Buenos Aires

So today makes one week that I've been in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It's summer here, so it's about 90 degrees and very humid. I could do without the humidity, but it's much better than sub-freezing temperatures in OK and MO.

I'm taking language classes at a school, and I tested into the advanced class, so that's pretty sweet. My class is just three students and a professor, and we basically just talk about the culture, politics, and history of Argentina, and then touch on grammatical/language issues that arise through the discussions. I'm enjoying it.

I live in a shared apartment with two Germans, who are also studying at the school. They're both really nice, and we try to speak to eachother solely in Spanish.

This first week was really slow going at first, as I didn't know anyone other than my roommates, and I didn't really have anything to do. Each day I'm meeting more and more people though, and I've gone out a few times, so the situation is getting better. Unfortunately I really don't know any Argentinians, which I expected, but I'm still a bit sad about. It would obviously tremendously help my Spanish if I were hanging out with Argentinians, but it would also give me a truer picture of the country. Oh well.

The widest avenue in the world, punctuated by the Obelesk.

Before I came here everyone said that Buenos Aires is a European City in South America, the Paris of South America. It's the truth. I walk the streets and I feel like I'm in Europe. The architecture, the buildings, really the look of the city is completely European. So also is the populus. The city is made up of Spaniards and Italians, at least as far as ancestry is concerned, to the point where 4th or 5th generation Italians and Spaniards still have papers and could immigrate to their respective country of origin if they wanted. Everyone is tall and pretty fair-skinned (darker than me obviously). The women are all ridiculously beautiful and the men all have mullets.

There are very few minorities within the city that I have seen. There is a Chinese population that seems to run every small grocery store in the city, and an indigenous population that you see doing the more menial jobs or selling handicrafts on the streets. I have yet to see a black person in Argentina.

Mural in La Boca.

The country is crazy about soccer, and of all the teams in the Argentinian 1st division, I think 75% of them come from Buenos Aires. Each neighborhood has it's own team. The fans are ravenous. There exist huge animosities between teams/fans, to the point where there were some 16 deaths last year from houligan violence. Wow...

Next weekend I am going to go to a carnaval celebration in Gualeguayghu. Which I think/hope is going to be something like carnaval in Brazil. Its a town on to the north of Buenos Aires on a river that borders Uruguay.

As an aside, something interesting is happening right now at that very spot. Uruguay is a richer country but like most other South American countries exports most all of its resources and imports finished goods. For years it has been exporting trees to make into paper, and then importing the paper. Well, now in an attempt to build up industry so as to become more self-sufficient, it has built a paper factory (the size of a mini town) on the river. The problem is that the factory is directly across from Gualeguaychu. The factory is not functional yet, but is 80% complete. When running it will emit sulfuric-smelling gasses that will destroy the economy of Gualeguaychu, which is based on tourism. The construction is halted for now as the two countries figure out what to do. The presidents aren't talking with eachother though, and Spain is acting as a mediator. Last week the three bridges between the two countries in Gualeguaychu were destroyed (or picked and rendered unusable) by protestors, and the Argentinian president, who claims to be left-leaning, hasn't said anything about it because it is a demonstration of the people and therefore should not be reprimanded. Meanwhile commerce has stopped between the two countries in this area (and these are the main land-crossing points between the countries). Cool. Just someting that is going on.

I'll write something more interesting next time...

La Recoleta Cemetery, where, along with countless other Argentenian notables, Eva Peron is buried.