I’m a legal alien. I’m an English-woman in the 25th of May parade.
25th May 1810 was the event known as “la Revolución de Mayo” (the May Revolution) in Buenos Aires, which was part of a series of manifestations, ultimately culminating in Argentina’s independence from Spain. Each year “el 25 de Mayo” is celebrated with parades in every town centre up and down the country. I had never taken part in a parade before; we tend to keep a low profile where patriotic phenomena are concerned, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
“Have you ever seen one of those old Soviet films where the army and all the tanks march past the communist leaders?” Said our Scout district leader.
And that is more or less what it was; a civilian march past. No tanks in sight, although there were more military than I would have thought one small town could possibly contain, along with every band, school, sports club, dance troop, goodness knows whoever else, and of course the Scouts, all marching past a temporary stand upon which sat the mayor and a bunch of local politicians, councillors, and other dignitaries.
This is the picture from the local paper, featuring one of the primary schools;
And our bit looked like this;
I’m sure Dave Burnett (our anthropology tutor from way back when) would have had plenty to say about civil religion. It was an interesting cultural experience, which I did quite enjoy, despite (because?) it being quite unlike anything I have ever previously encountered. O-oh I’m an alien…