Today we woke up early to get to the print shop to watch the World Cup game between Argentina and Germany. When we arrived, Mercedes' son and the other shop employees were all sitting in front of the giant TV with their jerseys on, ready to cheer for their team. I could tell that they all took this very seriously, and that it was going to be exciting to be a part of this Argentinan tradition.
The first minutes of the game did not go well for Argentina. Germany scored right away...but we were all holding out hope that Argentina would come back and score and eventually win. At the end of the first half, the score was still 1-0 in favor of Germany. The second half started and Argentina was playing really well...It was very tense for everyone because there were many close shots, but no goals for Argentina.
Then Germany scored again...and then again...and then again!!! It was terrible! After the second goal, you could tell that everyone watching was frustrated, but after the third and then the fourth goal, everyone was completely at a loss for words...Well, there were a few words said...and one of them was "Ciao" (in the direction of the TV), meaning "bye" (probably mispelled, sorry)...At this point everyone was saying "goodbye" to the hope of becoming World Cup champions.
The game ended with Argentina losing, and it was a huge dissipointment for everyone! I know that I had been hoping that I would be able to party in the street and get to take pictures of the big celebration...but that's not how it went, and so there was not much left to do except watch camera footage on the news of Argentinan fans with blue and white afro wigs, sitting in the stands crying. Oh well, the only good thought I had was that maybe now I could buy a soccer jersey off the street cheaper than I could yesterday.
After the game, I went with Mercedes to a meeting in another part of town. During her meeting I was able to walk around the neighborhood and window shop. I found a cafe and had coffee and watched the end of the Spain/Paraguay game and then met back up with Mercedes.
That evening we went to another part of town and stopped at a mall to walk around. We left the mall and went out into a nearby neighborhood to see a tango school where people can take lessons. There weren't any classes going on so we went back into the mall. At this point we were both getting hungry, so we headed to an authentic Argentinan "parrilla" which is like a grill where different kinds of meat are served. This restaurant was actually in the mall, and in the front, there was a little bar where we could sit and have dinner. It was really great, because we actually got to sit right by the grill and see how the meat was prepared. We ordered french fries and steak. It was probably the best food I've had so far on the trip (but then I keep saying that, and each meal keeps getting better and better)!
After dinner Mercedes took me to another area, called Palermo Soho, where there are lots of outdoor cafes and bars. The cobblestone streets were lined with fancy shops and restaurants, and there were a ton of people everywhere, having dinner and hanging out. Even though it is winter now, today I noticed that it was actually pretty warm outside. I would say it was about 70 degrees in the day and maybe 65 degrees at night. Because it was such a nice night, the outdoor cafes were packed!!! Everywhere we walked we saw people enjoying food and drinks. This was definitely one of my favorite places to visit so far, and it reminded me a lot of the neighborhood I lived in when I was in Mexico City (La Condesa).
We ended the evening at an ice cream shop. I had "dulce de leche" ice cream, which is definitely becoming my favorite thing to eat here. We sat and ate our ice cream outside. It was such a great place, and I really enjoyed the evening. The dinner, ice cream and cute area of town almost made up for the horrible soccer game we'd seen that morning...almost!
No comments:
Post a Comment