Sunday and onwards

I spent part of Friday and Sunday in the center of town. The buildings around here are magnificent (look at the pictures on Facebook). On Friday on Calle Florida, which is a pedestrian walkway/mall, the middle of the walkway fills with people selling all kinds of crafts, from handmaid mate gourds to massive knitted bras (I have no idea who would, or could wear on of those things). Plaza de Mayo, the most famous plaza in a city a dozens of plazas, is home to the Casa Rosada, the Cabildo, the Catedral Metropolitina, and other beautiful buildings. The area around the Plaza is also full of gorgeous architecture and large statues and monuments. I wish I knew more of the history of BsAs.
On Sunday I went to San Telmo, the ex-Upper-East-Side of BsAs before yellow fever drove the upper-class out of the area. Sunday sees a massive crafts market open up along Calle Defense. The market reminded me a bit of Nachalat Binyamin in Israel, except it is much much bigger. It goes on at least ten blocks if not more, and they sell absolutely everything; there also musicians and tango dancers all along the way. I did not take pictures. I also found a magnificent place. It is truly wonderful. See for yourself:


This was a theater that they turned into a bookstore. The balconies are reading areas, and all of the original theater is still preserved, including the beautifully painted ceiling. Most of the books are in Spanish, though I did manage track down the only used bookstore devoted entirely to English books. Very awesome, but very dangerous.
After hanging out in the city for most of the day I went to the Parque 3 de Febrero, to the Rosedal, where they had a free concert from Django something or other. It was fun, and the bassist had an amazing moustache. Dinner was pizza (which came with rolls and an herby mayonnaise and toast rounds with an eggplant salsa) and a submarino, a massive mug of steamed milk poured over a chocolate bar. The pizza was, as it seems it will always be here, mediocre, but the submarino was nice.
Yesterday I met with one of the Americans here working for the Hillel,had ice cream, and chatted about many of the social activities and other opportunities to integrate with the community. The conversation was quite productive, and the ice cream, was, as usual, amazing! after class I went to the Recoleta Cemetery with a lady from my class. If you think it sounds a bit strange weird to go to a cemetery for fun, well, so did I, until I saw it. It is truly a necropolis. Each tomb is big enough for a small family to live in, and probably cost as much as would to feed one of those families for a year. They are magnificent, but I don't understand why someone would go to all that trouble and expense on the dead. These are massive construction, and each building has a cellar where most of the family is buried; only the Patriarch and Matriarch are buried in the main room. There are a number of famous Argentines buried here, including Evita. Most of the tombs are very well-kept, but we saw a few that were quite rundown, and we even saw a casket that was broken open (we could see the fellow's leg bones). We also met a British girl on holiday on her own, and she tagged along for the cemetery, ice cream after (yes, twice in one day), and today as well. We (Margaret from class, Leona for Manchester, and I) went to La Boca, one of the more dangerous but also more famous neighborhoods, where we saw the famous bombonera futbol stadium, the famous colored houses, the famous thing they call tango, and drank the famous Quilems, Argentina's local beer. The tango was cool, the beer was cool (but not so great, very light, it is like a moscato d'asti of beers, and that isn't a compliment). The conversation was the best part; it's really nice to talk to someone about all the british tv shows and comedians! Afterwards I bought a few books at the used bookstores and called it a night.
Buenas Noches!