Tea Parties and Argentine Gay Socialists.

Mando Montaño


I returned to my academic life in Grinnell after the institute and for 5 months I read post-colonial Latin American Literature, wrote essays about liberation theology in Brazil, and thought of Tucson to keep me alive during the nights when the temperature dropped below zero. 

At the end of May I interned at the Colorado Independent where I wrote stories and produced multi-media packages on the state Republican primary and  Doug Bruce, a political gad fly who directed three different tax slashing initiatives.  Luckily, I didn’t have to meat up with any sources at the Golden Corral.  When I wrapped up my last multi-media assignment in July for the Independent, I hopped on a plane to spend the next five months in Buenos Aires, Argentina taking classes in Spanish at the University of Buenos Aires with other Argentines.

The experience was incredible. The immense cultural and language differences between Mexico and Argentina shocked me at first.  Argentina’s Italian and French immigrant boom in the late 19^th and early 20^th century  created a Buenos Aires dialect called, Lunfardo which is a mixture of Italian, French, and Spanish. When a Porteño speaks Spanish, their accent resembles stuffing your mouth full of cotton.  

By my third week, I made some good Argentine friends who were part of the one of the many student socialist groups at the University.  Through a series of miscommunication and a slight language barrier, I accidently agreed to go to a huge Socialist Workers Rally, where swarms of delegates from Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Peru, and other Latin American countries crowded into a small indoor basketball court a hour South of Buenos Aires.

Also, because of an 8-week student protest that canceled my University classes, I convinced the Southern Cone editor at the AP to let me freelance a story about gay rights. It was really awesome.

Right now, I’m taking a break from filling out internship applications for this summer.  I got into the Chips Quinn Program; all I need to do is wait for places to call me back with offers. I’m hoping that the cosmos line up so I’ll end up in DC covering politics or education.