Recoleta Pictures

Ok, here's the rundown on the pictures from the Recoleta Cemetary: the first is one of the hundreds of mausoleums in the cemetary, each of them differently designed. The above picture is a testament to Argentina's immigrant past (and frankly, the most hilarious name I've ever seen). Then, a really old mausoleum that has broken in the front so you can peek in and see the actual coffins just inches away...next a view down one of the mausolem-lined pathways. Then another mausoleum, and finally one of the many plaques on the mausoleum of Evita, dedicated by the town of Almirante Brown. Enjoy!

¡Viva el campo!

Historic happenings in Argentina...so a few months ago the president of Argentina, Cristina Kirchner proposed an agricultural export tax increase to 45%, which caused a huge uproar among the farmers here. They've been protesting/on strike/blocking food transportation for months now, and yesterday the Senate voted on the proposal. In anticipation of the vote, there have been huge demonstrations around Buenos Aires, at least one with over 250,000 people, this past week. Yesterday the Senate debated into the night, and ended up tied 36 to 36, with only Kirchner's VP left to vote...and at 4:30 am today he voted AGAINST the proposal, which is completely unheard of. People have been going nuts - there were a ton of people out in the streets last night banging pots and pans and waving Argentinean flags. Everybody has been telling me that this is a really historic time for Argentina - I guess truly honest politicians are few and far between here. Here's a link to a NY Times article on the situation:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/17/world/americas/17argentina.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
In other, completely unrelated news, I discovered one of the wierdest places ever a few days ago - the Recoleta Cemetary! It's a huge graveyard in the middle of the city where all of the rich people of Buenos Aires have been buried (and still are!) since the 1800s. But there's no grass or dirt like in a normal cemetary - just tons of narrow paved pathways lined with family mausoleums, most at least 8 feet high and squished together like those tall skinny houses in San Francisco. The place is gigantic, and the pathways crisscross in all directions, making it really easy to get completely lost among all the dead folks.
A lot of the mausoleums have windows in them, and you can look in and see actual coffins stacked atop each other like or (for those who prefer to be underground) creepy narrow staircases going down into darkness. One was broken in the front, and when I looked in I saw a sunken room filled with four stacks of cobwebby coffins, stacked seven high. Adding to the general creepiness are the dozens of cats padding silently down the paths or sitting atop the mausoleums, staring at you as you walk by. We asked our tour guide why there were so many cats there and she said simply "Hay ratones" - "There are rats"
It was so wierd and creepy and a perfect horror-movie setting, especially because we got there right before 6, closing time, so there weren't a lot of people there and the sun was just starting to go down. Definitely one of my top 5 places in Buenos Aires so far! Pictures coming soon, I promise!

Rainy day in Buenos Aires

It's Sunday night, I haven't touched my homework all weekend, and I have to read a 25-page story for class tomorrow...so naturally I'm wasting time online. Just got back from two days in Uruguay, which were amazing!! Uruguay is just across the river from Argentina, and there's a little town called Colonia just a ferry-ride away from Buenos Aires that's really popular with Argentinean tourists.
Since it's the off-season for tourists (it's winter here), Colonia was pretty sleepy, but really pretty. It's a smallish town that's been passed back and forth between the Spanish and Portuguese at least 10 times over the last 400 years, but finally ended up with the Spanish. Everybody on the street is carrying a thermos of boiling water and a maté bombilla - maté is a really strong tea that's everywhere in Argentina and Uruguay. It's really popular and almost everybody drinks it, but unfortunately it's definitely an acquired taste. In my personal opinion, it's kind of like drinking dirt. Anyway, we spent Friday exploring the town and went out to dinner at El Portón, a restaurant recommended by the owner of the hostel we were staying at. I asked the waiter what the "comida más famosa de Uruguay" (the most famous Uruguayan food), he recommended something called Parillo (or something like that), which is shared between two people. Trusting person that I am, I ordered it, and well...I'll describe it and let you decide for yourself. First, they put potato salad, shredded lettuce and tomato slices on a huge plate. Then they pile french fries on top, then a couple of thin steaks, followed by bacon, a generous covering of melted cheese, and two fried eggs. The whole thing is garnished with green olives and rolled up slices of ham. More or less three heart attacks on a plate. That was the first time I've ever eaten steak, bacon and ham in the same bite...and hopefully the last! A true Uruguayan experience.
The next day we woke up to seventy-degree weather!! Keep in mind it's winter here - it was unbelievable! We found a big playa (beach) that was almost completely deserted, and played all day in the Uruguayan ocean. It was completely unexpected and wonderful.
Hope everybody had a great 4th!! We all sang the Star-Spangled Banner a few times on Friday, but that was about it unfortunately.