Sorry everyone, the last few days has been very busy and tiresome--I have a lot to talk about. First I guess I will start with last weekend. Last Thursday I took a bus with my program roughly two hours northwest of the city of Buenos Aires to the small pueblo of San Antonio de Areco. Our visit was for the purpose of learning about gaucho culture (Argentine cowboys) and getting a chance to experience the pampas (Argentine flat lands). In short, it was awesome! The trip lasted from Thursday morning to Friday evening and I stayed in a quaint hotel in the center of town. The hotel was run by a crotchety old man--which was funny, but the thing about the people out in the campo (country) is the not me, nor anyone else could understand anything that they were saying. They spoke Spanish of course, but mostly in a slurred mumble.
(Here I will launch into a brief historical rant--grab a beer if you would like). Historically, there is a great disconnect between the city of Bs. As. (which is autonomous like D.C.) and the rest of the country--particularly the gauchos. It is similar in sentiment to the American Cowboy: these people lived by their own means and maintained minimal government, but were eventually rendered obsolete as federalism grew and civilization spread to various reaches of Argentina. Until, eventually, everything was brought under federal jurisdiction. The people of the campo have tried to maintain their own identity over the years. So there exists a bitterness between the two entities. (You may now finish your beer).
Anyway, we are all checked-in, dah-dah-dah, and end up getting a tour of the city...starting with lunch. All I have to say about the food situation, is that these people know how to eat! Lunch consisted of two huge breaded cutlets of carne with a boat load of mashed potatoes, 2 delicious beef empanadas, bread, and a salad. Oh, and free re-fiiiiiils woot woot! However, dinner the next evening was the best of all; they started serving empanadas at 5 and then switched over to these sausage sandwich things. After that, we were seated and ate salad, pork chops and bread--still not the main course yet. When it finally came, the main course was carne asada, which was 4, I repeat, 4 entire racks of cow ribs cooked by fire in a giant spit. I took some pictures to remind myself of how beautiful it was. Needless to say, we were all well fed. Food aside, we got to see the relationship between gauchos and their horses and how skilled those guys are. This was of course, at an estancia--essentially what we call a ranch. I have two videos to post (low video quality) but one is that of a gaucho love dance, and the other is a horse competition where women hang engagement rings on a ribbon on a post and the rider is suppose to grab the ring with a stick--and the one who manages to do so takes the woman's hand in marriage--it was pretty cool and only one of the many other things that they can do on horseback.
Speaking of horses, I got to ride one. I also got to step in its poop. Additionally, we got to listen to some traditional folk music which was really cool. One band that we saw consisted of 2 guys--one on guitar and the other on accordian. At one point, both guys were playing the same guitar but at different parts of the fretboard and created this really sick melody. I also got to a attend a workshop on how to prepare yerba mate--a strong herby tea that is paramount to Argentine society which also has its own set of guidelines for preparation and serving.
I could talk about this stuff for a while, but the bottom line here is that these men are extremely skilled with horses and have a very distinctly proud lifestyle and culture separate from the federal district. It's definitely something worth learning about.
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