This is surely an eventful country. Last Monday, a member of a far-left party (Partido Obrero) was shot to death and others were wounded while attempting to block railway tracks in support of contracted out railway workers. The Partido Obrero blamed "thugs from the Railway Union" for this shooting. The Railway Union claimed the Partido Obrero members shot first. Investigations are ongoing.
Yesterday the former president of Argentina, husband of the current president of Argentina, died suddenly, no further medical details yet available. There seems to be no suggestion that this was other than a naturally or medically caused event, despite a tabloid press that can be quite excitable.
Also yesterday, unbeknownst to us, a National Holiday had been declared because the National Census was being conducted. The streets were almost completely deserted, and all the stores and restaurants were closed when we went out for a morning coffee. We went back to our apartment, and some time later a census -taker knocked and we muddled through the forms with him (yes, they do have the long-form, and, as in Canada, there seems to be little or no groundswell of opposition to filling it out). We are now officially an infinitesimal part of the Argentine statistical record, and we have a "Gracias por responder" sticker to prove it.
We'll keep you posted on these and other developing stories as they happen...
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Football and the Boca Juniors
One of the great passions of Argentines, besides politics, is soccer. To many in Buenos Aires, this is synonymous with the Club Atletico Boca Juniors, the most famous soccer club in the country. The fabled Argentine player Diego Maradona, called the greatest player of the 20th century by FIFA, played for this club, as have many other greats.
The home field of the Boca Juniors is La Bomboniere, a 65,000 seat stadium built in 1944. Located in La Boca, one of the poorest parts of Buenos Aires, this stadium is completely painted in yellow and blue, the team colours. It has few creature comforts (think of Hamilton's Ivor Wynne Stadium X 3). We attended a game on a cool but sunny Sunday afternoon. Boca was playing Huricán, a team several places below them in the standings.
The fanatical supporters of the club call themselves the 12th man, intimidating opponents as they yell, jump up and down, and sing club songs loudly throughout the entire game. The game is punctuated by rolls of toilet paper, and showers of torn-up programs that rain down on the field. The supporters of opposing teams have to be cordoned off in one small section of the stadium, separated by barbed wire and a line of police from the Boca fans. The Huricán fans tried to cheer their team on, but were largely drowned out by the Boca fans. Fortunately the Boca Juniors won handily, 2-0, so everyone was happy when they left.
Team rivalries can be taken to extreme lengths. The Boca fans hold a special hatred for their cross-town rivals, the fans of Club Atletico Rio Plata (River). Their team colours are red and white, so the Coca Cola signs at La Bomboniere are white on a black background to avoid the hated red and white colour scheme. The depths of this rivalry were reached in the early 1990's. On a day when the River team defeated Boca 2-0, two River fans were shot dead. "We made it a 2-2 draw" said a Boca fan on national TV.
The home field of the Boca Juniors is La Bomboniere, a 65,000 seat stadium built in 1944. Located in La Boca, one of the poorest parts of Buenos Aires, this stadium is completely painted in yellow and blue, the team colours. It has few creature comforts (think of Hamilton's Ivor Wynne Stadium X 3). We attended a game on a cool but sunny Sunday afternoon. Boca was playing Huricán, a team several places below them in the standings.
The fanatical supporters of the club call themselves the 12th man, intimidating opponents as they yell, jump up and down, and sing club songs loudly throughout the entire game. The game is punctuated by rolls of toilet paper, and showers of torn-up programs that rain down on the field. The supporters of opposing teams have to be cordoned off in one small section of the stadium, separated by barbed wire and a line of police from the Boca fans. The Huricán fans tried to cheer their team on, but were largely drowned out by the Boca fans. Fortunately the Boca Juniors won handily, 2-0, so everyone was happy when they left.
Team rivalries can be taken to extreme lengths. The Boca fans hold a special hatred for their cross-town rivals, the fans of Club Atletico Rio Plata (River). Their team colours are red and white, so the Coca Cola signs at La Bomboniere are white on a black background to avoid the hated red and white colour scheme. The depths of this rivalry were reached in the early 1990's. On a day when the River team defeated Boca 2-0, two River fans were shot dead. "We made it a 2-2 draw" said a Boca fan on national TV.
Buenos Dias to Buenos Aires
Barb and I flew to Buenos Aires on separate flights, on separate days. A casual observer would be forgiven if he or she surmised that this was a sensible and prudent plan to ensure continuity of the Tea Room in the face of some aeronautical disaster, but no, this was not the reason for this curious travel plan.
Barb flew on Aeroplan points, and I flew on Air Miles, and these two organizations were unable to get us a flight on the same day, let alone in the same plane. Hence Barb arrived a day before I did, and endured a misadventure on her own.
We had rented an apartment online from a rentals agency in Buenos Aires, weeks before our trip. Barb arrived exhausted after her 15-hour flight, so she bought a few groceries and then went to bed. On awakening the next morning, she was horrified to find that not only had she not slept alone, but her tiny bedmates had been feasting on her while she slept.
I arrived to discover this state of affairs was already being remedied. The owners of the apartment were suitably mortified, and the rentals agency quickly found us another apartment. The owners of the first apartment drove us to the new one, with many apologies. By 8:30 pm we had signed a new rental agreement, and were settling in to our new place, without any uninvited guests .
The new apartment is larger, more comfortable, and much better designed than the cramped and utilitarian one we had left. The view from our 7th floor apartment is of a treed and well-kept military establishment, across a wide and unfortunately busy avenue.
The area is a bit downmarket, but we're right on the edge of a developing, trendy part of town, where new restaurants, design shops and hip stores are changing the face of the neighbourhood. There's great walking and lots of shopping, both the kind involving windows and the kind involving spending money.
There also seems to be an inordinate number of paint stores. Either Porteños (Natives of Buenos Aires) are great redecoraters, or the paint is of such poor quality it must be redone frequently.
Barb flew on Aeroplan points, and I flew on Air Miles, and these two organizations were unable to get us a flight on the same day, let alone in the same plane. Hence Barb arrived a day before I did, and endured a misadventure on her own.
We had rented an apartment online from a rentals agency in Buenos Aires, weeks before our trip. Barb arrived exhausted after her 15-hour flight, so she bought a few groceries and then went to bed. On awakening the next morning, she was horrified to find that not only had she not slept alone, but her tiny bedmates had been feasting on her while she slept.
I arrived to discover this state of affairs was already being remedied. The owners of the apartment were suitably mortified, and the rentals agency quickly found us another apartment. The owners of the first apartment drove us to the new one, with many apologies. By 8:30 pm we had signed a new rental agreement, and were settling in to our new place, without any uninvited guests .
The new apartment is larger, more comfortable, and much better designed than the cramped and utilitarian one we had left. The view from our 7th floor apartment is of a treed and well-kept military establishment, across a wide and unfortunately busy avenue.
The area is a bit downmarket, but we're right on the edge of a developing, trendy part of town, where new restaurants, design shops and hip stores are changing the face of the neighbourhood. There's great walking and lots of shopping, both the kind involving windows and the kind involving spending money.
There also seems to be an inordinate number of paint stores. Either Porteños (Natives of Buenos Aires) are great redecoraters, or the paint is of such poor quality it must be redone frequently.
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