Plazas, Cementaries, and Theater

Plaza de Mayo


Jessica suggested that we stop by the Asociación Madres Plaza de Mayo. The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo have held a protest every week since the 1970's on behalf of the "desaparecidos," or disappeared people, who were taken away and often tortured or killed by the Argentinian government during the "Dirty War." Estimates of the numbers of desaparcidos range from 10,000-30,000. Today, the mothers continue to fight for human rights, government transparency, and information about their missing children and loved ones. This photo is of a poster up in their headquarters of showing some of their missing family members.


The Basicila del Pilar, near La recoleta


La recoleta is a cementary for the richest and most famous Argentinians. Its interesting not only because of the impressive people who are buried there, but also because it seems that wealthy Buenos Aires society competed as to who could have the biggest, most extravagant tomb built for them when they died! Today the cementary a major tourist attraction...its pretty creepy really, since there are over 6,000 tombs and mausoleums.




The tomb of Eva Perón


I stand smiling next to a tomb of a young girl who was buried alive. Gruesome, I know.


On a less gruesome note, we toured Teatro Colón, one of the most exquisite opera houses in the world. Its luxurious and absolutely enormous. On the tour we saw dancers rehearsing, the costume storage area (90,000 costumes!), the shoe 'library', and wig-makers at work.


Indian food for supper! After bland Chilean food, the amazingly flavorful, delicious, and cheap restaurants seemed like a dream come true. By Monday, my taste buds were completely overwhelmed. I was actually kind of relieved when I got home to my host family's this afternoon and found out that we were having french fries, rice, and bread for lunch ; )