Buenos Aires

The time has come for a new beginning - the beginning of a new country and my entry into South America, welcome to Argentina!

So I´ve finally arrived in the place that was caught in my imagination for the last 6 or 7 years and in truth was my main motivation for dropping everything and heading off around the world with not a care in mind. Don´t ask me why - I have no idea, I just had this calling to come here (almost sounds religious eh? My mother would be proud...).

After all the delays in New York I arrived in Buenos Aires on the 5th Oct at 10.00 in the evening, sailed through customs and out into arrivals where my taxi was waiting to ferry me off to Portal del Sur - the hostel that was to be home for the next 2 and a half weeks. Very nice it was too although the fact that they have an in house bar made it very difficult to be self controlled although I think I managed ok on that score - during the week anyway....

Anyway you´re not interested in that bit are ya? On to the actual city itself - a city who´s population is somewhere in the vicinity of 13m souls (one third of the population of Argentina) and is famous for football, tango and great steaks as well as a few other little things. Can you think of any? I´ll let you in on them later if you haven´t fallen asleep reading the first couple of paragraphs.

So first things first - how´s a gal supposed to get around if she doesn´t speak the lingo? Well naturally she has to sign up for some spanish classes (or as in my first weekend use sign language and keep your fingers crossed that what you ordered is something edible, in most cases that was true...although when I got fish back instead of steak it was a bit of a surprise!) Little word on the steak - sublime and very cheap.

I signed up for 2 weeks of classes with a school called IBL situated right in the city centre, only a ten minute walk from my hostel so no worries about having to get up too early to make it to class. In terms of expense Buenos Aires is a bargain place to learn spanish - 20 hrs a week for 360 pesos (around 60 pounds). There are a lot of options too so its a good idea to just ask around, most hostels can point you in the right direction and they´ll almost always have someone who comes in to do 1-2-1 lessons if that´s what you´re after, typically you´ll pay 25 pesos an hour.

My lessons were conducted almost solely in spanish which is a good way to get an ear for the language if somewhat challenging! The class was usually in a group of 5 although slight variations were not uncommon - shared a classroom with people from the States, Germany, Norway and England although when chatting to others during break time it was obvious that there were people form all over the world there - a truly international flavour. I took lessons for 2 weeks and left confident in my ability to converse in the local lingo - of at least being able to order food, buy bus tickets and exchange pleasantries anyhoo!

So apart from studying for the first time in 10 odd years what else is there to do? Well for one thing you can go to a football game and see the passion of the argies for their local boys - and what passion! I´ve never been in an atmostphere like it at a sports event, it was more like being at a U2 concert. I went to see Boca Juniors v Newells Old Boys. All through the game the crowd didn´t stop singing and taunting each other, jumping up and down so much you could feel the terraces shuddering adding to the edgy atmostphere, apparently it was designed that way so you feel the heat of the game coursing through you - although it has to be said that Boca fans are known the world over for their passion - in fact the crowd is called Jugador Numero 12 - Player Number 12, so much is their influence on the visiting team (intimidation) and of course on their own team (encouragement). Suffice to say it was a great experience and one you should definitely consider if you find yourself in BsAs. Oh and Boca won 2-0 just in case you were wondering!

What else? Well as I assume you are aware Eva Peron is buried in BsAs (the lady who inspired Evita) and is buried in Recoleta Cemetary - so thought it was only polite to drop by and say hello as you do. Never mind that it is one of the most ornate cemetaries in the world, nothing to do with that....and boy is it ornate. Its like stepping into an old vampire inspired gothic film - full of old ornate crypts and narrow pathways where you expect someone to jump out at you and yell BOO! But at the same time its serene and very beautiful. Not many people get buried there these days but it still happens occassionally but you do need to have a lot of money to get in there - its probably argentina´s most expensive plot. Definitely worth a visit - and when you´re done walk outside and have a stroll through the market where if the weather is good and it´s a weekend you´ll find a 100 or so arts and crafts stall selling all manner of things and tempting you to part with your cash - word of warning though keep an eye on your wallet at all times, markets are the prime place to get pickpocketed and the professionals in BsAs are particularly skilled at it.

Talking of markets if you find yourself at a loose end on a Sunday pop along to San Telmo where you find all kinds of wierd and wonderful antiques and being the centre of all things tango you´ll usually see a few performances in the square (is it me or do the ladies wear so much make-up they end up looking like drag queens??) They are excellent performers however and it is a pretty sexy dance when its done properly. There are loads of options in the city to watch tango and take lessons although I´ve been told the best idea is to go to a local millonga and watch the ordinary boys and girls going at it - more authentic than what´s put on for the tourists. Haven´t done it yet but going back next week so will definitely do it then.

Talking of dancing.....BsAs is renouned the world over for being a party city, if you´re out before 2.00am you´re considered an old biddy! Although you are allowed to go out to eat dinner around 11 and then of course you hit the clubs after that - the most famous of which is Opera Bay. Of course I had to check it out in the name of research.....arrived at 3am (am I trendy or whaaaa) and boogied the night away until 7 in the morning where it was a stop for breakfast and then home to bed! I do think I´m getting far too old for this though! There are lots of bars and clubs to choose from and again worth getting a recommendation from a local - girls watch out, the boys can be pretty persistant...

Lets see other things......if you go to Plaza de Mayo on a Thursday around 3.30ish you^ll see the Madres de Plaza de Mayo march around the square. The Mothers' association was formed by women who had met each other in the course of trying to find missing sons and daughters, abducted by agents of the Argentine government during the years known as the Dirty War (1976–1983), many of whom were then tortured and killed. The numbers still unaccounted for is estimated at somewhere between 11,000 and 30,000. The Madres estimate the number at 30,000. Pretty harrowing eh?

Palermo is worth a looksee too - one of the richest areas in the city so has lots of nice houses and apartments, etc as well as some really good restaurants and bars and a rather nice park.

I could go on but needless to say if you ever get there yourself you´ll find a city with a lot to offer and endless things to get you occupied. I´m looking forward to going back and seeing what trouble I can get myself into!

Just a quick mention of a few people so I can look back in a few years and remember their names and where I first met them....Carrie & Abran from USA, Dana from Alaska, Graham & Ewan from Scotland, Siri & Brigitte from Norway, Dave from NZ, Catherine from Canberra, Vicky from Manchester, Chris the geordie, the brasilian girls and not forgetting Lili and Sebastian from BsAs.