may Main Street prevail over Wall Street, whether in the USA or Argentina

So went my soapbox harangue yesterday during the demonstration.

The original plan yesterday was to go to the calle Florida to do the kind of shopping that makes me uncomfortable in the USA, the elitist kind you´ll find in Tyson´s Corner. That morning I´d received an e-mail from the American Embassy in Argentina that there were two demonstrations scheduled for that day, neither of which were at calle Florida although one cut close. Our trip to calle Florida got cancelled, and most of the students went straight home. But two boys and I were determined to follow the ¨carpe diem¨ mantra.

Alejandro and Profesora Julia decided we´d go to the Museo de Bellas Artes, as it was indoors. Profesora was to meet us there, while Alejandro took me and the guys from UB through Chinatown to catch a bus, but not before we stopped in a place that sold futbol jerseys. Alejandro assured us that it was the best price we could hope for. I asked for Riquelme but the lady kept showing me ¨Roman of Boca¨ shirts, explaining to me that Roman and Riquelme were one and the same; Roman is Riquelme´s first name. After Alejandro assured me these people knew what they were talking about, I went ahead and bought Roman. If Roman´s last name turned out not to be Riquelme, I´d just blame Chinmay for not telling me his coveted soccer player´s first name. (He never did know it.) Alejandro goes above and beyond when it comes to helping us - he took the liberty of asking a random man what Riquelme´s first name was. It is Roman. His full name is Juan Román Riquelme. Also, he´s #10 on the Boca team. So that jersey is indeed legitimate.

I am not a sports fan. I am only interested in the NBA out of loyalty to the Motherland (Michigan, not India). That and the odium I feel towards Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, and the dismaying insight into how sexual assault and gender roles work in the world that his rape case provided. And that´s why I celebrated when the Celtics won the NBA 2008 finals.

Anyway, as I am not a sports fan, I have no idea what Riquelme looks like, although Susana would assure me that night he´s ¨muy hermoso¨, and the name Juan Román Riquelme has an incredibly sexy ring to it, and so while we walked through Barrio Chino, or Chinatown, in all its skethcy glory, I kept myself sane imagining how hot Riquelme must be, until we boarded the bus.