El Prado - Parties & Protests

El Prado is a popular, tourist-y type of main drag in La Paz.  My hotel, Hotel Copacabana is right in the heart of it.

On Sundays, they have these art-walk type parties called Feria Dominical Del Prado, with live music, arts & fun things for kids like big chickens! 

The view from my Hotel Copacabana window

Check out this cool funk band:

Uploaded by Matt Sherwood on 2016-05-31.

One thing that has been consistent through all of my travels in South America so far, is protests.  Granted, I've only been to a few cities, but in Cordoba, Buenos Aires, La Paz, etc, there are protests ALMOST every day.  

El Prado is a popular street for protestors.

Most of the time, the protests are peaceful, just marches or assemblies of the passionate population.  But, you always know they're happening because of the powerful sound of explosives (David would be proud). 

Here is an example of a peaceful protest (with explosives) -- just some folks marching on El Prado.  (View from my hotel room)

I lived on a tourist-y, main strip of La Paz, 6 De Agosto Drive. The area is called Hotel Plaza, El Prado. All along my street are hotels, and government buildings. Almost every day there is a protest, sometimes in the form of a sit-in, and sometimes a march.

Once in a while, the protests do get a little violent.  This was the first one I saw.  

A group of people were protesting in front of the Ministerio de Justicia.  (You can see them at the bottom behind the trees)

Then, the riot police showed up, and for a good 5-10 minutes you heard the fracas on the front line.  

The people pushed back and, eventually...

...the people won.

And the riot police retreated.   Check it out:

My hotel is right across from the Ministeria de Justicia. This is one of those protests that the riot police tried to break up, but failed miserably. My view of the front line was blocked by trees, but you can clearly see the riot police retreating from the angry mob of people.

Live Music: Vintage Wave Sunday

Bethany Saint-Smith

I met the coolest Buenos Aires chica Fernanda, who invited me to a live show on Sunday with her amigos Bruno and Fernando.  The show was at this garage venue El Emergente, and started super early for Buenos Aires (~6pm) because it was Sunday.  (Wait, so they follow SOME laws here?)  

I didn’t know any of the bands, but was excited to experience the local music scene.  It was Vintage Wave night, and the rockabilly vibe was strong.  Bethany Saint-Smith opened up with her bluesy sounds, followed by the Calavers, then a surf-rock band the Lefunders (who Fernanda was most excited to see), and lastly, the psychobilly headliner: Los Cianuros.

Lefunders

The Lefunders were most definitely my fave.  They are an instrumental surf rock group, and made me feel like I was inside Quentin Tarantino's brain.  They could easily do the soundtrack for Kill Bill Vol 7.

Sunday April 10, 2016, went to El Emergente in the Almagro neighborhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Saw the Lefunders, an instrumental surf rock band that made me feel like I was in a Quentin Tarantino film!

Sunday April 10, 2016, went to El Emergente in the Almagro neighborhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Saw the Lefunders, an instrumental surf rock band that made me feel like I was in a Quentin Tarantino film!

Great acoustics for a garage!  Very cool vibes.  Mi amigo Derryl came with.  Had a great time dancing with mi chica Fernanda!  And, loved meeting Bruno (cool musician who speaks English really well and has family in Texas) and Fernando (from Ecuador, but actually lived in New Hampshire for a few years as a kid).  Both are super cool cats!

Los Cianuros

Love meeting locals!  Probably my favorite part of traveling so far.  It's a lil new and scary being the foreigner and wondering if you'll be accepted or rejected.  Think I got the thumbs up.   

I had to miss a cool Remote Year function to attend this show.  But, it was worth it.