I <3 medialunas

My sister is cruising Europe right now and she is sending e-mails everyday. She is showing me up. So I better get my act together.

But really, I just finished two classes so I wasn’t that free. I gave two presentations and wrote a couple papers. All in all, I think they were good. I still have my art class (need about 10 drawings for Tuesday) and I have my philosophy final July 17. The absolute last day of exams at DiTella. Oh well. I enjoy the class. Yesterday, my alarm didn’t go off so I missed the last philosophy class of the semester. I actually was upset that I didn’t go to my 8am class. No worries, because I can get the notes from my friend and all is well. I still have a lot of philosophy readings, but it shouldn’t be too bad.

Yesterday, I went to the Evita Museum and then the Domingo Sarimiento Museum. The Evita Museum was small but very nice and well done. Many people loved her, many people did not. When I told my host mom where I went she said “Todo es una mentira.” “Everything is a lie.” When we asked our professor what she thinks of Evita – “Eh. Ni.” So there you go. She certainly did some good things. Helping the elderly and helping women get the right to vote (although she was not the only one, as I learned in my Argentine Women class) but I think that portraying her as a saint as some people did is extreme. But good things in the museum – dresses, videos. Soon after she passed away (at 33 years I think), the Peronist government was overthrown. Then her body, which had been on display, disappeared. For almost 20 years. Seriously. The government who took power also took her body. They believed it served as some inspiring symbol or rallying tool for the Peronists. The body went to Italy (where it was buried and marked with a different name) and later Spain. When the body finally returned to Argentina, one of her fingers was missing, her feet were covered in tar, her nose was broken, and there were cuts on her face…

The Domingo Sarimiento Museum was even smaller but interesting and free. It is in Belgrano and I literally walk by it everyday so finally I went. He was an educator and later president in the late 19^th century. Good man, that Domingo. Some cool things are on display, like his canes (which had an extended audio piece so he could lift it and hear better. I don’t know what it is called. I no speak English so well these days.) There were some pocket pistols and his presidential uniform. He also liked Abraham Lincoln, an inspiration. Sarimiento did much to advance Argentina at the turn of the century. The museum was once city hall and it was there where Buenos Aires was declared the capital.

Ok, enough history.

My Spanish has gotten a lot better, especially in the past few weeks. Reading definitely helps. I bought a book the other day (Cuentos Chinos – Chinese short stories) and I am reading it with no problems. Occasionally I look for words in the dictionary, but I am understanding everything. The premise of the book is why have Latin America countries stayed so far behind everyone else (china, india, etc.) in terms of their economy. And in turn, poverty and violence has increased. China has actually removed about 250,000 people from poverty. Very interesting and especially relevant to Argentina.

This Sunday are elections for congress. It is obligatory to vote. They stop serving/selling alcohol at 1am Saturday night. What? Basically, from what I have gathered, is that the government in power is definitely going to be losing some key spots in the congress. Not many people are happy with how things are going. The current president is Cristina Kirschner of the Peronist party. Her husband Nestor was previously the president and now he is running for a spot in Congress. That in itself explains some things. The government is sketchy and corrupt and has done very little to help the poor along with many other things. Argentina has trouble exporting beef. Is that hard to believe? For me, not so much because this country is kinda crazy J The thing is that people are very skeptical of everything and are not sure if a new congress will even help that much. Certainly they will be better than Los Krischners, but people are suffering. It’s a disaster. That is a fact. And it is all difficult to understand and it’s hard to swallow. I just finished reading the history of argentina in the 20^th century and it is ugly and complicated. Governments come and go, poverty remains, and the economy remains weak. I will get back to you after the elections. Certainly something has to change.

That said, I really love Argentina. I think the people are great and Buenos Aires has much to offer. The other day a man on the train told me my shoe was untied. Jaja. Like I mentioned before, this city reads a ton and there are bookstores everywhere. I recently found out that in 2011 (maybe 2010) Buenos Aires will be honored with the title of the city of literature or something like that. I think that a world book fair be here or something. Que se yo?

The people are beautiful and this really can’t be stressed enough J Whenever a cute girl walks past a group of men, they all turn and stare. Like its really no big deal. Sometimes, it is just creepy. Like when the girl is still in highschool or when they get within a few feet of the girl to get a better look. All in all, it’s pretty funny. And these women know what’s going on. They all know they are incredibly beautiful, so yeah.

Mate is awesome. It kinda makes me crazy. To drink a thermos of mate is just ah idk energy. So much caffeine. The other day I spilled in my room. I don’t know what happened but it ended up on the wall 10ft behind me! Fernando is great (except when he plays the xylophone in the mornings). Today I am going to the Museo de Bellas Artes. It is the more formal art museum. I have been to the modern art museum a couple times. You can see that as my time is winding down I am trying to see everything and leave no Buenos Aires stone unturned. This extends to the gastronomic area as well. I am trying new restaurants and new food.

And the food is great. But I miss homecooking, Lou’s, and good hotdogs. Among other things, I’m looking forward to tailgating with my buddies at Comiskey/The Cell.

Dulce de leche is dang tasty, but so so sweet. I can only handle so much of it. The beef is exceptional, but I can’t eat that everyday. Medialunas, sweet pastries, are my absolute favorite. Empanadas are great quick snacks that I will certainly miss. Bobe, I still haven’t any empanadas that are as good as yours. I also am trying all the different alfajors that Argentina has to offer. Lastly, the fruit is soooo good. I have my fruit stand that I go to everyday. I’m the “environmental guy” because I don’t use their plastic bags. Jaja (that is haha in Spanish, just so you know).

I’ll know more about my travels in a bit and keep you all posted.

Paz