Ladies and gentlemen! What a weekend I had, and it's only Saturday! Yesterday afternoon I went back to the Polideportivo of Argentinos Juniors and took a look through their unpublished centenial chronicle. The book goes from the beginnings of the team until 2004. It was so interesting! It's definitely going to help me with my paper! I just really hope that there's a photocopier in the library at the club, because if not, I'm going to have to take all the notes on my laptop or by hand! Because the book is not published, I'm not allowed to take it out of the complex. But the complex, wooow! It's enormous! A smaller stadium, pool, three or four gymnasiums, the housing complexes for the younger divisions that come from the provinces, a library, hockey rinks, basketball courts, tennis courts, it has EVERYTHING! The people there were very nice!
A couple of hours after I got back, the shenanigans began! Jess, another girl from the IFSA Butler exchange program, and I went on a train to San Isidro. We slept at the house of a girl on the team, so we didn't have to get up incredibly early this morning, and also because it wasn't definite that we'd have enough cars to transport everyone. Now, my host mother Ines had told me something before, when having a conversation with me about the racial dynamics of this country. She said that if I didn't dress as nice as I did and carry myself like I do, because of my skin color I'd be subject to what I would phrase as Argentina's version of "racial profiling", that is to say, being the first one in a particular situation to be stopped by the police and asked for documentation. Now, on the train, there were these group of boys with darker skin dressed like they were from the slums (no political incorrectness intended) who looked to be no more than 14 at the oldest. Some of them looked as young as 10. So, about two stations after we boarded, I see a man dressed very officially (that is to say, in clothes indicating he was a conductor or in some manner worked on the train) walking very fast from car to car. Next station, the train stops completely. The police board our car, and one of them asks the man I saw, "Which ones?" and then man points to this group of boys. The police man (with another who came after) start questioning the boys. One of the officers hurried one boy off the train, and frisked him right then and there! It ended up that the group was allowed to stay because someone spoke up and said the troublemakers the conductor was looking for had moved to a different car, but when they started mouthing off to the police officers after the train left that station, they were kicked off at the next stop. The police man left with them so I have no idea what happened after that.
And why am I telling you all this? It just interested me immensly because (granted, I don't know if they somehow got on without paying), they were not doing anything, and practically everyone on the train told the conductor and the police officers that the group of boys had caused the trouble. Sure, maybe one was playing the music on his phone loudly, but nothing more. All because of how they were dressed and how they carried themselves. The rest of the train ride was fine, and I guess it makes me feel more secure in a manner of speaking, because police can board the trains, but I was still very surprised that this group of boys was pointed out so rapidly!
We got to Victoria, one town over from San Isidro, to the house of my friend Paula. It's just her and her mother, and the house would definitely fit America's qualifications of a mansion. She has 6 dogs, and some fish. They were very hospitable, and I felt completely at home! I had a lot of fun playing pool, playing cards, and watching movies, and this morning... our soccer team (Universidad Torquato di Tella) played against the University of Buenos Aires. We ended up losing 6-3, but WOW did we put up a good fight. It was a game I could be proud of, as opposed to last weeks. I'm still learning my new position of goalie, and maybe after a couple more games I won't make so many mistakes! The girls were very nice and respectful. Apparently, they had a good reason to be. They are first place in the league, and they've played 8 games so far with only one goal against them in the entire 8 games. Today we scored 3 against them! UBA trains a lot more intensly than we do, but I kind of would prefer it that way!
Well, that's all the updates for now.
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