Argentina 7

We walked to the Plaza de mayo, to the Casa Rosada, where we saw the demonstration du jour, with police ringing the small obelisk, and fully-equipped riot police, just out of sight around the corner. On the way we passed Café Tortoni, famous for its literary meetings including Borges and Alfonsina Storni, the famous poet who committed suicide by walking into the sea. Since she is contemporaneous to the Spanish Poetic Generación of 1927 (and she met Federico García Lorca at the Tortoni), from whose poetry I have created concordances, I think her work will be the next concordance I do when the Gen. 27 is done. I also walked by several bookstores, and was seduced into buying 2 volumes—the epic poem of El gaucho Martín Fierro, and the novel Don Segundo Sombra. I also purchased a few posters about Argentine customs for our classroom and lab. Later, I went to collect forms from banks, etc., for the SPAN 4001 class, and other documents for SPAN 4002.

We ate with a couple of ex-pats so Rich could record their interview. This was a couple from Oregon with 4 daughters in college and high school. They sold everything and moved to Argentina to be able to send their daughters to school. I´m not sure that I agree with their lifestyle. They are an island unto themselves—barely speak Spanish, have other ex-pat friends, don´t exactly mix with Argentines, etc. You get the picture, in a capsule, hermetically sealed. My image of the ugly “American.” But I have hope for these folks. They are trying to learn Spanish, and their children are bi-lingual. After all, they’ve only been in BsAs for a year and a half.

There are only a couple of days left here, and I am thinking that I will miss it when I´m gone. These people have been the most hospitable, gracious, friendly, laid-back folks I´ve ever met. I plan to return. This evening while we were conversing, I saw families coming out to eat dinner with all members present—from grandparents to babies. I loved the noise level—everyone talking at the same time! Almost as loud as Spain, but not quite. It was so comfortable, so much like home. Kids were wandering about, but the waiters and the other customers didn´t mind at all. I have invited (finally!) the Mascarenha family to eat at the same place tomorrow evening to thank him and give him all the goodies from SPSU. When we were leaving the restaurant, the waiter, with whom I enjoyed a fun give-and-take repartee, gave me a peck on the cheek.

Tomorrow we plan to walk to San Telmo. Here are a couple of interesting (to me, at least) videos of that barrio:
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNvXFiNSR30
The photography is dizzying, but I love the first tango—La puñalada (the stabbing).

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YEyiMYHBOE
The tango “fight”—love it!

More later.