Being Argentinean is a global issue

By Joanna Longawa

Being Argentinian is a more complicated issue than it seems to me, that I am a Polish woman who has lived in Rome for almost a lifetime. And any other inhabitant of the world. Being Argentine is not only the geographical issue or the language that unites them, nor the particular sense of humor. Being Argentine is a “global” issue.

I see it that way; you can be Argentine by birth, by adoption, or by love (as in my case). - Why? - Why? My boyfriend, Argentine consultant of the European Union Hernán José Benchaya, has been “blocked” since the second week of March in Buenos Aires. Your city. In which, for now, no prospect of returning to Rome is visualized. “ The pandemic surprised me in the midst of a project monitoring mission with the European Union in three Latin American countries (Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia). When I left the house in Rome and fired my girlfriend with a see you soon, and a small suitcase with things for 10 days of travel, I never imagined that I would be 'stranded' for more than a month and a half in Buenos Aires, my city.”

I say, and I repeat, being Argentinean is not chosen. Sometimes life puts an Argentinian forward and says: “Take it or leave it, forever!”. In the good and in the bad. With his mate (so bitter that you wrinkle your face). With obsession with grills (not yet understanding how you can consume so much meat). With the tango in the background (even if you have no idea how you dance it). And with all his favorite programs on Argentine radio. Ears daily (“Last cartridges”, “Street dogs”, “Enough of everything”, among others). Those who, although you don't understand everything, end up listening and commenting and simply admiring. A little with the same admiration “tana” for the beauty of Valeria Massa.

To love Argentina, to love Hernàn, is like loving all humanity. Every language, every culture, every ethnicity. In short, it's like loving Jorge Luis Borges, genius of national literature and keen observer of idiosyncrasies. Who, according to the famous sports journalist and Italian driver, Federico Buffa, loved all cultures, “all, also because he knew them all”.

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