Argentina 4

Well, how do you know you are in Argentina and not anywhere else? TV. Commercials for mate (an herb beverage) which is drunk from a special sort-of cup. The practice of drinking mate in a group involves sharing the straw. Not for me with this cough. The other assurance on TV that you are really in Argentina…PSAs about how having your DNA determined to see if you might be the child of one of the disappeared from the time of the military dictatorship.

Today we met with a US ex-pat at the BsAs American Club. We had a very interesting talk for a few hours about how business was for US businessmen in Argentina. While the interview was for Rich´s AARP radio series, we exchanged contact information for possible future internship programs for our students in BA at SPSU.

I had my first sample of Argentine beef. It was beef. It was Argentine. It was no big deal. I wonder what the brouhaha is all about.

I bought some small posters about Argentina to take home at a newspaper kiosk today. The vendor was such a pleasure to talk to. He was like a sommelier of newspapers, helping me to select just the right one to buy. He, and many others, was curious about our nationality. When we identified ourselves, there wasn´t the “OMG, YOU’RE THE ENEMY,” as in previous experiences—principally in France. I think they probably get it—the fact that US folks aren´t necessarily in line with the US government´s policies. The papers range from the entire political spectrum, and business. I even saw a weekly about psychology. (A colleague of mine at Emory years ago had explained how in Argentina the school most prevalent is that of the French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan. I had heard of him in French lit classes when we had to become familiar with structuralism.

Cristina Fernández de Kirschner takes over the presidency on Monday the 10th. The ex-pat today said that she has little preparation in economics, and that her husband will be ruling through her. The newspaper I bought indicated that she would rule in her own right, and that her husband won´t be playing the roll of the power behind the throne. It remains to be seen. We will be in Santiago when the change of president takes place. It will be interesting to see how Chile views the whole thing.

I haven´t been able to get a hold of Mr. Mascarenhas. I´ll probably finally meet him after we return to BsAs from Santiago on the 13th.

Here´s a video of a famous tango, “Yira, yira” sung by a twenty-something winner of Argentina´s Operación Triunfo, an American Idol look-alike reality show started in Spain. The lyrics are strange from a young person´s perspective because they are principally about how when you get screwed over by life, just keep on keeping on…yira, yira…not a Spanish word, but likely from Italian, gira. Enjoy. His other stuff is rock and pop, but I like this—besides, he´s cute—with Italian eyes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDZnYpHVNMo

more later