Rowdy folklore and dancing, skillful horsemanship, manly gauchos (Argentinean cowboys), inexhaustible amounts of grilled meat, empanadas, and other regional foods, fairly priced and beautifully handcrafted arts & crafts. Oh, yes. I do love the Feria de Mataderos. It’s one of my favorite Sunday activities in Buenos Aires. Watch our video to see if you want to add Mataderos to your list of things to do in Buenos Aires.

John and I went to the fair with an Argentinean friend and one of our long-term guests staying in The Pad. It was the first time any of them had gone. Sole laughed when I asked if she’d been to the fair before. “No, that’s for tourists, not porteños,” she said. Once we arrived, she realized her mistake. There are a few tourists, only those who’ve found the one paragraph most guidebooks devote to the fair or those who know someone here who has recommended it. But these are not your average tourists. Though we also didn’t see many average porteños (Buenos Aires locals) at the fair either.

That’s a large part of the beauty of the weekly Feria de Mataderos. It’s a neighborhood fair held for people who love folklore (Argentinean folk music) and it’s unlike anything you’ll find in the city.

Mataderos (i.e., Slaughterhouses)

Map of the barrios of Capital Federal

The neighborhood the fair is named after, Mataderos, is where the city meets the country. It’s one of the last barrios (neighborhoods) still inside the district of Capital Federal and in the past this was where the cattle was brough in from the provinces to be slaughtered and distributed to the rest of the country. In fact, Mataderos means slaughterhouse in Spanish. This neighborhood is also called Nueva Chicago because it share its slaughterhouse role with its U.S. counterpart.

Smoke from the grills and a stack of chorizos.

While the slaughterhouses have moved elsewhere, the fair is packed with parillas (grills) and loads of meat. Just look at the smoke hovering above the stands and under the trees in our opening shot of the video and you’ll get the idea.

My favorite part is the music and dancing on and around the stage in the main plaza. The Sunday that we went was El Día del Niño (The Day of the Children). There were groups of kids performing traditional zambas and chacareras (Argentinean folklore rhythms) on stage.

Dancers performing a zamba on the main stage.

I love how the boys in the chacarera show off their fancy footwork. And the handkerchiefs in the zamba with the girls’ flowing skirts, their rounded arms and slight embraces is just beautiful. The group of younger kids (mostly girls) in the video are playing the traditional drum of folklore. It’s called a bombo legüero and these kids were fantastic.

Gaucha, clapping to the rhythms of folklore.

Around the stage you’ll see plenty of other couples dancing, too. Some are dressed in traditional gaucho wear; others are in boots and jeans. I don’t really know the steps, but I’ve often been invited to dance with a local and it’s not that difficult to fake some ability to dance if you watch the women next to you and just do as they do. Jump right in if the urge hits you.

Gaucho Culture

Gorgeous gaucho stirrups.

The fair really is a celebration of guacho culture. Just down the road from the main stage you’ll see gauchos on horseback in full gear. Beautiful gear. Their stirrups look nothing like the ones you see back in the States. Gaucho pants are called bombachas (which incidentally is also the word in castellano for underwear). They use either a sash-like belt or a leather one with fancy medallions and typically have a knife tucked in at their back.

La Carerra de Sortija, or the Race for the Ring.

At about 3:00 pm, a group of gauchos will start warming up on Av. Lisandro de la Torre for the Carerra de Sortija (Race of the Ring) where they’ll race their horse down the road, standing up as they reach a metal frame with a small ring dangling from it. The idea is to use the stick in their hand to pull off the ring. It’s pretty impressive.

Agustin, the youngest gaucho, races for the ring.

As is fitting for El Día del Niño, in our video only the youngest gaucho actually grabbed the ring.

Street Food: What to Eat

The asador tending to the barbecue.

The fair offers some of the best regional food in the city. But don’t expect to be able to ask for your steak to be cooked medium rare. The meat is slow-cooked with lots of hands tending the fire. You might want to try the vacíopan (flank steak sandwich) or the choripan (sausage sandwich). There are plenty of other options, too.

Stuffing the homemade empanadas.

Homemade empanadas, little half-moon pies stuffed with meat, or chicken, or corn (called humita here), or ham and cheese, or onion and cheese. If you want something more hearty try the locro (a corn-based stew which sometimes has tripe) and tamales(corn dough filled with a shredded meat stuffing and wrapped in husks; tamales here are never spicy).

Damon digs into some locro.

In the main plaza, behind the stage, there are lots of tables and chairs where you can actually sit down and have a glass of wine or a beer with your street food. And, of course, there are several restaurants with outdoor tables all along the streets of the fair. The food there is pretty much the same as in the stands, but you’ll have a waiter and you can sit and watch the show or the people for as long as you like.

Shopping: What to Buy

It reads, "Hold on to me tight and suck on me slowly."

Another great reason to go to the Feria de Mataderos is to buy gifts to bring back home. The prices are much better than in the city and you’ll find a lot of traditional Argentinean arts & crafts that you won’t see elsewhere. Maté cups (cups traditionally made from gourds used for the ubiquitous tea-like infusion gauchos drink) and bombillas (the metal straws with a filter that you drink maté through), handcrafted knives with elaborate details, ponchos made from llama or alpaca, cool wine racks made from horseshoes, handcrafted jewelry, toys, and candles, you name it.

Handmade jewelry stand at the fair.

There are also a lot of stands filled with local foods like cheese, alfajores (traditional cookies that are like a shortbread sandwich with caramel in the middle), marmalades and preserves, liquors made from eggs or chocolate or even dulce de leche liquor. And if you think you might want to buy some gaucho bombachas, this is the place to do it. Way better prices than in the touristy shops in the city.

When The Fair Takes Place

The fair takes place every Sunday (from April through December) and on Saturday evenings starting at 6:00 pm during warmer months (in February and March). It’s closed in January.

Getting to Mataderos

It’s a bit of a hike (close to an hour bus ride) to get out to Mataderos. If you’re in the Palermo area, you can take the 55 bus. If you’re in San Telmo, you’ll need to get to Retiro first and then take the 92.

You could also take a taxi if you don’t want to try the bus routes. Our taxi from San Telmo cost us roughly 40 pesos (at 10 pesos each it was probably worth it to get us out there early). We took the 92 bus back to Retiro when time was not an issue. I also just ran across a review on Trip Advisor written by a guy here in Buenos Aires that offers trips to the fair in his Lincoln Town car.

Other Blogs on Mataderos

Buenos Aires Tours has a great post about the Feria de Mataderos and some videos of gauchos in the Carerra de Sortija. And another expat blogger, Sallycat, has a fun write up about her trip out to the fair which ended up being a trip to the neighborhood as it was summer and the fair wasn’t happening. And lastly, Travel with Pen and Palate Argentina has a nice post with some wonderful photos of the fair.

Have you been to the Feria de Mataderos? What was your favorite part of the fair?

Some tango-loving friends of mine introduced me to La Jaula Abierta, a really cool spot for live music (watch our video below) here in San Telmo. It’s in a small, intimate bar right above Cafe Rivas on Estados Unidos and Balcarce, just a few blocks away from San Telmo Loft.

For me, the show at La Jaula Abierta represents what I fell in love with about Argentina and why I moved here. Music. Spontaneous groups of all walks of people who are all musically inclined in one way or another. The first times I visited Argentina, I’d be invited to people’s houses for dinner or maté or whatever and inevitably someone would pull out a guitar. What amazed me though was that everyone, I mean everyone, would either sing or play an instrument at some point in the evening, which would typically last until sunrise (especially if there was enough Fernet con Coca around too keep us all awake).

Clearly many of the people at La Jaula Abierta are professional musicians, but others are more famous for acting and modeling. It’s sort of like getting an invite to a private party packed with celebrities who take turns on stage singing. And can they sing!

Live Tango and Folklore

The first song in the video is Yo No Sé Qué Me Han Hecho Tus Ojos (I Don’t Know What It Is That Your Eyes Have Done To Me) sung by Dolores Sola and my favorite performer at La Jaula, Rita Cortese, who also sings the second song in the video. You can read the lyrics and watch a video with Carlos Gardel’s version and some images of Gardel here.

This song is also the title of an Argentinean documentary about a famous tango singer named Ada Falcon. It was written by another incredibly famous tango singer and composer, Francisco Canaro about Falcon’s famous green eyes. Falcon disappeared from public life at the height of her fame. The documentary seeks to solve the mystery of her disappearance. There’s a great YouTube video about Falcon’s life, but don’t watch it if you are planning to watch the documentary (spoiler alert).

Argentinean Celebrities at La Jaula Abierta

The actress Rita Cortese at La Jaula Abierta

Each time I’ve been to La Jaula Abierta, Dolores Sola, Rita Cortese and Carolina Peleritti (pictured in the photo at top of post) act as the hosts. They’re playful and funny. Their interactions with each other and the audience really make it feel like you’ve been invited into someone’s home.

By far the best singer the night we shot the video above was Lidia Borda. That note she hits at the beginning of the song is out of this world! Here’s a video of Lidia Borda with Hernan Lucero, who also performs frequently at La Jaula. If you speak Spanish, the intro will give you an idea of the atmosphere of the place. The song they’re performing was written  by Hernan Lucero.

Update: We weren’t able to get tickets at the stadium. The game was canceled on Sunday and rescheduled for Thursday, March 25. Boca Juniors won 2 – 0!

The Boca vs. River game, el superclasico, is this Sunday and it’s being played at the Boca stadium, La Bombonera. I’m not a big sports fan, but we saw the Boca vs. Racing game two weeks ago and it was thrilling. Plus, the Boca vs. River rivalry is one of the greatest in the world. It’s even listed in the 50 sporting things you must do before you die by The Observer. And not just listed, it’s first on the list!

So, we’re going to try to go. Everyone says that you absolutely cannot get tickets at the stadium on game day. We’re going to try because a lot of people told us the same thing two weeks ago, and we did get tickets for less than a third of what online retailers were asking for.

I’m a Boca fan because Boca represents the working class and I like that. Plus, we live in San Telmo, so Boca is our neighbor.

First, some terminology.

Hincha and Hinchada

Hincha means fan. Hinchada means a group of fans. And boy, Boca’s hinchada is out of this world. You’ll often hear people say “soy de Boca,” or “soy hincha de Boca.” When the whole group is together, waving flags and singing in unison, that’s the hinchada.

Los Xeneizes, the greatest fans in the world.

Other names that Boca fans go by are los xeneizes, or the Genovese after the Italian immigrants that lived in La Boca and founded the team, and la doce, or number 12 for the 12th player. Fans from other teams call Boca fans los bosteros, or manure handlers.  Sometimes los xeneizes also call themselves los bosteros.

Canticos de Boca or Boca Chants

I was dying to chant along with the hinchada,  but I couldn’t figure out what they were saying. I’ve collected the chants I heard the most at the game here. Click on title to hear the chant, and open our list of the lyrics and their English translations in a new window to read along as you listen. You might even want to print them out to take with you to the game.

Dale Bo’ – Let’s Go Bo’ (Bo’ is short for Boca)- If you just want to learn one chant, this is the one to learn. Basically, it ends every chant they have.

Hinchada Hay Una Sola – Group of Fans, There’s Only One – Lots of people agree that these are the greatest fans in the world. I’m from Louisiana, home of the Saints (Who Dat?) and LSU and even I’ve never seen anything like the Boca fans.

Vamos Los Xeneizes Vamos A Ganar – Come On Boca Fans, We’re Gonna Win – So I mentioned above that los xeneizes refers to the group of Genovese immigrants that founded the team, but more specifically, Xena is Genova in the Genovese dialect, so xeneizes is people from Genova.

Chants That Mention River

River fans are called las gallinas by Boca fans. Basically, they’re saying that River fans are chickens, but gallina actually means hen. Same idea, but I guess for these guys, being called a hen is worse than being called a chicken. River fans call themselves los millionarios. No explanation needed.

River, Compadre – River, Man – Here we go with the lyrics that aren’t kid-friendly. What rhymes with compadre? You’ll have to listen to find out.

El Que No Salta Es Una Gallina – Whoever Doesn’t Jump Is a Chicken – We used to dare other kids by calling them chicken. How did chickens get such a bad reputation? If you’re sitting in the Boca section and they start this one, you might want to start jumping.

Todas Las Gallinas Son Asi – That’s How Chickens Are -  I like this one because it’s sums up what’s great about Boca fans. In essence it says that if River fans aren’t winning, they don’t go to the games, but Boca fans always support their team.

Lyrics and their English translations in .pdf format. If you want to listen to more chants, there’s a longer list at Alternative Boquense (Boquense means someone from La Boca) or try this list on Taringa.

The azul y oro flag covers the hinchada.

Azul y Oro

The story behind the colors of the team is one of my favorite parts of the history of Boca Juniors. Boca’s first jerseys were pink, not very tough. Since it was founded by workers in La Boca, the port of the city of Buenos Aires, the founders decided that they would take the colors of the first ship to enter the port after their meeting discussing the colors. The first ship was Swedish, hence blue and gold, or azul y oro. Way better than pink!

What to know more… check out these sites.

• All You Need To Know About Boca Juniors
• Boca Juniors on Wikipedia
• Football Rivalries on Wikipedia
• Francisco Gregoric’s Boca Page
• Footballing World’s Short History of Boca
• Brandan BuenosAyres’ Tale of Sitting in the Middle of the Hinchada

Hey Boca fans, did I miss any of the must-know chants?

I’ve had a tough week. To top it off, my highlight was going to be the Cat Power concert at Teatro Gran Rex which I went to Thursday night. It may have been the highlight, but it certainly wasn’t the highlight I was expecting. For me, the fun was laughing with my friend Naty and wondering what the concert would be like if only we’d been drunk or on some sort of drug.

At one point, Cat Power disappeared for what seemed like fifteen minutes and we listened to the band improvise the beginning of what should have been (and eventually, 15 minutes later) was the next song. Maybe she had to run to the bathroom, we thought.

Where'd she go?

When she reappeared all she said was a quick, “Sorry.” But when the song got going, and the next song did, and the one after did, they all sounded exactly the same as the first five we’d heard before Cat Power disappeared leaving us with a repeating electronic opening and purple lights, I couldn’t help but wonder if I was just too old to get this type of concert or if everyone else there was thinking the same thing: “WTF!”

Naty pulled her cell phone out of her bag to see if anyone had called. That can’t be a good sign for a performer. I, too, was no longer paying attention to the concert, I wondered if Cat Power is the type of singer that you can like at home because you can mix her up with other groups you like. I almost never listen to one group or album all the way through anymore. They’re grouped by genre or by my playlists which I carefully put together and have a variety of music that is similar, but by various artists. Could I ever listen to Cat Power and nothing else for over an hour?

Each time a song began I’d think, “haven’t we heard this one?” Then Cat Power’s incredibly smoky voice would remind me that I do love her music. I just don’t love it for hours on end. Finally there was a surprise, and for certain, the highlight of the evening. She sang a song in Spanish (here’s the setlist from the concert). It was the only song I felt she cared about all night. Her body language changed and she seemed to connect with the audience.

At the end, I think it was the most boring and strangest concert I’ve seen. It wasn’t just that every song sounded the same and that the songs I most wanted to hear weren’t sung. It was the fact that she made no attempt to connect with us. Besides the one “sorry,” after her disappearance, she never spoke to the audience. Was it because her Spanish is not great? Maybe, but I’d guess that the people who want to see a Cat Power concert understand some English. A simple “Hello, Buenos Aires,” and “thank you for coming,” would probably do the trick. Instead we were left thinking, “WTF?”

Back on stage.

On another note. If you go to a show on Corrientes, Buenos Aires’ Broadway, the place to head to after for a quick bite is Guerrin. It’s a pizza place, but more than pizza Guerrin is sort of a right of passage for theater goers in Buenos Aires. It’s not the best pizza in town, but it’s good pizza. It’s the atmosphere that brings in the crowds.

Pizza and Faina at Guerrin

There’s even a song about this right of passage by the Argentine rock band called Memphis La Blusera. The song is called Moscato, Pizza y Faina.

Here are the lyrics:

Las luces se encienden,
calle Corrientes,
se llena de gente,
que viene y que va,
salen del cine,
rien y lloran,
se aman, se pelean,
se vuelven a amar,
en la Universal,
fin de la noche,
moscato, pizza y faina,
moscato y pizza.

Translation:

The lights turn on,
Corrientes Street,
fills up with people,
that come and go,
leaving the movies,
laughing and crying,
they love, they fight,
they fall back in love,
in the universal,
to end the night out,
moscato, pizza and faina,
moscato and pizza.

Pizza y Faina

Pizza and faina is a common combination here in Buenos Aires. Faina is made from chickpea flour and often has herbs or onions mixed in with it. It usually comes on top of the pizza slice so you can cut through both and eat them together. According to the song, and to tradition especially at Guerrin, it’s best with a glass of Moscato.

Where do you take a newcomer to Buenos Aires to show him the grittier, more rustic, and way romantic side of the music I so love? La Peña del Colorado of course (we mentioned it in our list of Ten Things to Do in Buenos Aires). The live shows are great, but I also recommend staying later to see the spontaneous guitarists and drunken singers that stick around until dawn. Plan for a late night.

Last Friday we watched La Jury sing her heart out for over two hours. La Jury, whose real name is Luciana, is from Buenos Aires. She sings in the style called “canto criollo.” Here are the names of a few famous criollo singers from Chile, Argentina, and Mexico to help you get familiarized with the style should you want to study up on the style before getting here (Violeta Parra, Mercedes Sosa, Lhasa del Sela, Chango Rodriguez, Oscar Valles, Chavela Vargas).

At first, La Jury was accompanied by Carlos Delgado on guitar and vocals.

Midway through her performance, master guitarist, Carlos Moscardini, joined her. Amazing. Truly amazing.

My memory stick was full, which was a total bummer because Carlos Moscardini’s guitar playing coupled with La Jury’s amazing pipes was truly spectacular. But here is Carlos Moscardini on guitar. Wow!

La Peña del Colorado is located in Palermo/Barrio Norte on Guemes, 3657. Call for a reservation and ask for a table close to the stage. The show was scheduled to start at 10:00 but really began closer to 10:30 (as is to be expected in Argentina). It cost 25 pesos for the show, and we had some dinner, too. Now, let me say that I would not go to La Peña del Colorado for sophisticated dishes or the best of Buenos Aires (here’s the menu). But I love that it is so very typical. Typical parrilla fare. Very good empanadas salteñas. Yummy casseroles of pumpkin with quinoa and goat cheese. Traditional guisos or locro. Tablas of cheese, meats and olives. It’s not creative; it’s traditional. As it should be.

If you really want to do things the way the locals do, order a pinguino instead of a regular bottle of wine and ask for a bottle of soda to go with it. The pinguino is actually the shape of the pitcher that the house wine is served in. Because it’s not the greatest quality wine, Argentines often add a bit of soda to it. It’s like a sangria without the goodies. If you’re picky about wine, you might want to get a regular bottle first to have with your food and then switch over to the pinguino when your taste buds don’t care anymore.

Occasionally before the orchestra begins in the upstairs ballroom of Ideal, there is a performance downstairs. Here’s a short video from one of those performances. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8D7anEgWs0&rel=1] 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wr5DTbf81w&rel=1] Suipacha, 380. Microcentro (downtown). Check their listing of shows.