First of all: Yes I am still a vegetarian!
In the end it is not that hard, even though the food is starting to be pretty repetitive.
A lot of Argentineans are of Italian descent, which has made the Italian kitchen very popular, and I can therefore eat pasta and pizza. Not as good as the real thing, but good enough. And the ice cream is good!
I can also eat humitas, a kind of pure of corn and empanadas de queso (dough filled with cheese). And many many eggs..
The interesting thing is, is that I became a vegetarian as a protest against the so-called bio-industry, in which animals are treated in the worst way and fed hormones and such. I am not against eating meat and do cook it for my family, as I don¨t believe they should suffer under my idealism. Here animals live freely and in a natural environment, so my argument doesn¨t stand that strongly. I am however so used to not eating meet, that I find it hard to change my habit. It has been 18 years without now..feel free to comment on this one!
Even though in Bolivia now, still want to finish writing about a few impressions I had from/on Argentina
As I mentioned before, we have had the chance to speak to a lot of locals (or should I say people from Buenos Aires). Between 1880-1920 Argentina was the richest country of the world and in 2001 people would wake up and whatever they had was only worth 1/3. Luckily for me, impossible to imagine. The economy seems to be perking up, but it is not easy. Most persons we spoke to work over ten hours a day to be able to afford daily life.
Everybody still is convinced (it is an accepted fact) that the government steals and that the police is corrupt. Besides those, people seem hardworking and honest.
Everybody seems to have a specific president to complain about. This country has known presidents that vary from bad to worse.
Now that they annulled the amnesty for those in power during the military dictatorship, the junta in the seventies, there are process going on. It still is not over. Jorge Lopez a victim of that regime has testified and disappeared after. It is assumed he is been killed for obvious reasons..
Peron is of course another name that sounds familiar, even if it is just for his second wife, Evita, who knew how to be poor with the poor, but enjoyed being rich with the rich. Peron took away possessions of the rich and made it of the state. He did not hesitate to use violence. Peronismo is still advertised, even though a clear modern definition is not given.
Menem is who we hear most about. He sold most national companies to private (foreign) investors. This has meant that certain good working services seized to exist or were not controlled. He even sold a piece of land in the south to Mr. Benetton, while people were living on it!
On a bit of a lighter note: a singer we hear often here is Shakira, but if you ask about her, most will frown and tell you they don¨t like her, because she is dating the son of ex-president La Rua (another corrupt one).
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