Buenos Aires

We just got back to Santiago tonight after a long weekend in Buenos Aires. Even though Buenos Aires has a lot to see and do, I am kind of glad to be back in Santiago. Buenos Aires is the biggest city I've seen in my life. Flying in from the air, it was just lights as far as I could see in all directions. We had a pretty good flight over, though most of Thursday is kind of fuzzy in my memory since I was still pretty sick that day. The one thing I do remember from Thursday night is dinner - Argentinian food beats Chilean food any day. Basically, anything to do with cows is amazing in that country: leather, beef, cheese/milk, it's all really good. I'm pretty sure I ate more beef this weekend than in the entirety of last year.

Friday was when our time really started in B. A. We went on a city tour in the morning where we saw some of the main sites. There's the square with government buildings and monuments and a giant cathedral, which is a lot like the Plaza de Armas here in Santiago. After that we went to La Boca (at least I think it was La Boca), which was a real touristy area with markets and outdoor stands and such where people can sell you things, take your picture, or otherwise convince you to give them your pesos. This is actually the downside to B.A. - everything feels very touristy and gimmicky. There is a lot of culture there but rather than being preserved for the native people, it's preserved commercially for the sake of tourism. There are interesting murals, brightly-colored buildings, tango in the streets - but it all feels fake, which was disappointing to me. I guess that's just the way it goes when you visit a big city as a tourist though.

Anyway, on Friday evening was the tango show, which for us included a lesson, dinner, and a really great show. We got to learn the basic 8 steps of the tango, and then a slight variation. The cool part was, the people who taught us were actual performers in the show we saw later that evening. After the lesson we went down for dinner in a large room with fancy tables all set up. I had my first Argentinian steak for dinner, although I heard the fish was really good too. After dessert was served, the show began. It was a nice mix of tango dancing, singing, gaucho (cowboy) dancing and drum performances, and some pretty decent orchestral numbers. There was a 6-piece tango "orchestra" with a piano, bass, 2 violins, and 2 accordions which provided all the music for the show live. I'm fairly sure the only thing that was pre-recorded was full-scale orchestral accompaniment to the obligatory "Don't Cry for me, Argentina" solo. Anyway, it was a really impressive show.

On Saturday we had a free day but I didn't much feel like fending for myself in the city. So a small group of us decided to go to a ranch for the day. It was kind of a mini-tour package through the same agency that gave us the city tour and carted us around the whole time we were in B. A. Anyway, they picked us up in the morning and we drove about an hour out of the city to a ranch in the countryside. We had the BEST EMPANADAS EVER when we got there, and then we got to ride horses for an hour before lunch. It was my first time on a horse, and it was quite scary at first. I felt like I was going to fall off every time it moved for the first 5-10 minutes. But I got used to it, and I'm rather looking forward to riding again if I go to Pucon at the end of this trip. Anyway, after horses was the BIGGEST LUNCH EVER. All morning long there was meat roasting on a giant outdoor barbecue and that's what we had for lunch. We had a salad and then the whole rest of the meal was 5 different types of meat. First we had chorizo, which I tried and surprisingly did not hate, then some other sausage which I skipped, then the BEST STEAK EVER, then some ribs which I also skipped since I was still eating the steak, and then chicken. I was so full after all that, I couldn't even eat dinner. After the lunch was another little tango show which was not nearly as impressive as the large one in the city the night before, but it was nice and I thought the male singer had a better voice. Following the indoor show was a horse show in the big corral, which was actually kind of boring since it was just really really dusty with like 30 horses running around. By that time it was late afternoon and we headed back to the city in time to go to dinner with the rest of the group.

Saturday night was our last chance to really go out, and since I was feeling too bad to go out on Friday night I figured I'd better go see the night life on Saturday even though I didn't feel comfortable going to an Argentinian club or bar. I just feel safer in Chile, although that really isn't founded on anything other than gut feeling. Fortunately for me though, all the guys wanted to go to the casino which is on a big riverboat in Puerto Madera. Gambling is illegal in the city, but the river is national property, so they have a big old flashy boat set up. Anyway, that actually sounded a lot better than going bar-hopping (what for...) or clubbing, so I crashed the boys' night and spent a few hours playing blackjack. It was a fun way to spend the night, even though my table was kind of lame. I was very sad when I lost my 85 pesos...until I realized that's only about $25. Then I didn't feel so bad. One of the guys did very well though, winning the equivalent of around $100.

Today (Sunday) we checked out of the hotel and then walked to a cafe for churros and chocolate, which is a common brunch/snack thing to do, probably like coffee and biscotti. It was very good, and I wish we had good stuff like that back in the states. Buenos Aires certainly has the whole food thing down, if nothing else. By the time we walked back to the hotel it was time to go to the airport for a flight home that was so bumpy it almost made me feel compelled to start going to church again. I think once I get back to the states I will be staying on the ground for a good long time.

So, that was the trip in a nutshell. I'm going to try to get all my pictures uploaded sometime tomorrow, so keep an eye on the photo album. Maybe I can find a way to put the link to it in the sidebar of the blog instead of buried in one of the posts.