25 de Mayo

Yesterday was a public holiday in Argentina. For the life of me I cannot remember what it commemorates as it is just known as 25 de Mayo (25th of May). My knowledge of Argentinean history is so bad that I am actually ashamed to admit it. All I know is that 25 de Mayo is also the name of the small town where my mother was born.

Last night my family and I were invited by the Argentinean Embassy to celebrate this day. We haven’t done something as a family outside the house in ages, so it was nice to see everyone kitted out and having a good time. After work we had to race in time to get to Pretoria by 18h00. We thought we’d be able to avoid most of the traffic if we left before 17h00 but still managed to hit quite a bit of it. But at least we made it in time.

Without trying to be biased, I must say that the Argentinean Embassy has the most beautiful residence in Pretoria. It literally looks like a mansion, painted in white, with a vast beautiful garden. Makes me think I should become the next ambassador! The function turned out to be quite an official event (thank god I was dressed decent) as the house was filled with delegates from several embassies, all decked out in their official uniforms. There were several South Americans, of course, South African representatives as well as people from Romania, Russia and other parts of the world.

When the string quartet started to play the national anthem I had to fight back the tears. I don’t know if it was the three brandy and cokes that I had already downed, but every time I hear the anthem I get all nostalgic and homesick. And it is such a beautiful anthem. When we moved to South Africa I never, not for one second, thought that this would be a permanent move. I always thought we’d go back in a few years. Sure, our life in South Africa is much better than it’d ever be in Argentina. We have better opportunities here. But most of our family is back home, and seeing as we only get to see them when opportunity strikes (which is normally every 10 years or so), we obviously miss them and our country a lot.

This year it is my parents turn to visit Argentina. As a present for all that they have done for us, my brothers and I are paying for their tickets so that they can go back for two months to see everyone. The main event will be my grandfather’s 95th birthday. He is my mom’s father and the only grandparent I have left. For his age, the old man has amazing stamina still left in him. I admire that.

So, I still don’t know what the 25th of May is all about in Argentina, but at least, in my heart, I consider myself a patriot, who happens to live in South Africa. Te quiero Argentina.