A Very Argentine Day

Last Sunday, still with my family, we had a very Argentine day. I woke up early and hopped on the subte (subway) to go running in the ecological reserve. However, it had rained and since everything shuts down when it rains here, the reserve was closed. I basically ran in giant circles for 8 miles, but it was a nice run, especially since running here is quite a challenge.

After my run, we went to Boca to see a soccer game. Being in Latin America, soccer is obviously a huge deal. David said "its like a religion here." So we headed down to the poor barrio of Boca, which is known for its pickpockets, its colorful houses (the picture on the top of my blog is on the main tourist street of Boca) and their soccer team, the Boca Juniors. Officially they are CABJ, club atlético boca junior. They are one of two giant rival teams, the other being River Plate. (I love that their names have english in them, and especially how people pronounce them in english!) My friend Nate had mentioned to me much earlier that he was going to be a fan of whatever team his family is a fan of. He's Boca. My family is also Boca; my host mom said "no one even likes River Plate anyways," so I'm Boca too. The stadium is called La Bonbonera, meaning candy box, because it's small and everyone is squished together. Because it's in this not-so-safe neighborhood and also because Boca fans are crazy, we had a package deal with a tourist program. This meant that we went to the Boca museum, which actually was kind of lame, and sat in the "tame" international section. The game was against Tigre, a team from a "suburb" of Buenos Aires. They tied, it was fun but not really as raucous as it would be if it were a big rivalry game. Apparently Boca is not so good this season, and the best player is said to basically play by himself because no one else is any good. Nonetheless, David and I got into the spirit of the game with Boca shirts.

Moving on to the next typical tourist activity, we attended a tango show that night. Unlike a milonga, where people can go and dance, you sit at a table and eat and drink and watch while people dance and sing. The music was live and really good, and the actual tango was pretty impressive too. This show was cool because it went through the history of the tango--from the brothels to the immigrants to the milongas to modern tango. Not knowing much about tango it all kind of looked the same to me except in different costumes. But don't get me wrong, tango is SO cool. I wish I could dance it but I'd need years of practice to be any good. Contrary to popular belief most Argentines, lamentably, don't know how to tango. Somehow it remains an important part of their culture. I think part of it is that tango music is ubiquitous. My one complaint about the tango show was that the singing was unimpressive. At a street performance the month before I'd heard this great, modern tango group perform and the singers at this show, though talented, did not compare. I have since gone out and bought the group's cd. They're called Sexteto Milonguero, and here is a link to a video of them playing at a famous milonga that I have been to. The singer is great, as is their accordion player. 

I have so much more to share, having since this day been to Patagonia and back, and heading tomorrow to Iguazú, the world's largest waterfalls. I've put lots of pictures up on facebook so if you're dying to see more head over there. 

Un beso a todos,
Rachel