10/07/2020 - 6:02
Clarín.com
World
Meat, wine, soccer, tango and nature.
These are the most
immediate and passionate connections
of foreign diplomats with the country.
This is what
nine ambassadors
tell
Clarín
who opened the doors of their privacy to show how they have lived since they arrived in these pampas, the way in which they identify with Argentine culture and what they do in their free time.
For a moment, they accept the proposal to put aside formality to talk about the country with the eyes of foreigners.
The blue sky and European air
Álvaro Pava, Colombian ambassador, and his wife, at the Planetarium.
The kindness of the Argentines, the constant blue sky and the "European air" that Buenos Aires breathes.
Álvaro Pava met with this "postcard" when he arrived at the Colombian embassy in early 2019. And he admits that with the passing of his stay, his experience has become one of the best of his life.
To the list, he adds his admiration for the great cultural offer "in every corner of the country" and the gastronomy, "which deserves a separate chapter".
"
The Argentine barbecue is something without equal,
" he assures when asked about his favorite dish.
For him, roasting is much more than putting portions of meat on the grill: it involves a number of other components that, he maintains, almost elevate it to the
level of ritual
.
"
It is not only about tasting the meats but also about valuing the wines and, between glass and glass, bite and bite, commenting on the political situation in the country and talking about football
."
Delights and meetings that he misses in the middle of this long quarantine, as well as the habit he had incorporated of attending football stadiums and living the passion of the Albiceleste fans from the stands.
Until now, he thinks, what has been most impregnated in his memory when traveling through Argentina has been his trip to the Iguazu Falls, a place that he qualifies as
one of the most beautiful he has visited in his life
.
From the visit he has the anecdote of not having taken into account the recommendations he received at the hotel to close the windows to avoid the entry of monkeys.
"
With my wife we left the door ajar so as not to miss the show,
" he laughs.
The flavor of the Salta empanada
Irakli Kurashvili, ambassador of Georgia, conquered by La Linda, Salta
Living with a culture very different from that of Georgia "is no longer a barrier to generating learning."
It is said by Ambassador Irakli Kurashvili, for whom "the very open character of Argentines" is the best in the country.
Argentina, he defines, is a warm and welcoming country, which has left a lesson in its diplomatic mission: "
If you focus on values and the things that unite us geographically distant peoples, you can achieve many things
."
Among his official trips within the Argentine territory, his visit to Mendoza in August 2019 stands out. "
Emotionally, that trip was indelible,
" he says.
And he says that he had come to sign a memorandum of cooperation between that province and the Kajeti region, each one as a reference for wine production in their country.
"
I represented Georgian wine (with more than 8,000 years of history in the practice of viticulture), and after the institutional act we met with the Georgian community that has lived in Mendoza for more than 20 years
".
On another of his work trips, he discovered the Argentine dish that would conquer his palate: the meat pie from Salta, La Linda.
"
It is a simple, tasty and rich dish that you always feel like, wherever you are
."
But, if there is a habit that he incorporated since his arrival in Buenos Aires in 2018, it is
"the custom of kissing when greeting each other
."
Although Irakli Kurashvili acknowledges that this gesture was petrified by the pandemic, he hopes that soon "
we will embrace each other again
."
His pending subject?
Visit the Iguazu Falls.
The magic of crying with the tango
Csaba Gelenyi, Ambassador of Hungary, talks about the "intellectual sensitivity" of Argentines.
Music, nature and solidarity.
This is how the Hungarian ambassador, Csaba Gelenyi, defines Argentina, a country he arrived in three years ago.
"
I see many similarities between Hungary and Argentina: in the love of life, the love of freedom, autonomy,
" he summarizes.
And he talks about "prominent personalities" of Hungarian nationality who left their mark on this country, such as General János Czetz, first director of the National Military College, and László József Bíró, the inventor of the birome.
For the ambassador, "intellectual sensitivity" and "the essence of homopoliticus" are characteristic of Argentines.
He says that he began to understand what Argentina is like thanks to a man from Entre Ríos he met in Hungary in the years of his university training.
"
My old friend César Pellegrini, with whom we taught at the University of Puebla (Mexico), taught me a lot of what I know today
."
Gelenyi also highlights the "natural beauties", from Iguazú to the Perito Moreno glacier, and from Formosa to Ushuaia: "
They are impressive,
" he says, and his eyes smile. Now he goes for the tango: "
Seeing him dance is a sensation that belongs to to the porteños and nobody can do it in such a perfect way
. ”He remembers that in September of last year he was able to interrupt a dinner among colleagues to go and discover how the porteños danced tango in the Barrancas de Belgrano roundabout."
I wanted to meet him. the dream of an illustrious violinist from Hungary who had given a concert at the Teatro de 25 de Mayo.
At the end of her performance, I took her to Belgrano and she began to cry very discreetly -he relates-.
That feeling is incomparable and unrepeatable;
only you, Argentines, or perhaps only Buenos Aires know about it ... dancing tango is a very, very moving thing
”.
His passion for music extends to the 47th prison unit of José León Suarez.
There, together with an initiative of the Kodály Association, the method of music theory founded by the Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály is taught.
"
This allows people without music education in prison to practice music and sing once a week,
" he enthuses.
La Bombonera, tripe and "bondi"
Aleksandra Piatkowska, Polish Ambassador, and her "street breed" dog.
Before landing in Argentina, Aleksandra Piątkowska's destination was Chile.
For this reason, the Polish ambassador was able to visit the country in
tourist mode
before June 2019, when she was appointed in the country.
You still marvel at its
Modern and Art Deco architecture
that you come across on a daily basis as you tour the city.
"A city that is alive does not matter the schedule,
" he says.
He has two bus lines that he uses regularly, 93 and 128. When he is not on official missions, he says that he travels in "bondi" to find a direct connection with people.
“
Everyone walks the street in a disorderly way,
but the queue for the bus is sacred
.
My first few times I felt very cared for by those who traveled with me and, stealthily, they made sure that no one sneaked into the line
”, she says with a laugh.
He speaks Spanish very well and it is easy for him to understand Buenos Aires.
“
When I went to La Bombonera with my husband, I was able to interact very well with everyone in the popular one, especially when they asked me about 9 Bayern Munich, which is also Polish.
It was a wonderful experience.
But one thing made me feel strange: when everyone jumped I thought of the earthquakes in Chile
. "
Piątkowska is such a fan of football that he likes to sing goals a la "Bambino Pons".
The ambassador has a "street breed" dog named Pedzel (brush), which appeared at the residence in Chile.
He was so skinny, he says, that he passed between the bars of his old house, 9 years ago: "
He adopted us, he's part of the family
."
With regard to gastronomic tastes, he prefers to eat little meat, but has a weakness:
tripe
.
It reminds him of a dish from his country and he loves to accompany it with a Pinot Noire from Patagonia: "
I love the social bond that is generated in those moments
."
In Argentina, he maintains, he learned to dance the cueca.
She also takes rowing classes in Puerto Madero.
"
I look forward to doing it soon in El Tigre
", adventure.
The secret of the chimichurri
L'ubomír Hladík, ambassador of the Czech Republic, fan of Argentine soccer.
“We always dream of my wife being able to work here”, confesses the ambassador of the Czech Republic, L'ubomír Hladík, who has lived in Argentina since July of this year, but points out that this is not his first time in the "country of the end of the world".
He got to know Mendoza and visited the Iguazú Falls on several occasions.
Even 18 years ago, he undertook the adventure of traveling with a group of friends
for the sole purpose of playing soccer
.
"We were a little daring in wanting to play in a country like Argentina," acknowledges the diplomat when he relives the experience he enjoyed so much.
And although his team lost the game, sharing that social encounter turned into his
little great victory
: “
There are few countries in the world that have as many world-class footballers as Argentina and for me, who was a footballer in my youth, that means still much more
”.
The roast, he admits, is another of his weaknesses.
"The secret is not only in the quality of Argentine meat, but also in the way it is prepared and the accompaniments such as chimichurri, salads, vegetables,
" he explains.
Another weakness?
"
The European atmosphere of Buenos Aires. This country offered its hospitality and a home to many Czechs in the past; in fact, today the descendants of the Czechs represent one of the largest Czech communities abroad
."
For the post-pandemic era, the ambassador is clear about his next journey: to know the whole country and, obviously, look for a team of soccer veterans in a club ”.
The "very very" hot mate
Carmen Podgorean, Ambassador of Romania, and in love with Bariloche.
Carmen Podgorean has been in the country for 5 years.
"Buenos Aires was my first mission as Romanian ambassador, a great privilege,
" she says, and there was a "surplus of learning", such as her breakthrough with the Spanish language and tango dancing.
He admits that thanks to tango he managed to immerse himself more than what a foreign diplomat usually achieves in Buenos Aires daily life.
And she suspects that this helped her understand the nuances of society.
He feels that all of Argentina can be defined in tango, which "has conquered the entire planet".
He regrets that his free time does not even reach him to know "the tip" of all the cultural offer that exists in Buenos Aires.
She is a fan of Alternative Theater and loves the Usina del Arte.
Plus, she says, she's an "unconditional lover" of the grill: her
favorite cut is the entrails
.
"
I am an assumed carnivore; I invite everyone who comes to the country to taste the gizzard, a cut that is not available in Europe,
" she says, and praises the hot mate.
"I like it too hot," she emphasizes.
Although he does not like the cold or the snow, his visit to Bariloche remained in the fold of his memory.
Not only because there she tasted the Patagonian lamb - she justifies - but because of her experience at the Llao Llao Hotel with her husband and father-in-law, in February 2018. "
In the hotel rooms we admired splendid paintings and photographs of various members of the 'clan Miciu ', a surname that for us had obvious Romanian echoes
”, he explains.
December will mark the end of her mandate as ambassador and her diplomatic career: “
When I return to Romania I am going to retire and I am going to start counting the days and weeks until the pandemic gives up and borders and flights reopen
”.
Then, she warns, she will return to Buenos Aires so that her tango friends can sing “Volver” to her once more at Café Tortoni.
He confesses that he keeps "hidden a humble hope of returning just to dance."
The generous portion sizes
Phumelele Gwala, Ambassador of South Africa and her husband.
Rugby and football lovers.
Phumelele Gwala, South Africa's ambassador, was always close to Argentina through rugby and football.
For her, rugby is a common place between the two countries.
"I enjoy seeing the Jaguars and the Pumas as much as the Springboks,
" he confesses.
A lover of walks and yoga classes, Gwala tries to combat with physical exercise everything she prepares and consumes in her kitchen, especially the homemade desserts that have been her "distraction" in this quarantine.
She says that Argentine gastronomy did not surprise her because in her country there are many Argentine restaurants.
And a lot of Malbec too.
What did surprise her here was the size of the portions, "
The first time I sat in a restaurant with my husband and we ordered the food we couldn't believe it because of the large amount of dishes they brought
," she smiles.
She lives in Buenos Aires with her husband.
She has three daughters, and one of them came to the country to take a cooking course at the Cat Dumas school.
There is an anecdote in the country that will remember her forever and describes it as "the highest moment" of her career.
It happened during the G20: "
Having the opportunity to interact simultaneously with the presidents of China, Russia, India and Brazil was an honor that I will never forget
."
The Argentine red, a show
Anders Carlsson, ambassador of Sweden, fan of Argentine cuisine and meat.
Anders Carlsson arrived in the country in September 2019 to be Sweden's ambassador.
But his first mission in these lands was 20 years ago: “
It was always a dream to return.
Argentina is a country with a special charm
”, confesses Carlsson, 52, who lives in the official residence of his country with his wife, Caroline, and their three children.
He is multilingual: he speaks 5 languages -English, Spanish, French, Italian and German-, in addition to his native language, Swedish.
He says he loves spending time with his family, playing sports, and cooking.
And he admits that he is a fan of Argentine meat and red wine, a show.
“
After an absence of almost 20 years, I knew that both myself and the country had changed, so I expected to feel like a foreigner again.
But it was not like that.
After an hour, I felt like I had never left,
”he says.
Chorizo steak and Tandil salami
Carlos Enciso, from Uruguay to Argentina, with Cebio, his labrador retriever.
El Pájaro - as he is called from school - arrived in the country on July 5 to take charge of the Uruguayan embassy.
“
A colleague gave me that nickname.
I guess it's because of my profile, you don't have to use a lot of imagination to associate it
”, he laughs.
Carlos Enciso explains that his relationship with Buenos Aires was born from a young age, because he came to visit his father every fortnight who was studying a scholarship at the Postal Union.
With his memory intact, he relates that he slept in an apartment, above the Güemes Gallery, and that he frequented Harrod's, with special enthusiasm for the Sambayón pumps in the Florida Garden.
Gastronomy is its weakness.
The chorizo steak from Fervor and the fritters from El Establo are some of the most current favorites.
Enciso can be seen touring bookstores in his spare time and buying leaf tobacco at the English Tobacco Shop on Paraguay Street.
A little while ago he has had Ceibo, a brown and naughty labrador of two months and days who accompanies him with his wife in “the most beautiful house in Buenos Aires”, as Evita used to say to the residence of the Uruguayan ambassador in the country that today it is your home.
As he is a curious and admirer of the architecture in the city, he emphasizes that the residence is the work of the same Hungarian architect who made Luna Park and the residence of Natalio Botana, the renowned Uruguayan founder of the newspaper Crítica.
A fan of Peñarol, he says - diplomatically - that among his "pending tasks" in the country is to visit La Bombonera and El Monumental.
Also, visit the extreme south of the country and taste the famous Tandil salami.
Prisilla Jacome, Agustina Ordoñez, Luisa Norbis and Ludmila Gonzalez Cerulli, from the Clarín / San Andrés Master's Degree