Wednesday, September 21st, marked two rather exciting events here in Resistencia (and, generally in Argentina). Whether you take the position that these events are worthy of an official vacation day or not, my institution was closed on Wednesday in honor of: the arrival of spring and día del estudiante (students' day). I asked a variety of people why we officially had the day off (i.e. Was the holiday for the first day of spring or for students' day?), and I don't think I really got a definitive answer one way or another. However, I did take note that a majority of businesses were not closed on Wednesday, leading me to believe that the holiday [for those who had it] is more a celebration of students' day. At any rate, the weather was beautiful on Wednesday, announcing spring's arrival, and I celebrated with many students so I suppose you might call me an "equal opportunity celebrator" of these September 21st holidays.
Truthfully, my exposure to the holidays began on Tuesday while teaching at San Fernando. On arriving at the institute, I noticed some very loud music playing, audible just outside the institute, in its open-air, enclosed patio and inside many of its classrooms. So loud was the music that I thought it was playing on San Fernando's cement patio (which sits just behind the building) where students often gather to have mate or chat. You can imagine my surprise when I realized that the music was actually coming from the school behind our institute, a decent 100 yards [away at its closest point]. The students there were having some sort of outdoor celebration, playing music through a powerful sound system and engaging in a variety of other games. I gave a lesson to second year students that day connecting an individual's acculturation process with Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, and while I could easily tune out everything [linguistically] that was happening outside, you can imagine how difficult my students found it to pay attention during the lesson. Spanish music playing outside and English being spoken by the teacher in the classroom- I think you know which one of these won over in my students' natural attention spans.
Celebrations continued that evening in the central plaza of Resistencia. I went with a basketball teammate to watch the grand parade for Día del Estudiante. This city gathering consists of nearly every public high school's representation in the parade with an elaborate float and accompanying troupe of dancers made up from students at the school. I guess this competition is a pretty big deal and students invest a lot of time and effort into the floats and their performances. After witnessing this Día del Estudiante spectacle/tradition I can officially say that I've been to a parade that I think was more monotonous than Granville's 4th of July parade. All the students were lined up to pass in front of the principal stage in a timely manner, but there was an inexplicable, significant delay of nothingness between each group/float's advancement (somewhere between five and ten minutes).
Anyways, we watched a handful of floats and, truthfully, I was pretty unimpressed with most of the dances that had been arranged until I saw one final group before our departure. This school's students were dressed in all-white outfits and moved forward in a somber sort of way to the main presentation stage. Their dance was not only performed in unison but, more importantly, it featured choreography and music that were in remembrance of those persecuted and killed during Argentina's military government in the 70's and 80's. As I caught glimpses of this group performing, I thought that yes, there is still hope that this generation can rise up and invest themselves in something meaningful, something life-changing for themselves and generations of Argentines to come.
On Día del Estudiante itself, I joined a rather large group of students from my church who went to a park just outside the city. There, we started the day with a couple organized activities then dispersed to enjoy some sports, listening to music, eating lunch and simply enjoying the day. I don't think we could have asked for more perfect weather to usher in the official start of spring, and while I know we still have days that will be cooler than preferred in the next month, I am certainly looking forward to afternoons with blinding sun and evenings where I might sit outside on my back porch or at a restaurant with friends to enjoy dinner.
Día del Estudiante didn't end on Wednesday though; it continued on Thursday when we returned to San Fernando for classes. Mid-morning, we started hearing rumors from people that the student union had a surprise for the students and shortly thereafter, the following group appeared in the institute's central patio:
Two huge base drums, a snare drum and two other miscellaneous percussion instruments = enough noise to totally eliminate the possibility of having class for probably 15 minutes. I can't remember at the moment what the Brazilian name is for this street percussion ensemble...
I also found these displays at the institute rather interesting and very educational. They show many of the high school students from the province who were rather active in their student associations and/or politics in the time of the most recent military dictatorship. As a result of their activism, they were taken away by the government, never to be heard of again.
Just a bit of reflection on Día del Estudiante before I bring this entry to a close: while I haven't talked to many teachers, it seems that most were not wildly in favor of the holiday. Obviously instruction time is missed in the classroom on the holiday itself but at the high school level students also apparently miss classes here and there prior to the big day to prepare their floats and perfect their dance routines. So, the source of support for this holiday still perplexes me a bit (local, provincial and national government support?), but regardless, it is quite the collective celebration for young people here. As I move on to future entries here, I promise to be a more devoted blogger, especially in the next week as I have several days off. Explanation on that to come as there is much to be shared from recent life in Resistencia...
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