Discover Buenos Aires

Damn! I was all excited to check out Madonna’s first show tonight in Buenos Aires. We had scored some VIP tickets, I’ve been listening to Madonna all day, and we had planned out how to go to class, grab dinner and get out to the show in time…  Plus, it was her first show and I was all ready to blog about it when I got home. Then, Mersal read the bad news on Yahoo! Argentina…

(UPDATED with new show information.) Unfortunately, her shows have been rescheduled due to problems with her sound equipment not arriving due to flight delays. Her Wednesday show has been rescheduled to Friday and her Saturday show has been moved to Monday.  Full details are available on the Ticketek site.

So, now I’m going to have to go through my Madonna ritual again on Friday. And, blogging about it is going to be old news…

More interesting news from around Buenos Aires and the rest of Argentina.

Blackouts Back As Heat Wave Hits Argentina [The Argentine Post]
It’s blackout season again in Argentina. Traffic lights stop working, stores and kiosks have to close their doors and discard spoiled food, and thousands of people have to take the stairs instead of the elevator. By Thursday afternoon, the third day of a heat wave in which temperatures hovered around 100° Fahrenheit (40° C), traffic lights failed to work at 83 intersections in Buenos Aires…

Are Argentina’s Cows Happy Eating Grain? [Wall Street Journal]
Argentina’s fame as a home for happy cows wandering the lush pastures of the Pampas is being challenged as an increasing number of cattle are being crowded into feedlots for the last months of their lives before being served at the table. The WSJ reports that more than 50%, and likely 70% or 80%, of Argentina’s cattle are going to be finished in feed lots within the next five years. The Argentine Post also has a follow-up story about this topic.

Argentina Cuts Natural Gas Subsidies, Raises Rates [Bloomberg]
Argentine Planning Minister Julio de Vido said the government eliminated natural gas subsidies.  The move will save the government 1.4 billion pesos ($420 million) a year. Consumers that use the most natural gas, 36 percent of residential users and 1.5 percent of industrial clients, will pay higher rates.

Argentine peso nears 7-year low on dollar demand [Reuters]
Argentina’s peso currency weakened on Tuesday to its lowest level against the dollar since a sharp devaluation in early 2002 as savers and companies opted for safe-haven greenbacks.  In afternoon interbank trade, the peso was down 0.44 percent at 3.395/3.3975 per dollar, breaking October’s 3.39 low to touch its weakest level since the devaluation of the 2001/2002 economic crisis.

Argentina halts trade with Iran [BBC]
The government of Argentina says it is suspending commercial activity with Iran, worth more than $1 billion USD.  The move comes because of differences over an investigation into the 1994 bomb attack on a Jewish cultural centre in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people.

Madonna has arrived in Buenos Aires for her series of near sold-out concerts at the River Plate Stadium on December 3, 4, 6, and 7.  The shows were originally all sold out, which caused scalper’s prices to jump, but additional tickets to all shows were released (dashing many people’s thoughts of making a quick profit).

Her entourage consists of her three children  and 220 dancers, technicians and other crew members.  No word on whether A-Rod is with her or not.  Her Buenos Aires shows will be taped and used for her “Sticky and Sweet” tour video.

Yesterday, in an odd meeting, Madonna met with Argentina’s president Christina Fernández de Kirchner.  Madonna arrived early and Christina brought her into a closed door meeting with her previous appointment, Former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt.  Betancourt is one of the world’s best known ex-hostages who was freed in July after being held more than six years in jungle camps by leftist rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

This is Madonna’s third time in Argentina and her second visit to the Pink House. In 1996, she filmed scenes from the movie “Evita” on the balcony of the Pink House (Casa Rosada) where she sang “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina.”

We managed to score some tickets for tonight’s opening concert, so we’ll be sure to let you know how it was.

More interesting news from Buenos Aires this week:

Argentine court intervenes in Aerolineas Argentinas [Reuters]
An Argentine court agreed to oversee the day-to-day running of the country’s main airline on Friday amid signs the government is moving to expropriate the carrier from its Spanish owners.

Airline Grab Gains Ground in Argentina [The Wall Street Journal]
An Argentine congressional committee recommended that the government nationalize flagship airline Aerolíneas Argentinas, in a move likely to heighten investor concerns about the country.

Barack Obama Calls Cristina Fernández [The Argentine Post]
President-elect Barack Obama called Argentina’s president, Cristina Fernandez on Tuesday, November 18th and had a 10 minute conversation with her.  She had previously announced her preference that he win the presidency and sent a congratulatory note to him when he won.

Where is the Argentine Peso Headed [The Argentine Post]
A good summary of the peso’s decline, why it’s not declining faster, and what we might expect in the future.

Argentines react to pension nationalization [Washington Post]
Argentine officials on Friday praised the nationalization of $23 billion in private pensions as good news for workers, while opposition leaders called it more of a looting than a reform.

Buenos Aires to Get Tour Buses [Hostel Colonia]
One familiar site in NYC and many other major cities of the world are the double-decker Hop-On, Hop-Off tour buses that you see taking tourists around the city. They can be a convenient way to quickly see a lot of a city when you don’t have much time to spend there. (I’ve been on them in Barcelona, Dublin, and a few other cities.)  With the huge explosion of tourism in Argentina, it was surprising that there was no tour buses here.  Well, as of January, that will no longer be the case as 8 new buses are coming to take tourists from La Boca to Palermo.

Looking for something different to do?  Need to get some aggression out?  Have an old pillow lying around? Well, we may have just the thing for you - Pillow Fight Buenos Aires 2008 (Lucha de Almohadas - Buenos Aires 2008).

Today, November 22, 2008, at 6pm in the Bosques de Palermo at the Dr. Benjamin Gould Planetarium there will be a “flash mob” gathering to participate in a giant pillow fight. The last pillow fight was in 2006, so this one has been eagerly anticipated.

The rules are simple:

1. Tell everyone about it. 
2. Arrive at the location with a pillow. The fight starts at the scheduled time. Listen for the signal and do not start before.
3. Don’t hit anyone that doesn’t have a pillow in their hands. (unless they want to be hit)
4. You can’t use heavy pillows or pillows that have buttons or other closures.

That’s it… See you there! (There’s also a pillow fight in Rosario and Cordoba at the same time.)