Buenos Aires’s Two Main Passions
Christian February 10th, 2008
Last week we were able to experience two of Buenos Aires’s passions.
Last Tuesday we booked a football “experience” with our hostel. The really did talk it up . . . “An english speaking guide, fast transportation to and from the game, premium seats, and plenty of oppurtunity to get dinner at the stadium”. This is not quite how it unfolded. When we went down to the hostel desk to pay they informed us that the price has changed from 130 pesos each to 150. This was hard for Casey and I to swallow, but we did since we were limited on time and wanted to see a football match. So then we sat and waited in the lobby for our 5 pm pickup, which by Argentinan time we should have figured it would have been closer to six.
When our guide came, we piled into an old tour tour mini bus without a suspension. We then went to pickup a few more victims. On the way to the stadium it appeared that we got lost at least three times. This was easy to figure out when our tour guide stopped the driver so that he could run out and ask locals directions. We did make some progress, we stopped by a huge group of cops that were decked out in full riot gear (shields, shotguns, helmets abd all). We had to be getting close. The driver stopped and our guide got out of the van and sprinted down the street. All of us were sitting in the tour bus waiting for 15 minutes when at last our tour guide came running back. Apparently he just did not know where to pick up the tickets.
We got to the stadium and it was chaos outside, people selling stuff and chanting. Our guide tried to get us in but there was no luck, so we got to wait outside with all of the rift raft. It was becoming clear that our guide not only did not speak english, but also had no clue what the hell was going on. After 10 minutes they let us into the stadium. It was nice because we got in there before the masses started arriving. They field was very kept with very green grass. It was such a contrast to they cement no thrills (not even a scoreboard) stadium that had a moat and fences with barbed wire around the field to keep the crazy fans away from the players. We were watching Lanus play a team from Paraguay. Lanus won the league last year. The fans started to pile in, many of whom brought huge banners that they hung from the barbed wire fences. Once they game started, the fans got crazy. Bass drums started booming and they started chanting and bouncing up and down in the air in unison. Everytime they felt that the ref made a wrong call against their team, the fans would push against the fence yelling curse words in Spanish (I guess not to far off from a Philly Game). It was madness. The first half passed with nobody scoring. The fans were growing anxious. There were food vendors (who looked like hobos that were brought off the streets) that ran the isles with ´panchos´which are like hot dogs. Then came the second half. The home team scored…. sure enough over the load speaker was the deafening GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!! The fans went nuts. Then shortly following came two more goals. The home team was up three to nill and the other team had no chance. Lanus won. Three to nothing. It was a good match to watch.
The next ¨Passion¨that we were able to experience was the Tango. We did not know where to find a show, so we went to the place in the guide book. We arrive to ¨The Cadillac of Tango Cafes¨and were surely underdressed. Casey and I in our very limited selection of clothes show up to a cafe in which girls and guys are dressed to impressed and we are wearing our worn looking North Face gear. We are okay with it, but we think it contributed to us being sat in the back corner for the show with a couple from Brazil. It was wierd… this couple was already having a romantic evening with champaign and they sit us at the same table as them. The girl spoke some English, so we conversed for a bit. She was into her second bottle and already little miss chatty cathy. Her boyfriend did not to seem to be drinking any of the champaign, just beer. Her talking continued into the show, which stunk since we were already in the way back and could barely see. The show itself was great. I thought that the Tango was purely dance. A lot of the Tango has to do with the music and the lyrics in the songs. It was entertaining, a story unfolded throughout the show. It was good. We just wish we could have been closer. Everywhere you go in Buenos Aires, you can see signs for Tango lessons. It was much more mild then the football, but enjoyable none the less.
- Argentina
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