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Buenos Aires, Argentina
34° 35' S 58° 40' W
Jan 18, 2006 04:43
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Other entries in Buenos Aires

Brothels and Massive Graveyards

Text written in: English

oh man oh man oh man. sometimes you get yourself into things that you dont expect but as long as you come out on the other side alive and hopefully laughing, youve probably benefited from the experience. last night marked the departure of one of our new friends in Buenos Aires, Nelson the Australian from Chile. we were unsure before dinner what the MO for the night was going to be but after David and I finished a bottle of wine, and then split another with Nelson, we had made up our mind to go out. but it was a Monday and like many other major cities, there isnt much to do. so we decided to just go to a pub or club; at least that was my understanding. but when we got into the cab and Nelson talked to the driver, david pointed out that the driver made the distint and unmistakeable (to us at least) clenched fist pounded into open palm gesture which of course meant sex and after seeing this, dave shot me a nervous grin and said he thought we were heading for a brothel. the driver steered us to what looked like a bar on the exterior but when we got inside, it was very clear where we were. it looked like a strip club and despite my hatred of strip clubs (and i apologize to the adult readers out there for the bluntness of my forthcoming explanation but lets be honest, you all are grown ups and can sympothize with what im about to explain) for the reason that i think its pointless to pay money to get excited and then go home. that being said, i dont believe in paying for sex either. but it was Nelsons last night and he seemed enthused by the place so we paid the 10 dollar cover, snatched our two free drink tickets, and entered the layer of the prostitutes. ive only been to one other such club before but the similarities between my two case studies were abundant making me believe theyre all pretty much the same. this one however had a plethora of attractive women just standing around waiting to be talked to, a scene uncommon to strip clubs. we took a seat at a table enjoyed our drinks and the atmosphere around us. after a while, two girls approached and began to start their sales pitch. david was in the corner and unaccessible so the two leeched onto me and Nelson. i tried in my best spanish to tell her she was pretty and i was flattered that she was interested in becoming friends but i bluntly said that i wasnt going to pay for her company. she then left. Nelson made the mistake of being cordial and offered to buy his friend a drink. when it came, it was more than the price of admission to the club and we all were shocked. but apparently this is a way of telling the girl that you are interested in perhaps furthering the young relationship. i guess after a while with enough invested in buying drinks for a girl, a man might feel inclined to spend a little more. but when it was clear that we were not going to buy her anymore drinks, the other girl left as well. so we sat enjoying the hilarity of the situation and admiring the beauty of the Argentinian girls.....er, faces but when the pitboss realized that we werent going to buy anything, the free bar snacks stopped coming and we were given the mean eye to leave.

we left the place in search of a drink and upon hitting the fresh night air, we were met with more offers of similar clubs promising better girls. i dont know why they thought that men leaving a like establishment would wnat to go to another. either they were tapped out and going home, or disinterested and going elsewhere. either way, the offers were out there. Nelson befriended a sharp dressed youngster who told us about a cool club not too far away and the clincher was the Maradonna used to go there. he even joined us for the cab ride over. when we exited the cab, the driver told us that the fare was in US dollars, not Pesos. we told him what he could do with that. and then he gave david a counterfit bill for change or, more accurately, no change (this we discovered the next day).  when we got upstairs to this club, we were disappointed to find a very familiar scene. tons of attractive girls, not many guys (and most of the guys were old and fat), and not the usual interaction between the two that normally occurs in clubs. we again took a table with drinks and again were approached by women. this time one used davids hair as an ¨in¨ and Nelson became infatuated with another at the bar.  david told the girl he was from Russia but despite his excellent spanish, he said the wrong word for Russia thus letting the girl in on his rouse. we tried again to be polite and disuade her from wasting a lot of time but she seemed genuinely interested in davids hair and talking to us. riiiiiight. she was just a persistent little prostitute. after not too long we were ready to leave and have our usual end of night 60 cent hamburger but Nelson was seriously considering the girl he was talking to. but he must have decided against it because he was soon ready to leave as well. he told us later that had he had the money on him, ¨it would have been, 'see ya later fellas!'¨ so that was my first experience with a brothel, wait scratch that, two brothels, and i dont think ill be returning. and i know what youre saying out there, how can a guy not know he's heading to not one but two different brothels in one night? but im dense sometimes, especially after two bottles of wine, and i trusted my new friend to have more ambitious plans than to frequent a brothel on his last night in town. but im still learning.

today we woke up groggy and still in disbelief of the previous nights events. we gathered a group and made a long trek to La Recoletta, the gigantic and famous graveyard for the socially or politically elite but still very dead heroes of Argentina. past presidents, general, writers, musicians, and yes, even Evita, are buried there.  its a very popular tourist attraction because of its pure size and the elaborate and lavish decorations and designs of the above ground tombs. most were huge and beautiful but some were just rediculous. marble and granite were popular choices, roman columns and fantastic arched domes were also often used. our group of five were in a jovial mood and didnt feel that this massive grave yard needed our profound respect or well mannered behavior. it was strange that in the US, we would show more respect for the dead and take a more somber mentality into a cemetary but a here we did not. perhaps it was the fact that this was practically a museum with the number of foreigners with cameras and site maps in hand, perhaps it was the absurdity of spending what looked like thousands if not millions (if you think about the fact that whole families own large plots in the cemetary) of dollars on construction and upkeep of these facilities, or perhaps it was simply the relaxed attitude of the people in Latin America towards death in general. whichever it was, we treated the place with awe but not much reverence. we were glad to have seen it and it was different that every other cemetary ive ever been to.

then it was back to the hostel for a nap and then billiards and some dinner. we said goodbye to Nelson but not for too long cause we will see him in Sydney when we get there for some more good times but hopefully no more brothels.