Happy 200th, Argentina!

9 de Julio on May 25, 2010

On Tuesday, May 25, 2010 the great country of Argentina celebrated its 200th birthday.  Having missed the United States' bicentennial, I felt quite privileged to be in the capital for such an historic occasion.  I assumed that my Argentine-born-and-bred students would feel the same way.  But by this point I should have known better.  For weeks I had been asking them, "Are you excited about the bicentennial?"  The responses varied somewhat:

"No, not really. You see, it is all political..."

"The amount of money they're spending for the celebration! [Shakes head] That money could go towards..."

"Not many people know this but technically the bicentenario is in 2016 because..."

Even 9 de julio, the world's widest street, could not contain the crowd

Forget I asked.  Something that is equal parts annoying and adorable about the Argentines (or the porteños at least) is their unwavering apathy for anything that is remotely related to the government.  Still, I'm not one to talk.  The bicentennial festivities lasted four days and included concerts, a soccer game, an antique car show, the reopening of the Teatro Colon and even a 200-plus parade of llamas.  And how many of these grand affairs did I attend?

Cero.

Putting on our angry faces after a near-death crowd experience

Chalk it up to my general weekend laziness combined with crowd jitters, but the only event I attempted to take part in was the final May Revolution Parade/Light show/Concert extravaganza.
My friends and I braved the jam-packed subway to 9 de julio avenue with every intention of exploring the remaining exhibits (particularly the regional food sampling area).  One hour, a dozen lost children and several near-brawl eruptions later, we retreated back to quiet Recoleta to watch the festivities on television at a friend's apartment.

I must say, the view was much better.