La Copa Davis
Trip Start
Dec 29, 2007
1
14
42
Trip End
Ongoing
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Friday, February 8, 2008
Arriving fashionably late we got the tail end of the opening ceremony & within minutes the first pair were warming up
Davis Cup
. David Nalbandian faced Jamie Baker, a guy who barely looked out of Huggies. The crowd were slightly biased heckling the young Brit when he faulted & cheering the Argies, at every given opportunity. This didn't help early on when his nerves were showing. Some dude at one stage shouted 'VAMOS David, TENGO HAMBRE!' (Come on David, I'm hungry!) & another was singing famous Argentine songs getting the crowd going everytime their man was down. In fairness the young Brit persisted, gaining confidence as the match wore on but in the end was outclassed. The sky had been grey all morning & it started to sprinkle down during the warmup of the second match between Augustin Calieri & Alex Bogdanovic but it wasn't to last. This match started somewhat more competitive but again GORDO (fatty), what the Argies called their man built like a brick ****house, got better each game. I've heard this term used quite a lot even on the streets & it's a term of affection so if you're weight conscious block your ears & eat away. A rapturous round of cheering & applause broke out on match point & within seconds victory was Argentinas.
Saturday brought a few more cultural sights of BA after picking up some malaria pills in FARMACITY (Boots of BA) for the Iguazu trip. Incidently you don't need a prescription in BA to get pills but if you do, they cost 50% less
Me
. Passing by CARREFOURs/COTOs (typical Dunnes/Tescos) we headed for the HIPODROMO de Palermo (racecourse) but also housing a 3 tiered gambling arena. No racing was scheduled. After walking through the 1000s of slot machines with their blinding strobe lights, I managed to avoid having an epileptic fit. Winnings were displayed in electrical roulette rooms up to $10000 (pesos) so the action was fairly serious, people betting about $300 odd each time.We took a drive along the nearby COSTANERA, the coastal drive, near Jorge Newberry Airport which is used for internal flights. Fishermen can be seen along the pier although given their fortunes & the appearance of the water I'd say their bait must have been a laxative. A few photos & a SUPERPANCHO (hotdog) later, we motored on. We stopped at the RESERVA ECOLOGICA & Fuente de las Nereidas in Puerto Madero for a couple more pics. Police presence is widespread all over BA except in this barrio as it's the newest & wealthiest so they have the PREFECTURA (army) instead.
Our final stop was the floating 'Casino de BA' with its car park segregated into pairs of cards. The main attraction was an elderly guy spraying hundreds of pesos all over a roulette table & winning thousands at a time. It was the first time in BA I felt more like I was in Beijing, the eastern love of gambling visible to all. In general, the oriental influence is soaring in BA. Lots of kids come to learn spanish & asian run supermarkets are springing up ten to the dozen. It's clear the ever growing chinese economy is muscling its way into the Latin American market. As we made our way home we saw 3 scangers with a crowbar breaking into a car on a busy street with cars passing every second & only a stones throw from the police station, a reminder to be vigilant following on from a break-in in our own appartment building recently.
