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Published: February 14th 2007
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Hi HO Sailor!!!
Yep, we´re THAT cool - this picture wasn´t posed, I swear. We were trying to get the ´feeling´ of the boat! For a girl who hates big/capital cities, I sure enjoyed BA!!! We managed to cram so much into only a week and had a blast. From tango shows to horse racing, museums, cemetaries and ancient sailboats to clubs and even a professional futbol game, it seems like we did it all!
I know I told you about the first Tango show we saw, absolutely INCREDIBLE. The next one wasn´t so great - it was more of a feature on a woman named Celia Something or other (that wasnt really her name, but I dont actually remember it...) who sang and danced and had a few tangoers (is that what you call people who dance the Tango?) flaunt around her in skimpy costumes. It was worth it for the shock value of trying to figure out if the women were ACTUALLY naked or if they were just wearing skin-coloured costumes. It was hard to tell at times, believe me. Apparently the direcctor, Sopovich is famous for his skantily-clad women and seductive dance moves. We enjoyed it, none-the-less!
Another day we did a walking city tour on our own - ended up at the cemetary where Evita Perón lives (I mean,
Tango Show Numero 2
The finale of the show- once again sneeked a camera in and didn´t have the guts to take pictures until the end! is housed in a massive mausoleum), in a large church that brought thousands of monks to BA hundreds of years ago... and finally an amazing sailboat that has made over 38 world tours all in the late 1890s up until the 1930s. We got to climb aboard and see the entire ship, from the wheel house to the boiler rooms - it would have been such an adventure to actually be on the boat while sailing! I even got to hug a missle - what fun!
After meeting Alison Fuhr (a girl I went to highschool with in Smithers) randomly in one of the massive Sunday markets, we all decided to meet up and go watch a day of horse racing at the Hipódromo. This wasn´t some crummy track - it reminded me of a Black Stalion film where the rich people are partitioned off from the poor and the jockies and their mounts get paraded infront of the crowd before the race to commence betting, there were waiters and waitresses dressed in black and whites, and loads of people lulling around looking like they either had too much time or too much money! We didn´t actually bet on
The Boat in the Glory Days
on the drawbridge to the sailboat - what a sight that would have been! the races, only between us girls - I ended up losing every bet, so it´s probably a good thing. I ALSO think my problem may have been that I was betting on the cutest jockies and NOT on the horse. Oops! (common, they´re less than 5 feet tall - they´re like little children up there!! I even had one that every time he would ride by he´d give me a wink and an ´hola´... how could I NOT bet on him!?!?!)
We went out to the clubs a few times, nothing really that interesting to report - pretty much the same as in Vancouver... you go in, get a drink and spend the rest of the night trying to stay away from the creepy guys who are too drunk to get the hint that NOPE, we´re NOT interested. But we did have fun dancing to the Latina music and drinking our first beers out of a can in the entire trip!
The most exciting event of Buenos Aires was for sure the futbol game we went to see on Saturday. Our friend who we met in Mendoza, Ezekiel, came and picked us up at the hostel in the
Sailboat in BA
Oooh, Ralph has nothing on this one! Next step, massive sailboat! afternoon and showed us the best place in town for all you can eat Parrilla (asado... Bar-B-Q) that we definitely gobbled down. Then a quick walk to settle the 3 cows and 2 pigs we managed to consume and we were at the field. Velez Sarsfield was the team we went to see (to Ezekiel - EZ - the ONLY team to see... apparentely Boca Junior is hiiiighly overrated. and please, if you´re a Boca fan, don´t write me hate messages, I really don´t have a preference!!!) - playing a team called Novell´s Old Boys, or something like that. Wow... what an experience! Thank goodness we ended up winning 2-0, or I think there may have been a riot - the fans were INSANE!!!!! There were people who weren´t even watching the game they were spending soooo much time trying to rally up the crowds with songs, dances (that involved wayyy too much wrist flicking - someóne could have lost an eye out there!) and crude gestures to the other side. I hate to admit it, but I got right in there, flicking, arm flinging, yelling (not always the right words, Im sure), and singing with all my might. We
The Opera Bay Club
the infamous club that we never actually made it to - one night we got there too late, and the other night we slept through our alarm to wake us up from our sieta and just ended up sleeping the whole night through! got so caught up in the excitement and the energy!
One of my favourite chants - Pecho Friiiiiooo (Cold Chest - basically calling him a chicken or a coward) was hilariously interpreted by dear Lauren as ¨Pancho Friiiiooo¨ (a Cold Hotdog- haha, we all got a good laugh outta that one... but when you think about it, I guess it could have worked out as well).
The opposing fans were almost as loud as the home team (EZ said that it was because they have lots of time to travel and get there and have more time to plan songs - I just think they were a litttttle bit more enthusiastic. Ezekeil, if you´re reading this please don´t be mad at me - I think your team is amazing and wonderful and it´s great they won! Don´t hate!!) and they provided some great entertainment. It´s crazy how the stadium is set up so that the fans from each side don´t have ANY contact with each other. The visiting team has their own entrance/exit gate, their seating area is fenced off from the home team and they even have their own concessions and bathrooms (ew, which by the way, are terrrrrrible
Spot the Sailor
Im so cammo - Im pretty sure I would have been a good help with the raising of the anchor--- or whatever chain I´m pulling! little holes in the ground and NOT toilets!). After the game the home team has to stay in their seats for an extra 1/2 an hour to let the visiting team´s fans exit the building and dispurse from the area. Alll to avoid riots and deaths - due to SOCCER! These people sure love their sport! Apparently there have been too many murders after games that they had to take some serious measures.
Eventhough for the second 1/2 of the game we sat in the ´danger zone´ aka- behind the goal - I didn´t once feel threatened. It may have been the multiple hundred riot police stationed around the stadium... it was also probably that the game really wasn´t that important, and we ended up winning. Pewf.
So that was about the jist of Buenos Aires - good shopping, good food, good sites, good events and good shows. What more can you ask for? We´re in Salta, in Northern Argentina right now and tonight we´re taking a night bus to the border with Bolivia, planning to cross over tomorrow morning at about 6am. After that we have until the end of February in Bolivia and then back to Perú
Oh Amor Mío!
This is my missile - it was actually really great to hug it ´cause it was so cold while it was sticky and hot outside! to meet up with Mikey!!!! I have just under a month and a half left in my trip and it´s scary that it´s ending so soon - oh well, I guess I have to get back to real life and start making some money again!
Thanks for the emails - love hearing about life in the North!
I´ll try and post in Bolivia, but no guarantees on the quality of internet - talk to you all soon!
C
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