I took my parents around Buenos Aires this weekend for my last two days of my five month long study abroad adventure. I took them to all the same tourist spots I've already been, including the Casa Rosada, La Boca neighborhood, the Recoleta cemetery, and Puerto Madero.
However, this weekend, we went to a tango show, which I have never done before! Buenos Aires is the tango capital of Argentina, so we couldn't leave without seeing a show. There are so many different shows here, but each one has its own special theme. Carlos Gardel, the show we went to, had an emphasis on songs composed by Carlos Gardel, showing a video on his life and work. Other shows focus on tango related art, singing, or acting, in addition to the dance.
All of the shows offer a transfer to the theater, so you don't have to drive, and will pick you up in a van and take you to the show. The dinner was better then expected, since its probably cooked in advance for so many people. It was three courses with unlimited wine, and we took cheesy pictures with the dancers that the company tried to sell us.
The dancing was spectacular. There were a few different couples, and all did different kinds of tango. Some were more athletic, doing flips and twirls. Others were more traditional, with women wearing frilly dresses or a classy pants suit. Then there were the classic sexy couple in tight and revealing dresses. A couple dances were preformed by multiple pairs, and other numbers were just a solo singer. The songs must have been quite famous because the women sitting on either side of us were singing along dramatically, and knew every word. The costumes and skills were intricate and beautiful.
Neither of my parents are city people, and neither am I, but they handled the heavy traffic of cars and people very well in Buenos Aires. We took cabs a couple times, and did quite a bit of walking too, but oddly we experienced some rain, which I didn't think was very common in Mendoza or Buenos Aires. But I guess I haven't experienced this season yet in Argentina, and maybe it rains more in the spring and summer. It also gets so hot in Buenos Aires during the summer that the electricity often goes out, leaving lots of buildings and homes without power for days. The apartment building we stayed at had half of the building without power (luckily not our half). I could never live in Buenos Aires, it's way too big of a city for me with too much heat, noise and people. I'm so glad I chose Mendoza instead of Buenos Aires for study abroad.
Since we took cabs all weekend around Buenos, we didn't think there would be a problem getting to the airport for our flight back to the US. However, not many of the cabs like to drive to the airport, because it takes so long to get out of town and takes up so much time and space with all the suitcases, so we couldn't find a cab for 45 minutes on the street. We were waiting on a street corner for almost an hour, watching not only the occupied cabs pass by, but also the empty ones who's cab driver wouldn't even look at us because they didn't want to deal with the luggage or driving out of town. Many of them shook their fingers at us, or looked away. After we started to get worried, I had to ask a security guard for what to do, if there was a bus we could take, and he went and spoke to a cab driver and convinced him to take us. We paid almost 50% more than what it should have been, but at least we made it to the airport in time for our flight, after an hour and a half in traffic. We were lucky we left enough time.
The security to get out of the country is more strict than traveling within the country. We had to get our bags checked twice; once at security, and once right before the gate. We couldn't even bring water onto the plane once we'd been through security. It was a major culture shock once we were in Houston and had to deal with American security measures again. I forgot what it was like to have to remove every article of clothing to go through the security. Twelve hours and 3 movies later on the plane, I was landing on Colorado soil, or I should say snow, because a light frost greeted us at the airport, reminding me that I was home, and that Christmas is soon!
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