Night at the Boliche

Everyone knows that Buenos Aires has a thriving night life scene, and most people who come to visit try to experience it at least once in one way or another before leaving. Previously, with my friend Kristine here, we went out, but in a more relaxed way, enjoying the bar scene in San Telmo. With her leaving though, I got to know one of my roommates from England, Rachel. Yesterday we went out and met up with some of her co-workers to go to a boliche, or dance club.

As is the custom in Argentina, people don't even go out until around 1 am. By 9 pm I was feeling pretty tired after a full day of walking around the city, but we headed out, aware that we couldn't even go to the club until 1. A few of us met up for some drinks around 11 pm, not leaving the bar until about 1:30 am or so. The guys are working for an English language newspaper down here and their paper had a deal that they could get into the club for free between 1-3 am. Instead of going to the club, however, we moved on to a house party near by for a few minutes to meet up with more of their co-workers.

We rushed through a cheap bottle of wine and then headed to the club, realizing that it was getting late. We got into the club with just minutes to spare a little before 3 am, and the place was packed and loud with Reggaeton. Drinks were passed around as I soon started smelling like a tobacco factory, surrounded by heavy smokers. The music was deafening and there were actually three floors, with the top floor playing different music. Eventually a few of us got onto the dance floor, and I was happy to hear that it suddenly switched to Salsa music. I showed off my skills until they switched back to electronic music.

Time continued to go by, and by 5 am I was sitting in the booth waiting to leave. Yet the place was still bumping as if it was only midnight. I'm not exactly an old man, but this city can make you feel that way sometimes. Finally around 6 am we had come to the conclusion that it was time to leave, but the club was still packed with people. We were far away from home, and knew that a taxi would cost a fortune (by our standards). Luckily the buses in this city run 24 hours a day, so we got on the 24 packed in with other people leaving clubs or heading to work and took the long ride home.

With the sun rising, we opened the door to our apartment a few minutes before 7 am, and to our chagrin could hear our downstairs neighbors still blasting their own music and shouting. Even in my own room it still sounded like a club, but I was so tired I just fell right asleep. Of course, there has to be a downside, and that will be the exhaustion I feel all day. I'll just take it easy, watch some football games, and get ready for my first day of work tomorrow. The boliche scene could be cool once in a while, but it's definitely a game for a person with more energy than me.