WHAT IS A CITY BUT ITS PEOPLE? (shakespeare)

Buenos Aires. Huge.
The impression I got from the bus from the airport stayed with me the rest of the time we were there. The city looks run down, is dirty and there is an enourmous amount of traffic, many roads had not less than four lanes (and don´t think they ever stop when you cross the street)! When you look better and up you realize that the buildings are actually beautiful and that it is called ´Paris of South America´ for a reason. Unfortunately the buildings have not been maintained and they have lost their splendour. We also noticed a lot of police around, not sure what they do. Only place where we did not see police was at the trainstation, where we felt unsafe and indeed saw some (indigenous) kids group together and steal a handbag of someone. This really gave me the creeps, esp. since there are a lot of stories out there as well...

We took it easy and slow, before we got into the pace of things.

One of the first things we visited was the synagogue, a reform one, which they call ´liberal´, just like in Holland. We had a private tour through this beautiful building and learned about the history of the Jews. Almost all Jews are descendants of immigrants from Ukraine, Russia and Poland. The inquisition was abolished after Argentina gained independance from Spain (1810).
Baron de Hirsch used his funds to pay for the transport of many Jews so they could escape the progroms. He set up the Jewish Colonization Association; they worked the land, became gauchos (Argentinean cowboys) untill they had paid it off. Most of them sent their children to university, so the next generation did not continue on that path. You can see most people in BA are of European descent anyway, we definitely do not stand out.

We also went to a service in another synagogue, which was quite an experience. At first they did not want to let us in, since they did not know us and we had to prove we did know someone and then we were let in, without even looking at our bags. We were worried, as we were not wearing a skirt, but everybody was dressed casually: jeans, t'shirts, carrying their bags. The whole service was sung (accompanied by a keyboard, viola, percussion and flute) and lead by a longhaired rabbi. It was very busy and there was a truely good atmosphere.

What added colour to our visit was the locals we met and who treated us so nicely. They were basically friends of friends and two I had met the previous summer. They took us around the city and took us for drinks and food to local bars. David, Ariel and David, Lili and Federico if you read this: thank you so much for sharing your personal stories and answering my incessive stream of questions on history and politics!

After four days of BA, we decided to take a daytrip to Colonia, a small city in Uruguay. It took the boat three hours to cross the river. Colonia is a lovely town, esp. after busy BA. As the name suggests it was a colony, which is still to be seen in the Spanish and Portuguese style of the houses. After that visit we took the nightbus to Cordoba, for which the same can be said; churches in Spanish style. Beautiful, but if you have been spoiled like us and have had the opportunity to visit the original countries, it is not that impressive, it only stands in its shadow.
From Cordoba we visited the village Alta Gracia, where we found ourselves in the house of Ernesto ´Che´ Guevarra. Not a spectacular museum, but I found it sort of interesting. I still haven´t made up my mind about him. Here (and in many other places) he is a big hero. I guess his idealism is admirable, he really wanted a better life for the poor and wasn´t looking for power (he resigned from the many posts he had in the Cuban government to free Bolivia), but I really doubt violence is the way and wonder if he just decided what was good for the people, without really consulting..

Another nightbus took us to the middle of nowhere.Tafi del Valle they call it here.
Mountains, green. Not sure what we will be doing exactly, probably long hikes, without a doubt, I will let you know, question of tiredness and time..internet seems to be widely available (in noisy places), even here!