January 15, 2007

Josh Mirrer and Seth Gorenstein

Today was the final dual-lecture day before embarking on our road trip to Santa Fe. The morning began with our last lecture at CEMLA, at which we learned about the Argentine-Italian population today. After the lecture, many of us did a service to ourselves and to the rest of the group: Laundry. Though washing underwear and shirts in a kitchen sink seemed charmingly low-key, it was a anachronistic and inconvenient practice in a world-class city with cheap and efficient laundromats just down the street. So for 13 pesos, we gave in, and dropped off our clothing around noon. Before some of us left for the cleaners, Lara´s purse was stolen from the hotel lobby, putting us on alert and showing us first-hand the hazards of travel. The afternoon brought us the second lecture of the day, lead by Ana Weinstein of AMIA, the Jewish organization of Argentina. She lectured us about the recent bombings of the Israeli embassy and AMIA, and highlighted the government´s lackluster judicial response to the latter. That night, after picking up our clean AND folded clothing, we lay low in the hotel: tomorrow would bring us the road trip, and an early start.