Buenos Aires: It’s a Wrap

When we arrived in Buenos Aires seven weeks ago on January 14th it was the middle of the summer. The days were incredibly hot, there were special concerts and free programs all over the city and many locals were on vacation. Our last two weeks in BA signified the end of summer: kids went back to school, the days became a bit cooler and fall fashions started to hit the streets.

As we prepared to leave BA on March 1st we were feeling both sad to leave the city – a place we’d been calling home – and excited to experience Patagonia, the next chapter in our adventure. The pulse of BA no longer seemed so foreign to us and we now appreciate its seemingly random and, at times nonsensical, rhythm of life.

Tango

I had a lot of fun taking tango lessons at my school. While I only learned the basic steps of this beautiful dance, I looked forward to my lesson each week. Our instructor was great and she never once commented on my tennis shoes (imagine how good I’d be in heels! Ha). Argentine’s love their tango so much you can find the steps embedded into the sidewalk on one of the main streets. Harry’s cousin Ellen and her husband Amin were also into tango, so on several occasions we went to clubs to take beginner lessons. One night we went to a cultural center for a free lesson followed by a professional performance. The dance and music are so beautiful!

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Teatro Colon

Over 100 years old, this beautiful theater is ranked one of the top five concert venues in the world for its acoustics. The horseshoe auditorium is an incredible place to see an opera, orchestra or ballet. Although the theater was closed for summer and we were unable to attend a performance, the tour was wonderful and we were lucky enough to hear the house orchestra practicing.

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A few days later we followed a tip from one of our classmates and heard the house orchestra perform a free concert in an outdoor amphitheater in one of the bigger city parks. There were over 2,000 attendees enjoying the beautiful music at dusk.

Carnival

A few weeks ago we knew there were Carnival street celebrations at numerous locations around the city. After we ate dinner we followed a stream of people and were lucky enough to happen upon a celebration with three Murgas (bands of marching percussionists and dancers representing different neighborhoods). We enjoyed the bright colors, the powerful, rock-your-spine drumming and the energetic, full-body dancing. You can’t help but be moved by the music and enthralled by the dancers.

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Dog Walkers

Yes, this is a serious business! But before you quit your day job just know that you’ll need to have your veterinarian licence and dog trainer certification before you’ll get hired. You also have to pickup all the poop your dogs leave behind. Still interested?

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Spanish

Learning Spanish will continue to be a long process, so luckily we’ll be in South America for an extended period of time. We’ve built a foundation at this point and while we can understand more than we can gracefully communicate, we still have fun practicing. Harry’s a thinker and I’m a blurter, so together we make a good team.

We hope everyone is well and surviving the cold winter. Spring is right around the corner!

Buenos Aires: Futbol Game!

February 28th, 2015

Guess who went to a professional soccer game on her last night in Buenos Aires?!

IMG_5094I was so excited to get a ticket! The home team, San Lorenzo, is one of the top five teams in the league. Their colors are red and blue stripes, so my airbnb host let me borrow his Barcelona jersey (where Messi currently plays). I love dressing the part and needless to say, I fit right in!

Buenos Aires has more professional teams than any other city in the world and they take their soccer very, very seriously. In the past there was so much violence between the fans of opposing teams that four years ago the president of Argentina restricted attendance to only fans of the home team. Therefore, it’s almost impossible to purchase tickets to a game if you aren’t already a “member” of the home team because they don’t want fans from the opposing team to “sneak” into the stadium using tickets they purchased off the streets.

Harry’s cousin Ellen, her husband Amin and I ended up buying tickets through a tour company. Although we paid a lot for our tickets, the benefits were well worth it. Our guide was fun and energetic, and he told us all about the politics of soccer in Argentina. It’s pretty mind blowing to learn how the hooligans — the actual name of the obsessed, crazy and, at times, violent fans — control a lot of things around the city (think of the mob). The tour provided transportation to and from the stadium so we didn’t need to deal with public transportation and the other 30,000 rowdy attendees. Additionally, we felt safe and it was nice having someone else deal with all the logistics for a change.

The stadium was rocking and the hooligans sang/chanted for the entire match. Unfortunately San Lorenzo lost  to San Martin (a lower ranked team) 1-2. We felt pretty lucky when our guide whisked us out of the crowded stadium into the safety of our van.

What a rush! I will never forget this experience!

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