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A Collection of Short Stories
Two hearts, two countries, one love
Dec. 26, 2024
Traveling through South America gives you an interesting exploration of many different cultures, histories, and languages. Having visited and lived in multiple countries across the continent, I've come to appreciate the distinct variations not just in accents, but also in everyday language, as influenced by the region's colonial past, European immigration, and indigenous cultures.
Dec. 4, 2024
Córdoba, Argentina, population about 1 1/2 million, is the second largest city in Argentina and also the largest city in square kilometers. Córdoba was founded in 1573, when it was to be a refuge from the indigenous people, for the incoming Spanish people. As big as the city is, the vast majority of its buildings are under 20 stories tall. Here is Córdoba is the National University of Córdoba which was founded in 1613, making it the fourth oldest university in all of the Americas. The Rio Suquia runs through the city.
Dec. 3, 2024
Villa de Merlo is a town of about 40,000 people. It is a destination vacation town for Argentinos. It's quite a nice little town sitting at the foot of the Sierras de los Comechingones (the Comechingones Mountains). The climate is mild and for this weekend, wet. The average daytime high for summer, right now, is in the mid-to-upper 70s, though today it is only 22° C (72° F). Merlo is known for having its own microclimate.
On the north side of the town is a nature reserve, and in that reserve is a big boulder that is mostly white. That area became known as Piedra Blanca (White Rock). In 1794, Juan de Videla visited Piedra Blanca and saw that the area would be good for a town. On October 1, 1796, the town was given the name of Villa de Melo (Town of Melo), given in honor of Pedro Melo of Portugal.
Nov. 29, 2024
Rio Cuarto, in the Córdoba, Argentina, was founded in 1786 and has a population of about 200,000. The Rio Cuarto (Cuarto River) runs through the center of the city. This part of Argentina is mostly agricultural, lots of ranching and farming, and Rio Cuarto is a hub for the slaughterhouses and food processing plants.
Before Spanish colonization, the area where Rio Cuarto now sits was inhabited by the Comechingón people. They were skilled in agriculture and livestock management, living in semi-subterranean dwellings. Traces of their culture remain in oral traditions and archaeological finds, giving an important view into the region's deeper history. Rio Cuarto's establishment in 1786 wasn't just about creating a town—it was a military and logistical necessity. The settlement functioned as a buffer against Indigenous groups during a time when Spanish colonists sought to secure trade routes and expand the empire's influence into the Pampas.
Nov. 27, 2024
Villa Mercedes, Argentina, population around 130,000, was founded in 1856, so it's not an old colonial town with a lot of interesting architecture.
It was in 1706 that a military fort was built on the banks of the Rio Quinto, along with a post house. Slowly more was built around it and in 1752 it was recognized as a town. Cardinal Giovanni María Mastai Ferretti - later named Pope Pius IX, was from here, and Charles Darwin also visited the town. The town had seen many attacks from the indigenous people and was abandoned and repopulated several times. The town was named "Rio Quinto" because it sat alongside the Rio Quinto river, but in 1861 it was renamed Villa Mercedes. The locals refer to it simply as Mercedes.