Day 5- Arcor & Congreso de la Nación
ARCOR:: ok, how's about Willie Wonka's factory as a stop on your trip to another country? Yes, we got to visit the Arcor headquarters, and sampled some of the candy manufacturer's best loved chocolate products. Arcor produces sweets, including chocolates, biscuits, candy, biochemicals and other food products, and is the leading producer of corrugated packaging (boxes, etc.) in Argentina. Arcor was also heavily affected by the Argentina financial crisis of 2001 (notice a theme here?) but has managed to continue successfully despite those setbacks....
...note: while the presentation was absotively stirring, it was repetitive...and I temporarily lost consiousness, then recovered by eating several Bon A Bon's. And yes, they are the shiznit. My diet is completely BLOWN. The only saving grace is that my professor (who we've lovingly renamed Magellan, because of his penchant for leading us on long walking journeys exploring Buenos Aires) refuses to call a cab for any trips less than 12 miles, so working out is unnecessary.
running Magellan joke:
me: "Where are we heading? Are we lost?"
classmate: "Who the hell knows, we're following Magellan."
Congreso Nacional:: a classmate asked me what I thought of the trip so far. My response: when have you ever had a chance to meet heads of Fortune 100 companies, senators, congressmen AND directors/administrators of large colleges, all in one shot? Yes, that's exactly what we're doing, so being greeted by a congressman from Argentina begins to "seem" routine. It's still not, and Congressman Jaque from the Mendoza province was extremely gracious with us, even when presented with the most ungracious of questions about immigration, and the "strain on healthcare and other free services" being posed by the influx of immigrants into Argentina.
aside on grace & the western perspective:: when traveling, particularly for college students and those allegedly "versed" in cultural differences, it's EXTREMELY insensitive to ask questions loaded with editorial commentary from a Western/American perspective. When asked the loaded question above (healthcare is free in Argentina, along with college educations), the Congressman politely but firmly pointed out that Argentina's population is 80% immigrants, and they're very proud that they accept anyone into the country (unlike America). All travelers SHOULD be VERY conscious that cultural/political/economic variances between America and the rest of the world abound, and phrase their questions/statements accordingly.
But back to the Congreso - after our chat, we were given a tour of the building, and were allowed to see Eva Peron's veils, the stained glass ceilings, conference rooms and the voting floor of the congress. I'm jes saying...I'm loving the whole experience.
Er, I'm guessing you can see why? Yeah, the stained glass ceiling looks EXACTLY like that. ;-)
Up next....The college, more bife & pastries, and....Tango!