Banging Pots and Pans

Wrote this one last week, but couldn't post it right away:

Im afraid I have to start off this entry on a sad note. I found out today that back in the States, while The Boat was being driven to her new home she finally quit. If you never had a chance to meet my Tank she was a dented, rusty 84 Chevy Caprice : ghetto fabulous, smooth and loud... she will be missed. I guess she didnt want anyone driving her but me.

I have been brushing up on my Argentinian politics ever since I attended a protest this past Monday (6/16) to take some pictures. My host family, like most of Argentina it seems, has been paying close attention to the standoff between striking farmers and the current administration. It was all complicated, I had been repeatedly assured and seemed quite far away.

On Monday evening I was pleasantly comatose... until rudely awakened by near continuous car horns and gratuitous saucepan bashing outside (very loud).

After watching the news and deciding that yes, in fact, I still could not understand Spanish, I grabbed my camera and walked downtown to see for myself.

From talking to my spanish teachers and reading a few articles (including the one below), the tradition of saucepan bashing in protests began in Buenos Aires, January of 2002 when it lit up apartment balconies, spread across the city, and ended in a spontaneous and violent clash with police in the city central Plaza de Mayo. Empty pots... empty stomachs, the sound of hunger was deafening.

(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1754399.stm)

The protest I watched was one of many across the country... small, neither desperate nor violent. The tactic of saucepan bashing is pretty intense as you can see from the video clip I took.

The agricultural strikes and roadblocks affect delivery of groceries and things to stores around the country. As I walked past old women and young children banging pots and pans, I reflected on the relative stability I take for granted and the fragile nature of governments in general. It was not long ago that Argentinians experienced oppression by a tyrannical government. This memory is very much alive, it appears, as I watch the people demanding communication with their leaders. I still have much to learn about this situation.

Enough politics for today/this week... Im off to prepare for my climbing trip this weekend!

-N