Burrowing parrots, they are the color of olives with a yellow brownish belly; some seem to be wearing a white mask around their eyes giving them the air of cartoon thieves. You find them solitary stationed on electricity pylons working as sentinels, alarming others. You can have them suddenly circling around your head in noisy flocks screaming menacingly.I knew that the war Argentina fought and lost against the UK in 1982 for the islas Malvinas or Falkland Island was a burning, raw nerve topic. Since entering Argentina I’ve see countless signposts saying “Las Malvinas son Argentinas”. The newly released 50 pesos note has the Islas Malvinas printed on it. Today while entering the small town of Belen in the province of Catamarca, I photographed this monument, near a children’s playground.One can buy coca leaves in northern Argentina where chewing is tolerated. Asked whether selling coca leaves was legal the lady that sold the leaves replied that it was illegal for the person brining it but that it was not illegal’s for her to sell it and that everybody was chewing it. The leaves come exclusively from Bolivia. This particular pack was nicely wrapped in a Newspaper with a portrait of president Evo Morales (a former coca farmer himself) that has recently been celebrating ten years in power.The rock formation of the Cuesta de Miranda, have an intense red color that seems to have been recently applied by a painter.
