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July 20, 2007
Friendship Day
Today, 20 July, is 'Friendship Day' in Argentina ('el Día de Amistad'). We were informed of this at the meeting of the English-speaking group, when one of the members advised me to make any intended dinner reservations a few days in advance. He told me that the holiday is relatively new, but it is growing in popularity, being celebrated with friends getting together to go out for dinner. Apparently it is even more popular than he knows, because even following his advice and trying to book in advance, I could not get a reservation for tonight.
The porteño that told us about the holiday is under the impression that Argentina originated this holiday, and that other countries around the world think it is so interesting that they are copying Argentina. Perhaps the idea of celebrating it on 20 July is an Argentine idea; it is the same day as the first moon landing in 1969, but nobody here seems to know if that is mere coincidence or intentional. Yet the truth is that in 1935, the United States Congress proclaimed the first Sunday of August as the National Friendship Day, and it has been celebrated as such there every year since. Of course, that does not mean that anyone knows that in the US, but supposedly, it's on the books.
Maybe the Argentines were the first to actually celebrate a Friendship Day. I suppose that should give them some claim to fame. It is only a social holiday though; everyone still has to go to work.
Posted by crispy at July 20, 2007 09:21 AM
Comments
It's also "Do As We Say" Day here in the US, it was founded in 1945 by a group of German Settlers.
[crispy says: BAH HA HA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! HAAAAA HAAAAAAAAAAA HAAAAA HAA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Ahem. That's awsome.]
Posted by: Akira at July 20, 2007 05:54 PM
I've just discovered (from looking at online stuff) that it's not "Día de la Amistad" like I'd been lead to believe. It's as now shown above: Día del Amigo. This is more accurately, "Friend Day" in English.
Having the real name, I found this article in the English Wikipedia, which says the date chosen was intentionally the same date as the moon landing.
Posted by: Chris Coen at July 21, 2007 02:55 PM