Don't give up the fight.

Beatriz, my host-mom made us a really great dinner tonight, and was even thoughtful enough to get me some gluten free pasta so I could get in on the beef sauce. Since we only see her briefly in the morning before school, and then later in the evening once we've tried out a few different bottles of wine with everyone, a lot of our dinner conversation revolves around getting Beatriz up to speed on our day.

This morning, we saw multiple protests. And these protests aren't exactly discreet. The participants make themselves heard with drumming lines, megaphones, or music blaring through speakers. The protesters at Plaza de Mayo in their red shirts were somewhat subdued, however, mostly just lounging in the grassy areas. I guess the protests are not just about trying to bring about change, but serve also as a different type of social gathering.

But Beatriz happened to mention at dinner that it's entirely ordinary to see several protests in a day. That got us talking about how Portenos aren't afraid to voice any injustices they feel imposed on them, something I think says a lot about the people. It seems that people living in the United States have let their lives be decided for them, but it's okay because you can buy milk and wheelbarrows at WalMart. Convenience has trumped the desire to question.

I'm reminded of some Aesop Rock lyrics I'll share with you from his song, "None Shall Pass."
***
Okay, woke to a grocery list
Goes like this: duty and death.
Anyone object, come stand in the way
You can be my little Snake River Canyon today.
...
And it's a beautiful thing
To my people who keep an impressive wing span
Even when the cubicle shrink
You gotta pull up the intruder by the root of the weed.
***

This song's too good not to listen to, so here's the youtube link. Enjoy! (The video's pretty cool too!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEBGCOCxLgA

Oh, and about today's picture. There's my temperamental HP reflecting my sky-blue room's balcony doors, and the mate gourd that delivered me my caffeine for the day. My two favorite hats are propped up on the lamp behind my handmade Guatemalan purse. The balcony overlooks a bustling street, Hipolito Yrigoyen, which opens up 2 blocks after our apartment into la Plaza de Mayo. Talk about prime location.

A friend of mine told me that to get rid of blur in my pictures I should keep the ISO as low as my camera lets me, and use flash whenever possible. That's exactly what I did, and I'm quite happy with how this picture turned out, granted, it's a still life. By the way, I fell backwards off the chair in my room pretty hard trying to get some good angles. My balcony doors were open and I just hope that no one was looking out their own window in the building across the street to witness me fall clumsily on my backside.