Having spent seventeen days traveling around the east and southern tip of South America on a 2,500 passenger ship, the world, for me, has become a bit smaller and upside down at the same time. Walking the streets of Buenos Aires and Montevideo the in the days and week before Christmas was surreal: Christmas Trees and ripe red cherries; sunlight and fairy lights; tinsel and tangos; rain, hail, sleet, snow and sunshine all in one day; lots of contrast and comparisons. The least of it is that the seasons are reversed....December 23rd in Buenos Aires was a balmy 83 degrees Fahrenheit making it difficult to get on the plane on the way home hearing about the cooler temperatures awaiting us in NYC.
And I learned some interesting things about South America, many of which I found astounding, to say the least. Did you know that.....
- Genetically Chileans, Argentinians and residents of Uruguay are a good eighty percent European with the countries of Spain and Italy heading the list, but many other immigrants came form Poland, Germany and areas of Eastern Europe. Each of these countries has a thriving Jewish population, as a matter of fact, two of our local guides were grandchildren of Jewish immigrants who came to the area from Eastern Europe just prior to World War II.
- There are very few descendants of indigenous peoples in these countries of South America. They were systematically decimated by the Spaniards either by diseases or by the sword.
- Only about ten percent of the population of Argentina is of African descent, even though slavery was an important part of their history. Slaves were often forced to serve as the first defense against invasion, and they perished in higher numbers that the descendants of Europeans.
- The Spanish actually settled Argentina twice. With the first attempt came men and cattle. Almost half of the men were killed by the local indigenous folk, so they re-grouped and departed quickly leaving the cows and bulls behind. When the Spanish returned some years later, the cows and bulls did what cows and bulls usually do, and since there were no natural predators, reproduced at an alarming rate and were enjoying the bounty of the grasslands we now call the Pampas. Thus the Argentine beef culture was born.
- Argentinians are not vegetable eaters; beef eaters-yes; green vegetables-not so much. Which is a real shame because the produce that I saw and ate was excellent, great tomatoes and grapes, peppers and cherries. Steak, lettuce and tomatoes seems to be the go-to meal.
- And the steaks???? Absolutely wonderful!
- Local economy is terrible: run away inflation makes it necessary for folks to use the ATM every day and often by 2:00 in the afternoon, the ATM's start to close down because they run out of pesos. Most merchants and restaurant folks prefer hard currency: US dollars and Euros are the way to go. The economy makes it difficult for anyone to save money to buy a home, so most people rent.
- Eva Peron is more than a Broadway musical. She is still revered by the populace having played a major role in obtaining the right to vote for women.
- Argentina has an official religion, Roman Catholicism ; Uruguay does not. It is a decidedly secular state that has legalized marijuana, gay marriage and abortion; Christmas is called "The Family Holiday". Catholics have felt discrimination, and, in recent days, have mounted a campaign to return Christ back into Christmas. The Argentinians are struggling with reproductive rights as I write this.
All in all, it was a wonderful trip. At one point we were 400 miles from Antarctica! We saw glaciers and penguins, and cormorants, and whales, and dolphin and lots of tango dancers! I even got to practice my decidedly New York accented Spanish.
