After the Ecuadorian Amazon, the bitter cold of the Argentine winter in Buenos Aires came as quite a shock. Upon arrival, I was immediately struck by how different Argentina felt compared to Peru and Ecuador. The deep indigenous influence that was ever-present in the northern Andes seemed strangely absent here. I was told that the indigenous and black population in Argentina was largely killed off in the wars for Independence, and surges of European immigration especially from Spain and Italy helped to make Argentina, and especially Buenos Aires the most European place in South America.
Buenos Aires is quite similar to Paris in several ways. Thanks to the central role of a frenchman, Carlos Thays in city planning and the building of many public parks and streets in the late 19th century, BA would come to inherit the same grand avenues and same kinds of parks that Paris and other European capitals still have today. Even the French passion for cafe culture is dutifully observed here.
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Abasto, Gallerias Pacifico, Retiro Station, Casa Rosada |
Like all great cities, the people that inhabit BA also have a singular uniqueness. The “porteños,” (translated as residents of a port city, but essentially referring to the residents of BA) have both the urban sophistication and smugness of New Yorkers and Parisiennes, and also what seems to be a permanent chip on the shoulder attitude. The latter (I will take the arm-chair psychologist license and guess) comes from being a population that has seen the golden age of its country which entered the 20th century as one of the 10 wealthiest countries in the world, only to lose its enormous potential through a turbulent 20th century that included the devastating dirty war and the inflation economic crisis of 1999. So for me, it makes sense that porteños have the reputation for a whole spectrum of psychosis including vanity, insecurity, defensiveness, etc…
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| Day trip to nearby Tigre, complete with casinos and amusement parks |
Anyways with that set up, I can now rant about how just crazy the porteño lifestyle is; and by crazy I specifically mean late, and I mean really late. Porteños eat dinner any time from 9pm to 1pm, then they pregame with friends until about 3am before they actually go out to the bars or clubs. The typical night can end anytime from 4am to literally sunset, and this typical night is commonly repeated several times a week by porteños.
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| Clockwise from the top: Bomba de Tiempo, traditional music at a peña, Bomba again, music festival in Recoleta |
In addition to the crazy schedule, the porteño diet is equally disconcerting. Argentina is known for its beef, and it is truly as cheap and as abundant as you would imagine. One type of restaurant, the Parilla (literally a grill) is ubiquitous, and essentially serves various cuts of meats as well as sausages and innards on a mini grill with minimal garnishes. Porteños seem to eat this type of meal ALL THE TIME. Now I like meat, but it didn’t take long for me to be craving a salad. With such a schedule and such a diet, how anything gets done in this country is really beyond me.
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| Clockwise from the top left: meat roasting at a parilla, a “pancho” *hot dog with potato crisps, “waffles” on a stick, parilla plate. |
After all is said and done, in spite (or perhaps because) of all the craziness here, Buenos Aires ends up being an unforgetably charming city that brings out the romantic in almost everyone. The architectural beauty and porteños’ meticulousness in their appearances don’t hurt, but the spirit of the Tango, a dance that is so unabashedly passionate, seems to infuse both the buildings and the people. It’s an easy city to fall for, it’s just too bad that your departure gift to me was a cold, what a heartbreaker.
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| Clockwise from the upper left: Teatre Colon, curbside Tango instructions, pretty house in Palermo, San Borges museum, La Boca |
Thanks go out to Lerenzo, who took time out of his glamorous life in BA to show me the best that BA has to offer. It was exhausting, but I feel completely happy and very impressed with the ground we covered.
Jack Wang 