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So the trip has finally come to an end... I just want to thank all the people who helped me out along the way, and say that it was a pleasure meeting you all. I would write some sort of summary/follow up of Latin America, but that would be stupid and full of generalizations, and I've done enough of that already. I'll just leave it at this... there's a whole lot of countries on this map that don't have a squiggly line running through it... so I'm gonna leave the blog open just in case my feet get moving again some time soon. (Ahem, Brazil... cough cough) Hasta la vista Latin America!
Bueno, por fin se acabo el viaje... Quiero agradecerles a todos que me ayudaron en mi camino y decirles que fue un placer en conocerlos. Escribiria algun tipo de resumen de America Latino, pero seria tonto y lleno de generalizaciones, y ya lo he hecho bastante. Solo dire esto... hay muchos paises en este mapa que todavia no he pisado... asi que voy a mantener el blog abierto por si tengo ganas de moverme de nuevo en el futuro... (ajem, Brasil! tos tos) Nos vemos, amigos!
Map of my journey, starting on Sept 6, 2007 in Monterrey, Mexico, and ending in Buenos Aires, Argentina on June 23. I did it all by bus, with the exception of New Orleans-Monterrey, Panama-Colombia (it's impossible because of the jungle and narcotraffic), and of course Buenos Aires-New Orleans... that would have been difficult in a bus. And yeah... I drew the line with the microsoft "Paint" tool... what?! step off!
Ah Buenos Aires... the Paris of South America. I'll always remember this town fondly. The people here were way nicer than I expected, and it's impossible to get bored here. I don't want to get too cliche, or say what everyone else has undoubtedly said about BA, but it really is one of those places that is just alive... it's a living, breathing city that has so much character (and so many characters). You still see old man playing cards in the park... tango dancing and old men singing in local bars... people losing their minds over soccer... of course, this city has some problems as well... I took part in "caserolazos," the art of protest with a pot and any kitchen utensil worthy of beating it with. for more info on this, check out: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/06/14/argentina.violence/index.html
As European Argentina seems and claims to be, it's still just as much Latin America as any other part of South America. Street vendors and their beautiful calls, thieves and their clever tricks, toilets that can't handle toilet paper, history of dictatorships, and a government more corrupt que la mierda. As Buenos Aires was my last destination, and I'm now headed back home, I have a lot of thoughts in my head, so I don't quite know what to say, so I'll let the pictures do the talking.
stay tuned for a summary of my trip and a special feature post I'm calling "the lost videos." basically videos I never had time to post before. Ciao!
me and my buddy Guillermo (Guishermo in Argentina)
singing jazz on the streets of Buenos Aires with the Jazz Friends jazz band.
Plaza de dos congresos
Orquesta Filarmonica Buenos Aires tuning up
Old guys gambling in the park
Cat gettin som grub on a trash can
Feeding time at the botanical gardens
hungry cat want cheese
The ever so famous "Evita´s" grave (Eva Peron)
Uh yeah that´s a coffin you're looking at.... right inside the grave... asi no mas
big ass grave
typical graves
some people put stained glass in their mauseluem
coffin inside grave
the cementery is arranged like city blocks, with streets and alleyways... the graves are like houses
Recoleta cementery
caseroleado por el campo! thousands of argentines took to the Obelisco with pots and pans in hand to show their support for the farmers (and show their ire for the government)
caserolazos!
???????
Argentina, Ecuador
Arg vs Ecuador, final score 1-1---- what's up with the friggin ties in soccer?
argentinean national anthem
light up that stadium
River field in Buenos Aires before the game
there are a lot of antique shops in the San Telmo neighborhood. beeeautiful stuff
walls in La Boca
walls in La Boca
La Boca soccer stadium
walls of the boca stadium
another wall in the boca stadium
this was a house in the Boca neighborhood a few blocks away from the touristy part... it's one of the few that remains like the original houses with the different colors
poltical graffiti in Boca
Popular militants that went missing from Boca between 1976-2006
houses in the Boca neighborhood. the supposed story is that it was always a poor immigrant neighborhood, and the people didn't have paint, so they took metal from the boats that came in to decorate their houses, leaving them multicolored
Tango band!
Tango dancing!
more houses in Boca
Boca is really a very poor, run down neighborhood once you leave the touristy part
pics of tango dancers
it's kind of weird, unfortunate, and interesting all at the same time, but this neighborhood obviously isn't what it used to be, or what they say it used to be, so to give the feeling that there is still life in the neighborhood, they've placed a lot of mannequins on balconies meant to look like typical neighborhood people
mannequin street musician... i gave him a peso
the architecture in Boca is strikingly similar to that of the french quarter
tango dancers
beginning of Boca
to realize how big this thing is, zoom in and look at the people waiting at the bus stop
Dennis, Ken, Will, and Sarah (France).... these guys are from Seaside New Jersey, and taught me that a bedet is actually to be used before the actual wiping process which I was not aware of. They also introduced me to my new favorite Youtube video, My New Haircut, which is unfortunately a daily reality for New Jersians.
Ah, here we go.... so there's this thing in Buenos Aires... on the days when people put out the trash... these other people come and open all the trash, sift through it for bottles and stuff they can recycle, and sell it.... then the garbage men come and this is what they have to deal with... this shit is literally alllll over the city on certain nights... you literally have to sidestep garbage for blocks. pleasant, no?
Puerto Madero, touristy part of BA on the river... lot of steak restaurants... very pretty
why don't we sell ad space on street signs in the states?? brilliant idea!
waiting for trouble
plaza de Mayo
There are people living in this plaza as well
people sleeping at Plaza de Mayo
guy finds interesting way to get out of the sun
foot painter
El Obelisco... I stayed a few blocks away from here
tango dancing in Boca
Buenos Aires Filharmonic tuning up
more tango dancers
i love this music
beautiful music
old tango couple
tour of the antique market in San Telmo
gameday
So I actually had to sneak into this game... I showed up with 35 pesos (about $11), which was enough to get the cheapest tickets, and 1 peso to take the train home... turns out they don't sell tickets the day of the game... so some scalper was trying to sell me a ticket for 50 pesos, but I told him I literally had only 35 pesos... and he had some connection at the gate and snuck me in.. i didn't have a seat, but it was all good, I got in at least.
Argentina!
so around 8 oclock at night, I'm walking down the street in suddenly, out of nowhere I hear carhorns and clanky sounds.... it starts getting louder and louder and louder... cars driving by honking their horns, people sticking their heads out the window with pots and pan, making all kinds of crazy noise...
singing jazz on the streets of Buenos Aires with the Jazz Friends jazz band.
Plaza de dos congresos
Orquesta Filarmonica Buenos Aires tuning up
Old guys gambling in the park
Cat gettin som grub on a trash can
Feeding time at the botanical gardens
hungry cat want cheese
The ever so famous "Evita´s" grave (Eva Peron)
some people put stained glass in their mauseluem
coffin inside grave
the cementery is arranged like city blocks, with streets and alleyways... the graves are like houses
caserolazos!
???????
light up that stadium
River field in Buenos Aires before the game
there are a lot of antique shops in the San Telmo neighborhood. beeeautiful stuff
walls in La Boca
walls in La Boca
La Boca soccer stadium
Tango band!
mannequin street musician... i gave him a peso
tango dancers
Ah, here we go.... so there's this thing in Buenos Aires... on the days when people put out the trash... these other people come and open all the trash, sift through it for bottles and stuff they can recycle, and sell it.... then the garbage men come and this is what they have to deal with... this shit is literally alllll over the city on certain nights... you literally have to sidestep garbage for blocks. pleasant, no?
Puerto Madero, touristy part of BA on the river... lot of steak restaurants... very pretty
why don't we sell ad space on street signs in the states?? brilliant idea!
There are people living in this plaza as well
foot painter
