la bomba de tiempo

Once again, Konex completely blows my expectations out of the water.
Last night was La Bomba de Tiempo, a huge outdoor drum show. The place was absolutely packed, which speaks volumes as to how cool La Bomba actually is; people crowded in from wall to wall on a Monday? That definitely means you're in for a treat.

The line outside the venue stretched down the calle and around the corner, but we were inside in no time (just one more thing Argentines are more efficient at than us). And there were street vendors in every direction, walking through the crowds selling empanadas, sandwiches, cervezas, vino y mucho, mucho más. They were even people selling edibles, which was totally not something I was used to seeing. Who knew you could buy pot brownies so easily here? oh, argentina.
The drum ensemble was already going at it when we got inside and it was such a sight to behold. 15 or 20 guys and girls on stage, creating the most amazing sounds with a huge mix of different drums. There was even a guy with a trombone and a woman who sang. It was just the most amazing jam session I've ever seen.
And the crowd was nothing like the crowds I'm used to from concerts back home. Mosh pits? Don't think so. Everyone was moving to beat of the drums; their hips, their arms, their heads, their feet. It was so easy to just close my eyes and let the beat guide me. It was such a genuine argentine experience, feeling the argentine beat, becoming a part of the crowd, not just being someone in the crowd.

I saw so many familiar faces from ISA; and we met up with our new English friends!
The only damper on the evening was Ali getting her camera and debit card stolen out of here purse. And what sucked so much was we saw the women who stole them. They were being super sketchy, bumping into us and just giving off a shady vibe. But that's just the thing about Buenos Aires, or even big cities for that matter. You constantly have to be on your guard here, there are pickpockets everywhere and they're definitely well-trained.
Our porteños friends also made it out last night :)
They missed the show, but they met up with us outside after La Bomba (which was crazy, btw. everyone just moved from inside the venue to the street. it was like a mob. and someone set a huge tree on fire in the middle of the street which was hilarious and I still have no idea what was going on with that.) But we all went to Brujas, one of the nice cafe/bars in Plaza Serrano and shared some pizza, some vino and some beers. And we got to practice our spanish! always a plus. It's so much more amazing to just sit and chat with native speakers than it is trying to stumble our way through a conversation with each other.
It's one of the guy's birthday this friday so we're planning something for this weekend, and knowing the porteño way of life, I'm sure it will be out of control. And so far I'm having no luck adjusting to going out at 1:30, staying out til 7 a.m., having class at 10 and then napping around 5 p.m. I think the latest I've made it to was 2:30, and that was last night. And I've already had 2 cups of coffee today (yay!).

Oh well, I have 6 months to get the hang out this :)

Besos, mis cariños