Soccer, Grandmas, and Everything In Between
I’m going to keep this week’s blog post pretty short because there isn’t a lot of job information that I am able to provide. Work, as always, is interesting, and I can’t wait for what next week brings. The trial for Federico Rey was 'suspended,' and we will get more details on why this week. In a work-adjacent conversation, my friend from Colima, MX told me about his grandmother and her work as a human rights activist in Mexico. Last year, she won the Premio Estatal en Derechos Humanos 2023 in Colima because of the extensive work she does, especially with indigenous women who suffer domestic abuse.
In an unsurprising development, another person left. Elyes flew back to Tunisia and then is heading to France, where he will start his internship. So open and friendly, but also funny and exasperating, Elyes is like a brother. I've never met someone who is so easy to be friends with; it just came so naturally without any effort. It was a horrible farewell, but we celebrated for several days before he left in order to make the most of our last days together. Never in my life have I met someone who was so easy to be friends with.
This week was filled with trips to Mercado San Telmo, the CABJ stadium, República de los Niños, La Boca, and many other places. Monday, as a pre- 4th of July celebration, featured Thanksgiving (a strong word for what actually occurred because I was working with limited ingredients here) dinner and American accents all around the home. Tuesday was a full day dedicated to cramming as many people around the kitchen table to finish school work and job applications. All of our friends came over Wednesday night for an asado to say goodbye to Elyes.
Thursday was possibly the most humbling day of my life thus far. I played soccer with a new group of people, and all I can say is that there are not words devastating enough to describe how good they were and how simply horrific I was. I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced getting passed a soccer ball and then having an opponent literally stop and wait for you to pass the ball to a teammate, but I can now say I have. But it was a wonderful time, and we went out to watch the Argentina v Ecuador Copa match after. We went directly from our game to the bar, still sweaty and, I’m sure, relatively gross, and were immediately engulfed by a hoard of Ecuador fans. Thankfully, after a tumultuous match, Argentina’s keeper pulled through on the penalty shootout, so they are moving on to the semi finals. When I say I would trade my soul for Argentina to win the Copa America while I’m here, I really do mean it. The celebration would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
I never cease being amazed by how much I love Buenos Aires and Argentina; I already know it’s going to be incredibly painful when it comes time to leave. For now, I leave you with some pictures from life this week.
