That pic is an indigenous strike for workers rights that we witnessed one of the first weeks here. There is ALWAYS some kind of strike going on here...we didn't eat beef for a week because the government encouraged a strike to lower meat prices, (Meat here is EVERYTHING...asados, or barbecues are very common), and Eli's son Isidro started school this week on monday only to miss class tuesday and wednesday because the janitors are on strike. Right now, the president is a woman named Christina Kirchner who is very peronista which correlates to having a strong emphasis on workers rights.
Michelle and I had the opportunity last week to go to a Peronist political rally where Kirchner's husband was speaking. Eliana is VERY involved in the local political scene so she had VIP passes and tried desperately to get me michelle, her sister and friends in to the front section. I can not even DESCRIBE how insane the atmosphere was. There were over 8,000 people of ALL ages and ethnicities, though a high concentration of youth and more indigenous looking people parading around the town with drums, chants, signs and various noise makers. It's lucky that she told us in advance to leave all money and items of value at home because there was barely room to breathe. Since Argentines tend to be more physical people in general there was alot of pushing (out of excitement...not bad intentions)and pulling. A frotteurists dream...kidding, I'm a psychology TWAMP (typical william and mary person, ie NERD and one of the most commonly used insults at WM.)
I haven't blogged in a while but I'm exhausted and it's late and my mind's a little jumpy so I'm going to list some of the things I've done in the past week and a half.
- Learned spanish pig latin...you put pa,po,pu,pe or pe after all syllables depending on the vowels it follows. I live in La plata Argentina (vivo en la plata argentina) would be- yopo vipivopo enpe lapa plapatapa arpagenpetipinapa
-Went back to Buenos Aires to get another document for our student visa, walked around ALOT and made our way to Eva Peron's tomb which is right next to the most beautiful catholic church that I've ever seen. We also went into a restaraunt, sat down, pretended to look at the menu just so we could all use the bathroom....then we stealthily left one by one. CHEAP.
-Spent the day in the park with a huge group of Eliana's family and friends sipping on matte http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerba_mate and enjoying the beautiful weather. We were joking with them all that there is a chant/song for EVERYTHING in argentina and then they made us perform WM's song and the star spangled banner. Argentina...your gale has officially been harked upon.
-Sat around outside various places while boys play guitar and try to sing songs in English. Music is so beautifully universal. I helped translate some Floyd and RHCP lyrics for them, it was alot of fun.
-Witnessed la marcha de los madres del plaza de mayo...they're a very famous group that have kids or relatives that were taken during the period of dictatorship.
-Eaten some of the best ice cream of my life...michelle and I have to walk by it EVERYTIME we come home from class, it's torture. I laughed to myself today because eating ice cream before it melts was the most stressful part of my day. I love living in the moment here, plans are always so fluid.
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I desperately need to upload photos, i have SO many but they take forever to upload. The girls and I are planning a weekend get away en la tigre which is a group of beachy islands 2 hours away. Now that we've got our bearrings down here we're excited to explore more parts of the country!!!
Love and miss you all...I also miss peanut butter which cannot be found here!
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