Don't cry for me Arg - I'm back 4 Xmas
Trip Start
Dec 29, 2007
1
34
42
Trip End
Ongoing
Buenos Aires,
Capital Federal District,
Argentina
Thursday, December 18, 2008
A mix of jet lag, wicked humidity & 35C+ temperatures played havoc for the first few days as we struggled to adapt. Arg had not escaped the global recession either. Everything had soared across the board, clothing in particular approaching European prices. A few central shopping centres opened their doors until 4am offering discounts up to 40% the later you stayed. We trotted along for a look see. True to their word the offers were impressive but with the colossal numbers it was more of a destruction derby.
A hot xmas was always going to feel unorthodox to me. Like NZ, there is something missing. There's no overplayed xmas songs, outdated movies xmas day, turkey & ham, fire warming the house & certainly no 'Kinvara Avenue-esque' battle of the neighbours for the most lit up house but when in Rome.... To celebrate the arrival of xmas day, the whole city goes slightly nuts at midnight setting off fireworks from every building in the city for a solid hour or 2, no half measures.
Abasto
About a 2 hour drive west of BA lies the little sleepy agricultural town of Rojas original home to Vanesas mum & our xmas meal. Locals mainly work the campos (fields) which is one of the most lucrative professions in Arg & explained why most houses had a pool. Like any other year we stuffed ourselves except with asado. The whole time in Arg revolved around eating which to be fair I didn't complain about, & complimented meeting all of Vanesas relations & friends.
It was my second new years in BA & we celebrated it in the same home, Paula & Antonios. Antonio, originally Portuguese, had celebrated his birthday the day before so his family tree of relations from Brazil stopped by for the celebrations. Again once midnight tolled the DIY fireworks display recommenced & continued late into the night. There was no Auld Langs Syne to finish off the affair so I resorted to a bar of the classic 'Livin' la vida loca' less the campness!
Kudos to Vanesa for getting the licence after letting her old one expire. To get it, she had to undergo visual, aural, practical & psychiatric tests. The funny thing is you do the test in a park off the main road. Our final days flew by low key relaxing with Aldana & Maxi in Bosque de Palermo (Palermo Forest) which was in full bloom, wandering around the touristy Recoleta markets, meeting ex-work colleagues & childhood friends, her gran-aunt in Puerto Madero & buying presents. Yet again the day of reckoning was spent packing bags, cleaning clothes, burning backups of photos & doing all the things we should have done a week earlier; some things never change! The airport goodbyes never get any easier but this time we knew what to expect on the other side. Don't cry for us Argentina....
