18:07 el 13 de febrero de 2009
Mi casa
Thursday
Right after class almost our entire Multisa group headed downtown on the Subte in order to see the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo march. These women have been gathering there every Thursday since the 1970s, when they originally met to demand information on the whereabouts of their kidnapped sons and daughters. The military dictatorship at the time took and tortured approximately 300,000 of these “desaparecidos” (so-called because they were “disappeared” – to this day, no one knows what really happened to them), often without great reason. Although it is clear today that most of the desaparecidos are dead, the Madres still gather as a symbolic protest to the government, which has yet to fully punish those guilty of these crimes or reveal more information about the desaparecidos. The Madres also have branched out into other forms of social justice and continue to look for the children that were taken from incarcerated mothers and adopted by government supporters.
Although I had carefully planned out our whole afternoon in true tour guide fashion, false information that I been given caused us to reroute our plans. We headed to the Catedral Metropolitania, a gorgeous church from the 1580s that housed the tomb of the famous South American liberator, Jose San Martin. We continued our way onto Café Tortoni, whose old-fashioned food and décor (it just celebrated its 150th anniversary) has attracted many famous patrons throughout the years. It was nice, but a bit overpriced for what we received.
Some of us then continued on to Florida Ave, a huge pedestrian shopping street. Proud moment of the day: while in one store, I actually was able to translate for a lady who was selling jewelry to an American couple. I feel good knowing that that the woman will have extra diñero in her pocket and the couple will have more jewelry in their lives. It was quite the accomplishment. And I almost gave directions to a porteño! (I knew where she wanted to go but didn’t know what street we were on at the time).
After strolling and shopping, we took the Subte back for dinner and then met up later to go to a café to do homework and get internet access (Hallelujah!), I got also got to talk to one of my best friends on Skype (a free way to see and talk with me - you should get it too!) so it was a very good night.
As you can probably tell, we are all growing very close as a group. I talk at least once a day about how grateful I am for all the Multisas because they are all so wonderful. I think the physical part of this closeness is due to the fact that we steadily ignore each other’s personal space in true Argentine fashion, and usually plant hello and goodbye smooches on each other. This is what all Argentineans do, including men with other men (well, I guess the guys in our group haven’t gotten that close yet). I really like this aspect of the culture; it feels so welcoming and friendly.
TIP OF THE DAY
Remember that you always kiss the person’s right cheek – and if either you or the other person goes for the wrong cheek, don’t try to correct it halfway; otherwise, you both might end up getting some accidental lip contact in there instead.
Friday
Several Multisas and I headed to a milonga, or a tango bar, to take tango lessons. We all split up into different levels of experience, but I didn’t realize until after the lessons that I was NOT in the beginner class as I thought (when I noticed everyone else I came with was in other group, I just assumed that it was the English-speaking group). However, I was actually happy that I made that mistake because everyone in my group was local and the class moved at a faster pace. Luckily, the guys I danced with were patient as I first learned and I had the opportunity to practice my castellano with them. It is definitely a small world: the first man I danced with has a daughter in Tampa that teaches tango classes in Ybor City…anyone up to join me when we go back? So, my first tango experience was lots of fun.
Unfortunately, it was a bit too crowded to move much on the dance floor, so everyone decided they wanted to go to a boliche. However, moving in big groups in unfamiliar areas is a recipe for disaster because we ended up walking around for 3 hours (and I was wearing some pretty killer heels to embody the tango dancer image) without actually deciding to go in any boliche that we passed. Finally around 3 am, I decided to grab a taxi/colectivo combo back home to get a few hours of sleep before my excursion to “El Día del Campo” – look forward to my next update!
Hasta entonces (until then),
Coli
PS- ¡Feliz Cumpleaños a mi mama!
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