Beautiful Boca

This weekend we went to La Boca. La Boca has a very unique reputation. It is known as one of the more dangerous areas of Buenos Aires but it is a crucial part of tango, art and futbol history. La Boca is located on the river where many factories and lots of poverty are found. But when tango music and dance were thriving among the city's lower classes and growing into the seductive dance it has become, neighborhoods like Boca were crucial to the dance's development. 

There are also several famous artists that found inspiration in the area's river society. There is a group of artists from the area collectively known as 'pintores de la Boca'. Among them is Abraham Vigo and Facio Hebequer but  the most famous is Benito Quinquela Martin.

 

Barcas en el Riachuelo by B. Q. Martin

 

Lastly, La Boca is home to the Boca Juniors. In Argentina, especially in Buenos Aires, you are either a River Plate fan or Boca Juniors fan. Even those who swear allegiance to Tigre, Estudiantes or other teams will have a Boca or River Plate preference. Boca and River Plate are the equivalent of Yankees or Red Sox in the United States. Most will tell you that Boca Juniors is the team of the lower classes while River Plate is for the upper classes. River fans says Boca fans are riding the bandwagon while Boca claims their superiority because Diego Maradona repped the blue and yellow during his youth. As you may or may not know, Diego Maradona is the infamous former Argentina national coach some say lead  Argentina to their embarrassing performances in the 2010 World Cup and played on the World Cup Champion team of the 1980's. The rivalry is so strong that until a year ago, there was NO red (River's color) advertising in Estadio de la Boca Juniors. Even today the Coca-Cola marquee around the stadium is black and white.

Click the link to see Maradona in one the sport world's most controversial moments:

The hand of God? 

 Katherine and I practicing goal celebrations

La Boca, though filled with glowing murals, is polluted, poverty-stricken, prone to crime and was especially devastated when the peso crashed in 2001. We went to an alfajor bakery that was started by a few families who refused to let the slaughtered economy ruin their lives and the futures of their children. They have been a profitable alfajor company for 8 years now and use their rags to riches story to inspire tourists and neighbors. 

 Amigos at the alfajor bakery

We also went to a book cooperative that uses cardboard to bind journals, poetry books and books for kids. The cooperatives pays cartoneras 25 centavos for each box they bring in. Then, they make and decorate books that are sold on site and in several bookstores in Buenos Aires. Cartoneras are people who earn their living by sorting through the city's trash for cardboard. Buenos Aires does not have an all-inclusive recycling system and though many mayor's have tried, they simply cannot create one because it would take away the livelihood of so many people. 

 Our visit to Boca was so much fun and I must applaud our co-director Gaby (who also works for an eco-friendly/off the beaten path tour company) for leading us on a tour of Boca that showed us how residents brighten their neighborhood by working to overcome economic and social crises. 

Here are a few of my favorite shots from the trip: