Post Turtle Politics

 My host-family told me an interesting political allegory...

Politics are like a turtle on a post. When you come across this strange spectacle:

1. You are thoroughly bewildered and cannot understand why he is up there.
2. You wonder how he got up there.
3. You inevitably realize that he could not have gotten up there without help.
4. You know he doesn't belong there.
5. You realize he cannot do anything useful while he is up there.

Therefore, the only logical action is to help the poor, dumb thing down.

 

 I can't say that I've every heard anything as outrageous or so sincerely applicable.

 

*Funny side note - Later I read someone's commentary on this analogy on the internet and couldn't help but laugh. It translates as: "and most importantly, the shit goes in the direction of those below".

 

 

~From Argentina with Love

 

 

One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish

 

White House - US

and

Rose House - Argentina

      

Is there a Yellow House too? They'd do best if they went Green....

 

 

Recently I traveled to Buenos Aires. What I've decided is that Argentina and the US are really not all that different. Yes,the culture appears strikingly different upon first impression. Just like the color of the White and Rose House. There are many, many differences but more so similarities. In the end, whether the Executive Branch is a White House, Rose House, red fish, blue fish, they are mostly similar. In general, people (myself included) just happen to notice the differences more than anything else.

 

~From Argentina with Love

Chaos in Cordoba

 

So the police in Cordoba went on strike... the looting started December 3rd and there was a moment of 24hr chaos. More than 1,000 shops were looted, ransacked, and stolen from by ordinary civilians as well as organized crime gangs took the advantage of their absence. (click on the pic above for some footage)

Here's the background:

Governor de la Sota and President Cristina Krichner are not friends and have squabbled for years. In the 2001/04 elections, la Sota considered running against Krichner. He is rather open about his opposition to her as president. The consequences: the federal government has systematically delayed delivering federal checks. Short of funds, Cordoba -an important province as well as Cordoba, Argentina's second-largest city- de la Sota has faced continuous social and political unrest plus financial challenges.

The government gives each province a certain amount of funds, which often differ from province to province, consequently affecting the rate of pay to police in different parts of the country. Similarly, the wages have not changed even with the high inflation rates. The conflict was initiated after failure to resolve a wage dispute and they went on strike.

Following Cordoba's example 19 out of the 23 provinces had similar protests and strikes also resulting waves in crime. Federal police were sent to trouble locations to subdue the chaos and protect shops, temporarily serving as a substitute police

The result? Up to 53 percent wage increases. Now Cordoba's police are some of the highest paid in the country.

Personal Experience

While some of my AFS friends were sent to Buenos Aires, Cordoba, or Mendoza; I'm in La Pampa. It is one of the least populated provinces and far from anything. Not so different from my little hometown in Wyoming. Recently, I found out that La Pampa in German is an expression to that means, "the middle of nowhere". La Pampa literally means the middle of nowhere!

 

I was in Buenos Aires on a brief two day visit with my host-family. Watching the news, they were worried about their shop in Santa Rosa. Somehow I figured 1) Santa Rosa, La Pampa will be the last place in Argentina to react and 2) an organic and special foods store will be the last place to be looted.

 

On the way back from Buenos Aires my father, going a whopping 70 kilometers over the limit passed 11 green military trucks of the Federal Police headed to Santa Rosa. Then, when we passed the center and plaza it was like we had walked into a town after a zombie apocalypse. All merchandise was pulled off shelves in the window displays and all the shops were boarded up. I still can't get over the strangeness of seeing the whole display of a sports shoes store empty.

 

For the next couple of days, the police and federal police were posted in all the major streets (not quite as many as the picture). The governor of La Pampa and the president are very good friends from what I here so we had good back-up and support. All precautionary but unnerving non-the-less.

 

Hunger Games anyone? The cities rebel against the capitol... That reminds me: I need to see the Catching Fire.

 

~ From Argentina With Love

 

Sources:

     Argentina News

     Host Family

     Personal Experience

     http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-25230743

     http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/10/argentinian-looting-spreads-police-strikes

 



Photography

I have been attempting a bit of photography... here's a few pictures that I like. Some are caught in the moment while others took forever to get the camera settings right.

 

Hand Gestures

Argentines talk with their hands. Everything people say is accompanied with large motions and hand gestures. It is here that we can observe the strong European influence, especially Italian, on Argentina.

Italiano: When I think of Italy, I immediately think of pasta and this hand gesture. Interestingly, pasta actually originated from Chile. Why it became iconic of Italy later, I have no idea. Anyway, this symbol has a variety of meanings depending on the situation. If a friend is in a particularly bad mood for no apparent reason it's means an irritated "What's your problem?". However, it can be bewilderment/awe of someone or something's stupidity (government) or a question when you are completely stumped (chemistry).  Now that I think of it, it has the same meaning as wtf!





Ojo, la posta: Other gestures such as "¡Ojo!", "la posta", and " are both interesting and new gestures to me. "¡Ojo!" means be careful or watchful of and is simply the index finger pulling down the lower lid of the eye. "La posta" is a brief okay sign in a downward motion close to the chest. It means basically means 'the very best'.







Thumbs Up: There are some hand gestures that hold entirely different meanings in other countries. For example, a thumbs up means the number one in France . In most provinces of Argentina, this sign has the same meaning as the US, however I know certain areas where it means 'shove it'. Luckily, in my city of Santa Rosa, La Pampa, the thumbs up not considered vulgar; otherwise I do not know how I would survive.



Here are a few others:

I have no idea

Qui Qui - Be afraid, watch out

I couldn't find a picture of it but I'd describe this gesture as an upside down "blah blah blah"

(*It's not Bon Qui Qui either. Although I'd definitely  be afraid and watch out for her.)











tack tack - cheapskate














 Tomatela! - F-off! Leave me alone




Did you know that there that each language has a different sign language?! Can you imagine sign interpreters? Fortunately however, one sign is international. To the extent of my knowledge, you can pull the middle finger and get your point across in every language and culture...

- From Argentina With Love

Argentina Castellano vs Spain Spanish

One thing that especially screwed me up is the differences between Argentina Spanish and Spain Spanish, or any other kind of Spanish for that matter. Imagine the differences between all the different accents of the English language from: British, Australian, Irish, Scottish, American, Southern, New York, Pennsylvania, Texan, redneck, hillbilly, Duck Dynastian, Duboisian etc. (Just kidding about the last few ;P ). Apply this to Spanish. Each country has their own accent and dialect of the language. Now, picture Argentina as a whole isolated bubble of it's own. The Spanish here is very distinctive. Within the country itself, the language changes from each region and even from city to city.

Here are a few of the differences:

• Vos - Argentines replace "vos" for "tu" to address someone. This is the most unique and distinct difference.
• ll - Instead of pronouncing the "ll" as a y sound, they decided give foreigners a headache and pronounce it like a light jj. Hence, pollo is pronounced like combination of "posho" and "pojo". Way to be complicated!
• Castellano - Argentines refer to their language as "castellano" as opposed to "español".
• Swears- The sheer number of ways to insult someone or call them stupid is impressive. In the US when a person swears in school, you can get in trouble for it. Here, everyone swears, even the respected elderly. It is not considered taboo in anyway. In fact, if you don't cuss a little, people might think you are acting pretentiously and reprimand you for it!
  For those who understand the following list of insults, you'll get a good laugh.
• Stupid: Boludo, pelotudo, idiota, estupida, pescado, pajero,
• Random insults/slang: hijo de puta, puta, torta, la concha, la concha de tu madre/hermana, mierda, cornudo, basta, tomatela, larva, pescado, che, chabon, trompada, pornoco

If you happen to travel to Argentina, buy this book! It will  save your life several times. All of the slang, swears, and sayings are in it. Literally, it is more important than my Spanish-English dictionary. Plus, it's worth it just to see the locals die of laughter when they read it! My English teacher even borrowed it to make copies for future exchange students... (at least that was her 'valid' excuse)


~ From Argentina with Love