Well after the Bicentenario, the city (and most of us) had a few hazy days to get back to normal. It took the better part of the week for the city to clean up from the festivities, thankfully it only took a day or two for me to get back to "normal". The sleeping habits are hard to get used to, especially when all the partying keeps starting so late and ending so early... in the morning.
Unfortunately for me, the language school made up the hours we missed (should be 4 hrs a day) from the festivities, by starting class at 8am (as opposed to 10) and going until about 2:30 (normally 1). Class has been good, I am remembering a decent amount and trying to get some of the grammar rules and things straightened out. However I am sure I still speak with the vocabulary and grammar of a 3 yr old...
Well with school and all I didn't really do too much else this week. I did manage to sneak into the Panamerican Hotel (gave a fake name, room number...) soI coudl get to their balcony and take photos of the city. On the way down I ran into the Australian Under20 Rugby team. Apparently the Under 20 (year old) rubgy world cup is taking place in Argentina this year. Who knew!Friday a few people from my class met up. Some of them were finishing and leaving so we had a bit of a party, ok so maybe a big party that got a bit messy. A few drinks at their student residence and we went out to a bolihe (nightclub). It wasn't the cheapest place (again unfortunately) nor was it my kind of music but it was fun. I got home about 6 am and took a nap. Saturday it rained... all day. So it was a good time to recover and sleep! Especially as, as I mentioned, I left my fleece and raincoat in London... saturday night a few of us went out to a percussion show. 
It was the anniversary of a group call La Bomba del Tiempo. They are an all percusion drum group that performs regularly here. They have a conductor but improvise a lot too. It was an awesome show and was absolutely packed! They played from about 1 am until 5 or so (told you, everything starts later here). I with several people from the hostel which made it fun too. It kind of reminded me of the scene from one of the Matrix movies with the underground drum party... go to youtube and look at some of the videos...
It was the anniversary of a group call La Bomba del Tiempo. They are an all percusion drum group that performs regularly here. They have a conductor but improvise a lot too. It was an awesome show and was absolutely packed! They played from about 1 am until 5 or so (told you, everything starts later here). I with several people from the hostel which made it fun too. It kind of reminded me of the scene from one of the Matrix movies with the underground drum party... go to youtube and look at some of the videos...Anyway it was also the largest gathering of a new found breed of mullets - the dread mullet - half normal (front) and half dreadlocks (back). Very odd and seems to be a fairly popular hairstyle in South America (amongst the right or wrong crowds).
Sunday I went to a barrio (neighborhood) called La Boca with an Australian gril from the hostel. We seemed to be the only people in the hostel who hadn't gone and Boca has some famous / popular landmarks. La Boca is also a fairly dangerous barrio... more on that later. We walked by the Bocas Jr Stadium - which is the most popular team in Argentina, en route to Caminito. 
Caminito is a just a few blocks in the middle of Boca. Many of its original settlers were from Genoa and it still retains a very 
European flavor. it is now famous for a few blocks that were painted in bright pastel colors. The artist that did this (Benito Quinquel Martin) was also a personal friend of one of a famous tango composer (Juan Dios Filiberto). To this day there is a huge tango presence in the area. There are several restaurants al fresco, a few places with couples demonstrating tango and even a Maradona lookalike (or tango dancers) you can get a photo with (for a price of course).
European flavor. it is now famous for a few blocks that were painted in bright pastel colors. The artist that did this (Benito Quinquel Martin) was also a personal friend of one of a famous tango composer (Juan Dios Filiberto). To this day there is a huge tango presence in the area. There are several restaurants al fresco, a few places with couples demonstrating tango and even a Maradona lookalike (or tango dancers) you can get a photo with (for a price of course).
On the way back, we decided to walk over to a different neighbourhood, Puerto Madero. This would have been fine except that you have to walk through a rather unfriendly part. We were on a big road so figured it wouldn't be a big deal. WRONG! My friend stopped to take photo of a building and a kid (probably in his mid teens) ran past her and tried to grab her camera out of her hand. However she had the strap wrapped around her wrist so he didn't get the camera. We quickly found the nearest bus stop and took the colectivo back into town...
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