President of Irony

Details of the most un-4th of July to come (yes. More un-independence day than that time I was in Brussels). But for now, I'm tired, asi q... che.. I mean.. Chau!

I'm back. So.. 4th of July..

Woke up thinking I was making lunch for everyone. But Joy and Steph had left for the States by 6:30am, and Eva was nowhere to be found. Alrighty then. Some good ole mac'n'cheese and broccoli it is then! Whitney and I watched a couple episodes of How I Met Your Mother whilst we enjoyed lunch.

Then made our way to the Omnibus Terminal before catching another bus that would take us to Alta Gracia (a whole 2.50USD)--childhood hometown of Ernesto Guevara. You may recognize his tshirt and/or bumper stickers, or his nickname, Che. Which... just so happens to be a slang term for "buddy" around here too. Coincidence comrade?

The point is, we were going to visit the most anti-US place we could, on the most US important day of the year. I thought it was funny. Until that is, I reached this room:

I don't know if you can see the picture in the background, or if you can recognize the names signed. I'll give you a hint. One rhymes with Cidel Fastro, and the other, Chugo Havez.

Can you imagine my alarm when I realized the room I was standing in was commemorative of when these two visited the house of Che in 2006? Pictures on the wall showed their very large welcome party--the street of Avelleneda filled; people signing the guestbooks saying "God bless this place." I literally shuddered and told Whitney that I felt like a sinner. And then I asked her if she'd take my picture next to the iron cast of little asthmatic Che in the front of the house.

Fascinating how the light from behind seems to halo my hood. Note the Toms sweatshirt, the Chile tshirt, and the maté as well.

On a more serious note, Chavez signed "Patria o muerte" and this gave me pause. In another room, you can read a letter that Che wrote to Castro about how the only way to solve the problems of Latin America are through fighting, and then he signed with a similar phrase.

The final lyrics of the Argentinian national anthem are thus quite powerful:

O juremos con gloria morir.

Translation: Or let us swear in glory to die.

Patriotism or death, eh? Interesting how we can get caught up in land that we had nothing to do with in terms of its creation. God, in His great mercy and in accordance with His good, pleasing and perfect will, placed us where we are today. I am certainly thankful to be from the US, but I don't know how to fight for a piece of land very well. Maybe that's just me.

Any way, we moved on and followed the celeste, white and gold way: found a local park and enjoyed some maté. After awhile, we headed back home and concluded the night with more tv shows. No fireworks. No hotdogs. Oh, and bundled up because it's wintertime. Chau.