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It doesn't happen very often, but occasionally I have an instant attraction to a city and I find myself having a "I could see myself living here" moment. About six years ago, Jessica and I spent five days in Buenos Aires. We both loved the city so much we vowed to return. Sometimes a place held in high esteem in my memory can be a huge disappointment upon return. Buenos Aires did not disappoint. In fact it was better. Our newly acquired modest Spanish helped to open many more doors this time round. This and our decision to rent an apartment instead of staying in a hostel allowed us to experience life as a Porteno (resident of Buenos Aires) and gain insight into the Porteno psyche.
Ten floors up in our San Telmo apartment, our balcony looked over the city rooftops towards the Rio de la Plata. The breeze was a welcome relief from the dead heat of the Argentine summer. We also had front seats to huge lightning storms. We chose San Telmo because it is mostly a residential area and it has a beautiful mix of cobble streets and old European style buildings. It may be a bit
rough around the edges but we felt safe there.
One of the great advantages of living in San Telmo was the proximity to La Boca. A 30 minute walk took us to the famous home of Boca Juniors, La Bombonera (meaning "the chocolate box", referring to its shape). Our doorman Hugo would give us the heads up on upcoming fixtures. So on match-day mornings Jessica and I would line up outside the stadium for up to three hours for tickets.
Stars Diego Maradona, Gabriel Batistuta and Carlos Tevez all donned the blue and yellow shirt. It wasn't always the blue and yellow in Boca though, there was a lot of indecision. The first jersey was pink. Then light blue. Then black and white stripes. Then another team had black and white stripes so the continued use of the colours rested on the result of a match against each other. Boca lost. A member of the club had the brain wave of going down to the port in La Boca and pick the club colours from the colour of the flag on the first boat that passed by. A Swedish boat was the first to appear and so the
colours of Boca Juniors became blue and yellow.
We were fortunate to go to three matches at the most famous club in Argentina. The matches kick off about 7 or 8 in the evening to avoid the muggy heat of the city. La Bombonera stands amongst the two storey houses of La Boca, glowing in the evening sky like a castle on the hill. An hour before kick off, we joined fans converging from the streets surrounding the stadium and heard from outside the soldiers on the stands already chanting, warning the opposition that victory will be Boca's.
The atmosphere inside the stadium is contagious. By the time we found our seats we were humming along to the songs and started to feel part of something that is more than a football game. (By the end of our third match, Jessica and I knew a few of the chants and we had quickly improved our vocabulary of Spanish swear words.) The most impressive thing about Boca fans is the continuous noise. About thirty minutes before kick off, a parade of men with banners and flags emerge from the back of the second tier. Down the centre they march
and proceeded to shout and jump and wave their arms in the air for the rest of the match. The noise was incredible with huge African drums beating the pulse of the stadium. From well before the kick off until well after the drums beat, voices soar, bodies dance, people passing energy to perfect strangers, energy swirls around the inside of the chocolate box and lifts our spirits. I may not like the look of the guy next to me but by god we're in this together!
As for the football games themselves? We weren't lucky charms for Boca, we saw two draws and one defeat. No matter, any international football fan can't but admire the Argentine way of playing the game. Attack football with pin point passing plus skill and control on the ball ensured the games were exciting encounters. When Boca lost the match against Racing Club the fans stayed in the stadium and sang louder than ever! If I could have bottled the energy inside La Bombonera, it would give Red Bull a run for its money.
From James
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Eric
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I enjoyed your Argentina post. It made me want to go back there. Our blog is giving away a free night at The Point hostel in Peru or Bolivia. If you are interested, check out dirty-hippies.blogspot.com Continued fun on your travels, Eric