Hay que saber mover los pies

Hey hey hey guys,

Change of plans after all, no more Salta or Jujuy, just stayed in Buenos Aires some extra days instead. It wasn't quite what I wanted at first, but the people I was supposed to travel with to Salta figured that the trip was just not realistic time-wise. And my crossing to Bolivia alone in a 28hours bus was not exactly something I looked forward to. So anyway, BA...

Well I just decided to make the most of it, drop the touristy part and just have fun for some days. And it seems that we were in for some music...

So my Argentinian friend Juan and I started off by a Cuban club on Sunday night, where we tasted great food, enjoyed some of the best music in the world, and even hit the floor for some salsa, merengue, samba and chacha dancing.... Well it goes without saying that I surely made a fool of myself in the middle of all the great dancers from Brasil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, even Peru (and no, there was no quechua dancing involved). I really think those people were born with dancing feet! The way couples move together, as if every little step had been repeated over and over again to finally create this flawless evolution, the  joyful colors of their music translating in every move, everything about this show just make you feel genuinly happy!

On Monday, we headed with some people of the hostel to see "La Bomba del Tiempo": A great music show with percussionists, trumpetists, guitar players, 2 fantastic female singers, all led by a Maestro who had some "druming" of his own going on, and staged in a old warehouse...
The crowd was a mix of old and young hippies, some tourists, mostly locals, an old couple of Americans who clearly were wondering why the h*** there hotel had led them there. And in the middle of it all, us, jumping up and down and enjoying the powerful sound of music!
After the show we were up for more, so we headed towards a club in palermo, where some musicians were performing live, offering us some more occasions to jump up and down..
That had to lead me straight to bed with sore feet and a bit of a cold as well...

Tuesday was the game Brasil-Chile, and we went down to Plaza San Martin to watch it with a bunch of people, mix of brasilians and Argentinians, mostly Brasilians though.. Can't quite describe how the whole place was transformed after Brasil won... Some guys started playing on drums and percussions airs of Samba, and all the Brasilians, girls and boys, formed a spontaneous circle and started dancing their victory... I am sure many of the guy-readers here would have appreciated the show.... ;)

I could not imagine this kind of celebration would happen before the finale, but it seems that for some people, football does mean a bit more than "just" a multi-millions cheque at the end of the year.. It truly is a federating event here, and the players know that they have a nation supporting them behind. They don't just play for their own glory, but they also carry the hopes of their people. And that's why in my opinion it is only fair that France was kicked out. We should have never been their in the first place anyway... Which kind of motivation did we show anyway, besides  demonstrating one more time that they were just a bunch of spoiled kids with egos to big to coexist anyway..

I will dedicate another post, this time in french, for the rest of my week here... I had the incredible chance yesterday to go play polo in the oldest estancia of Argentina, La Martina, with Marcial Cambiaso, brother to #1 polo player in the world, Adolfo Cambiaso... And I want to share this experience in particular with my dad, as he was the one to put me on the back of a horse for the first time some 19 years ago....The only thing i can tell you guys, is that i never had such a rush in my whole life! I might very well be back here this winter for more...!

I will have a day trip tomorrow to Uruguay, and then be off to Bolivia on Saturday, Where I will be meeting with Celeste and Tiphaine.  Will give you more news from there!

loads of love
Lea