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Published: September 22nd 2006
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El Monumento a la Bandera
Despite being beautiful and enormous (75 meters in height), this is really the most ridiculous monument I've ever seen. So is Rosario the perfect Argentine city, as my Lonely Planet explicitly and boldly stated? Probablemente, sí.
What makes Rosario so fantastic? Well, like I've been saying all along, it's safe, clean, has style, has beautiful people, ad naseum. What makes Argentina's third-largest city fantastic is the way that it interwines urban chique with sunlight and greenspaces. Additionally, if you love modern art, you'll find plenty of it in Rosario. In one day I visited two modern art museums, visited a graphic design exposition, and attended the opening of another graphic/package/product/clothing design expo.
Additionally, the city is home to two rather important historical sites (depending on your perspective). First, it is home to the house where Ernesto 'Che' Guevara first lived (although only for a very short time). The second is the Monumento de la Bandera, an enooormous monument to the national flag first used in 1839 (I believe). I realize the symbolism that a flag holds, but this monument seems a bit over the top to me. It's two light blue stripes and a white one with a smiley-face sun in the middle. Also, even in the museum that's there too, you see all sorts of different suns
Way up high
The view from atop the Monumento a la Bandera, showing, well, more of the monument. on various flags because no two flags are ever the same. All of it is quite impressive, although, to an outsider, a bit silly.
On a completely different subject, before Rosario I was in a city 16 hours north called Posadas. (I had met two British volunteers in San Ignacio who were staying in Posadas so I decided to check out the city with them.) After one day I had seen the city and was ready to go. However, upon arriving to the bus station ready to leave, I discovered that I had missed three different buses to Rosario by only 10 minutes, and the only one left for the day was completely full. So, back to the hotel I went, rather annoyed. However, what could have been a horrible setback turned into the best experience I've had in my trip thus far. The next morning I was wandering around the streets of Posadas with nothing to do, when an old man in his late 50s came up to me and introduced himself. He said that he had seen me eating breakfast in a café earlier and thought I was Brazilian (ha). He asked if he could help me
The mate kit
Mate, yerba mate, bombilla, y termos . . . I've got it all. (Check out the bling on my pimp cup.) find anything, and I told him I didn't have anything to do, so I wasn't really sure. Then he explained that he was recently retired and had little to do himself, so, if I didn't mind, could he accompany me around the city and just chat a little bit. We ended up spending the entire day walking around the city, talking, seeing museum, having lunch, and just exchanging our lives with one another. It was a true picture of Argentine friendliness. He even accompanied me all the way to the bus station (quite a distance away) to make sure I left okay. As we were saying goodbye he said some really beautiful things. ¨Hace poco tiempo que nos conocemos, pero parece que hace años . . . Te quiero, Henry (his mispronunciation of my name). Simplemente, yo sé que te quiero. Es que solamente yo quiero o no quiero, y vos me cayés bien, y sé que sos una buena persona. Entonces, te quiero.¨ It really was an amazing experience to meet him and spend time with someone who is instant your friend. I'm really glad I missed those buses the first day.
On another random and less sentimental
Pimp cup
A picture of my first sip of mate (in Argentina). note, here is a list of my observations about Argentinos, uneditted from my personal journal:
- They really enjoy soda. For every time that I would have seen Brazilians drinking beer, I see Argentines drinking soda. And that's a lot.
- I've never seen so many mohawks in my entire life. It is THE thing (at least in Rosario).
- They love listening to the ringtones on their cellphones in public. They really get quite a kick out of it and don't really care that they're annoying me.
- When writing in all capital letters, accent marks aren't used.
- The word "o" (as in "or" in English) sometimes gets an accent mark ("ó")
- There aren't many people of "indigenous origin" in Argentina, but the ones that are here generally keep together in groups, especially in plazas during the day.
- Yes, "che" is constantly used, especially in Buenos Aires.
- They must live with some sort of strong, bitter taste permanently in their mouths with the constant consumption of mate, cigarettes, and strong coffee.
I've just gotten into Buenos Aires and am trying to get in touch with my friends living here that I'm going to
MACRO
El Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Rosario (Is that a modern art building or what?) crash with for a bit. It should be good times in the BA. More to come.
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Kelly
non-member comment
MATE!!! (notice, no accent)
Watch out for the mate. that shit is addictive. but totally awesome.