december 20
People here know that it’s almost Christmas, and stores have put up decorations. In fact, without Thanksgiving to serve as an official starting point for Christmas decorations, some stores had Christmas decorations up in mid-November. Not wanting to fall behind, my local grocery store had a happy 2003 sign up on Thanksgiving day:
But it’s nothing like back home. Scanning today’s paper, I see only two references to the upcoming holiday. Instead of December 25th, the date everybody is talking about here is December 20th. On that day last year, after weeks of heightened tension stemming from fears of an economic collapse and lack of faith in the government, Buenos Aires finally erupted. Middle-class Argentine housewives and families poured out of their houses, joining the ever-present jobless picketers, in a citywide cacerolazo -- a useful word meaning “a protest involving banging on pots and (casserole) pans.”
The had begun on the 19th and intensified overnight. At some point, a few rioters began smashing windows and trying to storm the Casa Rosada and the Congress. The police reacted violently and indiscriminately; by the day's end over thirty people were dead. Then-president De la Rúa finally fled the presidential palace by helicopter, escaping a swarm some thought would kill him.
Our friend Claudia got off work at 7 last December 20th and started to walk down to the 45 bus. She found herself caught up in a throng long before she reached the bus stop. She had just ducked into a doorway for shelter when suddenly a police truck came barrelling down the road, with an officer pointing a gun out the window and shooting. Next thing she knew the woman behind her had been shot in the leg.
What will happen this year? Will it be a commemoration of last year’s events, or a renewed call for change? Although the economy and political situation have stabilized since last December, poor and middle-class families continue to struggle and the 30% of the nation is unemployed.
Here’s hoping the date is less memorable this year.
City sidewalks, busy sidewalks.…or not.
Dressed in holiday style
In the air there's a feeling of Christmas
People here know that it’s almost Christmas, and stores have put up decorations. In fact, without Thanksgiving to serve as an official starting point for Christmas decorations, some stores had Christmas decorations up in mid-November. Not wanting to fall behind, my local grocery store had a happy 2003 sign up on Thanksgiving day:
But it’s nothing like back home. Scanning today’s paper, I see only two references to the upcoming holiday. Instead of December 25th, the date everybody is talking about here is December 20th. On that day last year, after weeks of heightened tension stemming from fears of an economic collapse and lack of faith in the government, Buenos Aires finally erupted. Middle-class Argentine housewives and families poured out of their houses, joining the ever-present jobless picketers, in a citywide cacerolazo -- a useful word meaning “a protest involving banging on pots and (casserole) pans.”
The had begun on the 19th and intensified overnight. At some point, a few rioters began smashing windows and trying to storm the Casa Rosada and the Congress. The police reacted violently and indiscriminately; by the day's end over thirty people were dead. Then-president De la Rúa finally fled the presidential palace by helicopter, escaping a swarm some thought would kill him.
Our friend Claudia got off work at 7 last December 20th and started to walk down to the 45 bus. She found herself caught up in a throng long before she reached the bus stop. She had just ducked into a doorway for shelter when suddenly a police truck came barrelling down the road, with an officer pointing a gun out the window and shooting. Next thing she knew the woman behind her had been shot in the leg.
What will happen this year? Will it be a commemoration of last year’s events, or a renewed call for change? Although the economy and political situation have stabilized since last December, poor and middle-class families continue to struggle and the 30% of the nation is unemployed.
Here’s hoping the date is less memorable this year.