Today I went to the Feria de Mataderos with a friend (thanks, Sarah!). Like the other artesanal fairs, this has a bunch of imported, Chinese cheapo stuff around the edges, handmade things at the heart of the fair, and various other amusements.
The fair is open from Easter until Christmas, more or less. As next week is the last week for this year, it appeared that some of the folks had already stopped coming. Sarah was looking for certain booths that were not there.
We found a booth selling tango shoes at VERY reasonable prices. The vendor said that her prices will have to go up next year, but they were much cheaper than in the store. She and her husband make all the shoes: nice leather and well-sewn!
I found goat's milk dulce de leche for my son, who does not eat cow dairy! I also bought artesanal pan dulce as a gift for my hosts and whole wheat bread for myself. Add a few pretty trinkets for presents (as they are surprises, I am not putting them in here), and choripan, and that was pretty much it for the day.
The folk dancing hadn't started yet when we left, but the music stage was set up and they were singing and playing music. It was too hot to dance anyway: 33 degrees Celsius. I got burnt to a crisp: one of the guys in the milonga tonight said I had white circles where my glasses had protected my face!
By the way, if I hadn't had Sarah along, it would have been hard to see the fair from where the bus stopped. However, if you look for the big fountain, that helps. I am not sure if it was amusing or alarming to see a fountain that had signs posted: High voltage! with people swimming in it! The fountain is that industrial, mini-nuclear-reactor-looking thing in the foreground.
