Tomatitos Loquitos

In good Latin American fashion, Argentina took the opportunity to celebrate a senseless holiday on Monday: Columbus Day. Again, not exactly sure why the US celebrates a Columbus Day, but far more confusing is why Argentina does... Anyway, with no school and most businesses closed, we took full advantage of the 'empty' city streets. Holidays are bar far the best time for picture taking: no one to obstruct the shot, fewer menacing stares from locals, and less traffic (perfect for middle of the street pics!). As we ventured into MicroCentro it became clear that avoiding the famous Valle street has been one of our best decisions to date.

Tourists don't stay in on bank holidays and they definitely B-line for the Valle area. The famous pedestrian path through the city center, lined by historic buildings and flooded with overzealous leather, shoe, and plastic crap from China salesmen is obviously a recommended destination by the various local hotels. However, given the cliche tourist trap nature, I found myself randomly entertained and intrigued. Top of the list: Man yelling "Tomatitos Loquitos" (Little crazy tomatoes) and smashing gooey, mushy toys against hard surfaces and watching them reform into a nice perfectly round, tomatoey shape. Should have got a picture cause for some reason it really cracked me up! But our real purpose for a trip to the gauntlet was to find the highly discounted ticket booth to purchase our La Bomba de Tiempo tickets.

The most entertaining show I've seen in BA, encompassed in an incredible environment, I had heard about several times, but finally made it to last night. La Bomba de Tiempo is a percussionist group started early 2006 and is now a permanent show on Monday nights. The unconventional techniques of the conductor are almost as entertaining as the music itself and the guest sax player mixed it up with a flute! The energy pulsing through the constantly dancing crowd struck a cord with me because I LOVE to dance. Better yet, upon leaving, the hippies slinging food on the street, pan relleno (stuffed bread) and tacos (with lentils and YaYa Bean hot sauce) really clinched it for me: La Bomba has not seen the last of this gringa! xo