Buenos Aires

Courtesy of My Generation.

Amid the machismo, the sophistication and the crumbling elegance of Buenos Aires - the city that is hailed as the ‘Paris of South America’ – it was the stories of the women that captured this visitor.

Monuments aren’t built to them (except as mythical goddesses) and they don’t feature in many of the busts of the wealthy dead that adorn the mausoleums in the Recoleta cemetery. The women’s stories are within the seduction of tango, an International Women’s Day pre-match march around a football stadium, in the tangle emotions that still surround Eva Peron and the vigil of the Madres of the Plaza (Mothers’ of the Plaza).

Let us start with a tango. It was our landlady Mercedes who explained the importance of a woman closing her eyes during this seductive and sensual dance.

“It’s the women’s role to follow – we mustn’t take control in the tango. It’s the man who leads,” she explains with her lilting Spanish accent.

Nothing new there. She confirmed too that the sensuousness of the tango is often a prelude to more activity later. Could be dangerous – surely it’s not just Kiwis who get mismatched in the dancing stakes?

There is no doubt though about the passion and pathos of the tango. Every lyric is about total, utter loss or total, utter heartbreak or both! In the words of one, “Life is an absurd wound…”.  "I'm dying, dying just to dance," cries another.

Enough to make you want to close your eyes and just be led?

Talking passion, consider football. During the River versus Arsenal match we went to, women also got to tell their story and not just in the melodious roar of the crowd supporting the home team (River).

A team of women carried a banner for International Women’s Day around the arena in the pre-match build up. I tried to imagine a similar march-by at Maclean Park on IWD but descriptions of ‘sheilas’ and where they could put their banners rang in my ears. It wasn’t a melodious sound.

At Plaza de Mayo, the Madres de la Plaza (Mothers of the Plaza) still march on Thursday afternoons to draw attention to the fates of their loved ones who disappeared in the Dirty War of the military dictatorship of 1976-83. Between 10,000 to 30,000, mainly leftist, civilians disappeared during these dark years, many hauled from the streets or while sleeping in their beds.

The Madres’ symbol is a white handkerchief (but I also heard it referred to as a ‘nappy’ or a baby’s blanket). These white cloths are imprinted with the names of their disappeared sons and daughters and its symbol is painted onto the concrete surrounding La Pirámide de Mayo at the centre of Plaza de Mayo

Many of the city’s political protests and street marches (which are frequent) gather in this plaza.

The remarkable Beaux-Arts Casa Rosada (the Pink House) overlooks the plaza. Pigs’ blood was used to tint the early paint job on this official government house of Argentina and its rich pink hues are still being recreated – presumably in less organic ways.

From the balcony of the Casa Rosada, another woman who became an icon of the city, Eva Perón, spoke to the crowds of poor workers who came to idolize her.  (Madonna crooned from the balconies of the Casa for the movie, Evita.)

Eva stills stirs remarkable emotion in Buenos Aires and the fascinating story of her short but controversial life is told at the Evita Museum. The beautiful mansion that houses the museum in the elegant suburb of Palermo was built for the wealthy Carabassa family. It later became a shelter for homeless women and children under the care of Eva Perón foundation. Six years ago the museum opened in the old mansion to tell Eva’s story and to rescue the woman from the myth.

Our young English-speaking guide was delightfully enthusiastic about her subject but declared she was not making a judgment about Eva’s life and work. There is still discomfort about the saint-like status bestowed upon Eva Perón – who came from an impoverished childhood and had been an actress (some say prostitute although I want to add an “of course” to that) before meeting Juan Perón and becoming the adored first lady of Argentina. She died after only 6 years as first lady but her legacy of social assistance for women and children was huge.

It was obvious by the end of the tour that with or without judgment, our young guide had a heroine.

Today, Cristina Fernandez is Argentina’s first female elected as President. She says the women of her generation owe a debt to Eva for her work in getting the vote for Argentine women in 1947 and for her example of passion and combativeness to get them through the dark military dictatorship of the 1970s.

To Do

Days in Buenos Aires can be filled with visits to its many museums and galleries, watching the locals from street-side cafes while sipping excellent wines and strolling tree-lined avenues admiring the city’s magnificent, and sometimes crumbling, architecture.

The Recoleta cemetery is a must on every tourist’s itinerary and of course there is the passion of the tango halls and the football stadiums.

But there must also be time for shopping – a very Argentine past-time. There is a saying, ‘An Argentine will make one peso and spend two’.

From the arty, bohemian neighbourhood of San Telmo to the charming streets and avant-garde design stores of Palermo Viejo it is not a cliché to say there’s something for everyone. Many of the best leather shops are in the bustling pedestrian street of Florida in the centre of town and street markets thrive, especially during weekends.

Getting around is easy once you get a handle on the Subte (underground) and buses. Taxis are cheap and frequent.

Costs

At the time of our visit the NZ dollar was worth around 1.7 Argentine pesos and most costs reflected this. Meals out were usually around two-thirds of NZ costs. In this beef-producing country it is still cool to be a carnivore but we also enjoyed other more exotic styles of dining often surrounded by gracious elegance or funky chic. Leather goods were generally about half their NZ equivalent.

Getting Around

Jenny explored Buenos Aires on a 10-day tour organized by Mike Howie: www.howdybuenosaires.com.

Published 8th May 2009

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