Buenos Aires!!

a blue whale that washed up in Colonia in the 80s
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Hello!!

Finally getting round to writing this thing! Today is our last day in Buenos Aires, which we have been enjoying to the max(imo), and tonight we start the first leg of our trip up Bolivia... a 22h bus journey, fun fun!

We’ve been staying in the bohemian barrio, neighbourhood, which has been lovely to wander, with a lively antiques market, and in a hostel that has free internet. Everywhere is covered in graffiti, but not stupid tags and crap like at home, here it’s all witty political comments and pretty cartoons... seriously, I’ve never been anywhere so politicised! Everyone is so clued up and interesting to talk to! We’ve already come across 3 political marches, complete with drums and dancing, and a free concert put on by the Madres... more on these admirable ladies later! On Thursday we went on a tour of the city, with a difference – it was taken by social and political science students, and linking the political past of the country to the present, so explaining the meaning of the graffiti, and taking us to some more out of the way ‘sights,’ such as a recently unearthed torture camp under a flyover in the centre of the city, and to the workers union where Evita worked, and where we were shown around by this ANCIENT man, who WEPT as he spoke of Evita. Seriously, he spoke of her with more reverence than priests speak of God. It was amazing! Laura of course felt bare prepped up, since she had watched the musical the night before, having brought the DVD with her all the way from Phnom Penh... the fact that she was the only one left in the room at the end had nothing at all to do with her singing along to every (yes, every) song. Nuh uh. We ate lunch in a Peronismo themed restaurant, where surprisingly we were not surrounded by hoardes of tourists, but many a suited business lunch. We finished up in the Plaza de Mayo ('masho'... we've been working those Argentine accents), the focus of hundreds of demonstrations over the years, and where the Madres, the mothers of those who disappeared during the dictatorship, still hold a peaceful protest every Thursday... and this year is their 30th anniversary. A very interesting day! This was a total contrast to our other city tour, a cycle tour... crossing SIXTEEN LANE motorways in the RUSH HOUR, sans helmet.... ah!!! I think Rebecca’s hands are still clawed from gripping the handle bars in TERROR. I liked it though!!

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On Friday we spent the day at a community centre in the colourful but poor La Boca neighbourhood, which was hugely interesting, meeting all the people who worked there, and getting to understand a little bit about the less sparkly side of Buenos Aires. The idea for the centre came from 10 poor families who were squatting in the area, and now it runs all sorts of activities, from drugs programmes with street children, to offering free vaccinations, and training courses. We should have been helping out at the afternoon English classes, however no children turned up, since there was no school that day, as the schools were ‘being disinfected.’ For what, we never found out!

apparently this bridge is designed to look like a tango dancing couple...
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Other diversions have included the excellent Latin American Art Museum, Malba, a tango show (old people dancing, tick!), a book fayre (not fair), seeing Death of a Salesman in espanish, and a nevertoberepeated boutique shopping incident. End of!

Yesterday we took a day trip across the River Plate (Rio de Plata... plata means silver in Spanish... argent means silver in French, hence ARGENtina!), to a beautiful beachy colonial town called Colonia in Uruguay! This was one of our best days yet, despite a grand total of zero hours sleep the night before, and we had loads of fun in their quirky little museums and cavorting around the steep winding cobbled streets in a golf buggy... all the motos were gone, OK!!

bike tour!
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Buenos Aires sleeps from Sunday to Tuesday, which was nicely in tune with our jet lag, and then parties non stop from Wednesday to Saturday, and we have been joining the natives in such pursuits. The nightlife here is insane, and most people have a little nap from about 9 til midnight before getting up and going to clubs at like 2! This however is mainly necessitated by the evening meal... after eating you physically cannot even walk, let alone dance! Omg, the food here is absolutely insanely delicious. Think steak steak steak steak and wine. There are loads of local parrillas in our neighbourhood, where you can eat the most delicious perfect beef for next to nothing (Verné look away now!)... legend has it there is even a little establishment so proud of the origins of its beef that you can request the following information about your steak: what it’s eaten, where it lived, the type of fields it grazed in, and...an actual photo of the cow itself. No jokes. We never did find it though!!

los diques
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Anyhow, tonight we leave here for Jujuy, a town in northern Argentina, where we will be breaking our journey in some hot springs for a day, before continuing onwards and upwards to Bolivia! Sí sí! Not sure when we’ll get a chance to update you next, but keep in touch, and lots of love! Xxxxxxxxx Laura and Rebecca