Jardín Japonés, Tango, School, BA, and History

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Days here in Buenos Aires are just too short...! Homework, school, going for a drink, tango lessons (we got a few more guys today), visiting the Japanese garden, going from one place to another...traffic is quite an issue - not only on the streets but on the side-walks.
To be honest I was a little afraid of Buens Aires after all the stories I heard from my dear Argentinian friends as well as from tourists, but I love this city. Although the buildings are huge, it's very beautiful, the avenidas are nice and there's so much life and movement. And if you follow some rules, it isn't a dangerous place, especially not the barrio recoleta. Additionnally, the porteños aren't that sarcastic and cold, they're usually nice and try to help.
Homework for today was to write about anything that interests us and my teacher really liked my text and showed it to the coordinator - tomorrow we'll discuss which level would suit me best.

It'd like to tell you a little about Argentinas history; very briefly:
1516: first Europeans in Argentina
1536: first village on the Río Plata
1610: Jesuits in ARG
1768: Spain expels the Jesuits
1776: vice kingdom Río de la Plata with Buenos Aires as capital
1806: vigilante group prevents British invasion
1810: May revolution, depositiom of the Spanish vice king
1816: independence (important person: Jos de San Martín)
1826: Rivadavia is first president
1835-52: dictatorship of de Rosas
1862: Mitre is first president of the Argentinian republic
1877: first transportation of frozen meat to Europe
1880: Buenos Aires is the capital
1890: financial crisis
1916: radicals win presidential elections
1930: first military putsch
1943: second putsch
1946: Perón is president
1947: Evita fights for right to vote for women
1952: re-election of Perón, inflation of 30%
1955: Perón flees to Paraguay
1966: military repeals constitution, guerilla
1973: Perón again president, 1000% inflation
1974: Perón dies, Isabel Perón is president
1976: proceso de reorganización nacional starts
1982: Argentinian invasion of Falkland Islands, the British win, military loses autorithy, civilian government
1989: president Menem
1999: de la Rúa is president
2001: economic collapse, protests
Dec 2001-May 2002: 6 different presidents
2003: president Nèstor Kirchner (dies in 2010)
2007: Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is president (nobody likes her)
2011: inflation increasing again
2011: new elections (Argentina seems to have the choice between bad and worse)

The Islas Malvinas are quite a hot topic and some British are still afraid of telling their nationality.

Well, I've to sleep a little before my next long day. Tomorrow again almost 4h of talking (which is great) and private tango lesson. I'll tell you more soon about mi querido Buenos Aires!

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[elmum]

Period: 1976-1983 > Plaza de Mayo
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