I am standing in front of the museum with a classmate of mine, Juan.
I was happy that he was willing to go to the museum with me. This was our last day in Argentina. We were granted only one day of free time in Argentina but had to go where our professor suggested. We were the only two who wanted to go to the museum. Being that I don’t speak much spanish, I was greatful that he wanted to go too!
I enjoyed La Boca because of its colorful structure. The barrio is a historic district that contains many colorful buildings and creative vendors. La Boca reflects the 1800’s and give reverence to the past. The homes show how the European Immigrants used to live when they first arrived in Argentina.. Some buildings are weak and dilapidated thus they don’t have entrances…at least not any that I noticed. It’s like an outside museum.
One of my classmates is taking this picture of me. We are on a weak stairwell that leads to a balcony that is very dangerous…but you wouldn’t know that by looking at the photo.
I am at the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires with my classmate Juan. The bench is a decorative piece of work. The bench continues to grow along the side of the wall and down the ceiling. When you walk into the museo, you see the strips of the bench but you don’t know what it is, unitl you walk up the steps.
During the summer camp, I taught different lessons at the center. One of them was a hands on math lesson. The kids had to build a tunnel together for differnt size balls and then test the tunnel by rolling the balls down. I gave them the masking tape, a bunch of balls and different size tubes. Then I sat down and watched them.
I never got tired watching them and they never got tried building and rebuilding.
Last day of class + Camera = Happy Class Photo
When you are traveling, the longer you stay away from home, the more you begin to get used to where you are staying. It is usually in the beginning of your stay, while your brain is still making the adjustments, that you learn the most (about the people and the place) with great eagerness.
I went to three fairs while in Argentina and before each fair Dr. Anderson encouraged us to talk to the merchants and try to bargain with them- not shake them down- but make fair bargains with them.
I made great bargains at all the fairs but it was at the Plaza Francia Fair I was able to not only buy two shawls at a great price but to connect with the sales lady and learn the meaning of the indigenous people’s flag.
Each square and each color means something within the universe and more importantly, the meanings also have a lot to do with the women’s body. This is what I picked up:
the white square means the women
the yellow square means the children
the orange square means the youth
the red square means the men
the purple square means the knowledge of the Elderly people
the blue square means the knowledge of the cosmos or universe
and the green square is the earth
The 7 colors represents the 7 days and in total there are 49 squares. 4+9= 13. The 13 represents the 13 months of the year of the original people. They don’t / didn’t have 12 months. It’s 13 months because each month has 28 days like the cycle of the women. There are also 13 bones in the column and 1+3 = 4 which stands for north, south, east and west.
The flag also stands for the elements of life: fire, water, air and the earth. The top of the flag stands for the head, the two sides stands for the hands and bottom for the feet. In the original language, feet and earth meant the same thing.
The center of the flag stands for the connection of the earth to the unborn babies and the harmony of the earth and 4 elements.
I think I may have missed something in translation so I made a video of her teaching me and posted it on youtube.
Even though it’s cold outside, I gave in and ordered Vanilla ice cream mixed with nuts. It was so good.
Journal Entry
15 June 2014 Sunday
After that shop we ran out of time and went to the pizza shop where we all planned to meet. Since we were the first ones, we waited outside. It’s there we came across a cult of some sort, an American man from Utah, his wife and followers stopped us. They acted like they were Christians but their testimonies did not sound convincing. They did not testify to the water baptism nor the Holy Ghost and kept saying everyone lived in the same apartment. When they gave us a tract, it was over 30 people in the picture! Children included. It seemed weird. Juan pulled me aside and told me they were a cult and we quickly got away. It seemed also weird that they did not have a church even though they were trying to witness- of what? I don’t know.
After everyone came, we walked quickly to a bar-restaurant to watch the World Cup. By this time I was missing church. It felt weird being anywhere else and not in service. During the game, I sat beside Dr. Anderson who was great company. We spoke about the readings for the class. Her article in particular. It was something to actually read an article and have the author sitting right next to you willing to talk to you about their work! This was the second thing I appreciated that day (the first being able to make a video of the indigenous woman explain the meaning of her flag and Lisset willing translating everything).
I don’t remember all we spoke about Dr. Anderson did explain the last line of the article to me: “This treatment unfortunately sends the message that we are not really welcome in the country; every day that remind us in a million little ways.” I asked her why she used the word little as I thought little would damper the plight that the black argentines are suffering with. However she told me that little refers to the micro-violence’s of putting people in their ‘place’ and reminding them constantly of the color of their skin. Little refers to all the small events that break us down. I say us, because I can relate to their situation…or at least I think I can.
Dr. Anderson also explained to me, the word Enculturation. She told me that the term assimilation is now outdated, I guess because people are often mixing with one another anyway and the term enculturation means to be forced to let go of what you are (your culture) and forced to pick up a new one. In this case, you don’t really have a choice.
I ordered some good ice cream! I shared it with Juan who I notice loves to eat.
Argentina won against…well, I don’t know who they were playing against but they did win. The place went crazy and I think the most noise came from my table…a table full of Americans.
We ate dinner at another restaurant close to home…I think.
On the way to to Puerto Madero Via Puente de la Mujer, I shared the taxi ride with Dr. Anderson.
Dr. Anderson is the one who pulled strings and pushed for a group of students from the College of New Rochelle to visit Argentina. As an undergraduate she visited Argentina alone and later on when it came time for her to do her thesis she wrote about Argentina and it’s history. She is still contributing to the country, more specifically, the Afro-Argentine people.
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