A week in BA
Trip Start
Jan 12, 2008
1
38
45
Trip End
Apr 10, 2008
Buenos Aires,
Argentina
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
sorry i havenīt written in over a week. the last week has been a jumble. itīs the longest weīve spent in one place since la paz. itīs nice to be in a big city again though. although, i must say, buenos aires is rather dirty. i know all big cities are, but this one seems pretty bad.
letīs see, this week weīve mixed relaxing and sightseeing. we went to recoleta (a neighborhood) and went to the cemetery. amazing mausoleums. eva perón (evita) and her husband, the ex president, are buried there, as well as many other presidents, military heroes, and most of the wealthy of the city. in the same neighborhood is the fine arts museum, which had works by monet, degas, renoir, jackson pollock, and a few exhibits of weird modern art
la casa rosada
. a very good museum, really. we were supposed to go spend easter weekend with friends in mar del plata. we hadnīt heard anything from them, and ismael kept calling, but didnīt get an answer. he finally reached one guy 10 minutes before our bus was supposed to leave. apparently, they didnīt go. thank goodness we were able to get ahold of them before we left. 200,000 people went to mar del plata for the weekend, and we would have gotten there with no place to stay. God saved us again.
easter night we went to café tortoni, the oldest coffee-shop in BA. a very neat, old place. in a small room in the back we saw a tango show. it was cool. a definite must for anyone coming here. there are a gazillion shows around the city, but this one was small and more authentic. there was a 4 man band, a violin, guitar, piano, and of course an accordian. a gentleman sang several songs, and a couple danced 5 songs. really very cool. it felt amazing to know that people had sat there watching the same show 100 years ago.
last night we went to the konex cultural center and saw a reggae-style drum show, la bomba tiempo. we tried going last week, but got there late and didnīt want to wait in line to hopefully get in
evita's balconey
. itīs only on mondays. this was an awesome experience. when we got there at 730 the place was already pretty full, with a smaller drum group playing, and most people sitting on the floor. when the main group started at 8, everyone was standing and the place was packed, at least 500 people. the group was on a platform about 12 feet up, so you could see them pretty well. it was all percussion, bongos, cow bells, congas, tamboras. and everyone in the crowd was clapping, and dancing. awesome. it reminded ismael and i of a scene from the matrix, for any of you who have seen it. today, we went to la boca (another neighborhood) and walked around. this area is the working class people, and there is a section called the caminito. all the houses are made out of corrugated tin and wood, and painted bright colors, much like in valparaiso. we also bought tickets to the boca juniors game for thursday night and got to go walk around the stadium a little, right down by the field. that was neat. ismael is psyched for the game.
well, that is the overview of our last week or so. i probably forgot a bunch of stuff, it seems like it. but, oh well.
Comments
hi
Thanks for the update. Getting anxious to see you again. Hope it won't be too cold for you after spending the winter down there.
Still no box.
Love you tons,
mom
hi
Still no box. Do you remember when you sent it? But who knows where you sent it from and I bet there is no way to trace it. Hope it shows up soon.
Looking forward to seeing you.
Blessings,
mom