June 19, 2006
So I just left Uruguay. Uruguay is a country I know nothing about, so it is strange that it kept surprising me, as I had no ideas about it to start with. Actually, before I discuss Uruguay, I should finish off with Buenos Aires. On my last day in Buenos Aires I visited the Museo Eva Peron. I've been fascinated by Evita since high school, perhaps because I played her in a high school Spanish video (to Ryan's Juan Peron), or perhaps because of Madonna. Either way. The Museo Eva Peron is NOT recommended by "Let's Go Argentina," but I decided to press forward and visit it anyway, which was bound to be a mistake. This museum was ridiculous - there was a whole room devoted to THE SAME picture of Evita, displayed on every wall. Not a variety of pictures, but the exact same one in different sizes. The translations into English made no sense at all, I really had very little idea what they were talking about. The highlight, disgustingly, was video footage of Evita's corpse, which was disfigured after she died. Why they would show us footage of this, with her sister narrating over it, escaped and I dare say horrified me. Some of you may know this, but Eva Peron has been kidnapped and moved around the globe since her death, in a series of weird political maneuverings. For a while her body was even held hostage. Anyway, in the final room of the museum was a sign proclaiming: "This has been a very compact and incomplete panorama of Evita's life.¨ Indeed. But, I mean, if you are a museum devoting yourself entirely to the legend of one woman, it's probably not in your best interest to announce that you provided us with a very ¨incomplete panorama.¨ Not good PR people.
Actually, the Museo Eva Peron is not the only ridiculous museum I've come across as of late. In Colonia, Uruguay, my group visited a museum whose highlight was listed in the guidebook as a mushroom. So naturally we went for a visit. When we asked about the mushroom we were met with strange looks. It turns out this wasn't a large mushroom, poisonous mushroom, or anything of the sort. It was just a regular medium sized mushroom in the lobby. Those guidebook writers really think they're funny messing with us.
Colonia is a strange little town, only in that there are apparently NO people who live there. Really, there are none. In two full days we saw only each other and the waiters at one restaurant. We saw no other patrons at this restaurant, nor at any other. Actually we did see a few school kids on a main road, all of them dressed as nurses. For some reason, that has not been made clear to me, they dress kids in Uruguay as medical professionals.
A little more about Uruguay... It seems to be a country suffering from a bit of an identity crisis. I will site two examples. First, they have a Museo de Gaucho y Moneda. That is, they have a museum dedicated to cowboys and money, respectively. In the same building. Each section completely unrelated to the other. Second, we went to a nightclub (and I use that term lightly) in Montevideo that attempted to mix more varied styles of nightlife than I have ever seen in one spot. Early on in the evening we were treated to some folk music by one singer/guitar player. He was promptly replaced, however, by an acrobat swinging from the ceiling, straight out of cirque du soleil. Then, once the acrobat finished, heavy metal and fog machines came on, and things really heated up. The crowd, too, was a mystery, ranging from middle aged Brazilians in tight pants to teeney bopper tourists (my group) to hip looking locals. It was all very bizarre, yet strangely enjoyable.
I just arrived in Brazil this morning, and it's too early to tell much about the place. My group is off to see some birds now (did I mention I hate birds?) Luckily this group is a riot, teenagers included. The youngest girls do tend to break out into song and spontaneous hand games, as young girls do. Everyone, however (including the giant boys...more on them later) is funny.
Ok, must run. Wouldn't want to miss a bird sighting.
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