Week #5 & 6: North by Northwest

After finishing up my time patagonia my journey once again took me through Buenos Aires as to allow me to begin my travels through the northwest parts (i.e., Rosario, Córdoba, Salta) of Argentina. Only this time I think I finally figured out how to fully appreciate the city. Not sure if I have fully acclimated to a big international city that isn't NYC or if finally found all the nice places to go & chill but I when it was time to leave I didn't want to...I actually stayed an extra day in BA to keep the good times going. This was great as I was able to hit up the first futból game of the season for River Plate. River Plate, being one of the 2 major futból team in Buenos Aires, has a long & rich history that could probably come close to match any of the iconic sports teams (i.e., Yankees, Celtics, Steelers, Notre Dame, etc) we have in the USA. Surprisingly for as rowdy & intense as the fans are during the game they were just as well behaved & orderly post-game, despite giving up a late goal to Colon to have the game finish in a disappointing 2 - 2 draw that River dominated for the most part. Of course the police were out ready to throw down if needed. And it helps that alcohol is prohibited the entire game. Yes you heard correct.

Let's pause for a tangential point. As I am now concluding my Argentian part of the trip I thought it would be fun to pass along some of my insightful observations of the people / way of life here. In order to understand Argentineans you need to understand a few things...beyond their love of food, partying and mate (i.e. traditional tea) it's important to know they also harbor a love of Diego Maradona that is ridiculous, they work hard but on their own terms and they have the closest thing you get to a carnitarean diet...as you can tell I am a fan. Also I feel very confident in saying that a housing bubble does not exist here...however there may be a bubble in this. Seriously pick any city in the country, pick any street you walk on...you can find ladies undergarments in all shapes, size & colors. These are not even seasonal businesses...demand for this stuff is high year round. Apparently Argentineans love silky smooth ensembles the same way that Americans love guns & violence. Score one for the Argentians in this regard.

OK back to Buenos Aires. I found this awesome park (e.g., Parque Micaela Bastidas) that is on the east side of Puerto Madero. When I casually strolled by the free concert going on there I felt in a small way like I was in Central Park on a perfect summer night; it was a nice way to be reminded of home. Ultimately my time in Buenos Aires was over and I was off to Rosario...

...what can I say about Rosario. It was very, very mediocre. Aside from this great pic I took of the Flag Monument and the one day of kayaking I did, the city really just didn't resonate with me. For good reason though...you know when the East River in NYC is visually more gratifying than your random local river (in this case Rió Parana) your city is in no danger of impressing me. However for all you Simpson's fans out there I did spot this great pic on the riverside that reminded me of this...high comedy. Soon enough though I was on my way to Córdoba.

Thankfully I made nice recovery with Córdoba. I decided that it would be here that I would attempt to improve my castellano (aka spanish) by signing up for some instructive / ego-crushing spanish lessons. This is not hyperbole. You will never be more happy that you speak english, are American and live in the largest, albeit dysfunctional, economy in the world than when trying to learn a new language. I feel pretty happy knowing that things are going to work out in the end even if my ability to understand spanish remains at this level. In addition to getting some much needed learning I was able to hit up a very nice river beach at Cuesta Blanca with some of my classmates. Also it was at this beach I was able to conclude my look alike El Che / Vinny Chase experiment...basically it involves weeks of poor hygiene, pseudo smoking and no shaving. Sure I could have pushed the experiment a little further but I was happy with the result.


One of the more memorable things I saw in Córdoba was one of the old 'Clandestine Detention centers' (aka torture / interrogation facilities) operated by the local intelligence authorities known as "D2" from the Dirty War of the late 1970's. Alarmingly it was located in the middle of the city next to church of all places. Basically this was like a mini-me version of Guantanamo Bay...it's embarassing to say that but that's our American history now as far I'm concerned. This was a moving artistic representation of only SOME of the locals from Córdoba who have disappeared. I was happy to find out the government has partially addressed their prior wrongs when they passed law #9286 on March 22, 2006 which has paved the way for the creation of museums and other institutions to accumulate, detail, and display items from during the Dirty War period; these things should not be swept under the rug & forgotten about. I will now step down from my soapbox.

As I mentioned before Córdoba is basically the Boston of Argentina as there are students everywhere & many nice outdoor squares & plazas. Anyway my last weekend in Córdoba ended strongly. I was able to enoy some fine local beer, play me some good music (see inset) and of course even do some late night sophmoric, possibly alcohol induced antics.

Well my adventures will soon take me to Cusco & Machu Picchu; I'll be back in a week or two to update this blog. Adios