These Days, Cont.

Saturday was 25 of May, which is a huge national holiday in Argentina. It is the anniversary of the revolution. Read more here in english  or here in spanish. Many manifestacions here look the same, it just depends if people are fighting against Cristina or showing support for Cristina. Since that day was a nationalistic holiday the majority were showing support. There were huge crowds of people EVERYWHERE, all the buses where down because there were people and charter buses in all the streets, there were fire crackers, drummers, people selling flags (or choripan, or pastries or cake). All the political groups wore matching t shirts and carried gigantic signs. I like these kinds of holidays and events because
a) I think the nationalistic rhetoric is really interesting
b) I think its hilarious how people seem to hate Cristina but then again everyone seems to love Cristina?
c) even though its politically confusing and not a reality, I like the propoganda about united Latin America because it is a very romantic ideal. People here really know how to talk.
d) I love seeing everyone come in from all the provinces and towns. There was one political group that had representatives from as far away as Salta and Tucúman.
I walked up to Plaza de Mayo, the culmination of the march. I saw alot of interesting signs along the way - such as one with all the South American flags on it that said "Paises Libres" (Free Countries) and flags from the Tupac Amaru foundation of Buenos Aires (Amaru was a liberation fighter in colonial Peru). There were giant screens showing the action along Avenida de Mayo, cameras broadcasting the events, and huge signs all over the church and bank in the plaza. In front of Casa Rosada was a giant stage where there were speeches, performances, etc. I missed Cristina speaking but I saw the performers from Bolivia and Venezuela. Before the different groups came out and between events, there were sound bites that were projected. There were clips from Cristina's speeches (my favorite being "con una garganta, con una corazon, gritamos por la patria argentina" - with one throat (voice), with one heart, we yell for our motherland Argentina) and sound bites from other South American presidents. Before the different performance groups came out, there would be a little speech about the unity between those two countries.
But alas, there was homework to be done so I went into Vita, a health food cafe off the Plaza to do some reading. It was quite a funny situation, to be in this really Park Slope-y girly looking cafe, reading about the Shining Path and drinking a pina colada smoothie while they played Argentine rock over the speakers and a mix of ladies lunching, business men doing work and quasi- revolutionaries traipsed through and huge processions and drummers walked by the windows outside. Argentina.
That night, I met some girls from the dorm/program at this GORGEOUS restaurant on Caseros - within walking distance from the dorm. I walked alone and about halfway there a middle aged woman on the street got concerned for me because I was about to walk on a block with some boys loitering on it so she walked with me. The restaurant was so beautiful - both the design and placement reminded me of a nice place in ditmas park or flatbush in midwood. Very funny. Afterwards we went to Puerta Roja but it was a weird vibe so we just came back and crashed. Turns out the internet can load a few webpages in my room at 2 30 am - probably because everyone in the building is out or sleeping!
Sunday, today, was the day of the trip to Feria de Mataderos, a neighborhood on the western outskirt of the city. While Recoleta is more of a crafts fair, this is more of a craft food fair, with a giant stage set up, gaucho- esque dancing and tons of stands selling everything from candied strawberries, salamis, liquier of every flavor imaginable, mates, empanadas, donuts, artisanal chocolate, silver rings, leather wallets - everything. I also laid eyes on who is probably the most attractive man in Argentina no joke and also a guy holding a german shephard puppy (but like, not a tiny one) in his arms like a child. My favorite part was the part in the back. If you walked past the stage and museum, there was a whole other fair in the back - full of manufactured crap (my favorite, aside from the stand selling every kind of body ring possible was a stand selling "palestinos" - keffiyahs), old women selling slices of the most decadent looking cakes I've ever seen, and families selling what looked like old clothes and books. There were families hanging out, and a skate park full of teenage boys skate boarding and little girls roller blading. It looked like a lot of immigrant families - I'm wondering if this is an immigrant neighborhood. Mataderos (means slaughterhouse) was where the famous and most important slaughterhouses were once Britain decided to turn Argentina into their personal butcher shop. It is nicknamed "Nueva Chicago" because of this (I didn't know that about Chicago!). Anyway, I thought it was really interesting to see such a clear and distinct difference between the touristic market and the locals market and how they felt so markedly different.
Now, back to the weekly grind.