Note to self: STOP doing things you know you hate, ie going out to clubs, no matter how attractive the idea seems after a couple of disgustingly sweet mixed drinks. This will make your time here much more enjoyable.
Gee, thanks self.
ANYWAY. Yes, I'm still incredibly frustrated by a lot of things in this city (read: EVERYONE SPEAKING TO ME IN ENGLISH) but the great thing about the size of the city and large anglophone population (or expats as they call themselves here) is that it is SO SO easy to find out about really awesome cultural events going on throughout the city. I never really understood the popularity of the 'blogosphere', as I've been pretty disappointed by the offerings of Montreal blogs, but I guess I never looked hard enough. Suddenly I come to BA and I spend a record amount of time surfing the net rather than just refreshing facebook. Since when has the internet been such an incredible resource? There are literally hundreds of blogs about different and incredible things happening ALL THE TIME: Food (credits to Shana Hurley), Going Out, Alternative Cinema, Hipstery Shit that I Can't Get Enough of, and, most importantly, Hip Hop. These are just a few examples.
One of these blogs led me to an Argentine photojournalism exhibition, which was absolutely incredible. It's really shocking how little news we receive about the world, specifically Latin America, considering how many 24-hour news channels we have on basic cable (cue Jon Stewart parody of corporate media).
Another incredible thing about the city is how easy it is to get around. Though I have yet to completely figure out the whole Colectivo (public bus) system, I am a huge fan of the Subte (subway). Unfortunately, the Subte shuts down at 10pm (and I thought 1am in Montreal was early? Spoiled by NYC). Today a couple of my roommates and I hopped on a train to Tigre, a more residential and touristy neighborhood in the province of Buenos Aires. It cost around 3 pesos (less than a dollar) roundtrip AND was one of the easiest things I've ever done. The MTA needs to get in on this shit (Metro North and its $21.50 off-peak fares can suck it). It was a beautiful winter's day with a high around 12C/62F (rough translation, don't quote me) and we saw lots of cool things!
Highlights:
The smallest, cutest car I've ever seen!
People here live on the river delta and instead of having cars they get around by boat.
All of the houses were amazing, but this one was my favorite.
Now, on to what I really want to talk about: community. I figure the best way for me to make local friends is to get involved in some sort of community here in the city. In order to do this I have to figure out just what kind of community I want to be a part of. Some people have Green Peace, others have Ultimate Frisbee, and still others have more academic persuasions. I, my friends, am sadly interested in none of these. So what do I have? I really had to think about this. I mean, I'm not really an integral part of anything at school. Well, I like movies and journalism. These are things I figured I'd have to wait for school to start to really find a community/become comfortable enough with my level of knowledge of either of these things to participate in any related community. So… what else is Kelly Baker passionate about? Oh, yeah. MUSIC.
I guess this seems fairly obvious… go to shows, meet some people who like what you like, run into them at similar shows… bada-bing, bada-boom. The thing is, I'm not cool enough to be part of the indie rock scene, plus, a lot of underground indie sucks, in my personal opinion. Especially Spanish attempts at indie rock. Culturally speaking, just about everything latinos find "lindo" or beautiful or moving or precious is icky cliché garbage to norteamericanos. (I'm sorry, but greasy men crooning about how beautiful their young lover's eyes are over a few guitar chords is really really NOT lindo.) Plus, I'm not a pretentious, Pitchfork worshipping asshole. (Marko)
So, I made the very decisive decision to investigate the hip hop scene of BsAs. Hip hop is something I know a fair amount about and something I happen to very much enjoy listening to. This could be tricky however, because many people's idea of hip hop involves Lil Jon and 50 Cent or, worse yet, Flo Rida. I'm sorry, but to me these people are NOT hip hop. They are RAP. Rap, in my opinion, is the commercialized version of hip hop that is meant to be consumed on the pop charts. Hip hop is a culture. Rap sells the stereotypes of that culture. Ok, I'll end the rant now.
To get back to my original point, I was a bit worried that the 'hip hop' of Buenos Aires would be rap and/or reggaeton, as this is generally what is meant by "hip hop" nights at clubs in Montreal. Thankfully (thankfully?) Buenos Aires is not Montreal.
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