musings

Yesterday we headed out to Tigre for a day trip. Shortly after the train pulled out of Retiro Station I saw what I hadn't yet seen but knew to be lurking somewhere - namely abject poverty. In a word the ghetto. Here in BA these are referred to as as Villa Mercias. This particular Villa passing by the train window is known by the name of Villa Trente Uno. It is a shanty town with with a population of 15,000. The houses are little more than cinder block, brick, mortar and corrugated metal roofs that seem to lack much in the way of structural integrity. Many of the residents are immigrants from Bolivia and Paraguay that have come to Buenos Aires for a better life or job or both. The interesting thing about these Villas is that they are for the most part self-sufficient. They have electricity that they have wired up themselves and basic plumbing that they have installed with their own hands. They appoint a villa President to oversea affairs, have their own general store and youth centers. There are some 750,000 people living in in Capital Federale who reside in these villas. One would imagine the residents to be socially marginalized and likely discriminated against. It is a stark contrast to the image of BA as a slice of Europe grafted onto the South American continent. Considering that BA is a city of 16 million 40% of which live below the poverty line it is suprizing that the population of these villas is not larger that what it is.

Tigre is a charming place. It is an island that sits on the Parana River Delta about an hour outside of BA. Residents off of the main island live on their own private islands in the river. Some of these residential islands are no more than an acre or two. Each home is built up on stilts in anticipation of flooding. Each island home seemed very personal, with their own boats and docks and placards in the front yard proclaiming the name of their abodes such as Andreas, Palmas, Dorrego etc. It was amusing to see Direct TV Satellite dishes tacked on to boat docks or nailed on to two by fours in the reeds. The local elementary school and church are situated on their own islands and water buses bring the kids to school. The main port is called Peurto Di Frutos. Historically the port was the aggregation point for all the fruits that were brought up and around the Parana River. The fruit at the port looked beautiful, completely organic with none of that paraffin polished sheen you see in your major supermarkets. It was tough to get decent photos on a moving water taxi but what I did get I will leave HERE

So there is an interesting political parallel here. Nestor Kirchner the Prime Minister of BA has a wife Christina who is running for the presidency. The election is this October. Like her husband she is also a Peronist and is currently a senator. The city is plastered with posters of a computer enhanced image of Christina Kirchner. I am trying to think of Hillary Clinton employing this tactic. I keep coming back to the Spy Magazine cover(you remember Spy right?) during the '92 election campaign where they glued Hillary's head onto a Dominatrix's body complete with riding crop. I think it would certainly spice up the otherwise droll race back home.


For some reason BA is the most psycho-analyzed place on planet earth. There is one psychoanalyst for every 30 residents.. I was at a dinner party and met a French woman who was studying psychology here. I asked her if she had any insight into this phenomenon her reply was simply "no but I am here to find out." Maybe its a well guarded trade secret? For people inundated with beautiful food, women and architecture one has to wonder how the national Psyche could possibly have come so unhinged? I suppose one could present a similar question about neurotic New Yorkers though.