Hola Chicos,
I am sorry I haven't posted for a while. Been really busy this week with work (and a lot of sleep).
I said in my last post that I was going to go skydiving last weekend. Unfortunately this never materialised, we tried again on Tuesday but again it was not possible. For the last week the weather here has been absolutely awful meaning its impossible to go skydiving. Been raining and cloudy almost every day, its almost like being back in England. I am absolutely desperate to go, so hopefully I will be going skydiving next Tuesday instead.
So, last Sunday instead of Skydiving, I visited a small town called Alta Gracia with a few other volunteers. Alta Gracia is the town where Che Guevara grew up so we visited his childhood home. It had been turned into a very small museum which had on display his motorcycle which he rode around large parts of South America (Pictures to follow). Argentina is absolutely in love with Che so this museum didn't have a bad word to say about him. It was very interesting but unfortunately we were all a bit flat at not being able to go skydiving.
Two big events have happened relating to Argentina this week. At the beginning of the week, the Falklands voted to stay British - I couldn't help but laugh when the newsreader read out that only 3 people voted to become Argentine. Wasn't too well received by my host family. Thankfully the second big event this week got rid of any hostility. The new Papa (Pope) is an Argentine, and for the past week it is all the locals have been speaking about.
I mentioned earlier that I had to write an essay on the Dirty War in Argentina, all 9 pages of it are now complete. To help me with my essay, on Wednesday with my Human Rights placement I went to visit La Perla. This is one of the clandestine detention centres that were used during the rule of the military junta in the 70's. In total, it is estimated that about 30,000 people were "disappeared". People either died in captivity in detention centres similar to La Perla, or they were taken in planes and dropped in the ocean with weights tied to their feet.
I have now started an essay on Prisoner's voting in Britain. I'm sure many people remember David Cameron's comments last year about how the idea of Prisoners having the vote makes him "physically sick". It really shows the contrast between Argentina and Britain; in Britain we're worrying about whether or not our prisoners can vote, in Argentina prisons are horribly overcrowded and the use of torture is still widespread. However, it has been very amusing trawling through the absolute garbage that the Daily Mail has written about Prisoner's votes.
On Wednesday, my Australian housemate and I organised for some of the volunteers to go to a steak restaurant called Alcorta in the centre of Cordoba. Surprisingly even though I am in Argentina, the home of the gaucho, this was to be my first steak of my trip. It was absolutely amazing, but nothing could beat how cheap this meal was. Alcorta is the nicest restaurant in the whole of Cordoba. However, having grown up in and around London, where prices are extortionate, this restaurant was a bargain. A huge steak and chips, enough wine to last me for 4 hours, lovely surroundings; came to a grand total of £20.
Thursday and Friday were largely uneventful. All the volunteers went bowling on Thursday night, then out afterwards to a bar/club. Clubs here are bizarre. They don't really open until 2.30, then they close at 5, not a very long time to be open. So having been out every night this week except Monday I am absolutely shattered. However, this is my last weekend in Cordoba so I need to make it a good one. Tonight some of the volunteers are off to a place called Carlos Paz, about 20 minutes outside Cordoba, its meant to have some really fun bars and clubs.
In about an hour I am taking part in a fund raising event in the park opposite my house. Some of the Projects Abroad volunteers are selling Alfajores to raise money for the girls prison where they work. Alfajores consist of two round sweet biscuits joined together with dulce de leche (slowly heated milk which tastes like caramelised sugar). They are the number one snack here, however my name for them is "Heart Attack Biscuits", they're like eating a solid block of sugar.
Pictures will be up in a couple days when I have access to my office wifi.
Next time I post I will probably be in Rio in Brazil, I am getting more and more excited!
No comments:
Post a Comment