Buenos Aires, Revisited

22:22 Sunday 22 March 2009
My House, Buenos Aires

Weekend recap!

Friday

We didn’t have class, so we had a big breakfast of the most rich and delectable pastries you’ve ever seen (all with dulce de leche, of course) at the ISA office to say goodbye to Coqui, our ISA tour guide. Some of us then left for Palermo, where we visited the Evita Perón Museum. She was the famous wife and vice-president of populist President Júan Peron during the 1950s. She is a very controversial figure, with some regarding her as an absolute saint and others viewing her in a less favorable light. The museum, a former shelter for her “descamisetas” or “shirt-less ones,” (so named because they were too poor to afford shirts) focused on her social work programs but grazed over the most personal or controversial aspects of her life. Though I wished the museum shed a bit more light on Evita, it definitely spurred my interest in finding out more about her life, especially why many opposed her. I still haven’t seen the movie Evita, so maybe I’ll start there (although I heard many Argentineans were upset with the film’s portrayal).

I had read about how Argentineans have a “cult of death,” that is, they celebrate and focus on death. If the elaborate tombs in Recoleta and the fact that most famous people are remembered on their day of death rather than day of birth is any indication, this is probably a decent conclusion. This was further demonstrated at the Museum. The first room was of her death mask and a film reel of her funeral procession (hundreds of thousands of people attended her funeral) and many of the other exhibits talked about her death and afterwards (including how her body was kidnapped by the military and hidden as María Maggi de Magistris in a cemetery in Italy for twenty years).

After the museum and a short nap in the nearby Botanical Garden, Kara and I went to the Microcentro to self-tour the National Legislature building. We also popped by the Buenos Aires Cultural Center and promenaded down Florida Ave, where I bought two Spanish books. I’ve already read several of the short stories from Horacio Quiroga and I can’t wait to start the famous gaucho poem Martin Fierro. I capped off my night at our second home, the Persicco café.

Saturday

Kara and I headed to La Boca Barrio in the early afternoon. We spent most of the time admiring the distinctly colorful buildings and enjoyed choripan (sausage sandwich, Argentine favorite) and milonesa (some sort of thin breaded beef like veal) with delicious chimichuri salsa (sauce) at one of the many cafes lining the streets. We also looked around for a bit at the fería (fair) and I bought a gorgeous painting of a couple dancing the tango, painted right on a collage of tango sheet music.

After we had our fill, we then decided to attend a Peace and Non-Violence Festival in a park because, who doesn’t love world peace? I’m actually so happy I went, it was a great experience. We just lay in the grass with the locals and listened to all the live music, which ranged from an awesome tango singer and dancers to an upbeat rock band. The grand finale was a large murga, although it was nothing like the murgas I saw in Uruguay - we shall dub the group "the ultimate marching band.” The group consisted of kids of all ages dancing these crazy moves that I would describe as mix of stereotypical Russian dancing (you know, where people bob up and down on their knees kicking out their legs), break dancing, salsa dancing, and powerful karate kicks. How they had the energy to do all that, I do not know. There was also a large percussion band and teens waving huge flags, and everyone had on really colorful band costumes that were each customized with sequined symbols (many pledging allegiance to their favorite fútbol team or cartoon character). Yay for peace. Our nighttime activity consisted of going to a late movie in Palermo with some other Multisas and my friend Amanda. We all settled into our comfy, semi-reclining (assigned, as usual) seats to watch “Simplemente no te quiere” or “He’s just not that into you.”

Sunday

I woke up early today to head to church, since my crazy traveling schedule had prevented it up to this point. I got off at the Facultad de Medicina (Faculty of Medicine) Subte stop, which I had never used previously, and admired the gorgeous architecture of the old university buildings on my walk to church. It was an incredible experience to attend Sunday School here, I was really quite proud of myself that I could read and discuss Bible verses and religious philosophy completely in Spanish. I also loved the sense of community, and I hope to start attending church earlier in my stay in Lima to have a chance to develop some relationships with locals.

After church, I went to meet up with some Multisas in San Telmo, another old barrio near the Microcentro. We meandered through the streets, trying food (choripan and pan relleno - baked bread stuffed with cheese, tomato, and basil) from street vendors and looking at the dozens of mats and tables with crafts and souvenirs. I don’t even know how far we walked down Defensa Ave, but we spent six hours there if that gives you a clue! On my way back home, I passed though the fería in Juramento near my house and laid in the grass while reading my Spanish novel and listening to a concert by a live singer and guitarist while the sun faded from the sky.

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It’s hard to comprehend that I have less than a week left in Buenos Aires before I’m off to Lima, Peru for two more months. The time here has flown by, just as I knew it would. I still can’t believe everything that I’ve done and experienced here during the past two months. I feel like I’ve been saying goodbye to the city this weekend as I went around and either visited new places that had been on my to-do list or re-visited some of my favorite haunts. In fact, I visited many of the areas, such as La Boca and San Telmo that I did on the city tour my second full day in Buenos Aires. To look back and see how much I’ve learned about the culture is amazing. For instance, passing the same balcony with seemingly random figures on a street in La Boca, I now recognize instantly as Eva Perón, Diego Maradonna (“best fútbol player to have ever existed,” although Brazil contests this title belongs to Pelé), and Carlos Gardel (the most famous tango singer, brought the music out from the slums and introduced it to larger society in the early 20th century). I look forward to the remainder of my time here in Argentina as I soak up as much culture as I can.

Coli