On
the day he decided to become a vegetarian, he arrived at the dilapidated
International Terminal of the airport at Buenos Aires. The American Airlines
from Miami had been staffed with Argentine grandmothers who could joyously use
their time better with their grandchildren than playing Sudoku, checking their Facebook
pages, while them and their bored passengers, patiently awaiting service which
never came, counted the hours to the touchdown. The terminal was full of Jews
returning to celebrate the austere holiday where many of the foods that made
Argentina famous are forbidden. He knew immediately that the timing of his
arrival was inconsistent with the desires of his palate, so asked G-d for
forgiveness as he dug into the plate of Lomo Salteado accompanied by a full
bodied Malbec.
This
rich country of immigrants has been successfully exploited repeatedly by its
elected leaders, including a thief from Aleppo. Now this most European of all Latin
American countries is sinking under its own illusion, the running inflation
cutting deeply into their dreams of exporting the country’s wealth to Miami
Beach.
I
just had lunch at a restaurant in Palermo. I don’t think there is any other
city with such concentration of a variety of restaurants, as long as you
understand that Argentina is famous for its steaks and its Malbec. Long lines
formed at the parilladas, most people were well dressed and lean, despite the
portions of meat they are about to devour, some of them the size of a flat
screen TV. Red wines at the ready (only the feeble drink white wine, they told
me), these trendy portenos would not be out of place in Madrid or Barcelona!
I
had come here to relax, after hectic days of clinical work with the Indians,
preparing diligently to give an anthropologically oriented talk about Health
Care to the Indians, before departing for that movable feast that is La
Habana, Cuba. Buenos Aires is one of the nicest cities to visit, I plan to
visit no tourist sites.
I
am content in Palermo, the very same streets that had felt the footsteps of
that great essayist, Jorge Luis Borges
