Saludos Boludos
So I was scraping the burnt off my toast this morning in a cheerful mood. Despite the rain and despite the fact that I had blackened one side of my peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I was content because all three of us that make up el equipo San Luis were awake and breakfasting together. A rare occasion indeed, because here is the usual run down:
Mariano or I wake up first, stagger to the kitchen where we put the kettle on and fumble around in the cabinets and fridge looking for breakfast. Whoever wakes up second wakes up and staggers out of his room. Buen día, chavon, says the first-to-wake in his low morning voice. Buen día says the second-to-wake in his even lower closer-to-bed voice. We touch cheeks in the compulsory morning kiss as the second-to-wake makes his way to the bathroom; then makes his way to the table where the first-to-wake offers him mate (mah-tay see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mate_%28beverage%29). After a couple mates all is right in the morning and we start chatting while reading the news.
We talk politics, we talk philosophy, we talk love. We talk about what we are doing that day and some times we lovingly make fun of Pablo who almost certainly is still sleeping, regardless of the fact that the alarm on his cellphone has been sounding for half an hour. I like my morning talks with Mariano. They are my favorite way to start the day. If I wake up and he has already breakfasted, I feel lonely drinking the mate by myself.
Eventually Pablo, sleeping in whichever-which way entangled in sheets, clothes and blankets, drags himself out of bed (or some more humorous mornings slides out of bed with a hard thump on the floor) and opens his bedroom door. Mariano and I are lighthearted and bright eyed already and we both say good morning, to which we may or may not get a response as Pablo makes his way to the bathroom. Prior to leaving for work Pablo will shower for half an hour, during which almost certainly Mariano or I will comment on the fact that Pablo showers for half an hour.
And off I go to the gym. Off Mariano goes to rehearsal. Off Pablo goes to work.
But not today. Today was special because we all woke up together. Those are my favorite mornings because I like it when the equipo San Luis is together, just the three of us. Today we talked mostly about Haiti and the international criticism of US military imperialist actions in the country. I often critique Argentines’ analysis of US politics and foreign relations as being boiled down and overly simplified; but I have to admit that they usually have the broad brush strokes of facts that are wholly ignored in the US media. For example the sheer magnitude of the US military presence is hardly mentioned in US coverage of the ‘aid’ operations but it rarely goes unmentioned in South America. For example the secured loans (last I saw it was around 2.1 billion US dollars) that the US has secured from international lenders is often reported in the NY Times, but in Argentine papers they also wonder about the structural readjustment package that is sure to accompany such loans. (Just about every Argentine knows what a structural readjustment package is. They have had way too much experience. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Consensus#Argentina). While the NY Times and Washington Post publish editorials on why sweatshops are what Haiti needs rights now (as opposed to sustainable and localized economic development), Argentines will reference the preexisting free trade zones (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_trade_zone) in El Salvador, Thailand and Mexico; and after a quick analysis of their effects will abandon the notion that sweatshops are really what Haiti needs (because to say that Haiti needs sweatshops is really to say that we need to buy 10-dollar disney t-shirts in Wallmart or pay 150 bucks for Nike sneakers that cost 5 dollars to produce).
Ok Ok I’ll stop. Anyways, it was a good morning.
love and besos
tucker
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