...and then, sometimes you just don't need words

As promised, my writings today will be a sort of continuation from my most recent post. More specifically, I'll be describing why I chose the second half of that particular blog title that you find reposted as my title today. Plus, I'm going to attempt and do a recap of a full, exciting weekend and provide a sneak peek into potential excitement of my life this week. Shall we? I backtrack at this point, all the way to last Thursday...

I'll be honest, I'd had a relatively rough day between missing people from home, feeling like class activities did not turn out how I'd hoped, and making some scheduling decisions that made it impossible for me to go to basketball practice, my number one, go-to stress reliever. On sort of a last minute whim, I remembered that my referente had sent me a list of Semana de Mayo events (May 18th-25th). Thus, in an earnest attempt to fight both homesickness and being angry with myself [for potentially sitting around, sulking in self-pity], I found myself back out the door for a dance performance at the Domo del Centenario (image number 7 on this linked webpage). Truthfully, I don't know that much about dance but I"m thankful that this has never impeded my enjoyment of a dance performance that I have attended; the results of my choice on Thursday were no different. I was simply astounded when I entered the Domo. An amazing facility only a year or two old, this performance venue features an expansive stage, intricate light design capabilities, large projection screens on either side of the stage, very comfortable seating, and an impressive sound system that draws you in and doesn't let you go. I had the joy of watching the Ballet Folklórico Nacional, Ballet Nacional de Paraguay, Compañía Nacional de Danza Contemporánea, and Ballet Contemporáneo del Chaco in this single evening's performances.

One of the dance companies and its choreographers taking a bow after their performance in the Domo.

There was, of course, one performance that struck me with the realization that: "this dance shows exactly how I feel!" The piece was titled Con(fe)fia, confia meaning trust and fe meaning faith in Spanish. The dance featured six young women (if I remember correctly), five of them wearing dresses of vibrant colors like yellow, blue and a deep purple and the sixth in a dress of a similar style but markedly different as it was a pure white. From the beginning, the performance's choreography made clear that this young woman was to be identified as the "oddball." While she began her own dance movements, the others maintained a certain distance and watched with curiosity. While the group participated in seamlessly synchronized movements, she was found completing some unique movement of her own. While the piece's "oddball" seemed to express a desire to blend in with the at-large movements, she seemed to be able to do so only when the others consciously acted to guide her steps. In this way, the young woman eventually drifted closer to imitating the others' synchronized movements until, at the conclusion, they all joined together in a circle around the "oddball" and watched her pour a pitcher of water into a separate basin at her feet. While I haven't developed my own interpretation for what the pitcher of water might symbolize at the end of this performance, I certainly felt like I could relate on multiple levels to the relationships that were developed in this artistic piece. Coming to Resistencia and having my own way of "being" (distinct from the culture to which I have relocated), trying to synchronize my own movements, mannerisms and actions with this new culture [and failing miserably at times], experiencing little bits of success here and there as I am guided by new friends, and hoping that my own relationships will be marked by some natural climax of acculturation (highly unlikely) are just a few of the ways that I saw my own life mirrored in this dance piece. As I mentioned, I have no official training in the history nor practice of dance. However, I think it's important to recognize that sometimes you just don't need words when a performance like this one communicates so vividly with its own language of movement and feelings.

In other news, I had a great, great weekend. Let's title this next segment "My Weekend in Photos:"

Making BLT pizza with friends from church

Or a modified version of BLT pizza anyways that included salami rather than bacon..

On Saturday, returning to Puerto Tirol (small nearby town) to have an English conversation hour with people there. I also saw the streets lined with booths for the festival of Santa Rita happening the next day (22nd).

Buses lined up in Resistencia to go to Puerto Tirol on Sunday. Apparently over 200,000 people visit this small town (population 5- or 6,000) every May 22nd for this festival. Crazy!

Saturday evening I went to the nearby city of Corrientes to see a Chamamé performance, have dinner on the costanera and just generally hang out with Fulbright ETA Hannah who lives there.

These are both photos of the Chamamé performance, a kind of folk dance in Argentina.

Despite the fact that it was an early, out the door at 8:00 am, morning in Corrientes, I couldn't have been happier to be up and about. The day was GORGEOUS! Note: We're well into autumn here and enjoyed 80 degree days Saturday and Sunday.

I made my way to the gym where my team, Club Sarmiento, had our first game in a tournament ...

Argentine basketball games definitely resemble something closer to soccer games, especially in the intense emotions and style of play that are brought to the court.

Crazy stuff happens during games. For example, one of my teammates went to shoot a layup. However, she was directly under the basket. The ball went straight up through the bottom of the hoop and then straight back down through the net. The referees counted this as a basket. No joke. The other team went bizerk that we were given the points.

Later, some of my teammates jumped off the bench in anger at a call that was made and they all were thrown out of the gym (i.e. they had to go stand in the doorway that was almost directly in front of the court where they probably made more noise than before, pounding on the door. haha)

But, we won! I'm learning to love the style of the game here and just go with it. These are a couple of my teammates on the bus ride back to Resistencia.

So there you have it, my weekend in pictures. Tomorrow is an important day in Argentina and super important here in the Chaco province. 25 de mayo is celebrated here as the day that Argentina began its revolution against Spain. I'm told there will be a big parade that goes through town tomorrow as well as special dishes like locro (a beef stew) and pastelitos (special pastries made in bunches on this day). However, most exciting for Resistencia is that Argentina's president, Cristina Kirchner, will be here to speak! Much of the main plaza has been closed off the last week in preparation for this visit. Additionally, in the afternoon, Argentina's soccer team will be playing Paraguay at a stadium just outside Resistencia. I wish I was going to be part of that grand sporting event but I suppose I shall just have to be excited from a distance. Life is exciting would actually be a grand understatement...in honor of the holiday: Viva la Patria!