Independence Day

I went a free guided tour through the political center of Argentina. I already had the idea that South American politics was very turbulent. But what was and is going on here surpasses my expectations by far. People here are very politically engaged and even the most conservative parties would lay on the left wing of most European Governments. Around the parliament, there are about 2 demonstrations a day, which often turn into violence and vandalism. The government soon gave up the cleaning, so the political center of Argentina looks rather rough (hm, I wonder what people think about Berlin). Anyways, there is a lot of political activism and huge tensions between rivaling systems. There is so much to tell about almost every single spot here. But I will leave that to Wikipedia if anybody is interested. Specially the things with Evita Peron and her successor (the first female president of Argentina, a revue dancer) shows you how populism and military coups formed the country. It is just amazing. The younger generation takes it with humor though.

The political center. This weekend it Argentinian Independence day so there is a lot of celebration, food and dancing in the city. Sometimes you are just lucky :D

Before colonialization Argentina there were many indigenous tribes. In the north most of them assimilated with the white population, so they disappeared as a separate culture (its true if have seen it). in the South they were consequently annihilated. (Hence people have darker skin in the north and are European white in the South.)

However, in ordinary life, no matter if in the North or South of the country, I didn´t observe any discrimination or separation by skin color. Neither in shops, offices nor nightlife. The few left  “pure indigenous people” are very rare and practically ignored in Argentina. Here they claim there voice:

Walk through the political centers of power:

The Parlament

The most famous Evita, mother of the country

Independence Day celebrations

The pink house (presidential palace)

Evita Peron's famous balcony

Festival for Argentina Independence Day (there was o much food :D)

Every migrant society had their own food stand (German Bratwurst was present as well, of cause)

Many folk bands from all over the country inspired spontaneous dancing around the crowd.

There were some more big concerts planned for the evening, but I was just too exhausted :D

This was a very interesting week. But now its time again to move on. Instead of traveling to Colombia right away (as initially planned) I decided to do a little detour to see some more of the countryside. Most people go to Patagonia which is at the southern tip of the continent. What I have seen reminded me a lot of New Zealand (it might still be more impressive, I don´t know). But it is winter here and I just didn´t feel like more hiking in the snow when its summer at home. So I decided to head north. I heard its warm there :D

 

Saturday 9th of July