Book Fair! Meeting Chanti

Friar drinking Mate

Today I decided to go to the Book Fair. La Feria del Libro is literally a book fair that lasts 2 weeks in Plaza San Martín, at the heart of the city. When I got off the bus and was walking through the pedestrian area, there was so much going on! There was a preacher shouting "I LOVE GOD!" There was a guitarist playing for tips.  There was a group of young music students playing classical music. And there were so many people everywhere! So I arrived at Plazoleta de Cabrera, a smaller plaza right next to San Martín's. There was a celebration there as well.  A lot of Catholic groups were having a fair of their own. They had stands about different things and in the center they were singing songs and playing music.  It was fun, but I eventually left and made my way to Plaza San Martín.

Catholic Celebration

There were three really long tents full of book vendors. It was great! There were many many many many many displays for the works of Cortázar, a literary giant in Argentina.  Last week marked 100 years since the beginning of his career.  There were all kinds of book vendors- A Bible Society, Children's Book Corner, comic books, history books, Popular books translated into Spanish (like The Hunger Games and The Fault in our Stars.) I bought something for my sister, a Bible and a book for me. Once I went through the whole fair, I rested in the plaza for a bit and then went to Patio Olmos to eat lunch.

From there I went back to Plaza San Martín to look for the main event. In addition to book sales, the Fair has daily activities.  Today a famous Argentinian cartoonist named Chanti was coming to present his latest books and to autograph books. There were so many people here to see him- of all ages. When he showed up, the kids went wild! He talked about his new books, he drew some of the characters, and he did a Q&A in which he hid behind the character he drew and answered the kids' questions for that character.  It was fun, because he had to think up answers and improvise.  One thing that really impressed me was that the kids really knew the characters and came up with good questions. At the end, his drawings were given away in a raffle.  I was so close! (They called A13 and I was A15). Yes, after this session, even I was enough of a fan to want his drawings!

The line for Chanti

Then he went upstairs to autograph books. I got in line too. I was in line for FOUR HOURS! In those four hours, I made friends.  First I made friends with the people behind me- A mother and her daughters.  We traded books while we waited.  Since I had bought the latest book, and she hadn't read it, the look on her face was priceless when I offered it to her.  After we finished, we traded again and kept waiting. Eventually, they had waited long enough and they left.  Then I made friends with the people in front of and behind me- 3 mothers, and 5 kids. We talked about Chanti, Argentina, and Asados as we slowly made our way through the line.  We finally got to Chanti! He had already signed hundreds of books, sketched on thousands of books and agendas, posed for even more pictures, and chatted with everyone thus far. However, he was still full of energy and in a good mood when I had my turn.  He's such  a nice guy! So he signed my book and I went home. I made it just in time for dinner. Then I went to sleep.