To get a world view of the news, I scan BBC World News and Aljazeera every morning. For the most part, the world tends to ignore Argentina, so when I see a mention of the country I jump on it. This week, I found this lovely video that contrasts people suffering under isolation in the city with a man who has voluntarily lived alone in a cave in the mountains of Tucuman in Northern Argentina for 45 years. I hope you enjoy it.
Author: hwilkie@mhwcom.com
This Is All We Need
This is a newspaper report about wildfires raging in the Parana Delta of Argentina. Today when I looked at the weather app on my iPhone, instead of the more usual Cloudy or Sunny, it said Smoke! And sure enough, when I went out on the balcony I could smell it, and the Delta is about 200 km away from here.
They’ve been burning for a couple of months now, and the impact on wildlife is tragic. They say once a fire gets to this point, it’s impossible to put it out, so you just have to wait till it’s over. And this isn’t even summer here yet!
I’m trying awfully hard not to look on the dark side, but some days it feels like Doomsday is coming. Maybe I should stop watching the BBC World News, as there’s enough to worry about right here in Argentina.
Are you feeling the same way about the world and the country where you live?
A Tango Legend at 93!
I’m missing tango more than I can say. So much so that I was a naughty girl and broke the rules!
A friend who lives close by invited me to lunch, together with two male friends of hers who also dance. Just the four of us. We all work at home so don’t have to go on buses or be close to others regularly, we all wear our masks and take as much care as possible. Although the others didn’t wear masks, I wound a long chiffon scarf round my face just to be on the safe side. So we mitigated the risk as much as possible, and it felt wonderful to be dancing again!
Wouldn’t you know, just as we were getting into the swing and planning to dance every couple of weeks, the government clamped down again! Shops and hairdressers etc. are still open, but we’re not allowed any gatherings in homes at all, not even with family. So back down in the dumps again.
Here’s a video that cheered me up to no end. This woman is called Blanquita, and at 93 still dancing as you’ll see. In this video she’s dancing milonga, which is a faster form of tango with intricate footwork — I love dancing it. Her footwork is still impressive — and so is the fact that she’s still able to wear tango shoes! I hope you enjoy it.
Follow up to previous post
I received two emails this morning about my post re a message purporting to be from Dr. Bonnie Henry. One simply asked for my source, while the other said the message had been debunked. He said Dr. Henry said in a Vancouver news report that she did not write this and didn’t know anything about it.
So far, I haven’t been able to find this news report, and if anyone can point me to it I’d be happy to check it out.
If I find this message is, in fact, a fraudulent one, I will remove it.
I thought this was worth posting
I have removed this post because I now know it did not originate with Dr. Bonnie Henry as it said.
Thanks to those who pointed this out, and I apologize for posting this information without checking the source more thoroughly.
One Bar Notable Is Pressing On
There’s been news over recent weeks about several of the famous Bares Notables and other well established eating places saying they won’t be able to reopen after lockdown ends.
But today a friend sent me a link to a new-look website for online sales of products from El Gato Negro. I’ve written about this lovely cafe before, and it is certainly one to include in my book. It has a reputation for its wonderful selection of teas, coffees, herbs and spices, which are not only used in the food they serve in the cafe, but also for sale.
Here’s a page from the new site, describing the items for sale — this is just the top of the page, and scrolling down I could see there are many more.
And the great thing is that during lockdown they are delivering, so I think I’ll be placing an order soon!
Milongas in Trouble Too
Obviously, given the nature of tango with its close embrace, milongas were among the first places to close, way back in March. It’s pretty much accepted that it may be a year before they open again, but there’s evidence that, as with the cafes and restaurants, some may not make it.
One of my favourites, Sueño Porteño, held a crowdfunding event a couple of weeks ago to raise funds to continue paying their employees. I was glad to contribute, and I hope their efforts pay off.
Someone else sent me a YouTube video suggesting that El Beso, a Buenos Aires fixture for a very long time, may also be closed for good. I watched the video, and although it was challenging to follow the rapid Spanish of the report, I never actually heard them say they were closed for good, just that they were closed because of Covid-19. I’m holding on to that, although it may be wishful thinking on my part.
Some people are suggesting that tango may come back in a different form, more smaller gatherings in smaller venues or even people’s homes. That’s better than having it die off altogether, of course, but the milongas are such an integral part of Buenos Aires culture that I can’t even imagine the city without them.
In this as with all things coronavirus related, I’m trying to be positive.
9 de julio
Someone in Canada recently asked if I was OK because I hadn’t posted anything here recently. I’m fine, and the fact is that nothing much is happening due to being in lockdown for the past 107 days!
But today I really wanted to post because today is July 9, Argentine Independence Day. Before I say anything more, I want to share a lovely video with you of an Argentina that’s different from the one I see when I look out my window.
This is a promo video for the Province of Salta, high up in the Andes in the north of Argentina. I went there with Cecilia three years ago on an unforgettable trip. It was so different from Buenos Aires that I had to keep reminding myself I was still in Argentina!
In case you hadn’t realized, the music is the Argentine national anthem, sounding very different from the way it’s usually heard. Isn’t it lovely?
I’m reminded that last 9 de julio I had just come out of hospital after my 9-day stint with pneumonia. I went to the home of my friend Lola, where we met up with Sally, Cecilia and Ricardo after watching the military parade in Parque 3 de febrero. I remember my heart was full, as I mixed with a big crowd of people of all ages, waving my celeste y blanco — sky blue and white, as the flag is lovingly nicknamed.
That feeling is with me again now, even though this 9 de julio is very different. I love Argentina. I feel blessed to have been guided here.
In the words reserved for this day, Viva La Patria!
This Is Not Normal!
For some time I’ve been feeling uncomfortable, even annoyed, at hearing constant references to “the new normal”. It usually comes in the conversation somewhere around the time when people are lamenting the social distancing and not being able to hug their friends or grandchildren.
Well, I’m here to say: that was not the old normal and it’s not the new normal!
It’s where we are right now, and have to be until we beat this virus, but the lockdowns and the masks and the social distancing WILL end, and hopefully in the not-too-distant future.
I read an article on the Internet the other day in which the author expressed this in a way that helped me clarify my opinion. He pointed out that we have had global crises before. We’ve gone through two world wars, when people had to cover their windows with black cloths at night to foil the air raids; they spent hours of their lives in underground shelters; they suffered through food shortages and rationing.
But did they see these things as the “new normal”? No! They knew they wouldn’t have to live like this forever, and they would get back to living in a normal human way at some point.
Yes, I know there will be societal changes after the pandemic is over, because we have discovered we can actually operate without face-to-face business contacts, among other things. But we are human beings, used to being in contact with other human beings, and we won’t let that go easily.
Someone on Facebook posed the question, “What’s the first thing you’re going to do when this is over?” One young woman replied, “I’m going to hug people till my arms ache!” Amen, sister!
A couple of months ago, people started producing cute novelty masks made out of patterned materials. I never went along with that, because I believed that as soon as we began seeing the mask as a fashion item it would become acceptable, even normal. And it’s not.
Masks are not normal. Walking along the street two metres from a friend is not normal. Going to the movies with someone and having to leave an empty seat between you is not normal. Flying in a half full plane with unoccupied seats in every row is not normal.
If we accept these things as the “new normal”, no wonder we’re depressed!
This too shall pass, and so shall these temporary, abnormal habits.
Happy Canada Day!
Last year I wanted to have a Canada Day party but I ended up in hospital. This year I wanted to have a Canada Day party but we all ended up in quarantine. Next year? Fingers, toes and eyes crossed!
There’s a Canadian-owned restaurant in Buenos Aires called 416 — when she first told me about it, an English friend wondered how I knew immediately the owner was Canadian! Anyway, they make a delicious tourtière, and I’m having some tonight — a little piece of Canada for my solitary celebration!
Here’s a joke someone sent me months ago, and I put it away carefully so that I would remember to post it here today. I hope you enjoy it — whether you are Canadian or not!
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Heaven
A photographer on vacation was inside a church in Orlando taking photographs, when he noticed a golden telephone mounted on the wall with a sign that read ‘$10,000 per call’.
Intrigued, he asked a priest who was passing by what the telephone was used for. The priest replied that it was a direct line to Heaven and that for $10,000 you could talk to God.
He thanked the priest and went along his way.
Next stop was in Atlanta. There, at a very large cathedral, he saw the same golden telephone with the same sign under it. He wondered if this was the same kind of telephone he saw in Orlando and he asked a nearby nun what its purpose was. She told him that it was a direct line to Heaven and that for $10,000 he could talk to God.
‘O.K., thank you,’ he said.
He then traveled to Indianapolis, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Boston and New York. In every church he saw the same golden telephone with the same ‘$10,000 per call’ sign under it.
Upon leaving Vermont, the man decided to travel up to Canada to see if Canadians had the same phone.
He arrived in Canada, and again, in the first church he entered, there was the same golden telephone, but this time the sign under it read ’40 cents per call.’
The American was surprised, so he asked the priest about the sign. ‘Father, I’ve traveled all over America and I’ve seen this same golden telephone in many churches. I’m told that it is a direct line to Heaven, but in the US the price was$10,000 per call.
Why is it so cheap here?’
The priest smiled and answered, ‘You’re in Canada now, son … it’s a local call.’
I’m Feeling Down
I haven’t posted for a week simply because there has been nothing much going on to write about. But today, I feel more down than any time since all this started on March 20.
Today, two iconic Buenos Aires eating places announced they would not be able to open again after the quarantine is over. One is La Biela, the famous cafe around the corner from me that I’ve talked about a lot in these posts. I can’t imagine the area without it, especially in the summer when so many of us spend so much time on its legendary patio.
Then, to make matters worse, the government is mulling the possibility of going back to phase one of lockdown. We have reached 1,000 deaths, most of them in Greater Buenos Aires, and the numbers are going up. But people are already losing patience, and there were huge pot-banging demonstrations on the weekend. Everyone has been patient and, for Argentines, remarkably obedient up till now, but that is changing.
As you may know, I have been working on a new book about the Bares Notables of Buenos Aires. La Biela is one of the most famous of them, and now it is gone. I can’t finish the book for now, because I’ll have to wait and see how many of the others will reopen.
I fear for my beloved Buenos Aires.