living la vida boca

Hey!

I will attempt to catch you up on my recent comings and goings.

Savina the tutor came by yesterday for some castellano lessons They don't call it Spanish here probably b/c they have pleasently Frankensteined the language into something that is uniquely their own. The lesson got off to a rough start as it was interrupted by plumbers that came to fix a water heater. The plumbers were on the cell phone with their boss, the land line was being used to talk to the landlord's mother who actually owns the place and the skype phone was being used to talk to the landlord. Thus began this weird triangulation between the three of them and the three phones with the tutor doing translations as needed. The higlight of the lesson though was when I used the word "coger" which I believed to be the verb to get, she stopped me dead in my tracks and said "no no no cojer Cleef, in Spain yes ok cojer but here in Ar-hen-tina cojer is to fuck ok?." She said this without the slightest bit of embarrassment, very matter of fact. Genius. I wish I had it recorded because it would make a great ringtone for cell phone back home.

Last night we watched the All Star Game and the Argentina vs Paraquay game in Belgrano at a guy named Cave's house. Cave needs a little introduction. We had people over the house two nights ago for food and drinks. Cave was a freind of a new friend who showed up much later. Yesterday morning he phones the house and says "It's Cave I met you last night. I don't remember your name." After reminding him of my name he proceeds to ask if he can borrow the VCR!" I mean who does that? He's nice enough alright and invited people over for some sports since he has Direct TV here. I must admit that both games were good. Saw an in the park homer in the first game and the football came down to penalty kicks.

This morning I left and braced myself for the cold air and was pleasantly surprised that the weather had returned to mild Fall weather. It was nice enough to have breakfast outside at a cafe. From there with my belly full and the sun shining I jumped into a cab and we sped down the Avenida Libretador which runs along the Rio Plate. The street is the equivalent of a super highways with 10 lanes running in the same direction yet flanked by beautiful parks and greenery. The destination was La Boca.

La Boca is the old meat packing and shipping area that sits astride El Riachuelo(River.), home to the Boca Junior football club. Yes its touristy but still visually interesting. The houses are a mix of colonial and corrugated metal, splashed in a funky mix of every color Krayaola Crayons puts in the box. Apparently the origins of this aesthetic is that the locals not being able to afford paint would take the paint left over from the painting of ships and barges and use it on their houses. Now however this is mostly kept up for the sake of tourist who come and snap pictures on the Caminito which is the main drag.

After walking around a bit I took a tour of the La Bombonera which is the home of the venerated Boca Juniors. It wasn't much of a tour at all. It was a bunch of rabid Boca fans who were content to pay 6 pesos for the pleasure of sitting in the stands and watch two grounds keeper water the grass. The lack of anything interesting going on didn't seem to stop people from pulling out their cell phones and tacking pictures. I did manage to learn the term Brava Barra which basically translates to Soccer Hooligan so all was not for nought. Walking back down the Caminito a man put his fedora on my head pushed me closer to his tango partner. This old scam I was thinking when I noticed how incredibly hot his tango parter was. She threw her leg over mine and contorted me into some classical tango position at which point I handed the man my camera in order to take pictures. I handed him a couple pesos, returned his hat and took another look at the tango temptress before grabbing a cab out of there.

After that I headed to Congresso which as the name implies is the seat of the government. Congresso has a different feel than some of the other barrios. It is akin to Midtown Manhattan, sidewalks teeming with people and every conceivable type of store selling anything from beds and consumer electronics to socialist propaganda. You had the feeling that 'if it exists in Argentina one could find it in Congresso.'
I was very much looking forward to seeing the Teatro' Colon which is a masterpiece of an opera house, it was the largest opera house in the Southern Hemisphere until the Sydney Opera House went up. I was disappointed to find that not only was it closed for renovations for one year but the facade was covered in scaffolding and black scrim. I guess they didn't know I was coming. I got to see the obligatory protest march in Plaza de Congreso, apparently this is an almost daily if not hourly occurrence for some cause of another.

I have noticed this interesting phenomenon of cafe deliveries here. It is not uncommon to see a waiter or waitress on the street ferrying around a tray with a plastic lid and a few cups of cafe con leche inside. How cool is that to order coffee delivery and get real mugs and saucers brought to your door? I intend to order in coffee from a local tommorrow just to see how this works.

Anyway tonight its off to see Argentina vs Mexcio on the big screen.

Some pics from today can be found HERE



Ciao
Cleef