Through a community cultural event, I had the opportunity to meet a representative of Tutor de Refugiados, an organization that is sponsored through the Public Defender’s office of the Argentine government. The organization offers legal, psychological and emotional support to African refugees under the age of 21. A visit to their organization gave me insight into African immigrants to the country. I learned that because of the political and economic situations in their home countries, people from Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Cote D’Ivoire, and numerous other West African countries jump on whatever boat they can find and hope that it will bring them to a land of greater promise. This is how a number of African refugees arrive to Argentina. They do not know where they are headed; they are simply looking for a better life. They are given very little food or water on the journey across the Atlantic and once they are a short distance from the ports of Argentina, the ship captains tell the survivors of the trek that they must jump and swim to shore because the captains can’t bring in people to the country. Afterwards, the survivors of the entire ordeal scratch out a living by selling jewelry or trinkets on the street. 

The organization attempts to help out and give them any help they need. Mainly of the people who come to the organization were former children soldiers or have experienced horrific events. Thus, the organization provides psychological services and counseling to help on the mental side. They also push to gain citizenship for the newcomers as with citizenship, they can enroll in school and legally have a job. Spending time with the newly arrived immigrants was great. Their stories are tragic, but their will to survive and succeed in life is incredible. Many lost their parents when they were very young, many saw their parents get slaughtered, many have seen such horrible things at such a young age that most will never see in a lifetime. But they always keep going on. Their motivation to work, learn the language and support themselves was amazing and inspiring. I feel very grateful to have met these immigrants and I hope I can help out a bit by spreading their story to the world. 

I went with some friends to the first leg of the Recopa Sudamerica Cup which had Boca Juniors facing its rival, Arsenal from neighboring province of Avellaneda. It was a great cultural event. First, getting to the stadium was an experience in itself. The match was in a semi-dangerous area part of town and not knowing at all where we were going, we depended solely on following rowdy, yelling fans. As we descended with the crowd of people from the bus, police stopped us to ask who we were going to cheer for. The obvious answer was Boca. The police directed us to a particular part of the stadium and told us not to venture away from this side. We realized that this was because opposing fans don’t mix for security reasons. We bought tickets and excitedly entered the stadium (Racing Club’s stadium).

As we entered the stadium, a load roar of cheers and yells filled our ears. There were no seats we just found a little tiny space to stand, squished in between people, and began to enjoy the game. The stadium itself was amazing. The field was almost on a platform as it was surrounded by a moat and an electrical fence to prevent fans from running on the field. The crowd was nothing like any crowd one could find in the U.S. For the entire game, during halftime as well, the people were united in chants and songs and it never ceased. People young and old all knew the chants and they sang and chanted united as one. It was unbelievable being in the stadium, moving, screaming, chanting, and singing as one with the crowd. There were perhaps 10,000 fans at most, but they made 5 times as much noise than 40,000 would in a game in the U.S. It was simply incredible.  

Argentina’s government and leaders throughout history have worked to whiten the country to uphold a “European” ideal in Latin America. In doing so, they have effectively erased any trace of African influence or presence in the country. This has made it so that the majority of the population does not know that tango, perhaps Argentina’s most famous contribution to the world, derives from candombe, an Afro-argentine dance which has roots in the Congo or that Argentine parrilla, the most famous process of cooking meats on a grill, came from Afro-argentine practices. However, very pleasingly, Afro-argentines along with African immigrants are trying to reclaim their past in the country and demonstrate Afro-argentine contributions to Argentine culture and society. 

I was lucky enough to attend the Movimiento de la Diáspora Africana en Argentina, a weekend-long event promoting Afro-argentine and African culture in Argentina. The event, led by the African Diaspora in Argentina, was littered with numerous cultural productions including an African story telling session for children, Afro dances from all over Latin America and Africa, musical performances from the Afro community in Argentina, and perhaps most important, numerous discussions about the future of the Afro community in Argentina, possible problems, and the goals of the movement. I came away impressed at the entire weekend’s activities. The African Diaspora in Argentina struggles to gain visibility in the public and they are all in it to gain recognition from the government and the society itself. The event’s main goal was to unite the Afro community in Argentina while also presenting to the public their cultural practices and their importance and contributions to Argentina. I think it did well in both. There had been many divisions, and there still exists many divisions within the Afro community, but for one weekend, everybody united and presented a unified movement to the public while mapping out a plan of attack for the future. It was very inspiring to see people who Argentina wants to forget and erase come together to try to fight the powers that strive to keep them quiet. There remains a great deal of work to be done, and the movement is at its beginning stages, but it is setting the foundation for the future, hopefully a future where the Afro-argentine population and their contributions to the past and present will be recognized in Argentine society and their history be taught to the future generations of this country. 

After only 6 weeks in Argentina I can see what has made the SPAN program such a success. The independence and ability to meld with a foreign culture are truly unique opportunities. 

Beyond that, getting to be a part of history in the making here is an incredible experience. Last week there were massive protests regarding the attempt to impose much higher taxes on the nation's farmers. I went to the rally for the farmers where there were over 200,000 people. There, I climbed up a fence and held onto the wrought iron bars for a good hour to gain a vantage point of the demonstration. Staying up that night to watch the vote, it went until 0430 and when it was all over, there were celebrations.

While at a conference on judicial efficacy, I met the head of the Argentine Supreme Court and got to talk with him regarding judicial independence. 

Sitting in on trials, and my whole project here has become more interesting as my Spanish has improved. I’ve got a good grasp of the situation at hand during the proceedings. At the end of some of these trials, I eat lunch down in the holding cell area with the jailers. It’s a good look of the hospitality I have received here as an American student. Not the detail about sitting in jail, rather the openness and welcome to join in the Argentine life.

I have to close with the food in Argentina, it is well worth writing about. Their beef is all grass-fed and tastes fresher than ours in the US. Beyond that, it's incredibly inexpensive compared to most any meat in the states. One can go into a decent restaurant, order a steak, mashed potatoes, a glass of wine and a dessert and expect to pay under U$S 10.00.

I think sticker shock is an appropriate thing to add to my list of what will surprise me being back in my native land come September.