The life of an Argentine Aristocrat

This past Friday afternoon, before going to Carmen, the resident director's house for a birthday party, a few of us went to the Museo Arte Decorativo, located in the Recoleta section of town.  The museum features classical art, with tapestries dating from the 15-18th centuries, and many paintings as well.  It also hosts many of the old furniture and house appliances from the early 20th century in Buenos Aires.  I kind of overlooked that though- the coolest part about the musuem was that it was housed in a former mansion built for the well known Alvear family.  Similar to many of the absurdly wealthy Argentines from the early 20th century, this family made its wealth from the meat and agriculture industries.  With some of that money, they built a ridiculous mansion that ultimately became this museum.  As we were walking through the palace, we were thinking, yep, we could certainly live in a house like this.  The house features a Ball room, a Drawing room (I don't even know what that is, but it sounds grand), a great hall, and then the classic rooms other house would have.  But then I thought, with my American accent, I couldn't live in a place like this- not sophisticated enough.  I kept on hearing British English in my head as I toured the place.  Of course my accent wouldn't be the only problem-  I have no money to pay rent for any home, let alone a mansion.
As we walked into the Drawing room, a huge open space that once housed the daughter's wedding, we imagined using the space for a boliche, a dance club- it would probably be the event of the semester- taking Buenos Aires nightlife to a new level- having a crazy dance party in an old mansion, but it would never work- security is so tight they follow you into every room to ensure that you don't take any pictures.
Nevertheless, these people, as well as the rest of the Argentine upper class, must have lived really well, with tons of servants, parties, meat all the time, and anything else at their request.  I guess it's only fitting that Alvear Street is the 5th avenue of Buenos Aires, featuring the fanciest stores and hotels in the city.

To see pictures of this wonder: http://www.mnad.org/ - see the inside by taking a virtual tour.

But this aristocratic lifestyle certainly doesn't define today's Argentina.  In my conversations with many different Argentines recently, here are some of the descriptions I have heard about the country:
- Argentina is a joke
-Argentina is sh$t
-Argentina is the worst place to live
-The government is corrupt and don't care about it's people

Pretty intense.  Yes the people I have talked to haven't appeared to be uber wealthy Argentines, and Argentines in general love to complain, but it's pretty sad to hear what people think about their own country.  Many of them would leave if they could and go to the US.  Some would go to Brazil but it's too expensive, and others would go to Chile but don't want to leave their families.    It goes along with the fact that very little patriotism and Argentine pride exists.  Intense patriotism remains a very American concept.  Sure, Argentines rally around their country when they're dominating in the world cup and adore other sports figures, but many don't seem to have a true love for their country like people from other countries do (based on the relatively few amount of people I have talked to.  For all I know, I've just talked to the wrong people).  Of course, I'm sure many Argentines do love their country, but unfortunately, it seems that it's an exception, not the norm.

On Saturday night, in continuing to experience a sophisticated lifestyle, I went with some friends from my Tango class to see my professor Jose perform.  The show took place in Cafe Tortoni, a historic cafe where famous Tango artists such as Carlos Gardel used to perform.  I was expecting the professor and his partner to dance to some behind the scenes music the whole time.  Instead, however, the event included an orchestra, featuring a piano, accordion, bass, violin, and singer.  In between dances, as the dancers changed outfits, the singer would belt out classic Tango songs.  I usually don't have patience for the opera esque style but this was quite all right.  As I watched the professor dance, many of the steps that he used looked familiar from class, but it was amazing to see the connection he had with his partner, always in sync.  Graceful, yet really sexual at the same time, leaving me wide eyed at some points, thinking, are they really moving like that?  And then towards the end, we almost witnessed a second coming of a Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction, but Jose's partner "fixed it" just in time.
The 2 highlights of the night:
1. Out of no where, the professor came out  in a gaucho outfit and began to dance one of the folkloric dances that I talked about in a recent post, his feet going clackety clack on the floor at a great pace and with awesome rhythm.  This served as a major contrast to the more graceful Tango
2. During the interactive part of the show, our professor came to our table and invited our friend Steph to come up and showcase her tango skills for the crowd.  Steph, despite the pressure, came through in a big way.  Following Jose's lead, she turned, spun, and kicked all on cue, demonstrating her grace and elegance.  With her wonderful performance, no doubt she will be getting an A in the class.
Some pics from Cafe Tortoni:

Happy holidays everyone

ciao

Ariel