Buenos Aires reviewed

So, we got the bright idea to write our own reviews for some Hostels, Restaurant and Activities we've enjoyed (or not) while in Buenos Aires, just to put that Lonely Planet rag to shame. Dallé!

CHEZ LULU
Beware of anyplace that refers to itself as "trendy" in its literature. It will cost you. No, this place was nice, if a bit pricey. Really we ended up there out of laziness to carry our stuff any further on the first day we were in town. We realized the higher rates were based on its location- a quiet sidestreet in Palermo that no one drives down, as well as ammenities such as a good breakfast in the morning with real coffee, and a chocolate on your pillow. We only stayed one night. (emerson)
Chez Lulu was tres trendy. it was nice having our own room though, and the breakfast was definitely posh by "breakfast included" Bs. As. standards. we had real fresh squeezed juego de naranja and croissant and pan dulce as opposed to croutons lubricated with dulce de leche that take chunks out of the roof of your mouth when you try to eat them, washed down with some lukewarm tang, traditional hostel fare... (genevieve)
CASA BUENOS AIRES
Sebastian at Casa Buenos Aires is a high strung, very friendly chap. He's got two of Palermo Viejo's best hostels under his control. Both Casa Buenos Aires 1 and 2 are clean and quiet with the latter having a better location and a really fancy interior. We stayed there and it was like living in the Real World house without all the whiny Americans. Its a bit pricier than other hostals, but we would have stayed if we hadn't been kicked out. Reserve early as apparently getting a space there is quite contentious. (emerson)
Yeah, sebastian was pretty rad. he was intensely caffeinated i suspect... (genevieve)
CASA FITZROY
This hostel was kind of lame. not the hostel itself, the owners were really very nice and accommodating, but we has the most obnoxious roommates in our dorm, two swedish girls who got really wasted every night and then hung out all day in the hostel in their underwear... i know what you´re thinking guys, but seriously, they were gnarly. there was this one guy who bunked with us who was pretty cool though. he just slept all day. he was always asleep in the room. when we were checking out i finally saw him on the couch in the lobby and i was a little bummed out, you know, i wanted to remember him like he was--always sleeping. but then to my delight i noticed that he was on the couch with a book, but he wasn´t reading it, he had nodded off and was gently snoring like a babe. (genevieve)
HOSTEL CLAN
It may be scruffier, louder, and drunker than other hostels, but this is our favorite place in Buenos Aires so far. Walking in I thought it was actually a punkhouse that they had just started charging for. Between Nacho, Nela, Veronica and the others, the staff is an attractive and likeable bunch, and they are often the cause of more after-hours noise, broken bottles and broken rules than the guests. Theres a good cross-section of nationalities and languages, and everyone seems to get along and all go out together to clubs at night and on field trips during the day. If you stay a week you can get a free haircut from the tattooed Dutch punk girls that live there, and the signature "Hostel Clan" two-toned freaky haircut can be recognized all over the country. I would recommend The Clan over the much-more-famous Millhouse Hostel around the corner any day (without ever having stayed there, of course.. just on principle). (emerson)
Hostel clan is definitely the coolest place to stay in buenos aires. the employees are so rad with solid good-style points all around. not to mention we were graced with awesome fellow travellers on our stay... the one-man-band from germany who performed a delightfully un-ironic rendition of "genie in a bottle" in the lobby with a harmonica solo at the end. and there was benton--from conneticut, our late-nite conversationalist/ping pong partner. and danny and nick--a really great couple from australia. and of course the european hairstylist twins who gave emerson and me free haircuts, and who every boy i know back home would be smitten with. we hope to run into them all further along in out travels, we will be staying at hostel clan for another week in early march. (genevieve)
BIO
I love bio. we went there with georgia and we both got way too excited about seeing tofu on the menu. the food was amazing, the best vegetarian in buenos aires. orange glazed tofu with sage, roasted squash and "zanahoria", (carrots--but zanahoria sounds so much better), warm arugala salad with grilled vegetables and caramelly chantrelle mushrooms. coconut rice with raisins and almonds, and peach cobbler with ginger ice cream... service is typical buenos aires--not so hot but friendly enough that you forgive the wait. the place is relaxing with high ceilings and wooden tables--when you sit down they bring you a shot of ginger lemon juice. yum! go to bio! (genevieve)
GRANIX
On the second floor of a shopping center on the consumer clusterfuck of Ave. de Florida is an unlikely thing- a giant all-you-can eat vegetarian buffet. Its surprisingly popular with the lunch hour crowd. For 16 pesos you get a bunch of choices of mains, starch, a big salad bar, juices and desserts. Bring some hot sauce, though- most of food tends toward the bland. And some vinegar for the salad bar, as all we could find was lemon juice. At Granix you will see quite a few health conscious folks as well as some probably just there on orders from their doctor to lay off the Lomos. One portly porteno sitting next to us must have macked 7 milanesas de soya while we were sitting there. We were like "Dude, it's not necessarily healthy just because it didn't die in pain." And he was like "I know, I just love to eat!" Then we all got desserts.
(Warning- Stories in reviews are not true) (emerson)
The first time we went to granix i gave it a solid 8 out of 10--if only for the place´s mind boggling randomness... pizza with "golf sauce", (a mixture of ketchup and mayonaise--they love it here) in place of tomato sauce, curried crustless quiche with lots of lemon juice, delicious mashed butternut squash with maple syrup, pastry, and cheese--like a grilled cheese sandwich made by your friend´s stoned hippie-mom. chocolate mousse with a raspberry jello garnish... random, random, random. the second time we went the rating slipped to a 5. the novelty had worn a bit thin... just because there´s a lot of it doesn´t make it appetizing... but argentines love their tenedor libre. pasta, rice, milanesa de soja, pizza, cabbage soup... we were ready to try them all. unfortunately we went near to closing, so we were encouraged to go up and get three plates at a time so that the staff, who were all dressed like nurses, could break down the buffet. we loaded up against our better judgement and left feeling ill. (genevieve)
EL EXOTICO DE MONSERRAT
El exotico is the coolest place to eat if you´re a business man or woman and are forced to find lunch downtown--good food, which is not in abundance in the 9 de julio/plaza de mayo area. they have excellent lunch specials with an entree, coffee, and drink for 12-13 pesos, (around $4 u.s.). i also enjoyed the "ensalada macrobioteca" which was absolutely un-macrobiotic by virtue of the presence of tomatoes, but still topped with fresh soybeans, and therefore a welcome source of protein for me. free internet and good coffee too. (genevieve)
MUNDO BIZARRO
Painfully hip Palermo bar Mundo Bizarro serves authentic Sushi on Monday nights. Get there early as the place turns into a fire hazard around midnight. The interior is all red and black L.A. kitch, and the menus look like an old Mans Ruin record catalog. They were playing Calexico when we arrived, then they moved into Nu-soul and downtempo hip hop. There was something about listening to a Talib Kwali remix while eating a Salmon roll... i fell into a kind of trance. (emerson)
They were playing calexico! not los ochientas! it is so great to hear soulful contemporary music. my ears were hungry for it. plus they made me the most amazing mushroom ngiri. (genevieve)
GREEN BAMBOO
Green bamboo is so swanky-cool. we went here twice, once with georgia and the second time with our friends daniel and vince. the interior is dimly-lit and broadly "asian-themed" with a big poster of uncle ho, chinese dolls and lanterns, thai buddhas, and a painting of a hindu goddess behind the bar. i had the same thing both times--spicy vegetable curry with jasmin rice. the second time we went there we all fell in love with our beautiful waitress. she had been to the u.s. once, only to miami and nueva york--"chopping, chopping, chopping", she explained. if you go, please order the banana caramel cloud thing it will change the way you feel about desert. (genevieve)
EL GAUCHO
El Gaucho is one of dozens of interchangable tourist trap restaurants on the pedestrian mall near the obelisk. The atmosphere is horrendous, the service is reproachable, and you´ll be surrounded by families on vacation and some Argentines from the country who don't know better. It's like eating in times square. Despite all this, for 6 pesos 30 (about 2 dollars) you can get a steak and mashed potato dinner which is really quite fine. If you eat all the bread in the basket and the complimentary empanada, you are styling. (emerson)
El gaucho tricks you by luring you in with the promise of $2 steak and then charging $5-$9 for everything else on the menu including pasta. they also tack on a $1 per person "table service" charge that is not a tip. does anyone know who gets the "table service" charge? certainly not our hella-surly waitress. (genevieve)
FINE ART MUSEUM
The fine art museum is awesome, and the best part is it´s completely free! we went there with our friend daniel who highlighted some amazing paintings and sculptures for us before dashing off to meet friends. one of my favorites was a painting of adam and eve holding abel´s body in their arms, titled "el primer dolor", "the first sorrow". it almost made me cry and i don´t even believe in the garden of eden. there is also a great selection of argentine art on the second floor. the museum is big enough that you can spend hours there, but small enough that you can see everything in one visit. highly reccommended. (genevieve)
FERIA SAN TELMO
I got the most beautiful ring at the market, silver with tourmelated quartz crystal. i swear it is a magic ring. (genevieve)
The San Telmo Feria is good place to look for old records and collectables, unlike most markets around that strictly offer hippie handicrafts and jewlery that I find unpleasant to look at. I guess I´m like that. But make sure to bargain, people will try to squeeze the pesos out of you. While you are there you can go to the cafe on the corner of Etatos Unidos near the market and get a glass of red wine for 2 pesos (65 cents!). (emerson)
FERIA PLAZA CERRANO
Plaza cerrano is an open square with a lot of mediocre overpriced hipster bar/restaurants that are always crowded at night because it is the place to people-watch in palermo. but on saturdays and sundays it is transformed into a hipster fleamarket with all of the bars and restaurants giving retail space to independent clothing and jewelery designers. i was remarkably restrained and did not buy anything. emerson was not so restrained and bought a hand painted iron maiden t-shirt. can you blame him? (genevieve)
Yeah, leave it to me to find the least hip thing available. A handpainted monochrome rendering of the cover of "Powerslave" made by a hessian nerd. A magestic thing really. Aside from that, Plaza Cerrano on the weekends is like walking on to the set of Zoolander. They are playing house remixes of 80s David Bowie and people are reffering to clothes as "Importante". It's hilarious. And every single vendor sells some variant of a Rolling Stones t shirt. Literally, hundreds of different graphics. Who told these people that the Rolling Stones are cool? Did I miss something? (emerson)
CHINATOWN
I love chinatown, the whole 2 block stretch of it in the upscale neighborhood of belgrano. the markets have tofu and chili peppers and rice noodles! and jasmin rice, which is impossible to find in any supermarket! the restaurant we ate at, (we forgot the name), was average by u.s. standards, but we were so happy to have rice and soy-sauce that we totally wolfed our food down like the non-wheat-non-steak-based-ambrosia it was. (genevieve)
The Chinatown in Belgrano is way different that Chinatowns in the US in that it is clean, quiet and rather upscale. The streets don't reek of fish and the markets are clean and well-run. There is a great organic market there with many types of asian condiments and hot sauces. To get there, just take the 58 bus from 9 de Julio, then get off halfway because the driver won't tell you how to get there. Walk around and ask some guy at a street cafe how to get there and he'll tell you that youre in the complete wrong part of town. Take his directions to the subway, but two blocks away he'll chase you down and tell you he told you the wrong stop to get off at. Take the subway there and walk around Belgrano asking for directions. Most people will look at you like you just asked if they liked to sleep with Chinese people and say "No". They are assholes (unlike that guy that chased you down). Walk around for a half hour, getting further away from the Subte station, every time someone tells you it´s 2 block away, assume that its at least 7 blocks away, possibly in the other dirrection. Break down and cry when you finally lay eyes on a Chinese person. At least this is how we got there. (emerson)

next time- Puerto Iguazu

Tango in La Boca

These photos are from La Boca, the colorful, touristy area of the city which reminds one of the French Quarter.

Tango in La Boca

These guys were rocking, it sounded like afro-cuban Go Go music. We couldnt tell if they were Brasilian or what, though. Black people are a rare sight in Argentina, so we assumed they must have been from somewhere else.

I had to get this guy, their leader, he looked just like Sanford. If you dont give him a coin, he's all "You Big Dummy!"

G in La Boca.

La Boca.

some of these corrugated-tin buildings didn't get the colorful paint treatment

There she is... the Hostel "Clan".

The one man band

Was definetely playing "Genie in a Bottle"... mind blowing.

Danny and Nic... some good folks from The Clan.

These guys were fully playing an Andean cover of "Winds of Change". Genevieve made me take a picture of it, and I was like "You know, it doesn't record sound." But she was like "Shhhhhh.. it's beautiful." and then drifted away into a silent reverie.

9th de Julio during the day.

9th de Julio at night

Russian orthodox church in San Telmo.

peru avenue

Plaza De Mayo

So, the graffiti in Buenos Aires basically sucks. You mostly see shitty throw-ups everywhere that say things like "The Ramones" or "Fuera Bush" - it all looks like it was done by a retarded twelve year old whos been huffing more paint than ends up on the wall. The only redemption are some really nice stencils, some examples of (and not nearly the best ones) you can see here.
But about this whole Bush thing, here is my position- doing Anti-Bush Graffiti is pretty much the stupidest thing you can be doing with your time. What do you think happens, some square is getting into a taxi and then hes like "Whoa.. "Fuck Bush"... I never thought about it like that! I've got to do something, I'm gonna turn my car into a Bio-Diesel!" Its preaching to the choir in the most rediculous way.
In Buenos Aires most of the graffiti was done when Bush visited, which makes a bit more sense, but still. Argentina hates Bush anyway, and yet their government allows him to visit. So what do you do? Well, obviously, you give your city a barely legible jailhouse tattoo of Bush's name, so even years from now you will have a daily reminder of your political impotence. For all it´s efficacy, you might as well be writing "REAGAN SUX" and throw in a Dead Kennedys symbol.
I was going to do a "Bush Graffiti Review" for this blog, but it wasn't even funny. Lets see, theres "Fuera Bush", "Bush=Fashismo" (No, Bush is just a shitty president. Musollini was a facsist. Actually, mister 16 year old graffiti whiz, your boy Che was more aligned with fascism than Bush), then theres just "BUSH" with swastika in place of the "S" (Whoa, dude, you cracked the case! Bush is a Nazi in disguise! He's gonna start up concentration camps, and then grow one of those little Moustaches! Thats when we will all see the truth, but it will be too late).
My most hated example of this was the wishy-washy "Patria, Si! Bush, No!". "Patria" means "mother country". I couldn't tell if this rebel was pro-Argentina or just into nationalism in general. Hes like "Hey, I like blind patriotism as much as the next guy, but this Bush is too much.".
The one you see above was probably the best one I found. At least this guy put some effort into it, gave it a nice look, and "50 Barrels of Oil"- thats funny.

I loved that - "Noentiendo"- "I don't understand". The greek looking one says "Why do you voyage the long sea?" It was part of a series based on the Odyssey (i think) that you could see all over.

most of this is from the same alley

Genevieve loved this one, something about Che being an irrelevant icon, with about as much meaning as Marilyn Monroe.

one cool penguin.

some really nice thangs

STENCIL ALLEY

Click here to read about the begining of my search for rare 60s Argentine rock LPs in Buenos Aires on White Animal

buenos aires 2

we are back in the city, this time staying downtown in a hostel called "the clan". despite the questionable name it is actually a very cool place, kind of a DIY punkhouse hostel with writing and bizarro art all over the walls. plus, everyone who works here appears to live here and share the same cannister of manic panic fuschia shock hair dye.
i like staying downtown a lot more than staying in palermo "hollywood". downtown you see a much wider cross section of the population, people who appear to actually eat, age, and work... which is very refreshing. it's certainly more crowded and a little grittier, but i feel more in my element here.
i was having a pretty rough time here for the first week or so, having panic attacks, crying jags, and howard hughes-esque phobia experiences. i don't know if it was my body, being (typically) sensitive to the change in hemisphere, my unpleasant reaction to a sudden wheat-based diet, 30th birthday anxiety, or PMS... but to everyone who was aware of my nervous breakdown, and who was worried i would like to apologize, and assure you all that i am much better now. i am even beginning to get excited about being here, discovering the city, and going down south to maybe see some penguins.
thank you so much mom for the journal, it was just what i needed right now.
much love to everyone.

Hola, Chicos!

Something I like about Argentina is how everyone refers to you as "Chicos"- kids. It´s like in Italy when they call you "Regazzi". Every time it makes you feel like you are a part of a band of scruffy, ragtag misfits. Like at any minute you´re all gonna put on overalls, roll up your sleeves, go down to that old abandoned lot, clean it up and turn it into a baseball field.

Because it´s summer here, most of the content on TV right now is American movies and shows with subtitles. They have like 10 channels playing unedited movies all day and night, everything from obscure indie gems to the crappiest hollywood disasters. And softcore porn in the middle of the day.
Plus they will show pratically entire seasons of American shows back to back, I think just to fill space. This can work in your favor on days like yesterday when it was too hot to do anything but lay around and they happened to be showing episode after episode of "Arrested Development". Genevieve was sure it was a birthday gift from the universe to her.
Still you have to wonder if Argentinians appreciate watching nothing but American programming all the time. Comedy must not be as funny if you have to read subtitles the whole time. Only certain movies and popular series like "Sexo en el Ciudad" and "Los Simpsons" are dubbed (and a lot of the laughter there I think comes from the inappropriate casting of voice actors- the worst is when they have to dub for black people... they don´t know what to do).
A few days ago, Georgia´s roomates were staring at "Scooby Doo: the Movie". Loli turned to us and asked "Why does your country make movies like this?"
We could only shrug and say, "Los Sientos."

!Feliz Compleanos!

G'vieve`s Big Birthday started with a Full Moon at Midnight last night (at the most annoying hostel in the world). But now we`re back at our favorite hotel in Puerto Iguazu, just had a leisurely Italian lunch and will be by the pool for the rest of the day. The number at our hotel is (54-3757) 42-0338 / 0829 (one number is for reservations and the other is the front desk, not sure which is which) ROOM Number 32, G would really love to hear from anybody who can call.

Milanesas Nepoliana

So, i had to do it. I had to order Milanesas Nepoliana, just to see if it really was what I thought. It was. A huge chicken fried steak. Covered in melted cheese. And a slice of ham. And tomatoes. Drizzled with olive oil. Served with a side of fries. And Salsa Golf (Ketchup and Mayonaise mixed). I ate it and then died. A happy man.

Iguazu Falls, Missiones

So we finally made it to the falls after 5 days of laziness in Puerto Iguazu. But we did it for real: Some Australian guys gave us secret directions to the dopest locals-only spot where you can swim under the falls. If anyone is going there, here it is-- Head down to where the boats go across to Isla San Marten. Take the boat across and head up the stairs that lead up in the forest on the island. Turn left and keep going a little ways. You will reach an observation point with a railing and a 'Do not Enter sign'. Ignore this sign. Straight ahead for will see a big opening in the rock wall. Climb across the rocks toward this opening. Cuidado, Miho! At the top you'll see a wrecked metal boat. Pass through the opening in the rock and turn right. You can swim in all the pools, and it's safe to cross from one to the next. The rocks block the edge so you can't get swept up. Go to the 3rd pool and you can get under one of the big falls. Enjoy!

Iguazu

There is a real name for these little scavangers, but they will be heretofore known only as �the dudes�.

Yes, they really are that cute.

Me and my board shorts courtesy of Mohegan sun Casino. Dont ask.

Suzy at the �secret� spot.

Dude looks paunchy.. too many Milanesas?

Georgia wanted a shot of her near the falls. This is as close as she wanted to get.

Why do Georgia and I look like we�re ready to kill someone? (thats Suzy on the left)

These were taken the first day Georgia went.. it wasn�t nearly as sunny today.

Da Fallz

¨Que Pasa, Negro?!¨

Maybe the funniest moment in B.A. so far came when G, Georgia and I were out walking one night. We were in ¨Palermo Hollywood¨, a trendy part of the city filled with overpriced bars and ¨anorexic bitches¨. We were between bars and talking about the weird subtle ways of racial discrimination in Latin American countries. I was telling Georgia about how in Puerto Rico the darker skinned people were considered ¨Black¨ and the lighter, more European people were ¨White¨.
¨But, like in the states,¨ I went on, ¨people don't throw those terms around. Unless-¨
A group of young guys was passing us and, of course, hollering at the white girls- ¨Hola Chicas!¨
I continued, totally unaware. ¨-unless they´re like ´QUE PASA, NEGRO?!¨ with each other.¨
The guy who had been hollering sputtered and recoiled, like ¨Los sientos!¨-¨I´m sorry.¨
My reading had been convincing enough to make them think they had just hit on the hoes of an unlikely looking short white Puerto Rican gangster on vacation and they looked unnerved.
We laughed though, about how they probably bragged afterwards and felt so much street cred for having been called a ¨Negro¨.

comida sin carne es comida sin sabor

oh it has been rough--finding things to eat outside of the realm of pizza, overcooked pasta, and bizarro salads with white vinegar or this strange imposter balsamic, and oil, (georgia swears that it´s olive oil, albeit cheap olive oil, i maintain that it´s crisco vegetable oil because it is the color and flavor of dried-out grass). being a vegetarian in south america is interesting. it has helped me improve my spanish though--being forced to navigate the inevitable jamon that is in everything--as georgia, a fellow vegetarian, said to me, "everything is a ham sandwich".
there are very few protein options for vegetarians. one thing that can be found on some menus is a dish called, "milanesa do soja", a fake chicken patty, usually two of them, served over lettuce. it´s not so bad, but not so good either. huevos are the way to go--i´ve been eating at least two a day--thank god i have freakishly low blood pressure and cholesterol.
a very sad sad thing about argentine cuisine is the lack of spice--by spice i mean spiciness--pepper. you won´t find chilis in any dish...ever. garlic and onions are about as racy as it gets, there isn´t even black pepper in the food or on the tables in restaurants. G, E, and i went out for delicious vietnamese food and georgia and i ordered "extra spicy" curry which was wonderfully flavorful, but the heat of the dish would could have been rivaled by a jar of prego. so when emerson and georgia and i went to a health-food store in buenos aires the next day, emerson and i bought a packet of dried chilis and a bottle of hot sauce, (how exotic)--to be carried with us and added liberally to everything we consume.
now we are in puerto iguazu--near to the border with brazil and emerson and i have a very favorite restaurant-juicebar called el maracuya, which translates to either "passion-fruit", or "guava"--we´re not sure. our waiter is awesome, he serves up delicious soy hamburgers and "maracuya" smoothies and has promised to name two new juices after emerson and i respectively. he also blasts downloaded radio-friendly versions of 50 cent. we love it there. it´s all about the juice and 50 cent.

The Cat Park

One thing that Genevieve insisted on doing in Buenos Aires was visit the botanic gardens. We already knew that this park wasn't known for any botanics, but for it´s unlikely hospice to about a million cats. OK, not a million, but you couldn´t be sure walking through.
G said it was like an Easter Egg hunt. Cats and kittens could be spotted at every fifth step, attending to various feline industries. Like laying around, rubbing against people, and walking on fences. Plus mewling, preening and guarding their young. We tried to play a game where we would make up a name for every one, we got as far as ¨Dirty Dave¨, ¨Baby Cow¨, ¨Dulce de Leche¨, and ¨Bruce¨ but it got tiresome as the cats came from every direction. They were mostly very friendly and would love to be pet. They had a great repartee and understanding of communication with humans, having lived in the city center their whole lives. Some would come up and whine, as if complaining about the troubles and annoyances they faced living in the park. We saw that a few had bandages and shaved patches. Veterinarians volunteer to come work on and probably fix the cats.
A few nights after we arrived, so did violent thunderstorms that brought insane waves of soaking rain. We fled away from Plaza Cortazar, flew back our hostel, stripped out of our sopping clothes, shied away from the air conditioner, and listened to the rain hammer the vast tin roof making an epic and terrifying noise.
We loved the dip in the soaring temperature and the babbling sound of rain on the roof, but then it occurred to us. What about the cats? They HATE rain! What do they do in these situations? They must have a contingency plan.
Over the next few days of eating and drinking, hanging around while the rain went on and off again, we mused about it. Do they all have a little ledge to stand under? A tree? Are they just inured to the weather? Or do they just stand there, wet and bitter, hissing at each other like, ¨Motherfucker, did you do this?¨
We went by a few days later, after we had gotten out of ¨King Kong¨ and the sky looked heavy. We looked at the ledges on the little buildings in the park... could they keep all those cats dry? No. We wondered if there was a brutal social order that reared it´s head when things got wet- big cats get the ledges, little cats can fuck off. Most of the cats seemed to be chilling, but we could feel there was a big shower on the way. One cat came up to us and seemed to be pleading for something. When we didn´t actually pick him up and take him somewhere with a roof (or a least put a raincoat or umbrella hat on him, ideas that crossed our minds, both stuck down a being unacceptable to cats), he found the nearest other people and started whining to them. The air pressure was getting rugged and everything was getting dark, so we made our way back to the entrance. There was a grey old cat standing there like a haggard security guard.
We were running toward a cafe just as the rain broke out. We fled inside and got a cappuccino. I guess we´ll never know what the cats do when it rains. As long as finding out means getting wet ourselves.

argentina!

so we arrived here in argentina a little less than a week ago. we spent about 5 days in buenos aires before deciding to head north to iguazu falls.
i have wanted badly to come here, argentina and to buenos aires in particular, ever since i fell in love with julio cortazar about 7 years ago when i read his book hopscotch. somehow buenos aires was not what i expected... i don´t know how i feel about the city just yet, and i realize that i was there for too short a time to form a clear picture of the spirit of the city and it´s people. but i can say that i did not fall in love with it in the way that i expected to. i did not recognize the buenos aires of cortazar and borges.... don´t get me wrong, it is a very beautiful and vibrant city--but it failed, initially, to inspire the awe that i have felt upon discovering great cities like bangkok, saigon, paris, or madrid. perhaps i am just not feeling like a city-mouse right now. i don´t particularly want to be anywhere that has valet parking.
the women in buenos aires made me sad. apparently buenos aires has an unusually high rate of anorexia and bulimia--the highest in latin america. many of the young women on the street are painfully underweight with little or no muscle-tone. it depressed me a lot, seeing all these bony girls with boob-jobs in skimpy tops and high-heels. i can´t relate to that picture of femininity, and beeing around it makes me kind of heart-sick. i really wish women would stop making themselves throw up.
now we are north, near to the border with brazil, and the iguazu falls. i like it here. the town is small and very mellow. people smile at you on the street and there are many stray dogs who are all low to the ground with pointy faces. tonight we went to our first parilla, a bbq of sorts where they feed you meat and more meat--chicken, pork, beef, and sausage--til you beg for mercy. we decided to eat at this particular restaurant because we had been there in the afternoon yesterday to have a snack, and we were very impressed with the family who ran the restaurant and their kindness towards children and animals. they let stray dogs lounge in the shade of the patio and the woman proprietor gave a bag of bread to a little girl who was asking for food. there are not many business owners in this world who are kind to hungry or tired children or animals.
emerson got the full parilla, with about 6 appetizers and all the meat you can eat for 18 pesos, or 6 dollars. i got spaghetti and a salad and we threw the meat scraps to the dogs. the food was not amazing, but it was really fun and relaxing.
tomorrow we are going to the falls all day. we will take pictures.

Los ochentas

Georgia first hipped us to the fact that Buenos Aires loves ¨La Musica de los Ochentas¨- 80´s music. She even told us that some hold it as a class issue- the darker people like the darker music (i.e. reggae and hip hop, reggaton, etc), while the lighter, upper classes kick back to the smooth sounds of high yellow entertainers like Billy Ocean and Lionel Richie.
Could it be directly analogous to the availablity or actual possesion of cocaine? The upper classes savor the taste of coked-up singers like Don Henley and George Michael while the rest of the city merely drinks booze and smokes an occasional joint whilst grinding to ¨Hey, Ma¨.
Whatever it is, the taste is apparant. You can´t hope to make it through a day in the city without hearing ¨Lady in Red¨, especially if you are riding in cabs. Your driver may actually be moved to the point of singing along with Air Supply or just grooving to ¨All Night Long¨.
Portenos don´t seem to tire of hearing songs in English that they don´t understand. They may even, with a few Quilmes under their belt, venture a Karaoke version of their favorites with phonetic, iterpretive, totally wrong lyrics.
In shops, ¨The Final Countdown¨ will blare without irony for it´s full, magestic running time without even a flinch of disapproval from the shopkeeper.
On an overnight bus from Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazu, G and I were treated to a DVD entitled ¨Good Times¨, featuring the videos for ¨We are the World¨, ¨Time After Time¨, and ¨Careless Whisper¨. We wondered if Portenos had been into this music when it was contemporary or had only discovered it later. Were the ¨Good Times¨ referred to the heady days of the American 80s? Or much later, when Argentina was having it´s own stock market boom, enamored of the wealth and excess found in 80´s music videos, watching dubbed copies of ¨Wall Street¨ while their government linked their Peso to the American Dollar.
Maybe they listen to this music as a fond reminder of the days before their currency went bust. Hearing Huey Lewis and the News probably stirs the same feelings in newly tax-bracket-dropped Portenos as it does in retired Wall Street brokers. Georgia, who has more of insight as she´s been here for some months, tells us that these people seem not to know how to live on a modest budget. So, for the time being at least, champagne corks will continue to pop off to the tune of ¨I´ve Had the Time of my Life¨.

Bienvenidos

¡Recepción a nuestro blog!