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Gay World Cup? Who Knew??!!!

10:05 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Argentina| GLBT| Sports · Comments Off

25 Sep 2007

El futbol, or soccer, as lamentable it is known here in the U.S. is a super macho realm, no matter if it’s actually being played or watched. Men gather together, sweat, swear, cheer, drink. It’s male bonding at its best/worst. So who would think that there would be a gay World Cup and Argentina of all places? Well it’s true. Represented are over 500 players from 28 nations from various continents. This year marks the first time that the gay World Cup is held in Latin America.

The slogan of the Mexican team perhaps best sums up the spirit of the gay football world cup – “the ball is round for everyone”.

Right on!!!

Via / BBC

Buenos Aires sees snow for the first time in 90 years

8:15 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Argentina| Weather · Comments Off

10 Jul 2007

The capital of Argentina, the lovely Buenos Aires, is experiencing an historic winter this year. A wave of extreme cold has hit Argentina, leaving several dead in other parts of the country, but in Buenos Aires, the city received a treat yesterday when the first snowflakes in nearly 90 years fell on the city:

The strange meteorological phenomenon, unseen in BsAs since 1918, is likely to put fear into those who believe that global warming will be the end of us, but in the city Porteños got out and enjoyed the snow.

More photos after the jump.

Buenos Aires kids get early sex ed

1:39 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Argentina| Education| children| sex · Comments Off

18 Oct 2006

Students in Buenos Aires, Argentina are going to start learning about the birds and the bees earlier than their counterparts in other countries — at age 5.

The Argentine congress has approved, with the backing of all of thecountry’s political groups, a law that makes sex education mandatory in all public and private schools in Buenos Aires.

The classes will begin in March, and their content — still to be defined — will be adapted to the age of the students, according to Argentine daily Clarín.

The legal text says that the classes will be “pedagogical activities aimed at promoting sexual health, with the integration of the physical, emotional and intellectual and social aspects related to sexuality to promote personal well-being through communication and love”.

According to Spain’s 20 Minutos, the law also states what cannot happen in these classes:

…invading the privacy with the pretext of education, imposing conducts or ideologies in violation of human rights, or promoting prejudices or sexual stereotypes.

Via / 20 Minutos

Buenos Aires opens internet cafes for street kids

2:55 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Argentina| Education| Internet| society · 1 Comment

27 Sep 2006

I am not sure whether to applaud this or ask the question: “why internet cafes and not places for them to live?”:

The government of the Argentine capital inaugurated the first “cybercafe” for children and adolescents who live on the street, the first of five of these facilities expected to open in the city.

More than a simple cafe with internet access or just a place where one can play games online, the new facility is a “learning and recreation” space to help better the living conditions of “these children that have lost almost everything,” said Jorge Telerman, Mayor of Buenos Aires, during the opening of the cafe.

According to Spain’s 20 Minutos, these cafes will offer, on top of internet access, recreational and educational activities, and light meals.

The idea for this project was supposedly born from data that showed that homeless children in Argentina spent 60% of the money they receive panhandling on cybercafes.

While on the surface it seems like a great idea — providing internet access, and therefore access to information, education, and the world in general to these children — my mind can’t help but wonder why more basic needs aren’t covered first, like a home, foster parents, meals and education.

What do you think? Is this a good idea or does it overlook these children’s well-being?

Via / 20 Minutos

Image via 26Noticias.com.ar

Raíces: Eladia Blásquez

5:14 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Argentina| Features| Music| Raices| history · Comments Off

7 Apr 2006

Raíces is a VL Friday feature saluting Latino music icons of days gone by.

Tango isn’t necessarily the most popular music among Americans in my age group. I think I’m one of the few people I know who realizes that tango isn’t just a dance involving a lot of fishnet stockings and sultry gazes. Tango is poetry, and in my opinion is the musical genre that comes closest to being more literature than entertainment. Its lyrics speak of the culture of which it was born — that of the arrabales of Buenos Aires — mysterious to the rest of us and beloved by its sons and daughters for their beautiful grimness and for embodying the porteño spirit in a code that only a native son can truly understand.

Tango has had many, many incredible poets — alas, too many to name. But one that has to come to mind when talking about the spirit of the arrabal; of the poverty that shapes art, the despair that begets the sublime, is Eladia Blásquez.

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