Buenos Aires (Argentina)
02 OCT - 06 OCT
10 OCT - 15 OCT
I'm standing out on the grounds of Castenera Sur, an ecological park on the eastern border of Buenos Aires which fronts the Rio de la Plata. Rage Against The Machine have for over the last hour delivered a ferocious, brutal set that has lit the fuse of testosterone amongst a predominantly male audience. The intensity of the performance, the power of the delivery and the common themes within the lyrics of their songs of raging against the establishment, fighting oppression and standing up for ones rights are not lost amongst the Argentinian faithful. The tumultous political history of this country and some of the horrors suffered by its people fits the message that Rage delivers like a glove. As if by design the rain increases in intensity during their set, assisting in the transference of an invisible electric current through a 50,000 strong audience so that at the point where they drop the bomb of 'Killing in the name of', the charge is released, lifting the crowd off their feet in unison, bouncing bodies off one another like protons in a nuclear reaction.
Recoleta - Buenos Aires - Argentina
Casa Rosada - the official seat of the executive branch of government - Buenos Aires - Argentina
San Telmo - Buenos Aires
Tango in La Boca - Buenos Aires
Calle Caminito - La Boca - Buenos Aires
For this last hour I've been carried along by both a wave of emotion and the immovable force which is the vast sea of people around me. This moment and this particular time however, for me, has been more than just the music, more than the energy, even more than the sum total of the individual components of the event. Drifting in and out of my own thoughts whilst relinquishing myself to the ebb and flow off the human tide that has consumed my being has strangely enough given me the opportunity of being able to connect with myself without distraction. As strange as that may sound, the unanswered questions that have been rolling around my head for some months, those of which I really hadn't attacked, for some reason at this point in time and in this space required a little attention.
The Obelisco de Buenos Aires - morning of arrival
Absorbing the towering skyline of Puerto Madero that served magnificently as the backdrop to the stage my mind traced a line back to the origins of where this journey actually began, poetically almost, a year ago to the day. Back then the decision to up and leave felt like a decision literally made within seconds but really, it had been at least 5 years in the making. My life had become sterile and sedate, driven by routine and obligation. Starting my days at 6am, working the standard 9-5 gig, rolling on in the evening for hours of lectures and study, sacrificing away my weekends for the sake of relatively arbitrary results, in the end didn't add up to much. It wasn't a stimulating existence nor did it make for a particularly interesting individual .I guess at the crux of my thinking therefore was the truth of the matter, the fact that I had hidden from my own demons for such a long time with the assistance of a self inflicted routine that the true root of the issue only felt like a symptom rather than the cause. The end result whilst being uniquely subjective, in the way that only self analysis can be, came back as this. Essentially I know that I'm just you're average guy, not much of an inspiration to anyone, not a marvelous intellect, sometimes even just a plain boring person! What the hell had the last five years really done to me or for me for that matter? Now, I know that I also have some great qualities also, but those are the ones that aren't causing me the concern, so please, don't feel obliged to provide me with a list, I'm not sad or depressed here, I'm just looking for a way to better myself and this type of reflection is a necessary part of the process.
Punta de la Mujer - Puerto Madero - Buenos Aires
Che Guevara mural - San Telmo - Buenos Aires
In Dead Poets Society the English teacher John Keating asks his students at one point to venture out into the hall and look at the photos of alumni from yesteryear.He asks them to lean in and listen intently for their voices echoing down through the years. Rather than quoting the typical line that usually arises from that movie the one that I feel to be most pertinent is this, '...make your lives extraordinary'. From somewhere I hear the sound of a hammer hitting a nail flush on the head - 'make you're freakin' lives extraordinary'. Doesn't that sound like the right thing to aim for? In addition, whilst journeying through Argentina for the last few days I've just touched on a collection of essays by one of Mexico's most well known writers, Carlos Fuentes. Quoting Marsilio Ficino at one point he says '...nothing is incredible, nothing is impossible, the possibilities we deny are but the possibilities we ignore'. With those quotes in my back pocket I really had to ask myself, 'in the truth that will be true only for you, in what manner will you deem your life to be extraordinary?'. For those wanting me to answer that, for right now, I don't have clue. Is it to love fully and to be able to completely give myself to another person? Is it about being a well rounded human being and having deep pockets of knowledge in several areas rather than just selected specialised fields. I don't know, again, I don't have answer for myself at this point. It could be all those things and much more. What I do know is that there is a need for change and that the journey that I placed myself on a year ago was 100% the best decision that I made for just myself at the time and one that I think has put me on a path that has allowed for this type of self realisation. As cheesy and as daft as it may sound, coming from a sceptic like me, this process of soul searching has felt like exactly the right thing to do at this moment.
Sunday sunshine - San Telmo - Buenos Aires
After Rage Against The Machine finishes their set the massive crowd disperses into a damp and cold Buenos Aires evening. I find my way out of the crowd and catch up with Dina who had watched the gig from somewhere towards the back. Oddly the intensity and demands thrown out my such a combative band had affected the thought processes of this self confessed pacifist also. After my initial rant as to how fantastic I thought the gig was D let loose with snippets of thoughts from her mind that suggest that right at this moment she was mentally 'spinning'. Now for anyone that doesn't know, this girl is SWITCHED ON, as in her intellect outstrips mine by a factor of 50. When someone like that is in a moment where their thoughts are in a 'spin', well then you better prepare yourself for the wicked ways in which their mind will construct a momentary thought, question or statement. There could be 20 things that gets them to their final summarised outcome which they're in turn now putting to you for assessment. As an aside to this however, what I have come to find out over the last few weeks is that like everyone she carries around a bag of her own worries struggles and slight insecurities. Without mentioning any of them here, because it's not my place, I can say that its kind of poignant that she's travelling along with me at this point in time as it seems that in a strange way we're kind of looking for the same thing on this journey.
Dina, did you pack the cat? .....smart girl but still she can´t get the basics right!
Avenida 9 de Julio - Buenos Aires
Wondering the streets for a few hours after the concert we end up in the barrio of San Telmo. This area is 'old school' in terms of its architechture, lovely cobblestone streets and old style colonial buildings, it is known to be the oldest barrio in Buenos Aires.. On this night we're able to find ourselves a bar that his able to provide us with a few bottles of Malbec that will keep us going until 5am. A few days earlier however, after having made our way back from the disaster of visiting Argentina's close cousin, Uruguay, we had walked down La Defensa in San Telmo on a glorious Sunday afternoon in order to pick our way through the markets. Now, when I say that these markets go on for miles, I literally mean that as far as I could see down this road there were people trying to scout themselves out a bargain. The activity and the atmosphere was just so warm, friendly and good natured that you didn't really even take notices of the hordes around you. Whats more, once we had made our way almost to the end of La Defensa the San Telmo samba 'crew' started up with an improptu display of drumming and we were effectively coerced back to Plaza de Mayo at the top of La Defensa via the magical samba rhythms that had unwittingly intoxicated us all.
San Telmo - Buenos Aires
San Telmo samba
Ernesto lives on!
San Telmo samba
La Defensa - San Telmo markets - Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is kind of a tough city to get a grasp on straight away. Each barrio is its own entity, different in character and style from one to the next. For that reason it took me a little time to be able to connect with this town but when it happened, and when the roots were firmly planted, I really fell for it as a whole. On one of our daily excursions into this city we headed down to the barrio of La Boca, another old neighbourhood that's considered to be one of the towns' most authentic, colourful and energetic. The area had originally been settled and built by Italian immigrants that had worked in the warehouses and meatpacking plants in the area. Considered to be one of the poorest barrios in BA, it's major drawcard is Calle Caminito, effectively a small street with bright colourful housing that now serves as the centre for all things tango, tacky and touristy. Not that it's such a bad thing, the surrounding streets do provide you with the opportunity of walking around and taking in the creation of a famous Argentinian artist by the name of Quinquela Martin. His inspiration for the creation of these colourful streets originally came from the conventillo (shared housing) that use to be the predominant type of accommodation in the barrio. Originally the houses in the area were mostly tacked together with scrap corrugated metal and wood from the local shipyards. Families would then make use of any leftover paint from the port in order to spruce up their doors, windows, or facades generally in bright colour combinations that was traditional for the predominantly Genoese migrants that inhabited the area. Whilst the old style convetillo's were pulled down and eventually replaced by dull, lifeless small rise apartment blocks, the streets inspired by Martin stand proudly as a reminder of those times. They can also easily draw hours out of the tourist that goes in a little trigger happy on their camera. Unfortunately on the day that I was there my battery died within the first few minutes otherwise who knows when I would have left and who knows what the outcome may have been.
Calle Caminito - La Boca
Tango boys - kickin´it old school style
Recoleta and Palermo are the barrios with the greatest number of inhabitants. They lie to the north of the city and are considered to be predominantly areas of the middle to upper classes. Their streets have a distinctly European feel, reminding me of such places as Madrid or Paris in terms of architecture, street life and even temperament. Again, they're interesting places to walk around and experience although it takes a little bit of work to convince yourself that you are in one of THE thriving metropolises of South America and not elsewhere. Most of our time in this space was spent in Recoleta, scouting out their main museums such as the Museo National de Arte Decorativo and the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, the latter being a real highlight due to the fact that my crash course in art history over the past few months was starting to pay dividends,albeit small ones considering that they were now being delivered in pesos and had to deal with a volatile exchange rate.
The remains of the day - Recoleta
I really thought I had a shot with Mafalda!
Punta de la Mujer - Puerto Madero - Buenos Aires
Overall I have to say that Buenos Aires is a place that I think that you need to feel rather than it being a place that you can capture purely through aesthetical beauty. Whilst there are definitely places that you can see and be satisfied in that respect, some of the things that enticed me dealt more with the impact that it had on my emotions and collective senses rather than those that were distinctly visual. From the distinctly meaty smells that waft from one of the many paradillas located in the backstreets of San Telmo, to the uniqueness of the tango which originated in the area of the Rio de la Plata, to a drunken improptu salsa on the streets, to dulce de leche, to the plethora of happy perros that roam the back alleys. Buenos Aires to me was a feel, a place that I had the opportunity of connecting with and a place that in my own personal searches allowed me to ask and seek answers from myself that may have otherwise gone unchallenged.
The post that follows this is Colonia del Sacramento - Riding the red wine and empanada revolution for the period 07 OCT - 10 OCT 2010, and then,
- Mendoza - The smoking gun theory for the period after 10 OCT 2010.
The post that follows this is Colonia del Sacramento - Riding the red wine and empanada revolution for the period 07 OCT - 10 OCT 2010, and then,
- Mendoza - The smoking gun theory for the period after 10 OCT 2010.
