Hi Regen! Sorry about the sickness, are you well now? We are also having a lot of cold because we are alternating mostly warm days with cool ones (still not real cold, except like in the middle of the night). The rain I told you about last Friday did not harm me, but many colleagues caught the cold. The weekend was without rain, Monday there were some falling drops, but very lightly. And then last night and today are very rainy.
Luckily I have a long weekend. Tomorrow is a holiday and Friday is what we called a "bridge holiday". This is our system: Some holidays have to be celebrated/remembered (most are sad things, like the anniversary of the death of some important person) always in the same day while other can be moved in the week to make a long weekend. That is, if the celebrating day happens to be a Thursday it is moved to the Friday or next Monday. The idea is that long weekends help tourism and are good economy. it has actually worked quite well.
Well, when some Holidays that cannot be moved happen in a Tuesday or Thursday there is the "bridge" when the previous Monday or following Friday are declared a holiday too. All for creating a long weekend. There are some small letter arrangements I am not too familiar, for example, I believe the actual holiday is a day where you have to pay double to your employess if you want them to work (like a Sunday) while the actual holiday you pay 1.5 X, like a Saturday. Or something like that. More stores are closed on the actual holiday than on the bridge day.
Well, May 25 is one of those Holidays that cannot be moved, so Friday is a bridge holiday. It is good for me because my classes are Tuesday and Thursday, so this week was not only short but light (my class yesterday was a good one, and we even finished half an hour early).
May 25 is one of our most important civic days. You are supposed to wear the cockade (I hope that is the world) from 18 to 25. Most people does not, but TV hosts, ministers and other high ranking workers, teacher and school children are encouraged to wear it. I had mine yesterday.
That is because on May 18, 1810 people in Buenos Aires began opposing the authority of the viceroy (the ruler the king of Spain appointed in America) and on May 25 the viceroy was demoted and a first government was elected among our citizens (it was an ensemble of 9 people). The actual independence of the country did not happen until 1816, but May 25 was the beginning of all.
Sorry for the history lesson, i thought some of you may be curious. Also, May 25 1810 is said to have been a rainy day so every time it rains on May 25 we feel it is fair. Rain is expected for tomorrow too. Traditionally, on May 25 we eat some traditional food, for example, locro (a corn-based dish I never made myself. I am actually not a fan), "pastelitos" (a pastry for tea time or breakfast, normally with a confiture of sweet potato or quince) and, of course, empanadas. I often do them but I think this year I will be calling delivery, because I did not do the grocery shopping