Casa Rosada/The Pink House

This is commonly considered the argentinian equivalent of the White House, but in truth, it's not.

The president of Argentina does not live in the Pink House. In fact, she's hardly ever there.
This building is located at 50 Balcarce street and Paseo Colón. On the left side of the building there's the subway station called "Plaza de Mayo" (line A)

The name of the station is after the park located in front of the Pink House.

You can see this park in old films of Evita Peron's speeches, as this is where the people use to gather to face the balcony from which she used to speak.

Plaza de Mayo is the oldest park in Buenos Aires. Its name refers to the month in which the people of Buenos Aires gathered to ask for their viceroy's expulsion of the territory and so become a free country.

This was on 25th May 1810 in this very same spot.
Since then, this park has become "the place in wich the population as a whole has a voice".

This is why this is the place in which people gathered to see Evita and even asked her to become vice-president.

This park was also used by relatives of people who had dissapeared under the militar regime in the 70's, to demand for information. This people wore a characteristic white headscarf.

At the center of the park there's a 20 meter tall white needle created for the 100 anniversary of Argentina.

All around this monument, on the floor, you can see drawings of their scarfs, in commemoration to their struggle.

Argentinian Slang

Argie humour

Here's a clip I subtitiled myself from the argentinian comedy show "Peter Capusotto and his rock videos" in which the only actor in the show plays "Micky Vanilla: the nazi pop artist"
I'm sorry for the fast subtitles, it was my first time doing this.
Still, I hope you enjoy it!

The Official Photos

Victor Bugge has been the official photographer of the Argentian President since 1978.
He has, therefore, had the chance of capturing the most intriguing moments of the different governments. From militar dictators to elected presidents.

Not much has escaped from his sharp lens. The magic world of photography gives us the chance to see a million different things in the very same picture, and also show us the escense of a difficult country's politics from behind the scenes.

Here are some of his pictures for you. I hope you enjoy them.

•Trying to take a picture.

 • Walk in autumn after signing a peace treaty between president Alfonsín (right) and future President Menem (left) 

• President Alfonsín in his free time.

 •  Hard times for Alfonsin.

 •Death of former President Nestor Kirchner, husband of current president (by the coffin)

 • President Alfonsin talks to the masses

• Dictator Videla in the Pink House.

 • Cristina Kirchner wins 2007 elections.

César Milstein

César Milstein was an Argentine biochemist winner of a Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine in 1984, in  the field of antibody research, and a great human example.

Quite apart from his own achievements, Milstein acted as a guide and inspiration to many in the antibody field as well as devoting himself to assisting science and scientists in less developed countries. It is also worth mentioning, that even though the Nobel Prize would have made him a wealthy man, Milstein did not patent his enormous discovery since he believed that it was mankind's intellectual property. According to his beliefs, his work did not have any economic interest, only scientific.

He was forced into exile by the militars by then in power, (as he explains with pain in the video at the bottom) and he claimed he'd return to Argentina the day this country proved stability. He could never return.

Milstein was born in Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires, in  a Jewish family. He graduated from the University of Buenos Aires and obtained a PhD in Biochemistry in the Medical School on kinetic studies with the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase.
In 1958, funded by the British Council, he joined the Biochemistry Department at the University of Cambridge to work for a PhD on the mechanism of metal activation of a specific enzyme.

The major part of Milstein's research career was devoted to studying the structure of antibodies and the mechanism by which antibody diversity is generated. It was as part of this quest that in 1975 he, together with Georges Köhler (a postdoctoral fellow in his laboratory), developed the hybridoma technique for the production of monoclonal antibodies—a discovery recognised by the award of the 1984 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. This discovery led to an enormous expansion in the exploitation of antibodies in science and medicine.

Milstein died on 24 March 2002 in Cambridge, England at the age of 74 as a result of a heart condition from which he had suffered for many years.

In 2010, his own niece made  a film about her heroic uncle's life and named it after a quote by the Uruguyan writer Eduerdo Galeano who once said that we all have a little fire inside of us, and that if we want to, we can make that little fire burn inside more people. The film is then called "Un fueguito" (A little fire) in memory of Milstein's ideal of inspiring others to learn and passing his own reaserch to others in order to keep that little fire of scientific knowledge in others.



Here's the trailer of  "Un Fueguito":

Tango

Tango is a world wide known Argentinian dance.

It started in early 1900's in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, in the ghetto areas.


The reason why tango is a dance that implies a lot of physical contact and sexy costume, is because Tango started as a technique used by protitutes to attract clients.

Back in those days protitutes only worked in brothels, where there was usually a band playing.



Both protitutes and men would sit at tables so everyone could see everyone and choose who they wanted to be with.

That way they would ask eachother to dance and fix a price.



In those times, immigration in Argentina was at its peak, and so French, Italians and Spaniards mixed their musical styles all together and Tango started.


Throughout Tango's popular period, Argentina wellcomed over 7 times more immigrants than its original population.

The first Tango lyrics were only about the ecomomic crisis and poverty, as it was underground music that reflected the low class life.


With time, Tango grew bigger and the lyrics developed into everyday life issues.

But Tango could never talk about anything else than sad things.

Tango lyrics are often about someone's departure or death, or someone's heart being broken.


Buenos Aires hosts the International Anual Tango Championship in wich people from all over the world compite on both stages of the contest:

"Traditional tango" (Tango salón)

and "Acrobatic Tango" (Tango exibición)


Lots of places in Argentina offer free tango classes as not many argentinians seem to show much interest for this dance.

Food. Main courses

Asado

Argentinian food is basically meat. Most dishes include meats of all types.
 
The most typical argentinian dish is asado.
Asado is charcoal-grilled beef. This cooking style is what gives asado its particular and unique taste.
It's usually advertised as Parrila or Parrillada, wich includes other parts of the cow and chicken.
For a Parrillada to be lovely -as it's supposed to be- it has be well done, respecting the cooking times. So bare in mind this means a higher price than any normal dish.
 
Therefore a good advice would be not to go for a parrillada that's cheap only because you're not sure you'll like it.
 
If it's cheap, it's probably not going to be nice and you'll get a wrong idea of what parrillada is like.


Ñoquis

Ñoquis (pronounced nee-o-keys) are a type of pasta, despite not ben cooked the same way.

Ñoquis are made out of mashed potatoes and flour, cut into pieces and then boiled.
 
It is an argentinian tradition to have ñoquis for each 29th of each month, with a peso note under the plate, to bring prosperity to who's eating.

One more World Cup, one more desperate attempt to convince ourselves it's our time to win it?

This last week, the media in Argentina has been invaded by the following data in a (desperate?) attempt of massive conviction that we will win the World Cup thanks to some coincidences. Have a look, at see what you think!:)

1) In both World Cups, Argentina had Maradona and Bilardo (Bilardo was the coach of the national team in'86, and is now the manager)

2) South Korea has been one of our rivals in both tournaments.


3) Both in '86 and 2010, there's been an Argentinian film winner of Oscar for best foreign film: "La historia oficial" in '86 and "El secreto de sus ojos", with an actor in common (Pablo Rago).

4) Argentina barelly made it to the World Cup in '86, having done awfully in the qualifiers. Just like for 2010.

5) In those qualifiers, we won the last match thanks to a last minute goal under the rain (against Peru). Again, same story for the 2010 qualifiers (Gareca in '86 and Palermo now).

6) Both teams, have been terribly criticised by the media and the people in general before the World Cup (not common in Argentina)

7) For both World Cups, Argentina had the best players in the world at the moment (Fifa awarded): Maradona in '86 and Messi today.

8) The world champion previous to Mexico '86 was Italy. The world champion previous to South Africa 2010 is Italy.

9) The two best players in history are Maradona and Pelé. Brazil only won a World Cup again, 24 years after Pelé. In 2010, it's going to be our 24th year without a World Cup.

10) If you add the numbers that consitute 1986 (1+9+8+6) the result is 24.

11) In 1986 the captain of the Argentinian tennis team in the Davis Cup was Tito Vásquez. So is he today.

12) 2010 is the year of the tiger, according to chinese horoscope. So was 1986.

13) Player number 9 of the current Argentinina Team is Higuain, who's one of Real Madrid's figures. Just like Valdano in '86 (figure of Real Madrid and had shirt no9).

15) Before both World Cups, the champion of the Argentinian league was Argentinos Jrs. Being the figure of that team in '86, the coach of today's champion.

16) Before both World Cups, the exact same teams that got relegated in the argentinian league. (Rosario Central and Chacarita)

17) The president of the Argentinian Football Association was in both World Cups Julio Grondona.

18) After Mexico '86, Argentina hosted America's Cup. After South Africa 2010, Argentina is hosting American's Cup again.

19) In 1986, there were 13 Europan teams, just like now.

20) In Mexico '86, the matches were played in 9 diffrent cities. Just like in South Africa now.

21) In both World Cups, Denmark was in group E.

22) In both World Cups, the ball has been Adidas.

23) Maradona was the figure, top scorer and champion in the under 20 World Cup in '79. Played his first World Cup in'82 but wasn't very good, and then had all his glory in the following World Cup: 1986.

Messi was the figure, top scorer and champion in the under 20 World Cup in '05. Played his first World Cup in'06 but wasn't very good and is now in this World Cup...

25) Both winners of the Champion's League previous to both World Cups, have been Italian teams. (Inter and Juventus)

26) Mexico played both opening matches of both World Cups.

27)In 1986 Argentina's scored in its first match in the 6th minute. Just like In South African against Nigeria.

28) Both logos are similar.

Iguazú city

The City

A good reccomendation would be to leave the falls for last, as they're so breath-taking that nothing else will seem as beautiful as they really are.
Puerto Iguazú is an awe-inspiring place. Located in the triple border of South America, this place offers loads of beautiful settings and a mix of fauna and flora it's difficult to find anywhere else.

The city buildings are no taller than a one story house, creating an atmosphere of a quite place and always giving you a very relaxing view of its clear skies.

Also, it makes it easier to see when there might be a storm coming.

Take a pair sandals with you!
If you ever get caught by rain, do not disspair as tropical rain is not cold at all and not even the temperature goes down.
Beware that the streets get incredibly flooded so if you get caught in the middle of a storm you can either wait untill it stops (wich is not really reccomended as tropical storms can last quite long) or you can simply start crossing roads as if they were short-depth rivers.

Even if you decide to go in June/August wich are the coldest months in Argentina, you'll have to put up with almost 27ºC almost everyday. Like I said, rain doesn't change temperature.


Althought it's not really the tempratures you should be aware of over there, it's the humidity in the air.
If you search for forecasts of the area before going there to know what to pack, don't waste your time because temperatures will be the same as in Buenos Aires (normal winter temperatures).


But it's the humidity that adds to a good 25ºC or 27ºC celsius degrees.
The soil of this province is not brown as it is anywhere else, it's red, due to the high content of iron in the ground.

Structure
One important characteristic of this city are its hills.
In general Argentina's cities are situated in flat lands.
But Puerto Iguazú is a clear exception to this, having hills everywhere and making going anywhere a really difficult and tiring task at the beggining.
As an Argentinian brought up in the most flatened flatness of Buenos Aires I found the city a hell in that sense.
But the English side of the story didn't find it strange nor uncomfortable.

Anwyay, there's always a bus that can take you anywhere you need.
The city is not big at all. But it is bigger than a map of it might make you think.

You'll see everything is different over there and even the simplest thing will look wildly tropical.
The redness of the soil, the incredible size of the grass and the leaves of the trees, the streets made of thin triangular black stones, the constant warm air...



Facilities

This city is more than used to European tourists and so they have all the facilities you might need.

It's easy to get anywhere and most important of all: you CAN get anywhere you need.

There's more than plenty of places to stay, anywhere you want to stay in the area. From the city center to close to the Falls, adn even inside the Falls Park!

There will always be a bus to anywhere you need to go...unlike other parts of Argentina.


Eating

Also, restaurants offer "tourist menus" for those who want to make the most out of every penny and are not on a luxurious holiday.

The main street has a various display of restaurants for all tastes and budgets.

Iguazú: things to do

The most important thing to know about Puerto Iguazú is that the Iguazú Falls even though they are more than awe-inspiring and breathtaking, they are not the only thing in the city.
Of course, they will be the peak of your staying there, so I would suggest you go there the last. But it's just a suggestion.




Triple Border

One of the most beautiful places Puerto Iguazú has-specially during sunset-is the Triple Southamerican Border.

It is exactly where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina almost become one.


They are only divided by narrow river, and you can see the streest and houses in Brazil and the building in Paraguay. It's a very calm point and you can local buses take you there.
If you go during the day, you can take a 10 minute boat ride to Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, wich is- they say- a place where you can get anything for cheaper than a shilling (and those don't even exist anymore)


If you think of going ot Paraguay by bus from Puerto Iguazú, there's no other road but via Brazil. Hence, it takes longer.

Wanda Mines

The Wanda Mines are a very offered tourist service.


Despite its condition of mine, you'll see it's considered a vilage in the map.

You have to take a half an hour bus more or less, and you'll get to a sign. That's all Wanda is: a sign and a road that starts there, leading you into a tropical area.


Walking up it, you'll find the mine with time , and on your way you might run into local kids that will try selling you precious stones for very low prices.

The entrance to the mine has a fee, and you get a guided tour round it including an informative talk on the minerals they work, and a gift shop.


The stones in their gift shop are polished and have deeper colours (wich means more purity) but they probably cost 10 to 15 times more than the ones the kids outside the place sell.

The Aripuca

If you're looking for a very very calm place, the Aripuca is ideal. There are no sounds there, unless you ask for the paraguayan lady to play the harp for you for free.

This instrument is one of the very few sounds on Earth that can make you relax, no exception. It's even used now in spas.

The same entrance ticket can be used as many times as you like! So I'd suggest you take advantage of it.

Aripuca means "bird cage" in the local native language, and that is exactly what this place is: The biggest bird trap in the world.

But don't worry, it doens't work coz it's too big, you have stairs to go all the way up.

One activity offered in this place is bowing: a native will teach you how to shoot an arrow with a bow.

Guira Oga

If you're looking for wildlife, don't expect to find much at the Falls' Park, like I said before.
Many of the past days' common wildlife is now in danger of extintion.

However, there's Guira Oga: a natural reserve for tropical and non tropical animals.
There, you can find from toucans to eagles, to owls to carpinchos.

The carpincho is a southamerican rodent...and it's the biggest and heaviest in the world.
Still you'll see, it's very nice looking animal. It doesn not look like a rat, don't worry.

Guira Oga is a NGO, so they charge an entrance fee to support the place, its guests and staff.
It's on the way to the Falls.

The House of Bottles

Another place to visit is the House of Bottles, wich is exaclty what it's called: an entire house made out of plastic bottles.


Even it's heating sistem is made out of the same thing using a special mechanism.

It's close to the Aripuca.

Iguazú

Iguazú is the perfect place to visit a tropical rainforest without having to leave the comfort civilization gives you.
This city offers the perfect combination of modern life and natural peace.
If there's one thing this city does not lack is the presence of English tourists. So don't worry about the language as everybody speaks English -unlike other areas of Argentina.

Don't worry about people trying to rip you off for hearing your language, because just your accent will be enough in case you don't speak perfectly. Just don't take taxis and by that you'll be saving enough.

Unfortunatelly, many tourists go to this beautiful city just to take some pictures of the Falls and then leave.


But Puerto Iguazú offers incredible places and landscapes and unique experiences.

education

In Argentina education begins at the age of 3 with kindergarten. Until a few years ago this stage was optional.


Educational stages

3-6 years old: kindergarten


6-12: primary school


12-17: secondary school

There are various types of schools in Argentina.

Private schools:

Even though they get subventions from the Government, fees are paid to attend to these schools. They are all Catholic and in most cases bilingual. Some offer “double shift” (students attend morning and afternoon, unlike public schools) Also, students are required to dress in the specific school uniform when attending these sort of schools.






Public schools:

As they get subventions from the Government, they cannot charge students. Contributions are always required though, as money is always needed.

Religion is banned from public schools as it’s understood that in their condition of public no differences should be made with students of other religions nor should any religion be imposed to anyone.
Public schools students don’t wear a school uniform, but all students of public school are required to dress in the same white lab coat. This was a law created along with schools themselves in Argentina, so as to make everyone the same, regardless age, school, province, culture, or any other difference.

Public schools work in two or three shifts, but student only attend to one. This is, morning or afternoon, or night. Night shifts are only for overage people who couldn’t graduate.

Hence, public schools students only attend school for a maximum of 5 hours.

Dinning schools:

These sort of schools are settled in poor areas where the students main aim is to have a daily meal.


As the conditions are so extreme, the educational side is left aside a bit more, and teachers focus more in supporting and helping the students.

 
 
 
 
 
Universities:
 

 There are two types of Universities in Argentina: public ones and private ones.


Private Universities require all sorts of fees to enter, study, sit exams and graduate. But they guarantee organisation.

Public Universities are free of any charge whatsoever and let the student take his own decisions as when to sit exams, how often, whether to attend to class or not and so on.

However, just as the student provides no security to the University, neither does the University provide any kind of good organisation. By this, I refer to random strikes, random change in exam dates, and so on.

Whether you attend a private or a public University, none offer accommodation.

That Hug

An image can describe things better than a million words. And it’s precisely an image what made me write this. Or more like a series of images, that would make anyone’s heart stop for a minute, especially in this times when another World Cup is being held.

Together, this pictures constitute an incredible mix of historic witness, artistic work, and naked humanity, and this has won “El abrazo del alma” (as this series of photographs have been named) many awards. Roughly translated it means “The Hug from the Soul” and just yesterday it was their 32nd anniversary.

32 years ago, yesterday, Argentina won its first ever World Cup, in 1978. With a chaotic background of the most bloody military regime South America has ever seen; fear, ignorance, passion, anxiousness, and loads of other feelings only people who lived it can express, Argentina was achieving the national dream, a tiny little bit of fake fresh air our suffocated society needed to stay alive for a bit longer.

Here I leave you the impressive shots and hope you like them. Below, there’s the short story behind them.

25th June 1978. River Plate’s football stadium. Argentina has just become World Champion for the first time. Seconds after the referee calls the end of the match.

Tarantini, one of the Argentinean players lets himself fall on the pitch and starts crying. Fillol, the goalkeeper, goes up to him to share the same feeling and kneels next to him to put their arms around each other.

A young fan whom had been hiding for an hour before the end of the match, comes running towards them. He wants to share this glorious moment with his idols. They’ll never be so close to him again, and only God knows how long will it take for these circumstances to repeat themselves.

But he’s got no arms.

He himself recalls it: “I saw the players right there, so close to me…they held each other, so I had to stop. And right then the sleeves of my blazer went forward and rested on both their backs. That’s when Alfieri took the picture and it looks as if the three of us were holding”

Victor Nicolás Dell’Aquilla was 22 at that time, and he had lost his arms during his childhood after an accident with an electrical post.

Pictures by Ricardo Alfieri (Senior) for the classical Argentinean sports magazine “El Gráfico”.

The Obelisco

The Obelisco is a monument present in so many postards of Buenos Aires, that it had to be inlcuded here.

It is a 68 meter tall obelisk shaped monument, built for the 400th anniversary of Buenos Aires.



It's located in the middle of 9 de Julio Avenue, the widest in Latin America.

It was built by a German company in only 31 days and it required the demolition of the church located in the spot.

The location was chosen after this church being the first place in which the Argentinian flag was ever waved.
It might seem as its head has the shape of a pointy piramyd but its top is actually blunt and has a lightning conductor.

Just as Plaza de Mayo is used for political manifestations, the Obelisco is used for artistical pourposes.


A few years ago, it was covered in a pink rubber condom to commemorate AIDS day.

La Boca

La Boca is a picturesque neighbourhood of Capital Federal in the border with Greater Buenos Aires and it's the place most linked to Tango in the world.

There are no subway stations in this area, you can only take local buses and it's very convenient that you ask the bus driver to tell you where to get off.

He will probably leave you about 2 blocks away or maybe closer, which will give you a good opportunity to see what the area is like.

Boca Juniors' Stadium is located here, and guided tours are offered.
About La Boca

La Boca was always a low class neighbourhood: First a port, then an immigrants' spot, and now simply low class but touristy.

The coulourful houses you find here are not currently inhabited, they're just real size monuments of past times. Although some are used as shops or museums.

These houses were built on high pillars due to the common floods, and one house could be shared by many families at the same time. This time of buildings were called "Conventillos".

The most famous person that represents La Boca is painter Benito Quinquela Martín whose pictures describe the port life of the neighbourhood in the early 1900's.

A block or so away from Boca Juniors Stadium and right in front of the river, there's Quinquela Martín's museum.

His pictures are unique.

La Boca is full of touristy shops, cafes and restaurants, which tend to have touristy prices as well, what in Argentina means double price.

In La Boca everyone shouts at people who walk past, advertising their shop. Here you can find, clothes' shops, souvenirs' stores, restaurants, cafes, cd stores, neighbourhood-dedicated museums...Many of these are inside the colourful buildings.

There are also many "tango dancers" in the streets of La Boca.

This people generally just stand there asking people if they'd like to a picture with them (which of course you have to pay for) but they're hardly ever dancing though.

The streets of La Boca are only for pedestrians. Cars are not allowed, so you can walk freely all along and across La Boca enjoying the view without worrying.

important!   If walking randomly down its characteristic colourful streets leads you up a dangerous area, the neighbours of La Boca will warn you and barely let you keep going any further.

Religion

The official religion in Argentina is Roman Apostolic Catholicism. The Constitution states that a non Roman Catholic person cannot be elected president.

(There have been cases of blatant candidates followers of other religions who have converted shortly before elections)

Nevertheless, the growing religions in Argentina are the other different branches of Christianism such as Mormons, 7th Day Church, and others.

There is a huge modern movement taking part in many countries in the world, with its headquarters in Brazil (where it originated) called “Stop Suffering”, but they’re commonly referred to as “the church of the Brazilian priests”.

They’re not based on anything different to Catholicism but their distinctive factors are that they include “white” magic as part of their teachings and that they sell products to people during mass. Part of Christ’s toe, holy water from Turin in a plastic bottle and other things, are in their catalogue for sure.

As incredible as it sounds, the “Stop Suffering” church is a non-stop growing phenomenon that owns TV and radio station all across the world, and builds the most luxurious “temples” with the latest technology and comfortable cinema seats for mass.

Still, the church can be very influential in Politics, and that’s the reason why abortion is not legal in any case in Argentina, and the “Day After” pill was only approved recently. Also, judges (who have unlimited power in Argentina) and many politicians tend to have strong Catholic beliefs which makes that influence even stronger.

This doesn’t mean they’re the only ones against this sort of laws. There is a huge part of society that doesn’t even tolerate gay people and call it a disease because “they’re not following God’s command”.

This can be ironic, since Buenos Aires is the only city in the world that has been chosen, twice in a row, the best Gay city in the world. (That statistic takes into account spots and things to do, not amount of gay people)

But then again, Argentina is a very segregated country, even though it’s only divided in two parts socially speaking. But this point is proved by the denominations we give to those parts: Buenos Aires and Interior which represents just “the whole rest of the country”.

Going back to religion, Christianism is something taken for granted in most cases, and it can even be something unconscious that people just do.

All the different stages, in a Christian’s life are celebrated just as another birthday in Argentina. Baptisms, communions and the rest, all include party, presents, family reunion, special clothes, and sometimes even renting a special place.

A typical thing to see in many houses in Argentina, are the pictures of the children of the house taking communion, hanging from the walls. And they’re generally never removed, even after those “kids” have got married.

The last two things to say about religion in Argentina are both connected to the same thing: People’s devotion in their own special way.
What most people tend to do in Argentina is choose a specific Saint or Virgin and become its “devoto”, a faithful servant. That’s the reason people don’t go to church, because as long as they pay obedience to their specific saint or Virgin they know they don’t need to do anything else.

The reasons for which to choose their Saint/Virgin are various, it can be the day of their birth being the day of that Saint, or even just the fact that they are devoted only to the Saint of whatever it is they need.

The most popular Saints and Virgins are: San Cayetano (Saint Patron of Work), Virgen Desatanudos (Virgen that unties knots, meaning that solves complicated times) and the Virgen of Luján (Virgen of Argentina).

Also, people tend to create Saints to be devoted to, from so called martyrs to urban legends to famous people that have died tragically, especially singers. 

                                                                                                             

The ways in which people show their devotion to their Saint or Virgin go from home “rituals” (lighting a candle, have a little altar, decorative religious statues) to peregrinations across very long distances.

The ways in which people show their devotion to their Saint or Virgin go from home “rituals” (lighting a candle, have a little altar, decorative religious statues or get a tattoo) to peregrinations across very long distances.