Al revés

The other night, I went to a gay dance club called Amerika. It promised three dance floors--electronica, 80's pop, and Latin--as well as all drinks included in the cover (~$11). The actuality of it did not exactly agree with the image in my head, as one of the smaller dance floors was on a loft overlooking the main one and the other was inside of a kind of bubble contraption, and I thought it would be more like R Place. But I had fun dancing and people watching. In the middle of the main dance floor there was a tiny round stage that could fit about five people. Most of the people who got up on it were pretty good dancers, but there was one guy I just felt sad for. He was up there and rocking out, which I applaud, but someone should have cut him off. He just looked terrible and embarrassing. But I guess it worked out okay because later I saw him holding hands with a guy.

The previous night, we went to watch the semi-finals of the World Tango Championship, which is held for a week in August every year in Buenos Aires. Tickets were free on a first-come, first-serve basis and it seemed like the whole city was there. Ten couples danced at a time, three songs per round. There were a lot of Colombians, some Brazilians, and a few Europeans, but the vast majority were portaños, Argentines from Buenos Aires. I really enjoyed watching, as I have been taking tango lessons myself and it's good to see how the professionals do it. It's really different than the way the street performers dance. More refined, less flair. Unfortunately, we were sitting too far back for me to take any really good photos.



After the show, we went to a Tenador Libre ('Free Fork'). For ~$7, we got a endless buffet of sushi, stir fry, barbequed meats, salads, fried foods, entrees, and desserts. It was amazing and we ate for three hours. There are cheaper ones where you can eat for ~$3, but this one had sushi, which is why I picked it.

I also recently spent a couple nights in Montevideo, Uruguay. It's a city that I've been excited to visit for quite awhile, without really knowing why. It was nice, but the kind of place that I think would be better to live than to visit. It's a one hour ferry ride across the Rio de Plata from Buenos Aires to Colonia, Uruguay, then a 2.5 hour bus ride to Montevideo. (You can also take a direct boat, but it's a lot more expensive.)



Monument to José Gervasio Artigas on Plaza Independencia



His mausoleum underneath the statue



Palacio Salvo, on the Plaza Independencia



Shoe shine guy, a staple of life in Latin America, though this was the first one I've seen with a rain shield.



Every day, each household puts its garbage outside its apartment door and the building's porter puts it all outside. Then people, los papeleros, come around, sort the trash, and haul it away. In Buenos Aires, this is accomplished using people-pulled carts, but in Montevideo some of them use horses.



Teatro Solis, the National Theatre of Uruguay





There are free tours in Spanish every hour on Wednesdays, so we got to go inside.



Montevideo still has a working port



Fishermen



Because I know you like to see at least one picture of me each time, Gramma



El Palacio Legislativo



Uruguayan flag



Just because:




Montevideo de Todos (Montevideo for Everyone). That day, there was a big journalism convention as well as a crappy photography exhibit titled, "The Hidden Japan". It was so well hidden that there were no people in any of the photos.



Our last day in town was a holiday, the Day of Nostalgia, and a lot of people had the day off work. Some of them chose to use this time to have a demonstration for better pay and work benefits.



Before we got on the bus, we killed on hour at the mall.