Art, Leather, and . . . Patriotism???

On Monday, June 15th, the entire country of Argentina took a day off from work to celebrate “El Día de la Bandera” (Flag Day).

Actually, that statement isn’t exactly true. Saturday, June 20th was actually Flag Day, and so Friday, June 19th should have been the day off, but the government decided to change the date of Flag Day this year because having a Monday off is better for businesses and tourists than having a Friday off. The government can do things like that here, just like it can change the date of a national election by four months (more on that in a later post).

The second part of the statement I started with really wasn’t true either. Nobody was actually celebrating everything. In fact, walking around the streets of Recoleta that are normally bustling with people and cars and noise, I found the area almost completely deserted. Perfect! How beautiful this city could be if it didn’t have all the people and taxis and buses and pollution!

A couple of friends and I took advantage of the opportunity to explore some parts of the city that we had never visited before. Our first stop of the day was El Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (National Museum of Fine Arts). The museum, which is FREE for all to visit, featured more traditional artwork by such famed artists as Rembrandt, Renoir, Monet, Rodin, Toulouse-Lautrec, and van Gogh. An example of one of my favorite pieces from the museum is pictured at the top of this post. Another is pictured here at left. After about an hour and a half in the museum, though, the three of us were all ready to leave. Our next stop was Murillo Street in

After navigating through the labyrinth of bus routes, we arrived at our destination: the leather capital of the world. We gazed on, fixated at approximately 6-8 city blocks of almost nothing but leather stores. Unfortunately, all of them except for a few were closed for the great big celebration of the Argentine flag. And those that were open, in general, did not have jackets that were long enough for someone of my size. Dejected, we found a café for lunch before proceeding on to our next stop of the day.

Unfortunately, El Museo de Evita Perón Museum was also closed. (Who ever knew Argentineans were so patriotic?) Fortunately, we met with better success at the MALBA (el Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires). In contrast to the first art museum of the day, the MALBA featured more abstract and modern artwork. In general, I tend to prefer the former type of art, but MALBA was an exception. The vibrant colors, nontraditional styles, and sometimes downright crazy displays really captured my attention. Perhaps the most interesting work in the museum was one that served a double purpose. It was a bench (that one could sit on), but the planks of the bench extended out and over the hand railing, dipping and gliding across multiple levels of the museum in the atrium and seeming to stretch endlessly up into the ceiling. In addition to seeing the works of some of the more recent, “up and coming” artists in Latin America, we also saw pieces by Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and Fernando Botero (the artist who paints the fat people!).

Finally, after a long day of WALKING, sightseeing, and MORE WALKING, we gave in and took a cab home—exhausted and spent but also content!

El 25 de Mayo!

United States citizens were off May 25th and so were Argentinians, but for a slightly different reason. While the United States celebrated Memorial Day, Argentina celebrated el 25 de Mayo, the day that Argentina declared its independence from Spain (though it didn't actually win independence until July 9th). Throughout Buenos Aires, people enjoyed an off day and celebrated independence with a concert at El Obelisco (The Obelisk) in La Plaza de la República (Republic Square) where the Argentine flag flew for the first time.

Personally, I took advantage of the opportunity to visit the Recoleta Cemetery where many famous Argentinians (including Evita Perón) are buried. Her mausoleum is pictured here at right. She is buried underground, however, because the military junta that previously ruled Argentina repeatedly stole her body from the mausoleum. Additionally, the famous Argentine writer/politician/president, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, is buried here, as well as numerous ex-presidents. Walking through the cemetery is very strange because you actually feel like you're in a city of dead people. The entrance to the cemetery is free, and it is generally crowded with tourists and native Argentinians alike.

Today was also my first experience dining at an Argentine restaurant that did NOT feature an English-speaking waiter. The restaurant, called "The Contiental" consisted of typical Argentine food as well as some American classics, including empanadas, pizza, pasta, salad, and more. The experience was somewhat of an adventure. When I ordered a pasta, thinking that the price would only be the equivalent of US $3, I didn't realize that you have to order (and pay for) the pasta and sauce SEPARATELY. We also found out that saladas do not always include lettuce in Buenos Aires unless you specify that you want it. Then, when the bill came out, the waitress literally added up the prices on the table cloth. After making a mistake along the way and counting out loud in front of all of us, she finally gave us our totals. Who knows if they were anywhere close to the actual amounts we were supposed to pay? The important part was that we had made it through! This was the first stepping stone on the path of Argentine culinary excellence!