Argentine quiz: answers

1.Boca Juniors (I, sadly, didn't see the interview with Gary)

2.Martí­n Fierro is the eponymous (anti-)hero of the epic poem by José Hernández (published 1872, 1879.) It tells the story of the gaucho (cowboy) lifestyle.

3.There are around 400,000 Argentine Jews. This week, students and teachers from ISEDET participated in a conference organised by the Jewish-Christian Council on the impact of the Shoah (Holocaust) on Latin American theology.

4.Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986)

5. 655 Argentines were killed, half in the sinking of the ship, General Belgrano. Only today I read about the controversy over in which direction the ship was heading when hit. I was taken aback when during my first week here I was told that some Argentines 'thanked' Thatcher for the war which helped bring down the military junta led by General Galtieri. It brought home to me the great difference between the actions of the dictatorship and those of ordinary Argentines, which are conflated in much British discussion of Argentina.

6.Lunfardo. It translates, Hey mate! Shall we go out tonight for a coffee and to dance tango? Lunfardo has various elements but the one used here is to change the order of the syllables of common words, so noche becomes cheno; cafe, feca etc.

7. Nueve Reinas or Nine Queens. A great film about two con men in Buenos Aires - see trailer here. (I've also seen Ana y los Otros, a gentle story of a girl visiting her home town for a reunion.) There's an Argentine film in the running at Cannes this year: Crónica de una Fuga, about the military dictatorship.

8.Boliva, Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil. Many different indigenous communities and nations live in this area.

9.In Buenos Aires - it's the name for people from here.

10.There are many rules for drinking Maté: the gourd always moves in the same direction round the circle; between each drink, it returns to the 'master of ceremonies' who refills it with hot water; keeping hold of the gourd too long will not endear you to your fellow drinkers, some of whom seem to need maté more than air; it's drunk in Hebrew lessons, on the street, while out for the day, at home, in fact everywhere (although rarely in cafes or restaurants.)

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