A world of contradictions

Què dìa!

I have only been here about 36 hours, but already it feels like a week. It´s exhausting, having to think all the time about how to make people understand you and trying to understand people. It´s a deep, pervasive exhaustion. And yet, it gets easier with each conversation. Everyone is very nice and patient with my attempts to learn. Los porten(y)os are very nice (except on the subte--there, it´s kill or be killed).

And yet, it´s so different. I just watched the Argentine version of ¨So you think you can dance,¨ and one of the hosts spent the entire show in blackface. Blackface. Better done, and without the white mouth with red lips characteristic of blackface in the 1930s US that we recognize as such--more like Dan Akroyd in Trading Places, only better done. But blackface nonetheless, in tone and execution. The population of arfrico-argentinos is very small here--after slavery ended, based on what I´ve read I think a large portion of the population fell victim to typhoid and cholera and it never recovered. There is not really a population to react to it in the same way that there would be in the US. When I asked if he was painted, my hosts reacted as though nothing about it were strange or inappropriate.

A strong culture shock.

Yesterday was the mayoral election for Buenos Aires. Voting is mandatory here, and all the bars and restaurants are required to close. Very different from the US--an event. But whenever I try to discern political positions, people just tell me that all the politicians are terrible.

More as I continue to explore!