Street Tango Again

Street Tango

La Plaza Roma

Tranquility surrounded by madness, at one end colectivos (buses), semi-rapidos, taxis and autos, on the other skyscrapers, businessmen and delivery motorcycles. This is the business sector of Buenos Aires. Lovers in the park, kissing, caressing and cherishing their partnership, pigeons are collecting the leftovers of passer-by´s. A young guy sits down a few feet away from me. Smokes a cigarrette, and watches the same park scenes unfold. Do you want a cigarrette to help inspire you he asks? No, I say. "This is place is hell," he explains sitting beside me. But I've been fortunate to have the opportunity to travel to other countries and there is something I alwasy miss about Buenos Aires. This city much like the people here, Porteños, is all about love and hate." This phrase echoes in my mind. A boy falls asleep face down in the grass as a couple walks by to take some photographs. Clouds now roll over the tower buildings, a hint of moisture touches my arm, as Nortur tour buses pass by with amazed blank faces peering out the sides. Friends talk on the sidewalks and a man stumbles along the park path looking down at his cellphone. Birds play in the trees. "Everyone's in their own world," the guy next to me says, "In this area of town everyone becomes crazy!" He converses with me about the joys of travel, then wishes me luck and walks away. A man on crutches with one leg hobbles across the path of a woman dressed in balloons. I look at my cellphone clock, it's time to go.

New Funk Logo

Psychedelic Eli

Rosario Pt. 2

(From continuation) Besides the street side antics, the main entertainment of the evening was a concert by Manu Chao and Radio Bemba Sound system at the Newell´s Old Boys basketball stadium. The venue was packed and the temperature raging as everyone rocked out for almost 2 1/2 hours. The beginning act was performed by a "Murga" called Los Trapos del Barrio Luedueña. The ¨Murga¨ combines dancing, elements of martial arts, singing and theatrics to their show which has political overtones as most “Murgas” are like community performance groups from some of the more marginalized communities or “Villas”. The concert was genial!! Manu played most of his favorites in the combination or English, Spanish, and French, and he the atmosphere was so hot that the majority of the guys in the area left shirtless. Manu also enticed the crowd to stay after two encores. The concert in fact might not have ended, as the crowd after the third encore chanted "Ole, Ole, Ole, Oleeee!! Manu, Manu!!" However the show was over, the mosh pits calmed down, and at 12:30p.m., the nightlife in Rosario, like Buenos Aire was about to begin. We ate some pizza and then headed to bar called the Isla which is a hotspot for Rock Nacional, the local rock music in Argentina. The night concluded at 5a.m.

Las Tres Amigas

Three longtime best friends from Pergamino, Eli, Naty and Flo during a pre-asado/mate moment along the banks of the Rio Parana in Rosario, Argentina, November 21, 2009.

Rosario, Asado, Manu Chao

Another weekend done traveling to another place outside the highway General Paz to the river port city of Rosario. Either the second or third biggest city in Argentina, Rosario lies along the heavy trade route of the Parana River which extends from the Patanal of Brasil down through Argentina before exiting in the Rio de la Plata. A place with unique character, the city is probably better known for some of it's more prominant characters. The most important being Commandante Ernesto ¨Che¨Guevara who is from Rosario. Today, the biggest name on the global scale to come out of Rosario is FIFA player of the year Leo Messi. I appreciated the more laid back nature of the city, as well as nightlife which I experienced more than the day. It was also the first time that I witnessed a common Argentine bachelor party or "Despedida de Soltero" while eating pizza at a streetside restaurant. A last party night with a Bachelor's friends is also a memorable night of humiliation in front of those walking the nighttime city streets. In one example, a van drove down the avenue with cars alongside honking their horns until it came to a stop streetside. Both backdoors of the van were open, and the reason for the commotion was an apparent bachelor duck taped to some object within the van, dressed in a nice dress shirt accompanied by a pink vest. However, the dress shirt didn't quite seem to fit the pants, which in this case, they were non-existent. With his backside exposed to all on Peregrini Avenue, it was a bachelor sendoff he surely wasn't going to forget. (to be continued...)

Uruguay

La Vida es para vivirla mejor

Damn, it feels good to be solo on the beach. The breeze flows steadily from the southeast; it's beautiful, with the sun's streaking rays cutting through the thin frosting of clouds downward towards the sandy coast. This is no beach resort, this ain't no disco, no Caribbean coast, or tropical paradise; it's the Rio de la Plata, with clear plastic bottles, and plastic wrap entangled between river debris on the foamy shore line. Parts of glass bottles poke their necks out of the sand. My bag rests upon a layered brick ruin. A possible antique of the ancient Spanish empire. Colonia, a place of ancient beauty and intrigue; an antique slow paced lifestyle, filled with old-motos, automobiles and street signs. A blast straight out of the 1950's. A place with simple pleasures and everlasting charm. I let the sun beat down upon my face as I fall back into my thoughts. Moto engines race off in the distance. A conversation with some street artesians prior left me with questions about what attracts me to South America. But two aspects that truly appeals to me are the simplistic nature of living and relaxed attitudes of the people. What happens tomorrow isn't as important as what happens today. What's sweet in life cannot be attained without a little sour.

"La vida es para gozarla, la vida es para vivirla mejor." - Los Fabulosos Cadillacs

Faro Colonia

Chaos Buenos Aires

7:30 p.m. car horns fill the air with a full bodied sound, "correte la fila atras" yelled the bus driver as an elderly woman of maybe 75 years tried to squeeze by me in a race to grab the recently vacated bus seat. It was exactly this moment as I patiently gazed off into the bus windows on my 1 hour and half trip back home that I began to contemplate the craziness that embodies, Buenos Aires, the culture and Argentine personalities. My thoughts combined the subject of conversations I had with some of my English students hours earlier. "I don't understand what direction this country is headed," one student tells me, "I don't think anybody really does. But situations like these really heat up peoples attitudes until they explode." The situations my student was referring to are the ever present "cortes de la calle" and "paros de subte". The first situation may be more of a deep social problem while the later another problem that in this day acted as the icing on the cake.
"Cortes de la Calle" entails organized protests from different groups which aim to halt traffic on some of the biggest avenues throughout the city without any police or government opposition. In fact, my student explained that most of the "cortes" are actually a political tool supported by the government. The Christina Kirchner government is especially tolerant of the "cortes" because their leftist aligned agenda seems to find these expressions just a freedom offered within a democratically just country (something Argentine society had none of during the late 70's and early 80's during a harsh rule of dictators). But the question in place is whether the Kirchner government is too tolerant. In general, the attitudes of porteños (people who live in the city of Buenos Aires) are more and more irritated by the chaos of traffic which consumes the downtown district of the city when protesters cut across avenues. As my student explains, "I understand the right to protest, but the way they do it has to be less destructive. Most people don´t even understand which issue or side of the political spectrum they´re protesting.¨

This form of protesting also extends to all parts of the country. For example, protesters of the papelerías or industrial paper plant in Uruguay have accused the plants of polluting the air and water near the Rio de la Plata which Argentina shares with their smaller neighbor. So in order to show their displeasure with the situation they cut straight to the streets which in this case was a highway in the small town called Gualeguaychu which connects Argentina and Uruguay together by a bridge to stop traffic. Today, the highway continues to be cut without much intervention from the government, and the only time the protesters let traffic pass through the bridge was when the Argentine National Futból team played in the important World Cup qualifier one month ago. As amusing as this may be many of the people being affected by these "cortes de la calle" seem to be less than amused. If the government continues to allow such forms of protest the amount of irritated Argentines across the country are going to lash out against such displeasure. The next big ¨corte¨may be by the majority population of the city of Buenos Aires when they decide to march toward La Casa Rosada. The last time this happened, millons of Argentines armed with pots and pans to make noise pressured the then President De la Rua to leave his position only 8 years ago. (to be continued...)

Street Life - Graffiti Buenos Aires

Quiet Night Quiet Stars

Cerveza, Rain and Halloween

It may almost be summertime, but Halloween in Buenos Aires felt like the fall. No snow, or cold, but non-stop rain. It rained 24 hours one day after it had been 34 degrees C. The weather's all messed up. Despite the rain the atmosphere was prime for a creepy Halloween with clouds, and darkness, too bad no one really celebrates the old celtic spiritual holiday. Although, Eli and I didn't let the rain get us down as we painted our faces the most freak we could think of and went out on the town. If may have been a little bit awkward that we were some of the only people dressed to scare, (along with a few others mostly gringos). I looked hideous or horrible one of the two because even I couldn't look myself in the mirror. The evening ran by like the white and black paint due to the rain on our faces as we found ourselves sharing a table as the sun began to rise in a bar in la plaza Cortazar. People couldn't help but throw a startled gaze at the haggard appearance of our faces. By this time, our ghastly white complexions appeared more like a couple battered and beaten. We laughed, shared a cerveza, peanuts and a breezing morning stroll back to my apartment to hide or frightening faces from the streaking rays of a fresh Sunday.

Old Stuff

Como me mata la cuidad

It isn't always cake and ice cream living the city life. It has its ups, it has its downs, and it has lot of colectivos, noise, grafitti, shopping, fashion, and people. Going from point A to point B is more like point E, and it's hard to see when you may get robbed from the pibe chorros in the subte. You have to always be alert, watching left and right not really from the pibes chorros but the cars, and transit, because they don't stop. You race across cobblestone streets from one intersection to the next only really understanding your path when you see noticeable plazas, restaurants, and heladerías. You move left from the charcos of spring rain, and you move right around a fresh leftover dog dropping. You head straight, and slow to a bottleneck caught behind a vieja and a magazine stand. You see sparse existence of trees, flowers, and sky. The sunsets are harder to realize, unless you live on the top floor apartment, and you at times you have to race to the refuge of such a quite place. It´s your seashore, haven away from the turbulent city waters, grey and concrete, literally. Why does everything feel like it is so complicated or physically and mentally draining? Because, it makes the sun sweet days in the life of Buenos Aires so mucher sweeter.

Palmera por la ventana

Finde Largo

El Parque Nacional del Palmar
The park lies 6 hours north by micro-bus from Buenos Aires, and shares the border of the Rio Uruguay with the country with which the river is named Uruguay. A Yatay palm tree heaven, this park is a reminder to Argentines and travelers alike that this now agriculturally prosperous region of Entre Rios was once a forested wilderness full of marsh land, and fields of golden plains. The park protects this last haven of palmeras from future expansion of slashing and burning for further crop production and logging. Yet, the landscape makes you think that only 100 years ago this region was a semi-tropical wilderness of similar magnificance.

Feria de San Telmo Candombe

La Zona Norte

Another day done in la zona norte of the capital. My long trip to and from each Wednesday don't seem to be as long anymore. It helps that almost the entire ride back I was unperturbed face deep in Kerouac's On the Road, the only other book besides Three Cups of Tea that I brought with me in English. I was so absorbed and hung up with the book that after getting off the Colectivo, and crossing the intersection of Salguero and Mansanilla to my apartment, I was almost hit by a small Renault. In any rate, ahora Todo tranquilo. Work's done for the day. It's always interesting leaving the city and coming back in one day. It makes you realize that life is infinitely more laid back outside of Buenos Aires. At least escaping the rush of the city for a few hours gives you a cloudy state of mind. Although General Pacheco and the zone norte is far from a tranquil escape. The zone is simply a large manufacturing sector of the city full of multi-national corporations where as of a week hordes of protesters gathered in opposition to Kraft foods laying off hundreds of employees.

Feria de Bombachas

Plaza Serrano, Buenos Aires

La Fiesta Clandestina

Last night was my return to the fiesta clandestina, which in fact isn't that clandestine because the organization posts flyers all over the city and is registered on the online ticketing service Ticketek. However their motto is "Nada esta prohibido" which I realized after a few hours inside. Cigarrette smoke, and the smells of marijuana are common place in this fiesta which had "Malabaristas" (jugglers), a live ska/cumbia band named Agrupación Mamanis and a boliche (danceclub) atmosphere. What I didn´t expect was to leave the fiesta at 4:30 a.m. feeling a little liteheaded sensation of a mixture of all of the unprohibited smoke substances. As I ascended the stairs from the basement dwelling I felt the relief of fresh air, emerging from the smoking depths of rock nacional blaring full blast. Over all, I'd have to say I'd do it again.

La Nueva Revolución

San Telmo, Buenos Aires

Un día en el parque Las Heras

First Day of Blog

First day of the new blog which I finally got around to setting up. Five o'clock in the afternoon, sunny and beautiful but cool and after traveling all over the city in the last four days I prefer to lay low in the fourth story apartment at the crossroads of la plaza guemes. Beer and empanadas at this hour and then the nighttime craziness will begin. Buenos Aires becomes another place at night all of the working transit and locura ends and in my experience the best part of the city begins.