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Entering Argentina
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I came, I saw, I Landed.
After a brief layover in Sao Paulo, I touched down in Buenos Aires to begin my South American travels. Driving in from the airport I noticed a much more Western feel to the outskirts of town then I would have imagined. Even though Argentina is known as a developed nation I was still a bit surprised, just as surprised as with the inordinate amount of people who pulled their cars to the side of the highway to sunbathe. I eventually made my way to a hostel in the city center as my base to explore the many barrios (neighborhoods) of Buenos Aires. The city definitely has a very European feel with a mix of old dictatorship/socialist architecture mixed in there for flavor. I explored the trendy cafes, bars and shops of Recoleta; meandered through the birthplace of Tango in San Telmo; The parks of Palermo and the blue collar barrio of Boca. Boca is also home of the famed football club Boca Juniors. I was able to attend the final match of the season and though I am not the biggest fan of soccer, this was an intense game and the fans intensity really puts us North Americans to shame. I purchased a general admin ticket that sat me below the visiting Lanus fans, but I soon had to move my seat further away from the field to escape the insistent stream of spit and urine that constantly rained down from above. The strangest thing was that I was one of the few who did this, as the rest seemed to accept that the proverbial rain from above was simply part of the game. No Golden showers for me thanks.
I also attempted to hunker down in Buenos Aires for a while in hopes of learning a bit of Spanish to help ease myself into Latin American culture with some success. Unfortunately the little I learned has slowly been escaping me as I ventured further south into Patagonia where due to one of the worlds lowest population density's and the fact that there seems to be as many tourists as residents (half of those being Israeli) it was hard to avoid speaking English. It was a bit strange to get back into the "school" mentality since I have been out of the game for a while, but it helped remind me that maybe I should think about traveling down that road sometime soon, but I digress. Another event I was able to witness was the inauguration of Argentina's new and slightly coquettish president Kristina Fernandez. As the protesters banged their drums (which they do everyday) she gave me a big wave through her traveling motorcade on her way to being sworn in as Argentina's first elected female presidenta.
The nightlife in Buenos Aires is apparently one of the worlds best, but the prospects of spending large amounts of money to dance around in clubs with glow sticks in a different hemisphere still didn't appeal to me very much. It wasn't meant to be anyways as one of the times I attempted to go to the club I had no pants since they had ripped in half on the doors of the Subte (potentially the zenith of my life so far) and they would not accept shorts inside. I drove around all night with a group of Argentines I later met only to arrive at the same place hours later. This still consisted a late night since the clubs do not open until two in the morning to accommodate the late schedule of the Porteno population as they do not even sit down to dinner until close to midnight.
Oh and I cannot fail to mention the Argentine steak. They cook it with all the skin and fat still on so it looks a bit strange, but oh is it delectable. A full steak dinner, side and bottle of wine can run you about 10 bucks! Hard to beat, unfortunately as much as Id love to be eating steak every day, I still had to resort to the more economical sustenance of Pasta and Empanadas, which are not so bad here either. One thing about the range of dishes in Argentina is that what they do have is delicious but one could hope for a broader palette of flavors then only meat, pizza, and pasta. Oh well, have to find something wrong with the place.
One finally side note is that all Argentines are obsessed with Mate. A bitter tea like drink that people take with them everywhere. The whole process seems to boil down to an elaborate tea drinking ceremony but the way people act you would think that there was also crack sprinkled in it as everyone walks around with a thermos and mate drinking gourd tucked under the arms. There are many things I have left out as well (including that PDA is rampant and if your in a park half the people will be making out and rolling around in the hay as well as Palermo's botanical gardens aka cat dumping grounds as the city's unwanted felines have massed an army of sleazing nasty cats that I have a strong desire to punt) and hopefully can remember to tell the tales at a later date in time. All in all Bs. As. is a great destination and a world class city. I highly recommend it.
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