Don't cry for me Argentina...

Buenos Aires (Congreso District), Argentina

March 26, 2007
S 34°36.583
W 058°23.472

Well, we’re in Buenos Aires, an international city with various cuisines and we are definitely ready for a change. Don’t get me wrong, the beef is really damn good. However, everyone knows you can’t eat beef and ice cream every night if you want to live to be 40. Marc wants to see this milestone; now only ten days away.

We took a bit of a risk on dinner and tried a Mexican restaurant we spotted earlier in the day as we strolled through the local streets. We haven’t had Mexican food since Quito, Ecuador, but we haven’t had “real” Mexican since we left San Francisco. I can’t say this was authentic, it was good, but a little overpriced and not as tasty as Nick’s Crispy Tacos or La Taqueria at home. We were pleasantly surprised when the salsa actually had a little kick to it. Spicy food is uncommon in most of South America; in fact pepper doesn’t even accompany the salt shaker on the table. We drenched our little tacos in the tasty sauce, probably shocking the staff when we used the whole bowl. We were happy we tried the Mexican place, it should hold us over until we get back to San Francisco in a few weeks.

We went to bed our first night in Buenos Aires to heavy thunderstorms that caused a black-out as far as we could see from our seventh floor window. (Thank goodness our place had back-up generators in place.) The view of the dark streets and silhouettes of the park and government buildings were surreal against the black night skies. The occasional lightening bolt provided a flash of light through the buildings before turning everything dark again. The cars on the street in front of our hotel kept moving through the dark traffic lights; barely slowing to see if anyone was coming from the other direction.

Luckily, the skies were clear when we woke up this morning, at least for awhile. Our main goal for the day was to find the ticket office to purchase our Boca Juniors tickets. We wanted to see some of the main sights along the way, so we planned our path accordingly. We started from the Plaza de Congreso, which is practically in front of our hotel, and headed down towards the Plaza de Mayo. Along the way we crossed the largest intersection in the world—10 lanes in each direction (20 lanes total)!

From the intersection, we wandered towards the beautiful rose building, Casa Rosada, which we were pleased to see is currently being renovated. The back of the building opens up to the Plaza de Mayo where many of Argentina’s heated protests take place. A balcony overlooks Plaza de Mayo where Argentine leaders (including Juan and Eva Peron; also known as Evita) have addressed massive crowds. In fact, Madonna filmed the movie “Evita” from the historical balcony.

Over the weekend, Plaza de Mayo was the site of a huge protest in remembrance of 30,000 people who went “missing” in what is termed the Dirty War; during the years of the Argentinean government being ruled by a military regime. Demonstrators, known as Madres de la Plaza Mayo, meet in Plaza de Mayo religiously on Thursdays at 3:30 PM to encourage a full account of the atrocities from the war.

We made our way towards the “shopping mecca” of Florida Street to find the Boca Juniors ticket office. The mass of people, tourists and locals, is somewhat reminiscent of New York’s Times Square on a slightly smaller scale. After swimming through the crowds for 10 blocks we finally found the ticket office and secured two tix for Saturday’s match. We still need to buy a jersey—we don’t want to get mobbed for wearing the wrong color… imagine going to an Oakland Raider game wearing a John Elway jersey.

Wandering through the city, we were pleased to see the City of Buenos Aires and the Country of Argentina is putting money into restoring several of their historical monuments. This is a good first step since graffiti currently plagues many of their national monuments, and by restoring the monuments one would hope it gives those in the city a sense of civic pride to protect these gorgeous buildings.

It’s shocking to see so many stunning landmarks riddled with political scribbles and garbage. These buildings would be equivalent to the Lincoln Memorial or The Washington Monument, yet they are spray-painted and defaced. Unfortunately this seems to be socially accepted; with no sense of urgency to remove the offending graffiti.

The construction may also give hope to the people of Argentina that their economy is on the road to recovery. It is easy to forget, in the hustle and bustle of Buenos Aires, that Argentina’s unemployment rate hovers between 17-23% and 51% of the country’s population lives below the poverty line. However, you’re quickly reminded of the troubles as you make your way out of the financial district, back towards the Congreso building. There are people sleeping in doorways and cardboard boxes — there’s a small shantytown of blue plastic tarpaulin and shopping carts right in the middle of Plaza de Congreso.

Overall, we had a great day meandering through the city streets, enjoying the European feel of Buenos Aires. The city not only houses some incredible European architecture, but the culture of the people in the city has a European feel—tables line the streets of the city, dinners tend to be late and are truly for the experience, their love for dance/theater, and their pride of being Argentinean.

Other quick notes: If you want hardcore porn, not a problem… they sell it right at the newsstands on the streets of Buenos Aires. Watch your step… you’ll find huge piles of dog poop on the street; apparently picking up your dog’s poop is too big of a hassle. Lastly, Marc hasn’t received a haircut in at least three weeks. His hair is longer than it has been since I met him.