Mafalda

Jonah and I just returned from a big excursion down to San Telmo for the unveiling of a statue of the comic strip character Mafalda in honor of her creator, Joaquín Salvador Lavado, better known here by his pen name “Quino,” who was born and lived in the corner of Chile and Defensa.

We had heard about Mafalda from Tatiana on our second day here, and since then have seen her everywhere. It is the national comic strip, something like Peanuts combined with Doonesbury -- strips about kids and their lives, with an undercurrent of political commentary. It ceased publication on a regular basis in 1973 -- yes, 1973 -- and yet is still everywhere and Quino is a real hero. Along with the statue, they also put a plaque in front of his house, and gave him the first bicentennial medal (the bicentennial is in 2010). And the event showed as much -- hundreds of people crammed into this narrow square to catch a glimpse of the guy, who is a dead-on copy of Arthur Mange, father of my friend Paul. So, kind-hearted but not exactly flashy! Jonah was especially impressed by seeing pictures of Quino -- "He's just an ordinary guy who got famous for draw in these comic strips." I file this comment under "Geeks Rule!"

We stayed for the whole event, which was delayed by everyone of the dignitaries having to kiss every one of the other dignitaries, and even followed Quino and his entourage down the street in the hope of getting a signature, but to no avail. But we enjoyed being part of the festivities and managed to squeeze through the crowd and get a photograph of Jonah with the new Mafalda statue on a bench.