Is it our motherland's birthday? Is it the anniversary of the May Revolution? Is it the beginning of our history (and all the previous events do not count)? Or is it the first shout of freedom that led to our independence from Spain? Whatever May 25th 1810 is, we must feel proud of living in this country and, no matter our religious beliefs or our political party, or our province of origin, WE ARE ALL ARGENTOS and we should shout it proudly!!
(This video is two years old, from the Bicentennial time, but it represents us)
His voice was unbearable when he shouted "Viva el 25 de Mayo de 1810!!" from the TV screen, but we miss him. We miss those full-of-useful-school-stuff magazines that saved us when we had to prepare a poster or a cover for any special task at primary school, among other things our teacher asked. And we learned so much by reading its pages full of poems, comics, lists of vocabulary, words and phrases in (strange) languages, dossiers, etc. Don't know you, but at least I... I miss 'Anteojito'.
Today, 18th May, we celebrate the Day of the Argentine Rosette and the May Week officially starts. It is assumed that on this date in 1810, the cockade or rosette was first used by the ladies of Buenos Aires during the events of the May Revolution. Officially, the Argentine Rosette Day was instituted by the National Council of Education in 1935, and its celebration takes place on 18 May. There are many debatable facts about this cockade and its real colours, its relation with the National flag lately created by Manuel Belgrano, etc. but the real thing is that in our country when things or people are old we are likely to say that they are 'mas viejos que la escarapela'. My question is: is there an equivalent to say this phrase in English? 'Es más viejo que la escarapela' probably makes sense only in Argentina where every (every?) schoolboy knows that on the 25th May 1810 the people of Buenos Aires rallied at the main square in front of the Cabildo to claim self-government and autonomy from Spain. It is said that two patriots, French and Berutti (chisperos, punteros politicos or piqueteros, maybe?), started to distribute white-and-blue badges, cockades or rosettes? (choose the most apropriate one) among followers to show identification with the cause. Obviously, this saying refers to something very old and the best equivalent for all Spanish-speaking people to understand is 'es más viejo que Colón'. Now, I repeat, is there an equivalent version in English? Surfing the web I found some good tries...
Older than dirt; older than God; older than God's grandpa; such an old chestnut; older than the hills; as old as the National insignia.
I am convinced there's going to be a huge concert iup there in Heaven since God is calling all the greatest artist to perform in it. We'll miss you, Donna!!
Many people -my friends, my partners, my family, my students, etc- know of my Michael Jackson fanatism and how much I love his music to the point that I always try to introduce at least one topic at school using any of his songs or videos. This year I've been working with 6th formers at school on Earth Day and I have decided to introduce the topic through the watching of Michael Jackson's video "Earth Song". It's a fantastic song about the damage we, humans, are doing not only to our planet but also to ourselves. Children loved it and some proposed to watch some other videos like "Man in the mirror", "They don't care about us" and "Heal the world". These ones deal more with social problems rather than with environmental ones, but anyway we could adapt the topic to what we were doing. This led me to the idea of dealing with the theme of Human Rights, Wars, Racism, among others. So I decided to create a video for an unreleased song called WE'VE HAD ENOUGH and it is my idea to use it in class at the right moment. Although it shows some strong images I hope you enjoy it.
"We've Had Enough"
Love was taken from a young life
And no one told her why
Her direction has a dimlight
From one more violent crime
She innocently questioned why
Why her father had to die
She asked the men in blue
How is it that you get to choose
Who will live and who will die
Did God say that you could decide?
You saw he didn't run
And that my daddy had no gun
In the middle of a village
Way in a distant land
Lies a poor boy with his broken toy
Too young to understand
He's awaken, ground is shakin`
His father grabs his hand
Screaming, crying, his wife's dying
Now he's left to explain
He innocently questioned why
Why his mother had to die
What did these soldiers come here for?
If they're for peace, why is there war?
Did God say that they could decide
Who will live and who will die?
All my mama ever did
Was try to take care of her kids
We're innocently standing by
Watching people lose their lives
It seems as if we have no voice
It's time for us to make a choice
Only God could decide
Who will live and who will die
There's nothing that can't be done
If we raise our voice as one
They've gotta hear it from me
They've gotta hear it from you
They've gotta hear it from us
We can't take it
We've already had enough
They've gotta hear it from me
They've gotta hear it from you
They've gotta hear it from us
We can't take it
We've already had enough
They've gotta hear it from me
They've gotta hear it from you
They've gotta hear it from you baby
We can't take it
We've already had enough
Deep in my soul baby
Deep in your soul and let God decide
Deep in my soul
It's up to me and I'm still alive
They've gotta hear it from us
We can't take it
We've already had enough
It's going down baby
Just let God decide,
What's going on baby
Just let God decide
Deep in my soul baby
We've already had enough
They've gotta hear it from me
They've gotta hear it from you
They've gotta hear it from us
One does not have the oportunity of coming across a celebrity such as Charlie Lopez everyday, though that celebrity was made of cardboard paper... haha. Anyway, I didn't want to lose the chance of having a picture with him. Notice my son's face...! "Who on Earth is this man????", he seems to be thinking.
I have just finished reading this moving book which I have had in my bookshelf for so many years and never found the right moment to read. I remember my brother gave it to me. He had bought it at some bookstore in Avenida Corrientes. It tells the story of a Jewish girl who, just like Anne Frank, had to live hidden during war. After being abandonned by her father, she, her mother and her brother had to face famine, violence and fear in a devastated Budapest where being Jewish was no longer safe. After suffering the loss of some members of her family, living in extremely poor conditions and getting false documments, they reach France and, finally, Cuba. It's amazing how the author tells us some painful moments of her childhood with such an extraordinary sense of humor that, according to her words, saved her from insanity. I truly recommended it. It is a vivid chronnicle of those hard, atrocious times humanity suffered. Sadly, Magda was not able to see her memoirs published since she died of a heart attack at age 62 a week before the publication of the book. The title of the book in Spanish is CASTILLOS DE DOLOR, published by EMECE.
- Alvin Toffler
