Yesterday Here

Yesterday was an eventful day here.


First, it was the national census, which is done live. It was a national holiday and everyone had to stay home and wait for the census-taker to show up. There were 650,000 of them across the country. Each one was paid 250 pesos (about $60) for a day's work, which is not bad here.

My cencista showed up just after noon. I told her right away that I'm foreign, so didn't know if I should participate, but she said sure. It was a brief form, maybe 25 questions. The usual stuff (age, education, number of rooms, etc.) I did very well answering the questions, except for one that I didn't understand about what the roof of the building is made of (I couldn't answer that in New York in English either, actually.)

So, I've been counted in two censuses (censi?) this year, which is clearly over-representation, but pleases me nonetheless.

Afterwards, I walked to Martha's (most public transportation was shut down, as were all businesses.) The streets were mainly empty, except for the census-takers, with their white census bags and forms.



The census alone would have made for a memorable Wednesday, but earlier in the morning came the news that Nestor Kirchner had died of a massive heart attack. (Mickey's first response: "Did they count him in the census?" To which later in the day one station actually reported that yes, they did.) He was popular, moreso than Cristina, and was almost certainly going to run for president again in the next election. At just 60 years old, his death was a sad moment even for his opponents. I don't get much of Argentinian politics, but people seem to mainly agree that he was an energetic and devoted leader.

People mobilize very quickly here. As his body was being flown up from Patagonia to Buenos Aires, people were already starting to gather in front of the Casa Rosada. Several of my friends went there last night (I decided against going—crowds make me squirrelly, and political crowds that I don't understand even moreso.) There will be three days of national mourning.


During the night, these posters were printed and plastered all across the city. ("Forever Nestor. Be strong, Cristina.")


And then, some time after that, someone added those little paper tags you see all over the place here, in phone booths, on building walls, and on advertisements. They're little take-away flyers for call-girls. The more things change...