A Picture Update: Part 2 (12-1-15)

Córdoba is by far the most politically active city I have ever lived in. The hat march (Marcha de La Gorra) is one of, if not, the biggest march in the city each year. Its aim is to stop police brutality. I tried to write a piece on my thoughts on the event, but I came to no conclusions. This years focus was in opposition to a law that allows police to stop anyone based on appearance alone. Although very far from home, so many of the opinions expressed were the same issues we are dealing with in the states.

Here are more photos http://www.lavoz.com.ar/galerias/la-9a-marcha-de-la-gorra-en-fotos

We went with La Luciérnaga, an organization very similar to StreetWise in Chicago. Below are some photos of a group of students I have been blessed to learn from these past months.

 

La Luciérnaga photos:

 

 

Since my arrival I had been waiting this day. To see La Mona Jimenez. There are few things more ‘Córdoba’ then La Mona. The usual line of question here goes as follows: where are you from? Do you like Argentina? Do you drink Mate? Asado? Have a girlfriend? and then, Have you seen La Mona?

He is the king of Cuarteto, a genre invented in Córdoba. He is over 60 years old and has been at the top of his game since the early 80’s. He performs 3-5 nights a week. From around 1 a.m. often until well past sunrise. The venue pictured is one that is exclusively his. The night we went there were thousands in attendance; it was just a normal Friday for him. We went with my buddy Pablo, for his brothers’ birthday.

La Mona

Pablo is a good friend from basketball

Dan described the venue as an airplane hanger

From the entrance

Ticket Line: this was 2:30am, when we arrived, the show had already started

Dude has over 80 albums, the lyrics were there in case he forgot a word or two

Bachelorette party?

No translation needed

 

Thanksgiving. The first time hosting thanksgiving was with three of my best friends, and housemates: Catherine, Amanda and Dan, for a bunch of Argentines (and a Spaniard) who had never celebrated the day. So if nothing else, they had no standard which to compare it to. But in all honesty it went really well. Traveling, particularly in a country that speaks a different language, is a constant experience of humility and gratitude. No better way to say thanks then sharing culture and food.

Earlier in the day I also participated in a old thanksgiving tradition: Juicy Lucy’s. I made them at Nuestro Hogar III with Lore, Irma, Ale, Rosi, Paola, Tomás, Lourdes and Martina. We had a great time. Any feelings of missing home were soothed by sharing it with this group of woman. Its going to be hard to leave them.

Three tables joined together for the biggest Thanksgiving table any of us had ever eaten at

Seasoning or blessing? Either way, it worked

This photo represents half of all Turkey’s in Córdoba at the time

Every gathering here ends in guitar playing and song singing- USA holidays are no exception

This is about 5am (sober)

Catherine made a pumpkin pie without pumpkin- a thanksgiving miracle

Lunchtime JuicyLucy meal with my people

Lucías Jugosas

A Picture Update: Part 1 (12-1-15)

Its been ages since I have posted anything. Here are some pictures from the last month or so. Photo credit goes to Amanda, Dan, (maybe Catherine) and an eclectic number of Argentines.

Home:

The house

Neighbors

Compost

Pool

Family

Back Patio

Backyard

 

Part of the challenge of moving to a new city is making friends. Catherine and I took this challenge head on and said “yes” to every invite, opportunity, event, etc. that came our way. On this day if finally paid off. We met this group from the national university that does all kinds of stuff all over the city. Just to give you an idea of the effort we made: Our neighbor Lore invited us to a sit in on a class at the university. Before the class started a few students mentioned a group they were involved with and a event that was to take place that Thursday. We went to the event, which turned out to be a talk from a widely recognized sociologist. Apparently he was extremely knowledgable, respected, experienced and hilarious – we did not understand one word (mostly because the audio in the auditorium was horrible). From there we were told about another event the following Thursday that was a “get to know you” event, rather than a lecture. We went. Eventually we were divided into small groups. After a follow up meeting the next week, we were all set to go. And thats how we found ourselves in Rio Ceballos with this group of people who I can confidently say are friends of ours.

The nature of the event was a reforestation effort, trying to help the environment recover after torrential rains a few years back. People from all over the city came out to collaborate. Córdoba is a big city (1.6 million people) but it often feels like a small town. On this day I met a woman that had a sister living in Minnesota. She had also traveled and lived there, working at YMCA camps up north for a few years. We kept talking and found out that she had taught the children of the directors of the study abroad program I had done.

Another thing worth mentioning… I have tried to express the ‘randomness’ of us ending up in this space. To add to that narrative, let me explain that there were over 15 groups to choose from. After we chose this one, there were three possible locations to elect. I chose the location pictured above in hopes of getting to know some more locations throughout the surrounding mountains. Turns out this place was not new at all. When I was here as a student in 2013 our group took a day trip out to the sierras. We went for a walk down the river and eventually found some kids playing soccer. We asked to join and within minutes an impromptu game of soccer with 15 neighborhood boys had begun. On this day we planted trees all around the same ‘field’ I had played on years back. Some of the trees were impeding on the field, nobody listened to me when I said that they would never survive the wrath of 11 year old boys.

The day finished off with a Murga, performed by a group from the area. Whats a Murga? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murga

Lastly. This group could be referred to as a ‘service’ or ‘volunteer’ group. Having been involved with similar groups at DePaul, I find it interesting that philosophies were similar. The biggest differences were 1: this is a public university with no ties to religion, this group reflects that. 2: school takes longer here, people come from all ages and locations, 20-30 year olds at all different places in life. 3: reflection is still a priority, but instead of a formal location, the conversation is had over a few liters of beer- all passed around in a circle. The process is so much more natural, organic, and in my opinion effective.