“Don’t cry for me, Argentina
The truth is, I never left you
All through my wild days, my mad existence
I kept my promise
Don’t keep your distance”

Most Americans are familiar with Eva Perón only because of the Broadway musical ‘Évita’ and the movie starring Madonna, but she is an icon in Argentina. She was born in the small town of Los Todos in the Argentine Pampas, and moved to Buenos Aires at 15 to pursue a career in entertainment. She met and married Colonel Juan Peron just as he was rising in the government and in 1946 was elected President.

She was very active politically and supported services for the poor and voting rights for women. Tragically she died of cervical cancer at age 33 in 1952. Mourners filled the streets for days. Flower shops sold out. Her body was embalmed and put on display at the Presidential Palace. Then Juan Peron was ousted in a military coup and fled to Spain. Evita’s body disappeared.

It was found ten years later in a cemetery in Italy, and reunited with Juan, who put it on display in his dining room in Spain. When he was again elected President in 1973 she was brought back to Argentina, and is now buried in a family plot in Recoleta Cemetery.

The Recoleta Cemetery is the final resting place of many of the Argentine elite, including military leaders, politicians and writers. Elaborate monuments with beautiful statues are everywhere, but some of the crypts are in need of restoration, and sadly some of the buildings are badly neglected.

We walked the cemetery for about an hour, then headed back to the apartment. It has rained intermittently over the past two days, but we have a night bike ride scheduled for this evening and hopefully things will settle down.