attempt to plow throught these gown, big and angry men! I copped a few elbows to the chest, but I got through the gate, went up to the turnstyles and had to jump over them, I looked up the stairs and much to my relief saw Christine (From my Hostel) standing waiting for me. We ran up the stairs, pumping with excitement, and found our seats!
The stadium was packed, and we waited for another hour before the match started. The game itself wasn´t the best I have ever seen, there was more rolling around on the floor than there was decent playing of football. Boca scored the first goal in about 2 minutes of the game starting, which wound the crowd up. As I was sitting there, I heard a noise and the ground was moving underneath
Another Lasagne!!
What is left of a Lasagne I cooked for a group of us at the BA hostel. me. I looked over at Christine with a puzzled expression, then the boys suggested I go down stairs and look at the lower terrace. I smiled as I peeked over a wall watching all these men jump up and down on anything they could find, seats, bars and steps. There was also a band that had these huge drums and banged out all these club songs while all the Boca fans punched their hands in the air. It was Crazy! One guy even climbed the fence that protected the pitch and proceeded to take his top off and wave it around in circles over his head! The spectators on the lower levels stood as far back as they could to avoid missiles (eg. bottles, shoes, whatever they can get their hands on) thrown by the upper terraces.The end score was 1 all, at the end we all had to sit and wait until most of the stadium had gone so that we could leave safely.
It was a fun day, I would have loved to have been on the terrace below where all the hooligans were, but as someone said, they would probably rob me and god knows what else,
Group photo during Lasagne
From front left (clockwise)Tim, Christine,Dan Dan the flying man,Pato, Burls,Lisa,Marie and Me! I am a Gringo after all.
Other than the previous listed activites and watching DVD's on one of the many rainy days in BA, I dont know where all the time has gone, or what I have done! I have a friend from Melbourne who is joining me for 2.5 weeks so im waiting to do some more of BA's touristy things when she gets here. Im also planning to go down to Patagonia, hopefully the weather wont be too bad!
Please keep the comments and messages coming, I really appreciate them. And yes I have put on weight, I think about it every day when I have to squeeze myself into my trousers, but thats nothing a good bout of gastro cant fix!! (Joke)
Hasta Luego! I hope everyone had a fantastic Easter!
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