Free Tibet? I'll take it!

So I'm guessing that most of you know the biggest news that happened here in the past week: the arrival of the Olympic Torch. Buenos Aires was the only South American country that played host to the torch during its five continent tour. Although there was quite a bit of excitement leading up to it (Paris riots, San Fran demonstrations, promises of "something news worthy occurring") it all seemed to go rather smoothly. I use the word "seemed" as I didn't actually get to see the Torch since I had French class, but was able to gather a lot from the events before, the news, and my roommate who went (thanks for the pictures Patrick). The torch arrived Thursday night, April 10th, under the cloak of secrecy and although it may well have just been Argentina's lack of information systems, the complete route wasn't revealed until Friday morning. Some minor demonstrations took place but nothing to write home (or blog) about. The torch itself was under heavy protection and was generally accompanied by a secret-service like escort (minus the sweet sunglasses, ear pieces, and suits). I have a few pictures of the events leading up to the torch passing and one of the runner after. The reason he isn't enveloped in a mass of security is that he's already passed the flame along.

Tropa de Elite
On one of the more casual nights here this week my friends and I decided to go see a Brazilian film titled "Tropa de Elite," or Elite Squad. It was a bit of a gamble considering the entire film is in Portuguese, with Spanish subtitles but figured it was a good opportunity to practice both my Spanish and Portuguese. Other than the fact that the subtitles were white and impossible to see at times when the backdrops were also white, it turned into a pretty good experience. More so than the academic aspect, however, was the filmatic experience. This movie was amazing! Though not for the weak of heart/stomach, it was absolutely sensational. It follows a group of Police officers called BOPE (imagine SWAT combined with Israeli clandestine services) through their struggles to curb narcotics trafficking and overall violence in Rio de Janiero. The film highlights the struggle between this small elite group of officers, a larger group of corrupt police, and the drug lords. It's violent, but not over the top and it's not only tells a great story, but highlights a social issue. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who can handle a fair amount of violence and non-stop intensity, though I'm unsure as to where you'll find it. It had a limited release in the states in January and is being presented at the Tribeca Film Festival in April, so keep an eye out for it.

FUN FACT: There's some sort of intentional loophole setup by the Brazilian government that allows their international companies to write-off profits by donating money to the independent film industry. This movie was sponsored by PetroBras (Brazilian petroleum) and various others, and for this reason the Brazilian Independent Film industry has been absolutely booming over the past decade and a half).

Maggie and Marquis
I had a few more friends in town this past weekend that were staying down near Avenida de Julio with some other mates. Maggie and Marquis are both seasoned travelers and did quite a bit of venturing on their own (or with the others), and every time we managed to meet up a grand time ensued. One of our highlights was a trip to the Japanese Gardens (see pictures). Although relatively small, they were both beautiful and tranquil. In fact, the only real complaint I have with them is the domestication of the animals within the park, which I guess is a common trend among highly trafficked areas. Pigeons would just be walking around, there was this duck that would come right up to you and ask for food, and the fish would literally beg. This proved to be both hilarious and freaky. At one point Maggie lectures the duck on how he needs to earn the food by jumping in the water (see pic), and all of us observing got a kick out of it while not so secretly hoping the duck might become agitated, resulting in Maggie falling in the water. The fish, however, will haunt my dreams. When you walk along the bring they swim up and open their mouths, then when you put food in water, a hoard of them swim atop each other to get it, resulting in some of the Carp literally being out of the water since they're on top of the other fish (see pic). The only other place I've seen this is Lake Mead, which backs up to the Hoover Dam, and I've spent three years of my life trying to repress it. But I digress. Saturday night Maggie, Marquis, and I went out to a nice Parilla and tried a variety of meets, including lower intestines (a first for all, though I wouldn't recommend it). We then made our way to my friend’s place, who was having a party in celebration of finishing the first part of her doctoral thesis. The party died down around 330/4 and Maggie and Marquis headed home, thinking the night was over. Silly me, I ended up going out to club "Big Ones," whose name rivals the absurdity of its patrons. I have very little tolerance for clubs but decided to give it the old college try (since I’m in college again, right?). Although I can't say it was the most fun I've head, we did end up staying there until 8AM, and out until 9 AM. For those of you who've been following the blog a late night/early morning is nothing new to the nightlife here; however, generally my late nights result in me making it home just as the sun comes up. It was quite a harrowing experience to walk out of near darkness and into complete daylight and I certainly don't plan on making that a common ritual.