hysteria, hip hop and hair at personal fest- oh my!
Friday night cam went with preston, zach, and their friend eve to personal fest, a two-day outdoor concert at club de amigos in Buenos Aires (we only went for one day). After arriving late (club de amigos is a bit farther than we had planned for), we were only able to see 3 acts- Gotan Project, B Real of Cypress Hill, and Snoop Dogg (and the end of Tego Calderon).
Gotan Project was amazing– and it was quite the experience to be able to see them in Buenos Aires (they are a tango electronica group, which I highly recommend. Here is their website if you want a taste of their music).
We then saw B Real. He was the frontman of the 90s hiphop group Cypress Hill, however, he played about two Cypress songs (neither one of which was “Tequila Sunrise” or “Latin Thugs”) and stuck to his own music– not recommended.
At this point, cam noticed that, going along with the publicity theme for the festival, about 30% of the festival goers were wearing bright-colored wigs. She decided that she had to have one, and raced to the other end of the park in a quest to get one. Unfortunately they had all been given away, but she was able to convince a group of people with an extra wig that, since they had never met anyone from Oregon, that they should give her the wig. I’d like to say it made more sense in spanish, or at the time, but I don’t think it did. Anyway, I now own a bright red afro, and I’ll post photos when I upload them.
We then pushed our way forward to see the headlining act, Snoop Dogg. Even advancing as close to stage as we did was quite a feat- there were thousands of people at the concert (there were 5 different stages and 30,000 people came— but remember, Snoop was the main attraction). Obviously it was standing room only and we were wedged up against all of our neighbors. After waiting for Snoop to come on for over an hour, standing room only, our feet began to hurt. we decided that we really needed to move when two 15-year-old boys squeezed up who smelled like they hadn’t showered in months. So we decided to move to the back and wait for the show to start.
And luckily we did. We had not been sitting more than 15 minutes when we looked up and saw those thousands of people– the same ones that we had been standing with before- running towards us. I can only compare it with a stampede of horses, and we only had enough time to stand up and grab our things before we were part of it and running towards the back. People were climbing over fences and cowering in corners, and, at the time, the best we could gather was “nada paso” (nothing happened). However, the stampede occurred two other times. Luckily Snoop then came on and the show resumed, but we were left wondering what happened.
What appears to have passed was that people were angry at the delay and throwing bottles, one of which stabbed a concert-goer. Out of that, the crowd, angry and frustrated at the delay, overreacted, and total chaos ensued. People literally fell down and were trampled on. It is so so lucky that we moved to the back, because we would have been in the middle of it all, and believe me, we were scared enough. what is interesting is that none of the major news organizations covered the debacle. One site claims this was because journalists covering the event were threatened by personal (the cell phone company that sponsored the show) that their VIP rights would be revoked for the next day. Some bloggers have extended the blame up to Kirchner (and his failure to require more security at big shows- even though no liquor was served at the event and a 15 block “liquor-free zone’ was erected around the show so no one could buy alcohol) but I think that what took place was frustration at the delay, and a spontaneous reaction by a crowd.
Cristina assumes power
Although it has undoubtedly been all over the news in the US, a blog entry about life in Argentina should not exclude mention of Cristina Kirchner’s assumption of power yesterday. The day was marked as a holiday here as she ceremoniously took the reigns in Congreso (actual work will start today).
Today she will meet with a handful of leaders from South America and Spain.
Paige (cam’s friend from her program before who has moved down here as well and is staying with us) and Emma headed yesterday to the Plaza de Mayo to see the festivities/ protests, hopefully they will update later today about everything that went on over there.
Cameron mentioned earlier that Paige and I went to the inauguration of Christina, the first ever elected woman president of Argentina. We decided to head towards Casa Rosa, which is basically like the white house. We were greeted with a HUGE crowd waiting for the newly elected president to drive bye and make a speech. As we were waiting, Paige started chatting it up with a very friendly architect, who was more than happy to talk to two young American girls. As Christina got closer the energy in the crowd soured. The celebration was complete with music, horses and fireworks. Paige wedged past a small crowd to get a better look at the heavily altered face of the new president,,, she is well known for her usage of plastic surgery to alter the natural process of ageing. After she passed in her limo, the crowd headed towards the stage where she was to make a speech. Paige and I forged through the crowd. As we got closer we noticed small groups of boys/men who were celebrating by playing drums. They wore the drums around their necks, and poured water as they beat the drums, sending water splashing everywhere. As we walked by one group, they splattered water on us. Out of nowhere someone handed Paige and me some drums…so we started playing. Then… as we were doing our best to keep the beat, they started pouring bottle after bottle of water on us. Luckily it was hot out so it felt good, and neither one of us were wearing white tank tops… could have been a disaster. We were soaked from head to toe, it was great. Although I am not sure if they were pouring such a huge amount of water on us in celebration, or just to see how much we could take,,, needless to say we passed the test.
After the drenching, we headed towards the stage; people were pushing, and bumping into us. I started to get a little panicky, as I am not a huge fan of large crowds. We decided to skip the speech and get some well-needed food. As we left, we were greeted with more and more people, both playing drums and holding banisters. The amount of political awareness here is great. Everyone has an opinion and is more than willing to display that opinion either with banisters of support or protests. Since I have been here I have seen countless numbers of protests, and as a political science major, and previous resident of Eugene, I find it very inspiring.
After the inauguration, Paige and I headed towards San Telmo, sat at a courtyard/restaurant and sipped on some Argentinean beer, while letting the sun dry us off. As we were sitting there, we were able to make quite a few new friends. Paige is probably the most friendly stranger anyone will meet, she has no qualms about speaking to new people at adjacent tables. Anyhow we chatted it up for a while with a German girl and Portenos. Although we were pretty much dry by this point, I had begun to get cold, so we headed to an inside bar…. As we were heading home, we stumbled upon a restaurant that had just opened the weekend before (this was a Monday). The owners were overly friendly, pulled us inside for some sangria, we were pleasantly surprised to find that they were a flamenco bar, and were presently about to play some live music complete with flamenco dancers. The owners of this bar, truly know customer service, Grandpa Farrell would have been proud, they even let me use their phone to wish my grandpa a happy birthday. The brought us pitcher after pitcher, and chatted it up with us for quite some time. After the music was over, we had meet the whole restaurant crew, (about 7, including one of the owner’s mother) and I could not stomach anymore sangria (very sweet), we decided to head home with the promise to return very soon.
finding a place to sleep in punta del este
cam and preston, in their efforts to plan for a trip the day before departure, did not spend a great amount of time researching hostels. we noticed that La Barra was punta del este’s premier party district, so we decided to reserve a $15/ night hostel in that area.
our decision was first put into doubt when cam later noticed that La Barra was 10km outside of punta, but we figured that we would stay nearer to the the nightlife and have to deal with transportation during daylight hours rather than vice versa.
our decision was next put into question when we disembarked from the bus, and were informed that the taxi ride would be a large fraction of our room costs. but we continued on.
our decision was then put into question when our driver informed us that La Barra’s nightlife is only open during high season- which would occur about two weeks later. The driver then took a sharp left and took off down a dirt, tree-lined, vacant looking road.
our decision was confirmed as wrong as we alighted from the taxi and were greeted by a chorus of what sounded like wailing cats- which turned out to be a large population of frogs. we decided to pay the cancellation fee and relocated to a hostel in downtown punta del este.
Strangely enough, cam had stayed at the hostel when she had visited punta del este before. it is in an excellent location, about 2 blocks from the beach, and our room had an ocean view. Luckily, our first night, we four were the only guest in our six-person bedroom, and all but preston spread out their things and used the other beds as storage. Our extra closet space was stolen from us the next day when we had two Basques inhabit the area (“mmm… basques…” was what zach forcefully referred to them as). Even given our new roommates, the hostel was a vast improvement over the former and we were happy to stay there. even though zach’s pillow had mold on it.
montevideo
we left Buenos Aires last sunday to cross into uruguay. Cam and Em, used to the porteno lifestyle, were not able to fall asleep until well after three, making their 6:00am wakeup particularly difficult. we met up with Zach and Preston, and boarded to buquebus (again, ferry) to montevideo.
The ride was uneventful, and once we pulled into port, we headed directly to the bus station to purchase tickets to Punta del Este, the beach town that would be our final destination. We then returned to montevideo center, and after being slightly ripped off by the taxi driver (it appeared to be a situation where he received money from restaurant owners to bring tourists to a certain area of town. While we were pissed– and later aware– that he took us about a mile past our intended drop-off point, we refused to dine at any of the establishments). However, we failed to find our restaurant of choice, and wandered around looking for an open restaurant on a sunday. We finally found a rather unremarkable locale, ate, and spent the rest of our time in montevideo walking along the water.
We returned to the bus terminal, and decided to start our 2 hour trip off right– with vodka, sippy cups, and uruguay’s famous “agua helado” brand alfajores (cam and zach’s newest obsession). Nothing was a disappointment.
Arvey go… a uruguay!
Although we have been here little more than 2 full months, tomorrow we are making the obligatory pilgrimage across the Rio de la Plata into Uruguay. Those of us who choose to remain in Argentina long-term must do one of three things within a three-month period in which our tourist visa is applicable: continue to stay in the country illegally (although a popular and very easy option, staying will pose a problem when we try to get visas to Brazil), pay a fee to extend the visa, or exit the country—most popularly to Uruguay.
We had planned to cross over into Colonia when cam’s family comes to visit, but after talking to a friend here, we were informed that nearly all of the buquebus (ferry) rides were booked solid through December (Uruguay is a major summer destination for Argentines as well). Upon inspection, we found it impossible to book a buquebus ticket for 5 people, and we spontaneously decided on Thursday that we should book passages for this weekend.*
We decided to travel with Preston and Zach (now recurring characters… you should recognize them from past posts) and just one day after our decision to go, we booked our tickets and hostel. And it’s lucky we chose this weekend—there are so few spaces on the buque in the coming weeks, and next week starts the high season in the hostels (with prices double what they are now).
We are leaving early tomorrow morning, crossing into Montevideo, and we will spend the day there before taking a two-hour (and $4) bus into Punta del Este, the elite (and rather snobby) beach destination in South America. We’ll stay there three nights until we take a five-hour bus ride into Colonia, walk around the city, and head back to BA—just in time to make one day of class for the week!
We’ll try to update while we’re gone… but if we can’t, just imagine us lounging on a beach (possibly the one pictured above in Punta del Este), ideally with drinks in hand and perhaps a few rounds of beach volleyball.
*Another option to cross is by bus, but because of the political climate between Argentina and Uruguay at the moment, there have been constant blockades of the bridges. It would be too unreliable to attempt to book bus and hostel tickets, and then be turned away when trying to cross.
San Antonio De Areco
Last weekend we went on our second day trip (after tigre). We were ready to get out of the city and explore Argentina outside of greater Buenos Aires. We didn’t want to travel far (aka a long bus ride) so we decided to visit San Antonio De Areco. It is only a two-hour bus ride from Buenos Aires, and costs about 20 pesos each way, which isn’t too bad. San Antonio De Areco is a small town known for its gaucho population and historic pride.
We left the city around 8 in the morning, (which I still can’t believe we made, as I hardly ever make my 9 o’clock class) and arrived in San Antonio around 11. Cameron’s classmates-turned-friends Preston and Marian accompanied us. As we got off the bus we had no clue where to go… since I knew we were in a small town I decided to use my good old tactic of following strangers who look like they might be going the same way I want to go… lo and behold it worked perfectly and we found the “city” center. As we were walking towards the central plaza/park we noticed many bikers and decided that we had better rent some bikes (Cam and I were missing our bikes from home). The four of us rented bikes for the day and upon recommendation headed towards an asado in the country, (unfortunately we were hungry early, and the parilla was not fired up to grill meta when we got there). The restaurant was very cute and although most of their menu was not available due to the time of day, we all had excellent meals accompanied with a refreshing bottle of white wine, which started off our day with a relaxing buzz. After lunch, we strolled about ten feet away from our table to sun chairs and sunbathed/digested for a little over an hour. I began to get antsy as I noticed our bikes resting against the tree, and forced the whole group to end the tanning session early so we could explore the town a bit more… also Marian and I had decided we were going to go horse back riding and since it has always been a dream of mine… I was very excited.
We crossed the town river, and were able to find a place where we could ride horses for 10 pesos! So cheap. Anyhow Marian, Preston and I mounted our horses, and Cameron decided to get a bit more sun instead,,, she has a dislike for large animals…but she does love sheep! I must say although it was exciting, the instructor only took us along a dirt road, and in a crowd of about 15, the main view I had was of the horse’s behind in front of me. My horse was the smallest of the bunch. Also, my horse was extremely hungry, and I had no knowledge of how to “steer” the horse, it continually went off the path to munch on nearby greens. It was a bit stressful. Coupled with the bike riding, we were all pretty sore after we dismounted the horses.
After the horse riding, we returned to the bikes, and continued exploring the town. As we biked through the town we stopped at various stores to look at local gaucho goods, I purchased a pair of shoes that I had been eyeing for weeks down here in Argentina, and a key chain with a horseshoe,,, I need all the luck I can get with my keys, as I always seem to loose them! Cam bought a few things as well… but they cannot be mentioned in such a public place, as they are Christmas gifts for her family. (George and Jody… you had better be excited).
After a long long long bike ride, where we were able to see some of the local housing, a creepy fair like place with rides, sheep… and many more things. Around 7 we returned the bikes and sat down for a VERY early dinner. We ate some semi-cold asado and ensalada. Once again our timing was off for the meal, and we had to catch the bus at 8, so we had no other choice. The meat was good, but unfortunately was mostly fat, so we were not able to get much meat. Oh well.. maybe next time.
The ride home went quickly as we slept the whole way.
we created an album for anyone who is interested…
 |
| San Antonio De Areco |
EDITORS NOTE—Emma thinks that Cam should write about one of her spastic adventures of the trip, so here goes: while our bikes were great for getting around, they were not necessarily in pristine condition. (in other words, we should be thankful that San Antonio had no hills, little traffic, and no major intersections). Cam’s breaks were particularly poor, and often she had to use her foot to stop. As we were riding down one particularly quaint little street, Preston decided to stop to take a photo. However, Cam did not notice until too late, and, as she attempted to grab at the limp breaks, she ran full head on to Preston and his bike. Needless to say, no one was hurt, but everyone gave Cam plenty of space to navigate after this point.
Success in China Town
We decided to bus over to Buenos Aires’ China town… which is about three blocks long, if that. We were on the search for hot chilies. After we arrived we stopped by a few small grocery stores but were miserably unsuccessful. As we were beginning to loose hope we asked a man who owned a herbal remedy store, if there was a place we could find hot chilies. He pointed about half a block down the street to a bright red grocery store called Casa China. He also warned us that if we buy hot chilies, we shouldn’t touch our eyes after cooking with them, so thoughtful. We wandered down a bit and found the store; at first we were skeptical until we found the lush supply of fresh chilies and rather sparse supply of dried chilies (but… better than nothing). Along with chilies we also were able to find hot sauce; we were in HEAVEN. I was able to snap a few photos before being reprimanded by the store security guard… oops. Anyhow, we want to thank all those who made our spicy tortilla soup possible, with a special thanks to China Town. We will definitely be back!
Also, the Soup was a success. Cameron made Enchiladas for the first time and they were amazing. Almost as good as JP’s. We have been eating Mexican food now for the past four days, but we are NOT complaining. Our dinner guests have also requested a repeat in a few months. Maybe next time we will get our timing down a bit better, as most of the food was hardly done by the time our guests arrived, and the kitchen was a mess!
The food tasted even better the next day, and the next, and the next. Tonight we will finish the last of it, before we leave Argentina for Uruguay.
NOTE: this is a lie. We **still** have leftovers. We plan to take it on the ferry to Uruguay and have salsa, chicken, and rice for breakfast tomorrow. mmm…
