Villa de San Antonio del Camino (by Susana Guaglianone)

Villa de San Antonio del Camino was the original name of the City of Merlo. It was founded by Francisco de Merlo y Barbosa. He was born in Sevilla, Spain, in 1693 and died in Buenos Aires, in 1758. He served as a notary public in the Cabildo (town hall) of Buenos Aires and he started acquiring lands in the western countryside in the area called at that time Pago de las Conchas. It was surrounded by the rivers De las Conchas (now Reconquista) and Luxan (now Luján).

By 1727 Merlo had bought a large number of ranches, and his estate extended along the cities now known as Merlo, Libertad, Pontevedra, San Antonio de Padua, Mariano Acosta, Ituzaingó, Castelar, Villa Ariza, Villa General Zapiola, Moreno, Rafael Castilo, Isidro Casanova, González Catán, important sections of Morón and an ample portion of Partido de la Matanza.

According to the Spanish laws, the lands belonged to Francisco de Merlo, however, the territory was inhabited by indigenous tribes called Querandíes and Araucanos, whose recurrent raids led Merlo to build a small hamlet around his ranch as a refuge for many families. Don Francisco also erected a private chapel in the place, near the “Royal Road”, a road that linked Buenos Aires with Lima, the capital of the Viceroyalty of Perú. The chapel was consecrated to Nuestra Señora del Camino and to San Antonio de Padua. In 1742 fifteen families resided in the village.

After several unsuccessful attempts, Merlo wrote a letter to the King Felipe V of Spain in order to request permission for the legal foundation of the town. On August 7th, 1755 the authorization to found the town was conceded. Twenty days later -August 28th- the prosperous village received the name of Villa de San Antonio del Camino. Don Francisco de Merlo y Barbosa died on April 4th, 1778. His vaste estate was divided among his descendants (twelve children) and the Mercedarian Order.

In 1859, the architect Pedro Benoit was assigned to rebuild the church and to draw the map of the town including the thirteen squares that belonged to the church and eighty seven squares else donated by Manuela Calderón, widow of Pearson, and by her son Juan Dillon, who were the landowners of the lands in those days. Dillon was Jhon Dillon´s son, first husband of

Manuela. Juan Dillon is considered as the second founder of the village, he encouraged its development and he was its first mayor. In Dillon´s days the town started to be called Merlo. Benoit traced the basic structure of the city, which is known nowadays as the City of Merlo, and that once was named Villa de San Antonio del Camino.

Bibliography:

• Rotary Club, San Antonio de Padua´s site, 2005. www.paduaweb.com.ar/historia
• Schreiber, César, “Contribución al Conocimiento de la Naturaleza y el Hombre de la Región-Moreno- Provincia de Buenos Aires”, 1995. www.moreno.gov.ar/partidodemoreno/historiademoreno4aspx
• Portal Oficial de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, 2009. www.gob.gba.gov.ar/cdi/

Two Continents in America (by Yanina Helvig)

As many of us were probably taught at school, the continents in the world are six. However, this idea is not longer sustained by most native English-speaking countries, such as the United States, Canada and Australia. In Wikipedia it is explained that for those countries, America is divided into two separate continents: North America and South America. The following map illustrates the seven continents in the world, mainly for English-speaking countries. Each color stands for a different continent: Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, Antarctica, North America and South America.

But the most curious thing is that the assumption that there are seven continents in the world does not appeal to Latin America and some countries in Europe like Spain and Italy. This means that the model of America as a single continent still remains for inhabitants in South America.

Probably, the division of America into two may be attributed to ideology, and therefore, to a sense of superiority. If this is not… why is it that English-speaking countries do not consider America as a single continent?

Review: They’re made out of Meat (by Rojas, Pachamé and Mallemaci)

"They’re made out of Meat"

(Review by Carolina Rojas, Daniela Pachame and Marisol Mallemaci)

“They're made out of Meat” was written by Terry Bisson. This is a science fiction story which has been nominated for the Nebula Award and it originally appeared in April 1991. This creative story tells us about two strange characters who are discussing a particular issue which would be trivial for us, human beings.

The story is developed in a subtle way. It is a simple and colloquial dialogue between two people but with many absorbing moments. This complex and interesting story leaves the reader eager to continue reading and to discover the meaning of the whole tale. Through a well thought- out plot, the author creates a new insight into humanity.

Terry Bisson’s writing is plain and colloquial. He is able to imitate life. By this way the author catches the reader’s attention, making him part of this story. Bisson, this talented writer, has the ability to write in a creative manner, using simple words mixed with some invented expressions and making it an enjoyable tale. A short fragment can reflect this:

“Thinking meat! You’re asking me to believe in thinking meat!”

“Yes, thinking meat! Conscious meat! Loving meat. Dreaming meat. The meat is the whole deal! Are you beginning to get the picture or do I have to start all over?”

“Omigod. You're serious then. They're made out of meat.”

To conclude, we would specially recommend this story to science fiction readers but if you're not one of them we would still recommend it because it's very interesting to read something different from time to time, so be sure to read it and enjoy it.

Read the story: here.

More on Beowulf

Martín wrote a great review on Zemeckis' Beowulf film (2007) some time ago. He was quite upset with the film's rendering of the ancient Saxon poem. I hadn't seen the film by that time, but now, after a single viewing, I find it surprising that I disagree so much with Martín's opinion. Not that the film hasn't got weaknesses, but to me, the strength and weaknesses of the film are at odds with Martín's opinion. So I thought it interesting to write my point of view down. You can find the post on If I may say so... (just click here).

Beowulf: the game (by Cecilia Acosta)

This time I bring you a Playstation 3 videogame called “Beowulf.”

Ubisoft Shanghai and Tiwak did a magnificent job by transforming the classic epic poem which had collected and unified stories of the heroic tradition into a Playstation game. Having had the opportunity to play the game, I can highly recommend it, especially because the image definition of sea serpents, giant crabs and the feeling of carnal rage become a source of motivation for its players every time you start the adventure mode. Look out!! Beowulf is on his way! 

Beowulf is an ageless hero with the strength of 30 men in his arms. The inclusion of viking longships, breakable weaponry, and squad-based strategies make for the most authentic viking experience yet.

Apart from this, adolescents and youth in general can enjoy Beowulf’s adventures against monsters and at the same time learn about this epic hero without being forced to read the entire poem, since in it, you meet up with Grendel's mother in her den, like in the story. In the game, you're tasked with defending a stone relic, which sits behind you, against numerous waves of enemies. With the special effects, colours and changes in sceneries, this game captures you in such way that, to get through to the end, takes four hours and fifty-one minutes.

The world is a strange mix of medieval and industrial society, although people live in a feudal society, including holding land and defending castles from invaders. But killing monsters is Beowulf’s way of resisting his own natural inclination to become a fiend.

In the game, Beowulf encounters Grendel's Mother and fights against her… The creature slaughters every last person of Herot while Hrothgar and Roland try to keep the doors open and defend their warriors.

Personally, I was amused by the game, though for the Playstation lovers it may seem a little bit like the God of War…

Link to the trailer here. 

Forum 6: What is culture? (by Mariana Genise)

In L&C III we talked about October 12th and the way the meaning of this date has changed over the last years. We also talked about Halloween and the way it is being celebrated in our schools. These topics arouse some questions: 

Is culture something that we all share or there are as many cultures as people? Are empanadas, mate and Tango part of our culture or they are just symbols that represent our country? 

Do join the debate!

Do technologies have ideology?

Everybody felt moved to debate after Nestor's post on Facebook (here). I didn't want to be less -you know-, and, even though I opted not to intervene in the discussion, I took some time to write a post on what I consider my personal conclusions on the topic. The title of this post is The ideology of Technologies, and you can have a look at it in If I may say so... (here)