Alright, after a few "cultural" events and school work, I am fulfilling my promise to talk about my time in Cordoba. Like I said before, the city that Oktoberfest was located, was Belgrano--a pueblo 2 hours out of Cordoba. While we spent the first two days there, we spent Sunday going through Cordoba--a truly beautiful and fairly tranquil city. Cordoba is in many respects is similar to Buenos Aires--except with less people, a different accent, and less insanity.
Instead of giving a chronology, it will be more informative for me just to give descriptions based on the pictures I have here. So starting with the first: The city is quite clean and has a really...relaxed feeling. Granted, it was a Sunday, but i could feel a much less stressed vibe. I snapped this photo (left) on a main street; buildings similar to BA but with some more modern bricking--overall a nice walk.
These next two shots are of the University of Cordoba. This particular university was founded in 1613--so one of the oldest in the entire hemisphere. The University of Cordoba (where I actually know a girl from Albion who is currently studying here) is located centrally on streets that are dominated by pedestrians and cafes. The history here is pretty overwhelming.
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This next photo is of an old cathedral in a central plaza. It is even more
impresionante in person. One thing to note here is the architecture: Cordoba has heavy Spanish influence whereas BA is more French. Why this is--well, frankly, I just don't know haha. But it is nonetheless very pretty.
The next photo I have is a sign regarding the
Islas Malvinas (Falkland Islands). Some of you may remember that in 1982, there was a 2-month war between the Argentine Junta and the British for the "true" possession of the islands just off the eastern Argentine coast. The reason that I even mention this is beacuase to this day, the theme of the Malvinas is still a sore spot for the Argentines. Back then, Argentina was in its last dictatorship, and the military leaders used the old soverignty debate of the islands to distract the public from the other serious domestic problems that were going on at the time. In short, the Argentines did not really believe the British would actually retaliate, but as we know, they in fact did, and Argentina lost. The sign reads "It is prohibited to forget them. They are not negotiable". There is more to it than this, but it is a recurrent theme in their culture which I find ivery nteresting.
This next photo is extremely intereseting, but very sad. Argentina was not technically a democracy until 1983--and before that existed only military leaderships or the Perons (Juan, Evita, and Isabella). Especially between the years of '55 to '83, many horrible things happened like the "Dirty War" and the "Disappeared". This particular sign reads: "Memorial in homeage to the people from, the Province of Cordoba between the years 1969 and 1983 who were kidnapped, tortured, and executed by the repressive forces of the state. Their names are written in public (to see)". The picture below shows a building--only a BLOCK from the university where people were kidnapped and tortured! They were taken below the street and kept from anywhere from months to years--most were killed.
The idea of the government at the time was to battle the threat of extreme liberalists, communists, and anyone who they "perceived" as a threat to their power. My host parents lived through all of this--their perspective is absolutely interesting/unobtainable anywhere else.
This next picture is a mosaic of names of people who were kidnapped--some freed and other killed by the government. In Buenos Aires, there are colored tiles on sidewalks with names inscribed on them that say at this particular spot, someone was kidnapped (ALWAYS In a lime green Ford Falcon [super famous here]). There is a tile that I see everyday to my walk to school--one of the busiest locations in the entire city.
Finally, I will end on a sweet note (seriously, no pun intended--I hate them). Grido is an ice cream place that is really good. Not only is it cheap, but they have tasty ice cream and desserts--what else do you want?
