Este país de poemas

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Before delving into today, I did promise a continuation of yesterday's afternoon. We visited a nature reserve a bit more than a mile from where I live. It's a couple of lagoons, a lot of open space, and about (at a guess) 10 miles of pathways. It would be great for running, if I ever get my butt back out there. The paths were wide and dirt, the city was almost inaudible even from the closest paths, and the nature was strangely beautiful. Particularly on the "off-road" paths, it seemed almost like being home again. Except for the giant snail shells. I also got my laundry back...after factoring in the "blue dollar" (the official name for the "backdoor" rate, which, by the way, is known of and relatively accepted by the government) exchange, it's less than U$S 7, for wash, dry, and fold. I don't know about other cities, but in Boston it's a dollar a pound, so we're talking about 1/3 the cost. No complaints.

After an night like that, the next day, one would think, wouldn't be as good. However, a fascinating day of literature discussions made it not too shabby. In class, we finished the book we'd been reading (a written-for-learners book about a detective in Madrid). It was good, especially for practice, but not particularly scintillating. We then went 0-100 in about 2 seconds, by reading the opening of Cien Años de Soledad, perhaps better known to most readers as 100 Years of Solitude, by Gabriel García Márquez (fun fact: the vocal accent on his last name is on the first syllable, not the second). It was certainly a change.

That afternoon, we had an interesting lecture on Argentine literature and writers, from the earlier days of the country (which is only about 140 years old) to now. Generally, the writing is a bit dejected; either hating on the country, the people, the situation, or something else. The people apparently have much to gripe about. Regardless, they do have quality literature that is sadly rare to see outside the country.

From the lecture, a handful of us went to a local café to play cards and enjoy some wine. But perhaps the better part of the night was the bar we went to. It was in a converted warehouse (or factory?), and had about 30 pool tables, 6 ping pong tables, darts, free table games, archery (because drunk archery is apparently a good idea), and soccer pool. The final one is literally a giant pool table on the ground, where you use your feet and soccer balls to play pool. It's awesome. Frankly, it's awesome enough that I'm going to use it to close out this post.

Everyone should try it.

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Photos

Soccer pool
sorry for the poor quality, but y'all had to see it