National Day of Mourning

I could talk about the bus system all day. The stories are endless and I’m sure there are thousands more to come. Yesterday morning, I got on the Bus #5 as usual that gets me to orientation. Everything is going well, with me standing near the front of the bus since it is jammed (not unlike Japan during rush hour – the subways here during rush hour are just as crowded in Japan too). I’m minding my own business until I see a serious PDA between the bus driver and a chica that just boarded the bus. While we’re moving. I decided to hold on for dear life before my mind finished processing what was going on. There were no near-death experiences, but we were moving faster and the turning a little sharper. She wound up staying on for about 4 or 5 stops. Then this morning I get on the bus around the same time, and lo and behold it’s the same bus driver. His girlfriend (I hope) got on at her usual spot but made the whole trip this time. I’m a little curious as to how they met. Consecutive days of flirting as she rides the bus for a few stops, perhaps? You have to love the 5.

Over the weekend I had my first homework assignment, which was to explore the neighborhood with two other classmates and take some photos to share with the class. It was unfortunate that it was raining; it was great nonetheless to see what is hiding around where I’m staying. The find of the day was an indoor futsal center, with 6 5v5 turf fields. They were organized into two sets of three so you could play on two bigger fields. There was a game going on, with the usual ‘passion,’ or in other words consistent rolling on the ground and pointless yelling at the referee. There were yellow cards galore. I just had to laugh, because such seriousness seemed a little overkill on such a small field inside what seemed like a warehouse. It was a phenomenal find though, and I’m going to investigate it some more and maybe get some game time, I hope.

After class yesterday, a group of us decided to go see a movie. We wandered down one of the main roads (Avenida Santa Fe) to a local theater. The only two options were a romantic drama or a French comedy. We decided to check out another theater that was supposedly reasonably close. So, we continued on our quest to find a movie. We stopped by the Recoleta Cemetery, which is probably the most famous cemetery in Argentina. It houses the coffins and tombs of the rich and famous of years past. Extremely rich. A major reason for going yesterday was it was the 50th anniversary of Evita Perón’s death, and she rests in her family’s tomb there. We passed by, and there were flowers and posters everywhere with probably a dozen people paying their respects. To be honest, I was a little under whelmed by what I saw; I had it in my mind that her tomb would be a little isolated given her national prominence. On the contrary, the tomb is down a narrow alley (most of these tombs are bigger than some houses – it literally feels like you’re walking in a village made of expensive stone) and is relatively small. However, even 50 years later she is still one of the most-talked about figures in Argentina. I have to say walking through the cemetery was a little eerie, as coffins were clearly visible through the open doors of these tombs just a few feet away.

We eventually did find the second theater, but it wasn’t as close as we thought. They didn’t have any movies worth seeing, so we decided to go back to the original theater to see the French comedy (Las Hierbas Salvajes). It had Spanish subtitles, and it was great to try and piece together what was happening in the movie by following the subtitles. Either all 6 of us are the absolute worst at Spanish or the movie just wasn’t funny. No one else was laughing either, so I tend to think it was the later. This award-winning film in a nutshell is about an older man who finds a wallet that was stolen from a lady and subsequent becomes obsessed with her. The police shoo him away and she becomes obsessed with him. They all wind up dying in a plane crash during a flight in a little private prop plane. It was a course of bizarre French humor 101. All of us held it in, but once the movie finished we all burst out laughing just because it was so absurd. Crazy Americans.

Dinner was a family affair, with both sons and the husband taking part. The conversation was dominated by the sons’ lives, such as when Ramiro, the younger son, would stop having multiple novias and get one serious girlfriend. Matias was peppered with questions of when he’ll marry his girlfriend and have kids. My anfitriona (host-mother) wants some grandkids, and she let him know. He’s trying to get his fledgling acting career off the ground though, and I’m supposed to go see him act in 3 weeks. Should be fun. I hope the fact that he had black fingernail polish on all five fingers of his left hand and none on his right had everything to do with his acting.

Looking back, the last week and a half have been great; the hours spent at orientation have been time well spent, with a never-ending supply of useful information, plus being able to explore the city by day and night without the thought of schoolwork hanging over our heads. It’s felt a little like NSO all over again, with over a hundred of new people to meet. It feels like I’ve been here for months, when really it’s only been about three weeks.

Today, I had an hour to kill between the end of orientation and an academic advisor meeting, so I cruised down Santa Fe to El Ateneo, one of the most impressive bookstores I have ever seen. The building used to be an opera house; the stage is still there (it is now home to a café), and the balconies are all covered with lights. It’s absolutely huge. Of course they didn’t have the book I wanted, but it was still a stunning place. It is probably the only bookstore I have ever seen with people taking pictures inside.

Finally, as I turned on the news today I saw that the main headline was the fact that Diego Maradona will not be returning has the head soccer coach of the Argentinean National Soccer team. That was all the news talked about for the 15 minutes of headlines. Apparently Maradona wanted to retain his entire coaching staff, but the AFA had other ideas. Everyone is unhappy with his departure, including the AFA. Although now he’ll be able to spend more time with Hugo Chavez, like when he stood next to Chavez on the podium last week as the Venezuelan broke all formal ties with Colombia and essentially threatened to start a war. That can’t have been good for Maradona’s public image.