Day 11 - Teatro Colón

Tonight we made plans to go to the Teatro Colón to see an Opera! We left Marite a note, letting her know we wouldn't be home for dinner. After class, we headed to the ISA office to do some homework. We then had our "mini meeting," the small meeting that ISA puts on in small groups to let us know some tips and tricks of the area. Sebastian, one our younger coordinators, told us of all the cool night clubs, the best places to get a cheap beer, places to dance with locals, and other local events happening that are less touristy and super cheap! We rushed out off our meeting to get on the SUBE to meet some friends for Mexican food before the Opera! It was so delicious and surprisingly similar to our Mexican at home. We were the only people in there, considering it was 6 and they don't eat till 9 around here. After we finished, we jumped back on the SUBE a few more stops and headed to the theater! It was beautiful and all lit up! As we got closer we realized we were very underdressed for the occasion. This was the TOP of the TOP Argentinians. The men were in tuxes and the women were in their giant fur coats. Mads and I were wearing jeans and backpacks considering we came from school. Inside the front entrance there were beautiful tall pillars, high ceilings, and a stair case with a red carpet down the middle. Our friends had bought tickets for 30 dollars earlier that day, but Mads and I still had to get our tickets. They "splurged" an extra 5 dollars for actual seats and another 5 for non obstructed view. The front seats of this theater go for 6000 pesos, or $500. Mads and I walked in the ticket office, 5 minutes before the opera was scheduled to start, and these lades at a side desk called us over and gave us FREE TICKETS! We get guided to our seats and they were ON THE FLOOR, about 30 rows back, but still GREAT seats. The opera was called Dido & Aeneas by Sasha Waltz. It started with what looked like a giant fish tank, but with people in it instead of fish. They swam around while music played, occasionally speaking a line or two, and then to our surprise they would get out of the water and undress ON STAGE! When they spoke, it was in English, but old English so it didn't make much sense. The spanish subtitles made more sense to Madison and I. The human fish tank was wheeled off stage and a backdrop came down. The rest of the show just kept getting stranger and stranger. It was modern dancing, mixed with opera singing, mixed with acting. At one point they all were changing clothes on stage. Another point of the show they all came out nude, well... they all had nude undies. And it wasn't just the dancers that were nude, it was the choir too! These 50 and 60 year old men and women, who don't hold back on the sweets, just letting it all hang out! The men opera singers were part of this dancing and nudity too! They would roll on the ground, run around, jump in the air.... very agile for some Dad-like men. The whole opera was crazy and hard to explain, you really just have to get the experience. I put it down below if you want to click through it a bit and see some of these crazy things! Mads stayed awake the WHOLE time. She falls asleep at the Fox, watching Wicked, in the FRONT ROW.. so that means this show was EXTREMELY entertaining. After the show we hopped on the SUBE and arrived home! 

HOPE YOU ENJOY,

Taylor