BUENOS AIRES — Argentina is a beautiful and modern South American country. It takes about 16 hours, including flight transfer time, to get from ?stanbul to the Argentinean capital of Buenos Aires.
This is a journey that brings you across the equator and into the southern hemisphere. Argentina lies in the southern portion of Latin America. In terms of sheer land mass, it comes only second to Brazil on the South American continent. In the very south of Argentina, where there are icebergs and ice caps, you can find penguins and whales swimming in the ocean. In terms of time difference, Argentina is six hours behind Turkey.
Argentina has around three and a half times more territory than Turkey. Its neighbors are Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. Argentina is a physically beautiful country. Its coastline along the Atlantic Ocean runs for around 5,000 kilometers. The people of Argentina are very interested in politics, music and football. The monetary unit is the Argentine peso. One dollar is equal to 3.15 Argentine pesos, while 1 euro is 5.10 pesos.
Argentina does not require visas from Turkish citizens. Actually, of all the nations in South America, the only one that requires visas from Turkish citizens is Peru.
The minute you leave the airport in Buenos Aires, you will be faced with the capital’s dense traffic. The mornings here have particularly heavy traffic. Streets and boulevards are full of people heading for work and school. The name Buenos Aires means “beautiful air” in Spanish. This city really does have beautiful air and beautiful weather. Including its outlying areas, the population of Buenos Aires is around 12 million. The city has a remarkable number of gorgeous and green parks and gardens. It is also a city known for its grand and wide boulevards. One of these is Avenida 9 de Julio (July 9 Avenue), which, at 140 meters in width, is the world’s widest boulevard.
There is a famous square that sits on Avenida 9 de Julio that features a monument for the Argentinean soldiers killed in the war with Britain over the Falkland Islands. More than 600 soldiers were killed fighting the British in this war in 1982. As a result, the British are still not very popular in Argentina. There are always two Argentinean soldiers standing guard in front of this monument.
The presidential palace here is painted pink. In fact, this pink-domed palace is one of the symbols of Buenos Aires. Interestingly, life seems to proceed fairly normally around the pink presidential palace, without security interrupting peoples’ daily lives. Argentina won its independence before Brazil and there are many historical buildings that lie around the Argentinean parliamentary building.
One of the central parks in Buenos Aires is Palermo Park. On sunny days it is incredibly crowded. Some people spread out on the grass to enjoy the sun, while others play football, roller skate, walk their dogs or row boats on the manmade lake here. In the evenings you can hear live music concerts here. Palermo Park is a very lively gathering place.
The historical buildings of San Telmo make up one of Buenos Aires’ first residential districts. Many Europeans settled in and around San Telmo, with Spaniards and Italians at the forefront of this trend. These days, Buenos Aires definitely has the air of a European city. Interestingly, recent years have seen a large influx of Chinese into the city. China has shown that it wants to maintain its trade ties here, as well as so many other countries in the world.
Ranch horses
The Plata River is more reminiscent of a gulf of some sort than a river, mostly because it is so very wide, especially at the point where it flows into the ocean. It is 220 kilometers wide at its opening to the Atlantic, which makes it the widest estuary in the world, and you cannot see from one side to the other. The Plata is the continuation of Brazil’s Parana River. Uruguay lies on one side of the Plata, which runs for 290 kilometers.
The wealthier people of Buenos Aires tend to live in the north of the city, while the poorer ones live in the south. We pay a visit to the city’s southern parts, to a district called Caminito. This was a spot where some of the very first immigrants to Argentina settled, as it is so close to the port. But when, in 1871, there was an outbreak of yellow fever, many of the wealthier residents of Caminito fled to the northern regions of the city. Now many tourists visit this area, but the people who mostly remained behind as residents were the poorer ones.
Students in class
In Argentina football is an incredibly important part of life. Children play it from a very early age here, and there are football schools as well as larger professional football clubs. Training sessions go on even in the rain and there are families who send their children to learn this national sport from the very early ages of 4 or 5. With so many young kids focused on growing up to be famous football players, parents, of course, play a large role in supporting these dreams. And, in fact, Argentina does produce many world famous football players. The two most famous teams in Argentina are Boca and River Plate. The matches between these two teams are not to be missed. Remember, this is a country that has produced players such as Diego Maradona, Ariel Ortega, Gabriel Batistuta, Lionel Messi, Javier Saviola and Juan Roman Riquelme, and many European football teams have Argentineans playing for them.
Argentina has captured the World Cup twice. There is constant competition with Brazil on this front. Both Argentina and Brazil have extremely successful national teams, and whenever they face off against each other, the fans will be treated to a spectacular show. One sign of the intense rivalry in football between Argentina and Brazil is that it is always either Brazil or Argentina that takes the Latin American Cup.
The King Fahd Mosque in Buenos Aires
From many perspectives, Argentina actually resembles Turkey. In terms of coups and economic crises, these countries have similar histories. Foreign powers have also always had a great influence over these countries. In Argentina, you could say that the national extensions of forces from outside the nation have dealt this country many blows whenever it was finding its way economically. The stark financial crises of 2001 and 2002 are still fresh in peoples’ memories here. While the per capita income approached $8,000 annually in 2000, the financial crisis that hit in 2001 caused this to drop to $3,400 by 2003. Prior to the 2001 crisis, the dollar and the Argentinean peso were equal, but now a peso is worth less than one-third of a dollar. In other words, Argentineans took an incredible blow in that year. To put this into perspective, Argentina was one of the world’s wealthiest nations just 100 years ago. Still, even now Argentina is doing a very good job of getting itself together and rebuilding its financial power following the 2001 crisis.
Argentina is a great country in which to learn the Spanish language. Courses here are much cheaper than in, say, Spain, and remember, they don’t require visas from Turkish citizens. The people here are also very friendly, warm and hospitable. This is the perfect place to practice your newfound language as you take a stroll in the breathtaking parks.
Capital: Buenos Aires
Official language: Spanish
Government: Federal presidential republic
President: Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner
Vice president: Julio Cobos
Area: 2,766,890 square kilometers
Population: 40,913,584*
GDP (PPP): $575.6 billion**
Religion: Roman Catholic (92 percent), Protestant (2 percent), Jewish (2 percent), other (4 percent)
23 April 2009, Thursday
SA?M ORHAN
zaman.com