Welcome to the new-look Puerta del Sol Blog, now even more gorgeous than ever with differences to be found to both left and (ahem) right. Make yourself at home. I'm not fully au fait with it yet (we're in Movable Type now), so please bear with me...

Do U Cry 4 me Argentina was the name of one of the 18 films, all Argentinian, that I saw at the BAFICI (that's what we call it, you know) last week in Buenos Aires. And the film that won was a Spanish film called El cielo gira, which was recently lauded here on Puerta del Sol Blog. So that means that of my week there, about 1500 minutes, was spent sitting in darkened cinemas, about 500 minutes of which were worth it. But I learned a lot about Argentina. I learned about a place called Saladillo, 182 km from BA (that's what we call it, you know) where people make their own films, because nobody gives them any money to. They're popular, too, and make money. So that's one example of Argentina's burgeoning alternative economy, which is probably healthier than Colombia's. I learned about Cándido López, who was a soldier in the War of the Triple Alliance and who did sketches of war scenes which he then turned into fascinating paintings - which he carried out with one arm, because he lost the other in the war. I learned what it's like to be a student at school with no money in the middle of the desert, and I learned what it was like laying the 700 km Camisea pipeline between the Peruvian cordillera and the coast (though I didn't learn about the ecological damage it caused). I learned about two guys called Orlando and Luis, who live in two abandoned Ford Falcons in the city center. Orlando was there at the screening of the film, and after it they passed round a hat into which poeple put 600 pesos. (He says he likes living in a car - less hassle than living in a house.) I learned about the legendary transvestite who made a decent living standing on street corners at night dressed like this lady, and I learned what it's like to be a member of the 1.5 generation, which is the name they give to young Korean immigrants in BA. That I leaned from a feature film, not from a documentary - I didn't learn much from the features that I didn't already know, and I wonder why somebody doesn't make a law which says that 50% of all films screened in public should be documentaries. And all these things I learned inside the cinema. Outside it, I learned less and probably a lot of what I learned falls into the cliche category, because how much can you learn in a week? I learned that I'd rather have my mate sweetened, thank you very much, even though it's more "authentic" to have it bitter. I learned that the streets of BA are a paradise for people with an interest in 70's and 80's motor vehicles, because most of them date back to that time, and I learned that there are more bookshops than anywhere else I've ever been except Hay-On-Wye. I learned that psychology magazines take pride of place on newspaper stands, and I learned that now's the time to visit if you want to buy things cheaply (and I felt a bit guilty aout how cheap everything is), unless you're talking about hotel telephone charges, which are a rip-off internationally. I learned that it's a massive, shambolic place with great parks and some fine buldings and that it's easy to get around on foot, and safer than riding in anything with wheels. I learned that Argentina produces practically nothing except loads of films, books and plays, which might not be a bad thing as long as it's getting by. And in the last post I mentioned the Malvinas/Falklands and how it's a dead subject for me - but I switched on the radio on the morning I arrived and lo and behold, an interview with an old militar about why the Malvinas has been misunderstood. I learned that for many people the line between politics and crime doesn't exist, and that lawyers aren't too popular either - one taxi driver told me that they invent problems for you which they then charge you a fortune to solve. I learned that they love language, and that you carry something interesting away from a high percentage of conversations. I learned that Argentinian beef is the best I've ever tasted, especially vacio (flank), and that the people are great. I learned that Argentinian women are like wow, and that if I was a woman I'd probably think Argentinean men were too I learned some new words, many of them related to the parts of a cow (vacio = flank). And that's probably enough about what I learned from Argentina, except to say that I probably couldn't write like this about Spain any more and to say that as soon as I can go back, I will. And I still don't know when to use "Argentine", "Argentinean" or "Argentinian".