Headline, March04, 2013

'''BUENOS AIRES : 

THE 'PARIS' OF THE SOUTH'''

There can be no romance without tragedy, which is why Buenos Aires is so hard to resist. They call it the Paris of the South, which is as accurate as far as it goes. If they mean the grand houses, the shiny cafes, the elegant opera house, the beautifully dressed people, then yes, B.A. -as the whole world now seem to call it   -is the Paris of the South.

But not so long ago, that would miss the tragedy of Argentine life: the anguished cry of the tango singer; the acrid whiff of the tear gas floating down from the Plaza de Mayo; the perpetual slow motion economic collapse; the annual political crises; the new problem piled on top of the old. And to miss the tragedy is to miss the place itself. Without failure what would be the point? Without doom, what tenderness.

And bad times there were. Through the 1990s, Argentina stumbled from crises to crises, and tourists would drift through the capital city after visiting Peruvian prisons or hiking in the mud with Colombian guerrillas. And there was always a chance encounter and strange chats with prosperous smugglers and ruined financiers, nights of drinking and music that lasted until dawn.

Then in 2001, Argentina's pretty house of cards trembled and finally collapsed. The 1990s had been a decade of high flying prosperity  -but, a fake prosperity, built on plundering the economy and inflating the currency. When it came crashing down, Argentines suddenly discovered that they were poor. The vast capital, the heart of Latin America's most developed, sophisticated nation, was torn by riots that lead to looting and then shooting.

In her redundantly titled Bad Times In Buenos Aires, Miranda France noted of the city that ''each morning's newspapers proclaimed a new catastrophe. That was 1990s, mind you. Since then the yawning chasm between dream and reality had gradually been filled, and unfilled, year after year, with small dozes of daily despair

With a rare mastery of beautiful Music, Tango emerged. The empire of corruption fell apart.  Tango usually means a lonely guitar player exploding into tragic verse. Tango is the blues and the blues is Buenos Aires. Now, one of the great cities of the world from which the rest of us can learn many many lessons.

And just one thing more: How does everyone in Buenos Aires keep so skinny or manage to stay wake for ever and ever? Both should be impossible!!

Hahaha!

With respectful and loving dedication to the Students of Argentina!  Lets have you contributing. Let's See you all on !WOW!

Good Night & God Bless!

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless