Por un rato mas..

Oye Boludos, como se van? I hope all is well with you folks. Those of you residing in the politically shifting country of Estados Unidos, I hope you all made some good decisions. From what I can tell on the various news websites I cite for my daily educatin' on world events it seems that on both federal and state levels the U s of A is in for some major shifts in power. Or it's all a bunch of malarky conjured to make us watch more TV, who knows. All I can say is that the daughter of the creator, and former President of the WWE (a.k.a wwf) is running for a SENATE seat. I know she's intimidating and can speak well but....well actually..I guess that pretty much is all one needs to get a vote right?

Anywho this blog is called Argenventure, not I'mgoingtoRantAbourMyFeelignsventure, so let's get on with it shall we. Though I'm still confused, did that comedian guy ever get elected to represent Minnesota?? (online sarcasm)

3 things of interest have passed since our last sit down. And they break down as such.

1) My buddy Wade ran in the Buenos Aires Marathon on 10-10-10, thats 42 kilometres for all you standard system users. He's a fairly consistent runner so wasn't to difficult for him but he asked me to hop in on the 32nd kilo to give em that last motivation to break through the wall. I don't know if it was my sharply accurate wit, fresh, unsweated attire or simply my naturally slow and unpracticed running pace, but it seemed to work. He finished with a strong time and I got to completely steal glory from those deserving corredores who had been running since 7am that morning. I got to see belly dancers, bolivian marching bands, and about 1000 people cheering me on from the sidelines. Seeing as how I had only been running for about 45 minutes I was really able to put on a show these people didn't expect, what with my energy packed leg muscles and still actively thinking mind. It was great, I wasn't able to technically finish cause I didn't have a number but I was only a half kilo away. And I was all sweaty and wearing running clothes at the end of a marathon so people totally thought I was one of them. Here's a pic, guess who has run 20 miles already...




2)The current President of Argentina is Cristina Kirchner. The famous, and glamourous, left leaning wife of the former president Nestor Kirchner. As of last Wednesday (which happened to be the National Census day here, which is a whole nother story, I think that actually is point #3 I was getting to) he is referred to as the late former president Nestor Kirchner. He died of a heart attack Wednesday morning, though many people believe it was Tuesday but those mysterious folks who always plan these things thought it better to wait until a national day off so the mourning could really come into play to announce his death. So on Wednesday morning, when legally no business could be open, a very polarized figure was announced dead to the very em-pathetical peoples of the Argentine. - A quick note on my reactions and experiences with this interesting situation. I work 2 blocks away from the Plaza de Mayo (the main political meeting place of BA, also the plaza housing the casa rosada (casa rosada=the white house for argentina)) Because of this, on Thursday when I was walking my merry way to educate people on the finer points of an auditorially pleasant english diatribe, I saw a line, and I'm talking one by one, maybe two wide at any point. A line that I assumed was a march waiting to get things moving (marches literally happen twice a week in the downtown so it was no shocker at all, especially considering the circumstances) Then I continued walking towards the casa rosada to pick up my daily newspaper and some sugar steamed mani (peanuts, absolutely delicious, cost only 2 pesos too) when I noticed that this was no march waiting to go, this was a line, a line for waiting, a line that doesn't seem to move and wrapped around the entire plaza. Shocking yes, but again not the craziest thing I've seen happen in the plaza. I then go upstairs to my first class on the fifth floor of citibank, I have a view of the northside of downtown from here, by thor's beard I saw the same damn line wrapping around 2 more blocks of the city, and this was coming from the opposite direction that I came. Meaning it was doing this on both sides of the plaza. I don't know if my description is either clear or delivering the shock I had intended but, in lesser words, there was a long assed line, probably about 5 o 6 thousand people. It was for a viewing of the closed casket of Nestor inside the pink house. I don't think there's anyway everyone could have seen him but it was amazing to see the devotion. But much like anywhere in the world, Nestor was one who taxed the rich and upper middle class and gave to the very poor. So most of my educated, middle class students and people who make enough money to spend it on tequila at bars in Palermo on the weekends, really don't give a flying fiddle about Nestor. It's funny to see the insane devotion some of these people had for him and the downright passivity others did. It made me think if Michelle O. died and what the reaction in the states would be. Other than the obvious half year dedication of Vogue covers to "The First Lady's Outfits and What they meant" I imagine there would be a great outpouring of support for her family. Same thing is happening here.


Dang, sorry about the tirade there (thats right; fit in tirade and diatribe in the same post) but I thought you educated, lovely people might find that interesting because I didn't see one note or one link on time.com or cnn.com saying anything about Nester diciendo chau (saying goodbye)

3)There was a national census here. I can officially say I lived in Argentina because they are officially marking it down.

Phew. Allright. I have four weeks left here before I make an epic journey north to meet the fam in Chicago for christmas. I'm going to make a cool interactive map thingy that one can access here so you can track me. Or, which is what I imagine will happen, my mom will use this tool to confirm I haven't been kidnapped by any FARC agents in the south Colombian jungle and held for ransom only until I befriend the rebels and begin an online social marketing campaign to spread their message.

I hope you guys are well and if I don't see you first have a happy thanksgiving. Eat an extra forkfull of turkey covered with mashed potatoes covered with stuffing covered with gravy covered with buttered biscuit pieces. covered with love.

chau

Por un rato mas = For only a little longer