Converting to Chabadism: Adventure in Buenos Aires: 25 de Mayo

On Monday afternoon, our program had a special class where we learned different Argentine folkloric dances, such as Malambo, Chacarera, and Zamba, most of which originated in the Northwestern provinces, such as Salta, Jujuy, and Santiago del Estero. The dances had quite an interesting mix to them. At some points, I felt like I was at a bar mitzvah, such as when we were circle dancing, or doing that dance where each couple dances underneath everyone's outstretched arms. But then the dances turned really sensual, incorporating kerchiefs used to bring the couple as close as possible to each other- certainly not bar mitzvah material, or at least Yavneh Academy bar mitzvah material. After we finished the class, I felt the need to revert to familiar territory, breaking out some Tango.
After leaving the API center, I went with Emma, a friend from API, to this huge art exhibit in a major cultural facility in the city. It featured works of art, mostly paintings but also interesting optical illusion/gadget type stuff, from all over the world. There really is never a shortage of activities in Buenos Aires.

It's amazing how after living in a city for just a few months, it begins to feel much smaller, and you tend to run into people that you know. On Tuesday night, I met up with some friends at a bar in Retiro, near the port, which is on the other side of the city. My friends acted according to Argentine time, meaning that they showed up at the bar 45-1 hour late. No problem- only a few minutes after arriving, a couple French kids from my class showed up, giving me good company in the meantime.

Yesterday, Argentina celebrated Día de la Revolución de Mayo, or May Revolution Day, which commemorates the May revolution of 1810, which put Argentina on the path towards true independence from Spain. In particular, a self-governing administration took over in Buenos Aires. It was only a matter of time before Argentina would completely separate from Spain. Finally, in 1816, with San Martin as general, Argentina declared independence.

I went with some chicos from my program to the famous Plaza de Mayo, named for the date in history, to celebrate. We missed the parades but there were tons of street vendors, amazing looking meat and other Argentine foods, masses of people, and musicians. The subway was free for the day as well. Everyone gathered at the square, facing the Casa Rosada (Pink House), which houses the executive branch in Argentina. Different bands performed, and during intervals, different historical incidents would be replayed on the screen, which reflected off of the casa rosada. During one strange segment, a giant frog costume came on stage and performed something, I'm not really sure what it was, but it definitely had the kids excited. Of course, a little propaganda was necessary for the occasion, which included some flashbacks on both Nestor (former president who recently died) and Kristina Kirchner, his wife and the current president.
Nevertheless, I experienced tremendous amounts of Argentine patriotism yesterday. Yes, many people in Argentina think their government is composed of corrupt idiots, and poverty is rampant, but people here love their country.

To continue with the festivities, Dan, AJ, 2 API friends, and I went to a salsa bar last night, featuring a band performing authentic Latin music, or Cuban salsa, whatever. The show was scheduled to begin at 11:30, which meant that the band wouldn't arrive until 12:30. Therefore, the band introductions were pretty uneventful- nobody came onstage and with the band's final arrival, things were pretty anticlimactic.
However, the music was a nice change of pace. No English at this place and lots of Latino love. I definitely enjoy at least attempting to dance salsa- a lot freer and less technical than the Tango. But as I was told, it's not that popular in Argentina. A girl I was talking to at the bar told me that Argentines don't dance as well as say Colombians, where salsa is much more popular. I don't know, it seemed like the locals had a good idea of what they were doing on the dance floor.

In school news, I somehow lost my student ID card, and I took that as a bad sign that I had probably missed too much class, but I went to my adviser today and I'm over 80 % in everything. So maybe it's a sign that I should be skipping more school?? we'll see, though there really isn't that much left to skip.

Here are some videos featuring Argentine Folk dance