FELIZ AÑO NUEVO

Hola Amigos,
Last night was New Year's eve but since Porteños stay up all night EVERY night, waiting around until midnight to celebrate was no big deal. Fireworks are legal here and so a few days ago, Rachael and I visited one of the many fireworks shops and ordered up our arsenal.
I wanted to purchase some BOOMBULADOS (mostly because of the excellent name, since I have no idea what they actually did, although it does seem obvious) but we ended up opting for more sparkly things with less bomba effect. Rachael's favorites are avejas (stinging bees) which, if they work properly, fly up buzzing into the air after you light them and possibly sting you. If they don't work properly they whirl around buzzing in circles on the ground where they are also likely to sting you. Great fun!
At any rate, come midnight on New Year's eve we didn't really need any more excitement because evidently the rest of the population of Buenos Aires DID buy the BOOMBULADOS in some kind of mass attempt to blow up the entire city.
We watched along with some neighbors from the rooftop of Rachael's apartment building where we added our own pyrotechnics to the fray. The wind was howling but the night sky was clear after a broiling day of half-hearted thunder storms, and the smell of a million asados (that's spanish for bbq) wafted through the air along with tiny burning hot air balloons called Globos.

Valentín does New Years on a Buenos Aires roof top, the best place to set things on fire.

Buenos Aires skyline BEFORE the burning Globos fell to earth.

Rachael and Owen, a couple of New Years' fire bugs.

Truly it was an arsonists dream and a fine way to celebrate the beginning of a new year.
Feliz Año Nuevo por todo el mundo!
Ciao,
J