Now, I consider myself to be a fairly big soccer fan, but that’s nothing compared to the fanaticism I saw today at the match between La Plata and the Boca Juniors.

Just getting to the stadium was a cultural experience.

First, we set off in a tour bus and picked up a couple more tourists on the way. Then we stopped at this dodgy gas station to pick up our tickets. Our purveyor then guided us to the stadium in his little, old, beat-up VW Rabbit.

On the way, we were told the rules… Turns out we were sitting with La Plata, not Boca Juniors… So we were told not to chant any Boca songs, or have any Boca colors. Also, if Boca were to score a goal, we shouldn’t cheer for that either.

Even if we wanted Boca to win. We might be killed.

As first I thought they were exaggerating a bit, but no… There are actually gangs of futbol fans that have been known to kill fans of a rival team.

Talk about scary. Continue Reading »

The first night of the Tango Festival was very beautiful…

The streets are lines with white Christmas lights, and four separate stages, each with a mini-orchestra, were playing well into the night. There were seats out in front for the crowds to watch the professional dancers on stage, who were magnificent, but the real view was behind the seats.

Crowds gathered in a large circle, and in the middle, couples - married for ages or complete strangers - danced the sultry tango. Continue Reading »

You know how I told you I was going to an “underground” tango show tonight? Well, plans have changed. There’s actually a tango festival starting at 8:00pm right around the corner from my hotel!

(And by the way, I’m staying in an actual hotel this time, not a hostel. I have a hairdryer!)

So I’ll probably pop into a cafe for my “Las Onces” - that’s elevensies, like brunch, only at five or six in the evening - and then grab the camera and head to the festival. Then, it’ll be off to dinner, and finally out to see the town.

It is Saturday night, after all…

For the second time this trip, I’ve seen the sunrise in a foreign country.

This time, my over-night bus was passing through Suipacha, an agricutural area about three hours outside of Buenos Aires. There were flowing wheat fields and young corn growing everywhere, and in between these crops were thousands of head of cattle. It was a farmer’s paradise, and companies have flocked to this area for generations: Agrimex, Coincer, and Cargill.

Argentina is, after all one of the world’s largest exporters of wheat, and it’s also home to some of the best steaks in the world.

I’ve yet to have one, but I’m sure I’ll be accomodated at dinner tonight.

But I’d like to talk a little bit about Buenos Aires. I knew we were getting close to the city when big stores, like Wal-Mart, and Easy (the BA version of Home Depot) started popping up on the side of the road. And then came the fashion billboards…

And then came the container stacks.

Buenos Aires is - quite literally - the mouth of South America. It’s situated on the Punta Indio Channel, a wide delta of sorts that serves as the main port of all of South America. Imports, exports, agricultural commodities, automobiles…

You name it, it passes through here.

And unlike Santiago, Buenos Aires has retained a bit of its Old World Charm, with European architecture and lovely city parks, it will be a pleasure to walk around the city later.

Continue Reading »