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Published: October 31st 2006
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History of humanity
hey... look who made into the history of humanity statues at the entrance of Museum Rocsen. (Chief Seattle..or Sealth, right?) (the title of this entry really has nothing to do with what I wrote about, it was just a popular saying I encountered in one of my readings, thought it was interesting...)
First off, I want to wish my mom a speedy recovery after her knee surgery. She went in for surgery on Tuesday and as of the last update it sounds like her new knee is already feeling better than the last. Love to you, Mom.
Life in Buenos Aires is treating me well. Its officially spring, but the weather can’t really decide what it wants to be like… in the last couple weeks we had a few days where I felt like I was swimming through the hot, humid air, and then last weekend we had really heavy rain and thunder storms. It’s really been hitting me lately that I only have a month and a half left here. There are so many things I still want to do here… go to a futbol game, go to a milonga (tango club), go to the beach, drink mate in the park, go to Patagonia… and the list goes on. I think right now my classes are stealing away
Museo Rocsen
When i say this museum had everything, i mean EVERYTHING - case in point, two-headed cow. a lot of my free time, so I get worried I’m missing out on all Argentina has to offer. Last week I turned in a 4-page paper and a 7-page paper (both single-spaced!) for my Collective Actions class and I have my second midterm coming up next week for my Social Geography class. Some of the big assignments and tests are stressful, but generally I do enjoy my classes. For example, in my Collective Actions class we’ve been doing projects on the social movements for natural resources in Argentina, and I researched the “No a las papeleras” (No to the paper mills) movement. The people of Gualegaychu, Argentina and Fray Bentos, Uruguay have been protesting for the last two years against two paper mills of Ence (Spanish company) and Botnia (Finnish company) that are being constructed on the Uruguay side Uruguay River, a project funded by the World Bank. Their reasons for protesting are mainly the contamination of the river that could result from the installation of the mills, but also that the installation would hurt the tourism industry of that region. The international environmental organization, Greenpeace, has been really involved in the movement and has gotten very creative with
swimming holes
yes, that pasty pale blur is me, jumping into the river in Mina Clavero. their protests - everything from chaining themselves to the cargo trucks of construction supplies for the mills, to sending the Carnaval queen of Gualegaychu to interrupt a meeting of leaders of Europe and the Americas, to joining with the locals to block traffic on the bridges that cross the river, joining Argentina and Uruguay. The case against the mills was even taken to the International Court of Justice this year.
Sorry about the tangent...Anyways, I think things will calm down in a couple weeks with my classes, but for now I am really trying to balance studying and enjoying Buenos Aires, sometimes a little tricky knowing that I don’t have much time left in this wonderful place.
My trip with the program to Mina Clavero (Oct 18-22) was very relaxing and beautiful. We hiked around the riverbanks, swam in the river, rode horses, and went to this amazing museum. The museum is called Museo Rocsen and it had EVERYTHING you could imagine. It had around 20,000 pieces - antique machinery, clothing, animals, insects, indigenous artifact, religious artifacts, everything, from all around the world… so much stuff in one building, that you could spend a whole day looking at
all the stuff. It was just so astonishing because this place was at the end of a dirt road, in the middle of nowhere, and yet the pieces seemed like they should be in the most prestigious museums in the biggest cities. One of the coolest parts was meeting the owner of the museum. He had emigrated from France in 1951 and chose to establish the museum in Mina Clavero instead of Buenos Aires, for the climate and also because he believes that people in the city are very busy and wouldn’t have enough time to visit and learn in the museum. He had a great philosophy on life, and it really shows in his dedication to keeping the museum open 365 days a year, and his gorgeous series of sculptures he built at the entrance - each statue is of a philosopher that he believes played a vital role in the history of humanity. Everyone from Gandhi, Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King Jr, Descartes… there are 37 statues (see photo).
Something that has been on my mind lately is the study abroad program I will be attending in the spring in Oaxaca, Mexico. The reason I’ve been thinking
about it is that my friend Annie is on the exact same program right now and she wrote to me about a month ago with some news - their program was moved to the state of Chiapas due to the violence that has increased amongst the teachers’ protests going on in Oaxaca. I am not up to date on the reality of the Oaxaca situation right now, but once I get all my facts straight between Annie’s emails and news articles, I will try to explain it in the blog. For now, my thoughts are with the people of Oaxaca and my fingers are crossed that my study abroad program will run in the spring, even it is in a different part of Mexico.
Well, if anyone has any questions about my life here or about Argentina in general, please write to me with them, because I think that now that I am so settled in here, ideas of what to write about don’t come so easily as they did in the beginning, when everything was so new and different to me. But I do like to stay in touch with all of you, because I think there is a lot of value in me describing my experience here, while I am living it.
Un besito,
Maggie
p.s. Happy Halloween! (i dont think they celebrate day of the dead here, and i hear Halloween is sort of a half-effort, they have parties but they dont dress up... bummer, oh well)
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Dad
non-member comment
Another great blog
I am really glad that you are taking the time to write about your experiences. It is fun to hear about your travels and daily life in Argentina. I hope you make it to Patagonia sometime. It is one of the great fly fishing regions on the earth, and I hope to make it there someday. It would be good to have a scout. Mom is doing great. No more walker, almost done with the pain pills, and she is enjoying her regimen of breakfast in bed. I am even learning to cook. Tonight was roast chicken with herb gravy, mashed potatoes, and haricots vert (French for green beans - it sounds more gourmet). Love, Dad