Milonga!

Día 26

Friday evening I went to a milonga at the Tango Festival expo center. A live orchestra was playing pieces from the 40’s - 60’s era. Tango music has to be energetic, so unlike most classical music, it doesn’t put me to sleep. The musicians – mostly strings and an accordionist, wore white face, and had painted black  superhero eye masks around their eyes. The floor was open to any dancers, many casual in jeans, a few more elaborately dressed, including one woman in a leopard print dress.

            When a friend, admitting she didn’t know the steps, declined to dance with an Argentinean, he turned to me. I jumped on the chance, promising I knew little, by which, I pretty much meant I knew how to walk backwards. This man was extraordinarily patient, and spent about an hour teaching me. At first, he thought I was stupid (“It’s not that hard, I’m not lying” he insisted while explaining a move), until I told him I just didn’t speak that much Spanish. One main thing he tried to get me to do was relax; turns out, I dance best with my eyes shut.

If you know the basic technique, tango becomes largely about sensing the intentions of the leader. That’s a large part of what I like about social dance – like biking and ice skating, it’s all very natural. 

Día 17 - 23: Mate, Politics, and Cowboys (with a dash of death, and a side of tango)

I.   Día 17: Mate

I just finished curing my mate with mixed results. The vessel you drink from is called a “mate” (it’s also sometimes called a word that can also mean “penis”; This doesn’t make sense on many levels). My mate is made of a gourd, but you can also buy wood, plastic, or metal mates. Gourds and wood are the most popular and have different tastes. To prepare the drink, you fill the mate about 2/3 of the way with yerba leaves. You need to leave room, because the leaves will swell when heated. Shake the mate to mix up the yerba (add sugar if you like), and shake so the yerba makes a diagonal line within the gourd (not a straight line). This is supposed to ensure that not all the yerba gets wet at once, so the flavor lasts longer. Then, add the water, at about 90 degrees Celsius – if you pour water too hot, you’ll lose the taste as well. The bombilla is a special straw with a filter so you don’t suck up yerba (except, apparently, 8 peso ones don’t do this; buy a 30 peso one). 

Traditionally, one person has a mate gourd that they pass around. Each person drinks all the water, then passes the mate back to the owner, who refills it from a thermos, and passes it to someone else. I’ve encountered this in an Anthro class I sat in on, where one girl maintained the mate the whole class (I’m not sure she ever paused to take notes), and my Creative Writing teacher explained it today. It feels rather rude, but you shouldn’t say “thank you” unless you don’t want anymore.

To prepare your mate the first time, you’re supposed to cure it, which really just ensures you have a better taste. The general idea is to let your gourd absorb the flavor of the yerba more strongly. (I suppose it’s how ceramic tea pots will take on the flavor of their tea, and so – I assume - enhance the flavor of ensuing cups). Raquel’s boyfriend’s dad suggested brewing yerba in the new mate and letting it sit for three days. The internet suggested rinsing it the mate with water, letting it dry, then brushing the inside with sugar, brewing yerba for a day, dumping out the yerba, cutting any loose skin off the inside of the gourd, and repeating the process. I chose to let my first batch brew for two days, then cut loose skin and brew another day. Trying it now, it’s not the best mate, but then that could be the result of the brand of yerba I bought or the suboptimal straw.

II. Día 22: San Antonio 

Sunday I visited San Antonio de Areco, which I had heard described as a cowboy town, two hours from Buenos Aires by bus. It’s a nice small town, more enjoyable for its pretty river and relaxing atmosphere than for any particular event we did there. Upscale silver workshops are popular, as our horse rides for tourists. 

We went to a museum that was an old cowboy farm, and also stopped by the guide-book famous La Olla de Cobre chocolate store, which had a line down the block and was crowded, likely with fellow tourists. For my own tourist advice I’d say it’s fine to skip it; it smells awesome, but save for a piece of cinnamon chocolate I tried (which gave quite a kick), what I tried wasn’t particularly special, and mostly I found it too sweet.

          La Olla de Cobre ("The Copper Pot")

III. Día 23: Tango

The World Tango festival is in Buenos Aires this week, and the previous one. I went to see a competition today, in which partners dance in a circle, showing off their moves to four judges, and slowly get eliminated. Most of the dancers were young (the women often younger than the men) and from Argentina, Colombia, or Japan.

 Masterful photograpy. A TV screen highlighted one pair at a time.

Clothing seems to be important in tango, more for women than men. Men need to guide the dance, which they do largely through one hand on the woman’s back. The woman adds flourish, showing off fancier footwork. A dress that reveals her legs and is slim around the hips seems to show off the finesse of her leg movements well. There was however, one woman dancing in pants.

IV. Día 21: Death

Friday I saw the Recoleta Cemetery. The walled-in cemetery is like a ghost town of tombs, full of grand statues and marbled works. A few tray cats live there. Today it seems creepy to look into a tomb stacked full of your family’s coffins, and note that your own will soon be added, but I suppose in older times it may have been comforting to have a tradition and a sense of order in death. Still, I think this sort of cemetery adds a more personal touch than a gravestone.

V.     Politics

Last Sunday was the primary elections. Cristina had to run to qualify for the final elections, and the opposition candidates had to compete to be the one to run against her. Apparently, it was a huge election. It was a vote for the president, governor, mayor, national congress, provincial congress, and local representative. and you had to vote not just for which party for each seat, but for which candidate from each party. Parties don’t select just one representative, anyone can run, and the Peronist party had 5 candidates for mayor. The majority of the candidates shown on TV were men, but there were a number of women candidates.  One teacher told us that in the vote there were over 30 pages of names of candidates. Argentina also uses a paper vote, but somehow got all the tickets counted an hour after voting closed.

Cristina won in a landside, taking over 50% of the population, but not everyone was happy. Why not vote Cristina? I’ve heard that the upper classes, have complained that Cristina is basically stealing money from citizens in taxes, then using the cash to bribe the poor into voting for her. The issue is not that Cristina gives money directly to the poor, she doesn’t make systems to support those in poverty (or so I’m told).   For instance, Cristina gives money to families for each kid they send to school. This can be seen as helping support families who will have a kid studying instead of working, or it can be seen as a bribe. I’ve also heard rumor of corruption, and claims that while Cristina took 400 million pesos to build houses for the homeless, only 20 were ever constructed (I haven’t fact checked this).

Whether or not Cristina uses the money optimally, one professor tells me, it does save lives, especially now that mass unemployment has hit two generations of Argentineans.  This professor who seemed to respect Cristina Kirchner voted against her, partly because she’s tired of political offices staying in the hands of the city of Buenos Aires, and would prefer a candidate from the interior. In general, Buenos Aires city seems to rule the province of Buenos Aires, and in the past has been compared to a parasite on the larger province.

Voting is required in Buenos Aires, and if people are sick or had work that prevented them from voting, they have to get a certificate officially excusing them. Most shops and businesses are closed on Sunday, for religious reasons, so this should minimize the number of people who need to be excused. Still, on Sunday I saw a line stretching down 2 city blocks or more of people waiting for their certificate.

Día 11-14: Part III: San Isidro

A fancy, very expensive town, named after the builder’s patron saints.  Vivian Ocampo was a radical feminist and patron of authors. She had a nice house:

 And she lived near the Río Plato. It  used to be called the “Sweet Ocean”, because it wasn’t salty. I can’t imagine why people didn’t realize it was just a river:

It used to be at least 10 city blocks wider, before land was reclaimed

Día 11 -14 Part II: Evita

 One of the best museums I’ve been to (and I’ve been to three or four this week) was the Evita Museo. As a side note, Argentinean phones can’t handle rainy weather, something that shocked me in a country so generally modern, and also meant all plans to go together to the museum failed.

A bit about Evita: she’s the most famous woman in Argentina, and was a far more important force than her husband, the president at the time. Evita was born poor, became a mediocre actress and was involved in social activism. She met Colonel Perón, married him, and became the soul of Argentina. She was an incredibly influential first lady in a time when women had no political say.

The museum was extremely positive in its representation of her, but there were occasional hints of a undercurrent of dissent. One display mention briefly that  when Evita used her health as an excuse not to run for vice president, those who hated her would post up the slogan, “Long Live Cancer!” Never did the museum mention why anyone would hate her.

I’ve been asking others for their opinions on Evita. One host person very diplomatically noted that she was an interesting person who pioneered women’s rights. The doorsman from earlier admired Evita’s work to alleviate poverty and felt porteños, tending to be rich, disliked Evita for her emphasis on the poor. A fellow (U.S.) student told me Evita organized police squads to ruthlessly repress anyone who spoke out against her or her husband, Perón, and perhaps that’s why she’s disliked.

But now, the museum. Before he was president, Perón was a colonel and head of a governmental department involved with workers, among other areas. However, for reasons the museum stayed vague on, he annoyed many people in the government and was arrested. Workers, terrified that their support systems would be lost, rallied in mass to demand his release. It’s an interesting parallel to current fears of losing the support systems Cristina has made. When in office, Perón transformed October 17^th, the day he was freed from prison, into a holiday called Loyalty Day, on which he and Evita would give speeches to the masses.

                                                     People kind of liked Evita

 Despite this, Evita was what made Perón stand out. She was beloved to the point of near sainthood, and it’s her policies his terms are known for. Around 1948 or 1949, Evita made many social rights part of the Constitution for the first time. This included rights for children, the elderly, workers, education, and health. It was also the first time social aid had been extended to all areas of the country.

In addition the classic orphanages and schools, Evita had several very novel creations. One included a children’s touristy program that organized and funded visits to the ocean or other areas, allowing poor children, orphans, and abandoned kids to see new sites. Evita also created a foundation dedicated to aid to other countries, an interesting choice for someone already trying to make many changes to her own country. The museum had several book displays explaining what rights people deserve. The elderly have a right to moral health (the picture showed an old folks home with a library), and kids have a right to love, because “children are of God and are the fruit of love”. I don’t know what of these actually translated to law, because it certainly sounds impossible to enforce and hard to support.

                                      Her actual quote on feminism (yes, I was officially allowed to take photos)

In regards to feminism, Evita struck the perfect note. One of Evita’s causes was winning voting rights for women (she succeeded). In discussing it, she said, we women aren’t in a fight for dominance with men, we just want the chance to help our country too.

Among the museum’s odd displays were a selection of photos of Evita’s hands in different positions and several propaganda filled children’s books. I’ll translate two for you:

1.

“In an old book of stamps, Magarita admired marvelous landscapes. Mountain ranges, woods, beaches, snow. How beautiful it would be to have a vacation in one of these places! Enthusiastically, she showed the book to her mom, and asked when they would visit these sites; the woman, saddened, responded, “Workers can’t travel because we don’t have money.”

            Fortunately, this occurred a long time ago, because now, since Evita created the Foundation, all Argentinean workers have holiday camps in mountain ranges and beaches where they can have fun, together with their families, on their well deserved vacations.”

2. My favorite, it’s titled “Love Is Repaid With Love.”

            “How tenderly the mother rocks the baby” commented Miss Clara.

            “And how lovingly the child holds out its arms!” responded Lucia.

            “Love is repaid with love!”

            Our homeland also had a mommy that rocked with her unlimited kindness: Evita!

            She completely sacrificed for and loved her town, and her town returned her love.   

            Love is repaid with love!”

In the years after her death, Evita’s body was moved four or more times, in attempts to keep it safe from those who hated her. In 1957  her body was interred in Italy under the false name “Maria Maggi de Magish” and now it resides in Recoleta, my neighborhood.

Día 11-14: Part I The Air is Alive with the Sound of Politics

Buenos Aires’ presidential election system is much more involved than the U.S’s, allowing for more candidate options, requiring more participation by the citizens, and does more to prevent split votes. Right now, there are 8 candidates for president, excluding the incumbent, Cristina Krichner. Tomorrow, the (native-born) citizens vote to pare it down to 4, and will keep voting until they have only one opposition candidate in October, when they finally choose their new leader (citing one of my apartment’s doorsmen here). All stores are closed tomorrow for the vote, and bars were closed today so no one ends up drunk voting.

Terms are also 4 years , but the Krichners have been in power for a long time. Nestor Krichner ran the country before his wife, and according to the secretaries at UMSA (a local university) it’s likely Cristina will win again. One secretary told me that Cristina created a lot of support systems (or at least maintained them), and many people who rely on them are afraid that they will disappear under a new president. The secretary thought that everyone in the U.S. tends to support their current president, because we always know we can just change president in 4 years.  Here, there is a greater sense of being stuck.

It is true that in the U.S. many of our support systems like Medicare and Social Security are a pretty ingrained part of our system, regardless of the president, but I’m sure voters are swayed by how much money they believe a candidate will dedicate to these services. As for presidential support, here in Argentina, everyone tells me that all the porteños hate any president of theirs currently in office, but I have never heard anyone actually complain about Cristina. In fact, people tend to panic less over economics and political problems here, because they’re much more used to it. Where Europe riots, Argentina says, “oh that again?”.  (On this one, I’ll site the secretaries and my Spanish teacher’s response to a discussion on the London riots).

I also talked to the doorsman about racism. In Buenos Aires, there’s a prejudice against Indians in particular, dark skin, people who haven’t been to college, and people who are shorter. He said blond and tall was an ideal. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear about racism against Uruguayans or Peruvians because many poor immigrants come from there, but he didn’t mention that as one.

This doorsman was a bit disappointed that the U.S. doesn’t talk about Argentina at all, and tends to see South America as a unit, not separate countries. In Argentina, there’s an emphasis on learning about other countries, and, if I understood him correctly, study abroad is mandatory. Countries like England and Brazil have been sending students to study Argentinean politics. Argentina does have many economic slumps, but it is also known for quick recoveries, something Europe would love to get in on.

However, he’d quite like South America to become one political force, united under a single ruler. Uruguay and Paraguay both used to be part of Argentina, and he believes that many of the people would like a united South America, because it be a much more powerful force. However, he admitted it’s very unlikely any  South American president will volunteer to give up power to another leader. A side note: he felt that Buenos Aires didn’t really want to be part of Argentina. In fact, the city of Buenos Aires is separate from the province of Buenos Aires. I’m wondering if  B.A. is the Quebec of the South.

Argentina has only been a democracy for 25 years, before that it was a military dictatorship. To put this on a time line, the military overthrew Isabel Perón, President Perón’s wife after Evita. when the military failed to regain the Falkland/Malivinas Islands from Britain, they crumbled, and the democracy began. (British people live on the islands, but Argentina believes this is an unjust occupation of their land). It was terrifying to realize I was talking to a man who had grown up under a dictatorship. All that he mentioned about it was there aren’t curfews anymore.

Día 10: La Boca and the other Palermo

(Día 9 just wasn’t interesting enough)

La Boca is both poorer and very touristy. It’s an area of town known for the La Bombonera stadium, home of the Boca Juniors (I asked why “Juniors” as opposed to “Seniors” or any other age, apparently it refers to the players being the children of La Boca). The stadium was painted in Boca blue and gold, and several stores around it matched vividly. La Boca’s quirk is having a stadium with a large number 12 painted on it, to celebrate the “12^th member” of the soccer team, the fans. Rivals of La Boca call them “manure people” because there is rumor that when the river floods, “everyone is covered in crap”, as our guide put it.

Caminata, in La Boca region, consists of one or two pedestrian streets lined with art work and restaurants. It’s a highly touristy area where artists sell their works, and dancers tango in the street and offer to pose in photos for money. The houses here are straight from Buenos Aires postcards, despite the fact that the distinctive houses are actually only found this short street. The houses often have aluminum wall sections, giving an interesting texture and fell, but most of all they are all in a brilliant collection of colors. Each house is painted with areas of solid colors - a several foot wide strip of pink, a huge rectangle of blue or green, etc. This is because workers in the docks would take the left over paint used on boats and slap it on to their houses to weatherproof them. It’s not a nice neighborhood to wander alone, all the tour guides and guidebooks says, and we were told to stay in pairs, even just for wandering within three streets for 15 minutes.

Later, riding a bus back from playing soccer in Palermo, I got my first glimpse of prostitutes. At night, one of the parks I had biked through this Sunday transforms into a red light hot spot. Even in the day the ground is littered with condoms. At night, women (I saw two) stand by the side of the road, shaking themselves at cars. They looked just like they do in movies . The one I remember most clearly had short dress, tights, and heavy make up. Her dress had a white off the shoulders top cut tantalizingly low. Prostitution is illegal here, but very obvious. Buenos Aires features special 1-hr hotels for lovers.

The other day, I was telling Raquel about Arizona’s law to let police demand to see documents from anyone who might be a immigrant. I felt it was really racist, but Raquel pointed out that here she has to carry her papers always, and she’s lived in Argentina for 8 years. I, too, need my passport number for everything. There’s a  difference, I think, making Arizona’s policy more racist, and that is the inequality. In Arizona, anyone Hispanic looking is targeted, but here, it’s equal over anyone who wasn’t born here.  

On related note, as a Peruvian taxi driver told me (and Raquel confirmed) you must be born in Argentina to vote for president.  They both are citizens here, and while that has afforded them many rights, this one is reserved. Immigrants may, however, vote for governor. Argentina’s political system is a bit different from the U.S.’s. Here, it’s easier for many political parties to exist, and there seem to be about 4 people challenging President Cristina Krichner. Instead of each party selecting a candidate to run, all of the people vote for one opposition candidate to run against Cristina, then months later, vote between the two. I know very little about the parties. Many people are in the poorer classes here, and Cristina is a peronist, or a populist, and supports the lower class. Many of her ads connect her to the youth, saying she helps students or represents the strength of the youth. A more radical candidate is an advocate for the middle class.

Right now, one of Argentina’s biggest problems is lack of jobs. Many people are leaving Buenos Aires, though it’s by now means under populated. Immigrants come from the surrounding South American countries  like Uruguay and Peru and, finding no work, end up on the streets. Unlike the U.S., there’s no strict immigration policy. Anyone can come, but it may be better for them that they don’t.

This makes an interesting point about whether or not it’s cruel for the U.S. to block and send back so many immigrants – often I feel anyone should be allowed to try their hand at a better life, but it’s true that there are only so many people that one country can take care of. . I can understand a government not wanting to bite off more than they can chew.  It was pointed out to me that in Buenos Aires, for instance, if people come, they will live on the streets; If Buenos Aires builds more homeless shelters, then more immigrants will come, then they will live on the streets.

On a lighter note, here in photos they say “Whiskey” instead of “Cheese”.

Día 6-8: Pretty Places

Today Kiki and I found a beautiful café/bookstore in Sur Palermo, one of my new favorite neighborhoods. A lot of restaurants have newspapers and magazines you can borrow, which is an awesome idea. The area here is older, with cobblestone roads, and is full of huge parks. We went with the group on a bike tour for a few hours. On Friday, I went to an estancia (a farm) out in the country. They had bikes for us there, too. The bikes had wide curving handlebars and simple construction (backpedal to break, none of this fancy 21speed nonsense). The simplicity of the bikes and the sunny countryside was so whimsical, it was like being in a movie. I felt like I should be bringing a baguette to a picnic or having a charming adventure.

Sometimes Argentina feels like it has the advertisements and energy of New York, but with much more greenery, space, and calmer people. No one is ever on time.

Later today, I tried the famed Argentinean pizza. It’s quite tasty and not greasy. One type I tried had a thick corn-based crust, which was interesting. After the tour, I went with a friend to see the Centro Cultural Recoleta, an art museum. One awesome thing about Argentineans’ nightlife is that museums are still open at 9pm. In front was a crafts fair in the Recoleta neighborhood, where we bought mate (gourds for drinking yerba mate, a immensely popular drink here). I’ve heard even gas stations advertise hot water for refilling your mate; everyone seems to drink it (museum guards, our staff, etc.) but no cafes or restaurants seem to serve it. I tried it at the estancia. It tastes like strong green tea. 

                                                                        Mate

Yesterday I went on a city bus tour, and tried a tango class. They broke the steps down immensely for us, so while what we’re doing looks nothing like tango, we’re also not crying at how hard it is. Not yet.

One interesting thing here is pub/club culture. I was again at the Irish Pub on Friday, and I begin to get the feeling people go to bars mainly to flirt. Clubs certainly are ridiculous that way. I’ve heard about men at clubs trying to make out with girls after one dance or using rather blatant pick up lines like, “What’s your favorite sex position?” Men here certainly push more and more obviously, because women dismiss them much more easily, and I think it’s just a more sexual culture. PDA is big here. People make out in parks, on the street, on the bus, and are generally more touchy. There were two Americans near me at the bar, and the Argentinean I was talking to told that the man must be gay, because it had been a whole hour and he hadn’t kissed the girl. I tried to explain it was a cultural difference . . ..