Argentina Journal
by Arthur Oyola-Yemaiel and Jennifer Wilson

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ARGENTINA -- In December 1997, we went off to Argentina for a long-desired and overdue vacation. The motives for this trip were to spend time with family during the holiday season and to introduce Jennifer to one of the most controversial, charismatic and sophisticated countries in Latin America. Our itinerary was to spend a week in Buenos Aires, then travel to Punta del Este, Uruguay for sun and beach relaxation and then return for one more week in Buenos Aires. The goal for this trip was to leave the researcher with his inquisitive mind in Miami and just plain enjoy the wonders of a different place with all its flavors and colors.

Just after arrival we went to see el Tren de la Costa. This is a restored line that was inactive for at least forty years. New fully-equipped trains transit the tracks where I used to play in my youth. Old stations is now a shopping mall with twelve cinemas, MacDonald's restaurant and souvenir shops. People spend and live just as if they were on CocoWalk or Ocean Drive in Miami.

In San Isidro, a traditional and well-off neighborhood, we observed the procession of the Virgin Mary escorted by gauchos and their families dressed in traditional attire. It was stunning to see the ultra modern development and consumerism hand in hand with old traditions in an historical location where the cathedral stands, the buildings are from the eighteen and nineteen centuries, and the roads are still original cobblestone.

Tigre is another locality that sits by the Lujan River and is the door to the delta that connects the Parana and Uruguay Rivers. Here, there is a great fruit and timber port and, most, if not all, of the produce of the islanders are sold. This port saw years of splendor during the final decade of last century until the depression of the thirties. Now again it is a prosperous place. The old fruit market and its docks are partially in operation and the old warehouses are now artisan studios, craftsman shops, and retail stores. Now it is a popular market for affluent residents and tourists who come to buy food and a myriad of products from rustic furniture to clothing which ranges from modern styles to traditional Indian ponchos.

We sat in a cafe by the river, watching the traffic--all kinds of crafts criss-crossing these waters, old and new, in all sizes and shapes. But what really called our attention was that there is a patchwork of before and after in this place, past and future--where traditional, slow, quiet rowing boats converge and diverge with massive, powerful, noisy and contaminating speed boats. It is also interesting to observe the fishermen and the trash. These pass-timers and self-reflecting people--like the young mother teaching her boy how to catch Dorado and an old local man dropping the fishing line without a rod or reel--were indifferent to the continuing rocking of pieces of plastic, 2011
Visions and other strange objects washing ashore.

The river is high because the wind has been blowing for a couple of days from the southeast. A sightseeing round trip to the Delta del Parana is worth US $5.00 for one and one half hours. It is a trip worth making for the eye-opening views of stilts houses, showing that this water has risen 12 feet in periods of seasonal flooding. The fresh air and the smells of Azar (the flower of the orange trees) and eucalyptus tell the stories of slow-growing crops and slow-paced lifestyles. Also, we could observe the locals trading with the boat grocer or we could call it the "floating general store." These merchants' boats carry fruit, meat and dairy products, as well as clothing, cleaning products, hardware supplies and even the daily newspapers to the island dwellers. Often these boat owners will take requests from a client and will deliver items at a later time. In an excursion one can also see the weekend get-away of President Domingo F. Sarmiento during the 1880s as well as popular recreation clubs and resorts.

The contrast is radical between the city (Buenos Aires and its suburbs have a population of approximately 12 million people) and the islands. These differences are even more remarkable because they are no more than twenty miles apart. In such a megacity the pace is hyper-speed and the traffic is rampant. Drivers do not respect the traffic signals or the lanes; driving is chaotic and one would need special training to cope with the modus operandi. The sure thing in transportation is the train and the bus system. The first is reliable, inexpensive and safe and the second is incredible because the bus lines literally cover the entire city.

In the collectivos we went to one of the icons of the Vida Porteqa. We visited the old neighborhood on Independencia Street where there are "hole-in-the-walls" in which tango is sung and danced with ferocious intensity and tradition. Bars set up in the early twenties with their original curtains and furniture are filled with smoke and probably attended by the same waiters since opening. Here, people revive the nostalgic feeling of years gone by and recreate the spirit of a lifestyle that no longer is. Women singers in their fifties or more with deep rough voices sing male and female songs alike. The spectators sitting in small wooden chairs around square tables drinking wine and Grapa, or Ginebra, and sometimes, for the most sober ones, un cafi. Coffee is served to the Italian taste from the espresso machine and super strong. In "Bar Sur" one can listen and dance to live tango performers all night long for US $15.00 with all you can eat pizza (of course the smoke is free).

On the more elegant side, we participated in a rare event at the Cervantes Theater. Here, the city government sponsors in conjunction with the Association of Friends of theater weekly tango concerts every Wednesday from March to December. We got to attend to the last performance of the year and in commemoration of national Tango Day. It was an outstanding performance by renowned composers, musicians and dancers performed at no cost in a theatre that was built at the turn of the century and decorated in a lavish style with red velvet and goldleaf paintings.

Ah! but there is nothing like spending an evening in the Colon Theater build in 1907. This theater is a magnificent opera house of refined taste, decorated with frescos of Raul Soldi--a masterpiece of architecture and fine art. Here, we attended the extraordinary season-ending session of a performance of Beethoven's ninth symphony. After the show ended we met at the traditional Petit Colon Cafi to rejoice in the company of friends.

But what called our attention was that during our visits and sightseeing the air pollution was so bad that our throats were aching--swallowing was difficult with a rough sensation of friction. The tongue seemed swollen and the sinuses were blocked most of the time. We also observed that there were places in which we could not stop sneezing. On one occasion we were visiting el Cabildo and the old colonial government neighborhood. The streets were narrow and full of busses and taxis. Here, we had to find refuge in the only restaurant with air conditioning hiding there for over an hour before we gained enough courage and strength to venture back into the smog filled streets. While there, we could not decide what beverage we had to drink to clear the bad feeling in our throats and mouths. Finally, we drank milk, which was the only liquid that somewhat erased the awful taste of exhaust fumes or whatever it was.

However, the locals seemed not to even notice the clouds of smoke bursting out of the tailgates of the buses nor to be bothered physically with the disgusting sensation that we were experiencing. Not even the noise, which at times was so loud one could not hear a normal conversation, seemed to bother our hosts and friends.

Economically speaking, it is noticeable that the new democracy with its economic plan of privatization, international investment and open markets has increased the socioeconomic vitality of Buenos Aires and its surrounding areas. It is clear, too, that this has brought an increase in the pollution problem. The air seemed almost impossible to breathe; the river was full of plastic, papers and other debris. Moreover, approximately two thousand dead fish were found floating in the waters on one day during our stay.

During this trip we did not want to think environmentally, observe the ecology, the economy or the sustainability of the new democratic Argentina. But we had no choice because the pollution was all around us. At this point regular tourism became ecologically significant. The preservation of one's heath depended upon managing the times in which one can leave the house, where one goes and what one wears on many occasions.

The authors are doctoral students in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Florida International University. Arthur Oyola-Yemaiel is the author of Conservation and Development in Argentina featured last year in El Planeta Platica.

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