Argentina

This colorful postcard comes from Buenos Aires, and was sent to me by Julio. You can see various photos taken at the area known as Chinatown in Buenos Aires (locally known as Barrio Chino). It's a largely commercial section about five blocks long in the barrio of Belgrano, Buenos Aires. The Asian community living in Belgrano is less than 0.5% of the ward's total. Despite the designation of this Belgrano enclave as "Chinatown," different Asian communities live there, with a predominance of Taiwanese. 

Julio used some great stamp, showing us bits of Argentinian beauty. Muchas gracias, Julio!

Argentina

With each postcard I get from South America, my love for this part of the world increases, this time thanks go to Julio of Argentina for teaching me what gauchos are. Gaucho is a term used to describe the residents of the South American pampas, found principally in parts of Argentina. It's something similar to North American cowboy. Just like cowboys, gauchos are great and proud horse riders and play an important role in the culture of almost entire South America. The postcard shows some photos of jineteada gaucha (doma gaucha), a traditional sport in the gaucho culture of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and southern parts of Chile. The objective is for the rider to stay on an untamed horse for a specified time, 6 to 15 seconds, depending on the category. From what I can see on the photos, it seems like the horses are making quite some problems for the riders. 

The stamps are just wonderful! The llama staring at us is so adorable :) Two long stamps on the top represent Argentinian national parks - Copo National Park and Los Cardones National Park. Of course, I have to mention the lighthouse stamp as well - it's depicting 10-meters-high Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse built in 1920, located five Nautical miles east of Ushuaia in the Beagle Channel, Tierra del Fuego.  It is known to the Argentines as the Lighthouse at the End of the World (Faro del fin del mundo). And the mark is surprisingly neat, probably one of the best-looking ones I've received recently.  

Buenos Aires, Argentina

It's time for a bit of South America - Argentina! Laura sent me this amazing postcards, showing the icon of Buenos Aires - the Obelisc. Buenos Aires is the capital and the largest city of Argentina, with nearly 3 million inhabitants or 30% of Argentina's population.

The main avenue in Beunos Aires, Avenida 9 de Julio,  is the widest avenue in the world. Its name honors Argentina's Independence Day, July 9, 1816. Here come few interesting 'did you know facts' about Argentina... For example, did you know that Argentina was the first country to adopt fingerprinting as a method of identification? In 1925, the small Argentinian town of Necochea was rocked by the gruesome stabbing of two children. With no witnesses to the crime, local police were unable to tie the gory crime to any particular suspect. Utilizing a bloody fingerprint left on a bedpost, Detective Eduardo Alvarez was able to peg the murders on the children’s mother, who quickly confessed to the crime. Did you know that the world’s first animated films were made and released in Argentina, by a man named Quirino Cristiani?

Sometimes using the sticker instead of a real stamps is unavoidable, I guess. Anyway, many thanks to Laura!