either/or

Americans are vaguely familar with the Faulkland Islands war, but not as familar with the impact on Argentine history, nor with the fact that the Islas Malvinas, as they’re called in Castellano, have their status as Argentine territory written into the Constitution. Further, that the war, triggered by the occupation of South Georgia by Argentina in March of 1982, was a huge boost to Margaret Thatcher. Of course i learned this mostly from Wikipedia, and from this really nice guy I met on craigslist who came to buy some of our furniture in Seattle. He was a walking encyclopedia on the whole war.

I found this Elvis Costello song today and though I think i’ve heard it before I never realized the subject was the war, and the fact that the BBC calls it the most lyrically deft and intelligent protest songs ever written.

Wednesday marks a vote in the Senate for the tax increases on farmers that have been the subject of intense controversy over the past four months or so. There were two rallies. The first was on Libertador with the supporters of the campo, about 180,000 to 200,000 people according to the news this evening. The second was in plaza de mayo and the AP said 95,000 people were there on the ‘pro-government’ side. AP Article. On a personal note, this is about six blocks from our apartment.

A number of people have asked me why we moved from Seattle, and further, why Argentina. My short answer is ‘adventure’, which incidentally when you tell an Argentine that we moved here because we wanted to and not for work, you generally get a sense of a ’spark’ of interest and something else - they feel honored that you would desire to live in their country. Which is not to say that it is any honor at all for us to be here, i’m just glad they’re letting us stay!

But the longer answer is more complicated. The move is both the byproduct of a series of small choices to live differently, and one of those choices. An experiment in living independently, not beholden to expectations, be it from friends, family, career. A chance to learn about ourselves, etc. Chance for our kids to learn a different language.

But why not Europe? France or Spain? Czechoslovakia - Prague? Why South America, and if South America, why not Santiago, since Chile has the most stable and fastest growing economy? But i think if you look at it from the perspective of:

• The dollar is still (relatively) strong - rules out Western Europe, Australia/NZ
• Real Estate is a good investment - rules out Prague, Romania
• The language and culture are (reasonably) penetrable - nix Turkey, most of Asia
• The country is (relatively) safe - gone are Brazil, Mexico, Peru.
• Require an interesting, cosmopolitan city, which would bump BA ahead of Santiago

Very quickly Argentina is at the top of any short list. Just look at the cost of living for these European cities.