Día del Amigo

No, it's not a fake holiday invented by the greeting card companies (how could it be in a city that doesn't even have greeting cards?)  But ask any Argentine about Día del Amigo, or Friend's Day, and he's sure to tell detail his celebration plans.

Although this holiday doesn't involve a day off from work, locals become more excited over Día del Amigo than say their Independence Day or Flag Day.  Restaurants are notorious for booking up a month in advance and queues of the reservation-less can last for hours.  Many of my students either celebrated at home or postponed their plans for the weekend, leading us expats to proclaim it "Semana del Amigo" or Friend's Week.

The Argentines were surprised to learn that we don't celebrate Friend's Day in the United States, since it is, according to them, an international holiday that started after the first moon landing.  My friends and I were surprised by this too and decided to investigate.  It turns out Día del Amigo does come from the Apollo 11 mission, although it was an Argentine teacher named Enrique Febbraro who first lobbied to make it a holiday.  Febbraro maintained that on July 20, 1969, everyone was friends with the three astronauts, and the world was united.

A chocolate mousse cake makes Friend's Day even sweeter

According to the highly reputable Wikipedia, Día del Amigo is primarily celebrated in Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina.  But given the history, I'm surprised Hallmark hasn't jumped on the bandwagon.

As for me? I celebrated Friend's Day the way I celebrate every holiday: with sweets (and friends too!)