The Bomba del Tiempo
I’m going to Buenos Aires with my friend Argentina Pau and Oscar. We share a room for three. While the two of them leave to see Madonna’s concert, I join another Spanish friend, Raquel. This is an opportunity to get acquainted with the sprawling bus system, but so well organized the capital.
We go to La Bomba del Tiempo, a percussion concert with conductor. Like every week, there is a special guest. This time, she is an opera singer. The atmosphere is huge in the yard, a huge pogo is formed and the musicians slant in the crowd.
Neighborhoods with different atmospheres
The following days impossible to join Sylvain who has no phone. I visit the city sometimes with Pau and Oscar sometimes with Raquel my Spanish friend. They make me discover the so Argentinian and colorful district of La Boca, where resonates the tango music, or that of Recoleta, which looks like old France with its superb cemetery that has nothing to envy to Father Lachaise. At the corner of a street, a small ska concert on a sidewalk, on a square the weekly demonstration of the mothers of the disappeared of the dictatorship. We enjoy a sunny afternoon for a few drinks on the terrace with some peanuts.
Buenos Aires at night
Finally I finally find Sylvain who lives in San Telmo. It is a beautiful neighborhood with a Spanish flair with its cobbled streets, terraces of cafes, and shops of artisants and junk shops. They introduce me to his friends, rather Americans and especially his girlfriend a French internship here. He takes me to one or two bars, visits me around the corner and we watch a tango concert on a pretty square. It is precisely the festival of tango that day.
Between his Spanish classes and his girlfriend, Sylvain does not have much time to give me. I end my week with a hip hop night with Raquel in a box in the Palermo neighborhood. Unbelievable ! It’s like being in New York. People are dressed like Ali G, crocheted cap, bandanas, sweatpants or baggy, soprtwear bras for girls and big glittering jewels. Of course it’s dancing like in a clip of Randy MC, in a circle. It’s a breakdance battle. Finally, I come back late at night. This time, I master perfectly the transport system helped by the ultimate book, the “Guia T”, which allows me to take the bus directly to my bed.
I leave Buenos Aires after a week. I leave Sylvain here. He will join me in Iguazu where are the most beautiful waterfalls of the world.