I try to look in, even briefly, on the blogs by travelers to Buenos Aires. Most cover the same familiar territory, some offer helpful tips for the tourists, and then there are those offering a fresh perspective. Occasionally, a rather famous name (depending upon your definition of fame) might be blogging about Buenos Aires. Last year there was David Byrne blogging about his trip to Argentina. Today, I came across a delightful series of postings by Robert Fulghum, known for his enormously popular books, particularly All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.
The dominant theme in my mind for months has been the dream of Argentina and tango. From experience I know that whatever you imagine a new country to be, reality will adjust your imagination. What is in the guide books is all too often a description of a Disney World that exists only for tourists who will be satisfied with illusions. It is best to be prepared to be disappointed by what you anticipate, surprised by what you encounter, and delighted by what you find.
So, then, how is BsAs and tango, you may ask? I will tell you. In the form of the South American literary tradition of magic realism, The Tango Chronicles of Senor Don Roberto Juan Carlos Fuljumero y Suipacha. You may draw your own conclusions.
Visit Fulghum’s site to read the Tango Chronicles.
November 6th, 2007 at 10:04 am
thanks for the lead!
i culled a favorite passage from same:
“This excursion to Buenos Aires is a kind of affirmative self-imposed exile. Not in the sense of running away from my so-called normal life, but a matter of letting go of some of the self-accumulated complexities of that life. Often I think of writers of the past who made long journeys to far-away lands – those old guys – without typewriter, laptop, or internet access. No TV, radio, daily newspaer, or cell phone. And no American Express or Visa or ATM. They just flung themselves out into the world, armed with pen and paper, with the open eye, the tender heart, the inquiring mind, and the power point of the raw meat between their ears. All senses turned to Maximum – to soak up and process, to enjoy and endure, and to really be present. Could I have done that? Traveled like Lear or Twain or Maugham?”
November 6th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
i just got another ‘reading’ of the passage above…
why do you think fulghum and the rest of us want to legitimate our experiences and perceptions by passing them thru the ‘sieve’ [or comparing them to] experiences of dead writers’? why cannot ours be legit- as weighty, and serious as theirs are? and not as some others’ experience.? what is wrong with us?…
November 6th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
Hi, I also liked that passage about “affirmative self-imposed exile.” You raise a good point in your 2nd comment. It’s a good question as to how we can feel that our very own experiences can be just as legitimate. Speaking of dead writers, have you read Walker Percy’s essay Loss of the Creature? It examines the travelers search for an “authentic” experience.