Buenos Aires, the Dirty War, Home hosted Dinner

We started the day with breakfast at the hotel and then we went around Buenos Aires on a bus tour of the city.

Buenos Aires is sometimes referred to as “The Paris of the South” because of its culture, which was strongly influenced by the Europeans. The city is vibrant and since today is Saturday, there was music and people walking about enjoying the weather. The city has many theaters and is by far the largest cultural city in Latin America.

It is the home of Teatro Colon, a famous opera house. One famous opera singer once said that there is good news and bad news about the opera house. The good news is…the opera house has the best acoustics ever in any opera house. The bad news is, I will have to perform my very best because if I sing badly, it will be highlighted by those acoustics.

We stopped at the Obelisk of Buenos Aires located in the Plaza of the Republic. It was erected in 1936 to commemorate the quadricentennial of the first foundation of the city. In 1975, during the government of Isabel Peron, (who became Juan Peron’s wife after the death of Eva, and eventually President of Argentina), a sign was hung around the obelisk with the motto “El Silencio es salud “ meaning “silence is health”. It allegedly meant for motorists not to honk their horns, but many felt it really meant for Argentinians to refrain from discussing politics.

Not far from the obelisk is Plaza de Mayo, the oldest square in Buenos Aires and the focal point for politics since Argentina declared its independence. Eva Peron as First Lady, often would address the people from the balcony of Casa Rosada, or Pink Building, which was the seat of the Argentine National government and housed the president’s office. Eva was very popular, but she did not want to accept any position in her husband’s government, and maintained her idea of dedicating herself fully to developing social activity in the foundation that bore her name. In this way, and with financing from public funds, she distributed monies to those who needed it most. She also knew that she had cancer and would not be around for very much longer. She died at the age of 33.

We visited the Metropolitan Cathedral where the remains of Jose de San Martin are entombed. A changing of the guard event takes place here every two hours on Saturdays, as guards march from Casa Rosada into the cathedral. Two guards remain guarding the tomb and then five guards march back to the Casa Rosada. Considered the father of the nation, San Martin fought for the independence of Argentina, Chile, and Peru.

Overseas Adventure Travel is unique in the fact that often, the tourists have an opportunity to discuss a controversial topic with someone who was directly involved in the controversy. Today we had the opportunity to meet with a man who lived through and was impacted by a very dark time in Argentina – The Dirty War.

It is estimated that between 22,000 and 30,000 people were killed or just disappeared between 1974 to 1983. The primary targets were communist guerrillas and sympathizers, but also included students, writers, journalists, artists and any citizens suspected of being left-wing activists. They were thought to be a threat to the junta. According to the dictionary, a junta is “a group of persons controlling a government especially after a revolutionary seizure of power.”

By the 1980s, economic collapse as well as public discontent, resulted in the end of the junta and the restoration of democracy in Argentina, effectively ending the Dirty War. Many members of the junta are currently in prison for the crimes against humanity that they committed.

The man who spoke with us said that when he was only a few weeks old, his mother was taken and never heard from again. His father went into hiding and he was raised by his grandmother, whom he thought of as his mother. His father would visit on occasion, but had to be very careful since the junta was always watching and he could have been arrested if caught visiting.

Some women that were activists and happened to also be pregnant, were taken and after the child was born, the Catholic Church would baptize the child and then give the child to another family, since the mother would be tortured or killed. The man who spoke with us said he was fortunate that he was taken in by his grandmother. Eventually, after the Dirty War, his father remarried, and took the whole family to Patagonia.

People are still looking for members of their family who were taken and presumably tortured and killed during the Dirty War. Interestingly, since 9/11 and America’s efforts to identify those who perished in 9/11 by using DNA analysis, America has shared that technology, and some Argentinians were finally able to locate their loved ones remains through DNA. This man said that his mother’s bones were finally released to him and he had closure.

The Dirty War left a profound impact on Argentine culture, which is still felt to this day.

We thanked the man for sharing his poignant story with us and then went off to Choripoint, a BBQ place in Boca Lacura, where we enjoyed Argentinian chorizo – pork and/or beef sausage, that is served between two slices of bread in a choripan sandwich. It is a dish enjoyed throughout Argentina.

Jonatan said that when he was a boy, his father was an avid soccer fan. He and his dad would go to the games on a Saturday, and they would always buy chorizo to enjoy before they entered the stadium to cheer for their team. Cheering for the team meant jumping up and down and yelling while sitting in the stadium, as well as eating the food, and then…they would go home and watch the tape of the game at home since they were always too busy cheering to pay attention to the actual game.

There was a game today, and the streets were filled with futbol fans wearing the team jerseys of blue and yellow, and many were “tailgating” and enjoying choripans. I must say, the sandwich was delicious!

Before we boarded the bus back to the hotel, I bought a lovely handmade collage that was a lovely momento of Buenos Aires as well as our tango lesson.

We wanted to tour the famous opera house on the way back to the hotel, but they were sold out, so we just relaxed until it was time to go to our home hosted dinner.

Our hostess was lovely and spoke English very well. She spoke about how expensive everything is in Argentina and she looks forward to going to the United States to purchase clothing and other things that she can get much cheaper there.

She said the medical system in Argentina is very poor and the hospitals do not have the proper equipment for medical care.

We enjoyed salad, shepherd’s pie, and a crepe with a dulce de leche sauce inside. We also made our own sandwich cookies with the caramel inside and we rolled them in coconut.

It was a very enjoyable evening.