End of October 2006
We went to the beach at Villa Gesell (north of Mar del Plata). The water was still cold but the sun felt good. Does Miriam look happy?
Quillmes is the Budweiser of Argentina.
There are two different cults here that are interesting. For the first one you see bottles of water and may other things at little shrines by the side of the road every few hundred miles, especially in desert areas near the mountains. This has to do with a legend about a woman (Deolinda Correa) who, in 1835 while trying to aid her husband who was involved in the civil war at the time, was reportedly found dead in the desert due to dehydration but with her infant attached to her breast and still alive. Many people refer to her as a saint but I don't think she is recognized by the catholic church. People leave water and other objects as both petitions for aid for various things and as payment for answered prayers. Mostly you see liter soda bottles filled with water stacked up (sometimes hundreds or maybe even a thousand of them) but there are also all kinds of other stuff that basically looks like junk (auto parts, tin cans, etc.). We went to the main Difunta Correa shrine near San Juan (see the photos under Iquazu).
For the second legend you see red flags and ribbons. This is the legend of Gauchito Gil (Antonio Mamerto Gil Núñez) who died around 1878. The story goes something like this: He was forced into the army, fought in several wars and eventually deserted because he wanted to stay home. He was caught and tortured and killed but before he died he told one of the policeman that his son was ill and would only get well if the policeman prayed to Gil. The son was ill, the policeman prayed, the son got well, the cult got started.
Tandil is known for its sierras. It is basically the only high spot on the pampas. Here are the hills as seen from about 15 miles out of town.
Here are some pictures from an asado we went to with one of the English classes Miriam has been helping out with. It was a fun group, we were there drinking mate till sundown.
This is the same group. We went for a walk, the house where the asado was held was out of town, the city of Tandil is in the background.
This is Jose and Graciele, he is a painter, she a writer. They sat next to us most nights at Danse Bailable in Tandil where we went to dance on Sat. nights so we made friends. The dancing starts at 11:30 and goes till 4 am, we made it till 3:30 or so most nights... They were very good dancers, he is Spanish but lives here now and is well known enough to have been in the paper and had exhibits in BA.
This was our farewell lunch with the folks from the university. We went to a little park just out of town and had a traditional picada which is a huge plate of cold cuts (usually about a dozen different types of sausages, smoked meat, salami etc.) and different local cheeses. Clockwise from the front left, Irene and her daughter, Graciele (Cheleta), us, Silvia, Andrea, Gracela, Irene's husband.
