15.02.2010 _ Week 1 / Buenos Aires, Argentina

Monday morning, week 1. I arrived last Wednesday to Buenos Aires after a pretty long and exhausting trip. To get a flight as cheap as possible, I flew from Berlin to London by easyJet, starting the Buenos Aires via Madrid connection served by AirEurope their. Due to a ten hour stop in Madrid I had the possibility to have a glimpse on the Spanish capital. Seems like an interesting and fun place and a spot I can see myself visiting again.
The flight from Madrid was scheduled at 23:55, actually leaving at about two, as my plane had a puncture and all passengers were fascinatingly following the change of a tire on a pretty big long-haul aircraft. On board the On-Flight entertainment wasn’t working, but a huge 13h nap was enough entertainment for me. Dehydrated and starving (What a service on that plane, but well, so cheap) I arrived in Buenos Aires on midday, feeling the sun and warmth crawling into my for months in Finland and Germany UV-hungry body.

characera dance in san telmo

Since these first seconds I am basically hanging around, enjoying the amazingly long Buenos Aires nights, Steak by Steak and the company of Waleria. Parallel, I am still working on that little project, which I need to finish before packing my stuff to leave to Bolivia. I hope that this will be at the end of the week, leaving for Iguazu Falls, Asuncion and the Paraguayan Chaco.

Buenos Aires, compared to the South American cities I’ve been to so far, seems a lot more European/Western with the usual massive differences concerning cleanliness on streets and in places or the punctuality and reliability of the Transport System. But there is a good government-run Underground and Bus system, a lot of places I’ve been to in the last week could have been in every European City (Except for the prices and the quality of meat…) and compared to f.e. La Paz or Lima, traditional lifestyle and clothing isn’t as present as on the other side in and near the Andes. But, the Tango follows you wherever you are. Shops for shoes and clothing, places to learn, listen and perform Tango are literally everywhere. I do understand, why this is the best place for Tango in the world and why Waleria loves dancing here so much, the Tango catches you and actually drags you into it. Nearly everywhere in that city you are reminded of it. Sitting in my first Milonga was a really new experience, as it opened up a new world I didn’t get in touch with until now.

Leaving a sentence to my first Bife de Lomo (Possibly the best part of a cow you can chew on). WOW. 400 grams of pure meat, slightly bloody with a nice pepper sauce. No extras. Just meet… (Sending thoughts to Chris!) And it goes well with a great bottle of Argentine wine.

Unfortunately, I didn’t take a single picture here until now, as everyone is warning you about taking your camera with you, but I’ll take some in the days to come…

Walerias cousin Elina and her friend Zoe left yesterday and today and after beautiful but exhausting days of Steaks, Wine, Music and following the girls through huge Artesania and Antiguedas markets I’ll try settling this week to get my job done.

If everything works out, next news from Iguazu or Asuncion in Paraguay.

Hugs and Kisses to all of you!

Martin