There is no Aires Buenas in Buenos Aires this week

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  Buenos Aires, Argentina
Saturday, April 19, 2008

It's Saturday night in San Telmo and  I am feeling too sick to go out.  My eyes are streaming, my throat is raspy and I've already taken a puffer to prevent me wheezing. My head feels as if someone has danced zapateados on my forehead.

It's all due to the smoke haze that has blanketed Buenos Aires this week.

I'm not sure if the news has reached Australia but an ongoing battle between farmers and the government has resulted in one of the worst smogs ever to hit the city. What's worse is that there is no wind to blow the smoke out to sea and there's no rain forecast until next Friday.  Here's the story from the Los Angeles Times and an editorial translated into English from the Buenos Aires Herald which explains the background.

http://www.buenosairesherald.com/editorial/editorial_english.jsp?idContent=487133
 
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-smoke18apr18,1,4114176.story 

Many of the locals are now walking around with coverings for their face.  The other response is to light a cigarette. 

Yesterday, the smoke caused the closure of one of the subway train lines. It had to be the one I was travelling on coming back from La Chacarita Cemetery (yes I know wandering how a cemtery for three hours in the smog is really smart)

When I found myself back up at street level at the subway station  ( Carlos Pelligrini), I was at the intersection of  Avenida Corrientes and Avenida 9th Julio.  I was in the heart of the city looking across to the famous Obelisk landmark   There happened to be a tourist office around the corner and not far away, an office for LAN Chile airlines.

Then and there I decided to fly to Iguazu Falls on Monday, just for a couple of days, to give myself a breather -literally despite the high humidity of the place, anything will be better than this opressive smoke.  My initial choice of accommodation has fallen through but I´ll probably book something else on line - can´t afford the expensive hotels right on the Falls but there are a couple of pleasant hosteles nearby  and I can probably get a private double with an ensuite for about $A50.  I just hope the heavy haze doesn´t ground all the planes.

The main downer of being unwell from the smoke is that I´ve had to put off taking a tango class. The last thing I want to do is cough and splutter and nosedrip all over a dance partner.  Not a good look. Still I hope this time next week I´ll be well enough to take a few of the classes I´ve stopped in on.  I think I now have a favourite Tango Escuela : www.torcuatotasso.com.ar - it is Dept of Culture sponsored place that gives out free lessons every day. It is located between La Boca and San Telmo near the famous Parque Lezama .Here is a helpful reference to the places I´m mentioning in this particular entry, but you may have to cut and paste:
http://www.bue.gov.ar/recorridos/index.php?menu_id=18&info=imperdibles&atractivo=344&orden=23&lang=en
 
My weekend has not been a complete loss.  Last night, while walking around the busy streets of San Telmo looking for a place for dinner, I heard some interesting music emerge from a wine bar. I found out later the group was an ecletic three piece cabaret band called The Tiger Lilies. Here they are in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhrGspR0yQo

The wine bar was  El Terretorio www.diversica.com/guia-de-salidas/vficha.php?ide=73 - I had vegetable omelette, bread, antipasto, two glasses of wine, a bottle of water all for less than $A20. Afterwards I found myself at the bar tasting some of Argentina´s famous wines and chatting in Spanish to the barman and a couple of locals about the best bodegas in the wine district of Mendoza  - I plan to catch an overnight bus to Mendoza Monday week and stay for a few days to do a wine tasting tour before heading on to Salta.

I finally got home about 2.30am after the barman radioed a taxi (hailing a cab off the streets is a no-no late at night for tourists.)  And I don´t want to draw attention from the police here -  even if most of the cops I´ve seen in the streets of Buenos Aires during my daily perambulations are drop dead handsome. Still with their reputations and history, you just don´t mess around with South American police.....

Tomorrow Sunday I will stay in doors for as long as I can, write up some entries on the famous residents of La Chacarita cemetery; my visit to Colonia del Sacremento in Uruguay earlier this week and my private walking tour of  BA with my hostess Carla and her fellow colleague Judith, another history teacher. Some amazing stories and hidden treasures to share.  I´ll try to include as many links as I can so you can explore these places yourself on line. 

Then, after drugging myself up I´m going to head out into the big smoke. At 4pm tomorrow I am meeting a San Telmo local, Carlos, for coffee at Cafe Britanico, one of BA´s famous cafes opposite the Parque mentioned above.  Hopefully the combination of drugs, shot of caffeine and sugar from the media lunas (croissants) will clear the head and body for a 5pm tango class.   If all else fails, I have the number of a tango taxi dancer (a paid dancing partner) who will escort me to a milonga on my final weekend in BA at the end of my trip.) I don´t want to waste time and energy tripping over fellow novices.

Before you jump to conclusions, I met Carlos and his wife today at lunch at Cafe Hipopótamo. They were seated at an adjoining table and heard me ordering my lunch (crumbed veal) in Spanish  - I also end  up chatting in English with two  guys  in their 30s (I think they were a couple) seated at another table. They were from Missouri, USA and  were on their first visit to BA. The guys were interested to hear I was from Sydney and proceeded to tell me how much they love our country having visited Australia three years ago.  I suggested a few places to visit during their brief stay (and here I am sounding like an expert and I´ve been in BA less then a week myself!)

Enough of my ramblings. With the pall of smoke likely to worsen, I think I will stay indoors and watch Spanish cable TV instead. I wonder if they have an Argentine version of The Bill? Sigh.

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