Day 13 - Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is a city of masks. In the past few days we have ad a number of concerts, but most interesting to me have been our city tours. We have been guided by our coordinator, Santiago Tur, who is young and eager. Our city tours have been narrated mostly by Alejandra, a cosmopolitan and multilingual history buff.
BA has many neighborhoods. Our hotel is in Recoleta, an old-money European-styled neighborhood. There are may Italian-style sculptures, French-style parks, Spanish-style buildings. The mausoleum/cemetery we visited seems to capture the essence of old-money aristocracy.
The largest mausoleum in Recoleta cemetery, of the Leloir family
Puerto Madero, where we ate, is the new status symbol. Old warehouses by the river have been replaced by lofts, extravagant restaurants, and upscale car dealers. All streets are named after famous women, and a central point is the modernist bridge dedicated to women. Puerto Madero is young, seductive, and fashionable.
Palermo is the largest neighborhood. It includes subdivisions with names like "SoHo" and "Hollywood." This may as well be LA or Manhattan.
There are a few notable landmarks I saw. One is the obelisk in 9 de Julio Avenue (which is a central street that is over 20 lanes wide, with medians to help poor pedestrians). Alejandra calls BA drivers "serial killers", which is abundantly obvious on 9 de Julio. The obelisk, inspired by the Washington Monument and the Egyptian obelisks, is a symbol of Argentine pride and independence. Continuing with the Egyptian theme, three pyramids (rather than a cross or a crucifix) stand atop the capital of the town square's Neoclassical-style cathedral. Like the bulk of the city, the cathedral is an architectural cacophony of styles, a true Tower of Babel - an edifice founded in confusion, awash in a myriad of misunderstood cultures.
But two areas are breaths of fresh air (one literally so). The Tigre Delta on the outskirts of the city is a quaint suburb which fades seamlessly into an honest, rural river community. Men peddle groceries and natural gas out of boats, boat-buses take parishioners to church, and older citizens row through narrow chutes to enjoy the scenery.
On the Tigre Delta
Fall Colors on the Tigre Delta
Boca neighborhood, far across town, could not be more different. First, it stenches like sewage; the Boca Port has been irrevocably polluted for decades (Alejandra estimates a cleanup would take no less than 10 solid years). Yet it is the most honest place I have seen in BA. At its center sits the hearth of civilized religion in the Hispanic world - a soccer stadium (for CABJ - aka, Boca Juniors). It is the ancestral home of tango. Hardly a street corner is not adorned with the fedora-topped portrait of Carlos Gardel, a 20s-30s tango crooner who became the first international celebrity of tango. Boca was to tango what New Orleans was to jazz - a somewhat seedy birthplace to a truly unique artform. Jazz and tango are "kissing cousins" you might say, and both have had their twisting histories and holy wars over "purity". It is fitting that Ástor Piazzolla, one of the men who "saved" tango from ignominy, did much to unite jazz and tango.
Anyway, one landmark we saw in Boca was the Caminito, an erstwhile immigrant slum that became a colorful and noisy shopping district reminiscent of its multicolored origins. It is gritty - sirens ask tourists to take pictures with them in provocative tango poses and then solicit them for "further services" - but it makes no pretense of what it is. Here I finally discovered a distinctive and original voice in porteño culture.
As far as our concerts, the most inspiring in BA has been a noon concert for the congress Bible study. Fewer than a dozen congressional staffers showed up, but they brought the hope of bringing Christ into the country's politics. Two familiar faces attended - familiar from political posters from Mendoza (they are running for national senator and deputy). If they are Christians, I certainly hope they win. If they aren't, then I certainly hope our music meant something to them. Either way, that little concert was a big thing.
We also had the chance to sing on national TV on a congregation-supported church station (they aren't allowed to solicit donations on-air). That was odd. And one concert in BA had rock-concert style lighting. I hope we get a video - we'll have to convince the powers that be to put lights like that in Jones Hall for MMB Phase 2! Ha ha ha. Only a day left. Wow!
- Jacob G.
BA has many neighborhoods. Our hotel is in Recoleta, an old-money European-styled neighborhood. There are may Italian-style sculptures, French-style parks, Spanish-style buildings. The mausoleum/cemetery we visited seems to capture the essence of old-money aristocracy.
The largest mausoleum in Recoleta cemetery, of the Leloir family
Puerto Madero, where we ate, is the new status symbol. Old warehouses by the river have been replaced by lofts, extravagant restaurants, and upscale car dealers. All streets are named after famous women, and a central point is the modernist bridge dedicated to women. Puerto Madero is young, seductive, and fashionable.
Palermo is the largest neighborhood. It includes subdivisions with names like "SoHo" and "Hollywood." This may as well be LA or Manhattan.
There are a few notable landmarks I saw. One is the obelisk in 9 de Julio Avenue (which is a central street that is over 20 lanes wide, with medians to help poor pedestrians). Alejandra calls BA drivers "serial killers", which is abundantly obvious on 9 de Julio. The obelisk, inspired by the Washington Monument and the Egyptian obelisks, is a symbol of Argentine pride and independence. Continuing with the Egyptian theme, three pyramids (rather than a cross or a crucifix) stand atop the capital of the town square's Neoclassical-style cathedral. Like the bulk of the city, the cathedral is an architectural cacophony of styles, a true Tower of Babel - an edifice founded in confusion, awash in a myriad of misunderstood cultures.
But two areas are breaths of fresh air (one literally so). The Tigre Delta on the outskirts of the city is a quaint suburb which fades seamlessly into an honest, rural river community. Men peddle groceries and natural gas out of boats, boat-buses take parishioners to church, and older citizens row through narrow chutes to enjoy the scenery.
On the Tigre Delta
Fall Colors on the Tigre Delta
Boca neighborhood, far across town, could not be more different. First, it stenches like sewage; the Boca Port has been irrevocably polluted for decades (Alejandra estimates a cleanup would take no less than 10 solid years). Yet it is the most honest place I have seen in BA. At its center sits the hearth of civilized religion in the Hispanic world - a soccer stadium (for CABJ - aka, Boca Juniors). It is the ancestral home of tango. Hardly a street corner is not adorned with the fedora-topped portrait of Carlos Gardel, a 20s-30s tango crooner who became the first international celebrity of tango. Boca was to tango what New Orleans was to jazz - a somewhat seedy birthplace to a truly unique artform. Jazz and tango are "kissing cousins" you might say, and both have had their twisting histories and holy wars over "purity". It is fitting that Ástor Piazzolla, one of the men who "saved" tango from ignominy, did much to unite jazz and tango.
Anyway, one landmark we saw in Boca was the Caminito, an erstwhile immigrant slum that became a colorful and noisy shopping district reminiscent of its multicolored origins. It is gritty - sirens ask tourists to take pictures with them in provocative tango poses and then solicit them for "further services" - but it makes no pretense of what it is. Here I finally discovered a distinctive and original voice in porteño culture.
As far as our concerts, the most inspiring in BA has been a noon concert for the congress Bible study. Fewer than a dozen congressional staffers showed up, but they brought the hope of bringing Christ into the country's politics. Two familiar faces attended - familiar from political posters from Mendoza (they are running for national senator and deputy). If they are Christians, I certainly hope they win. If they aren't, then I certainly hope our music meant something to them. Either way, that little concert was a big thing.
We also had the chance to sing on national TV on a congregation-supported church station (they aren't allowed to solicit donations on-air). That was odd. And one concert in BA had rock-concert style lighting. I hope we get a video - we'll have to convince the powers that be to put lights like that in Jones Hall for MMB Phase 2! Ha ha ha. Only a day left. Wow!
- Jacob G.