dia del amigo Archives - Amanda Barnes

If you are living in Argentina and don’t know what Dia del Amigo is, you’ve been living here with your head in a barrel. If you live abroad and have no clue, you are forgiven and you can read all about Dia del Amigo (20^th July) here. As one of the biggest days on the Argentine calendar, here are a few tips for how to come out on 21^st July alive:

– Get a bunch of phone credit and send texts early.
If you don’t send a text message to every acquaintence you have ever met, you will be shunned next year. So stock up on plenty of phone credit and send your text messages first thing in the morning as by midday the networks have normally all melted down.

– Book your table now.
The biggest rookie faux pas. Bars and restaurants are booked up for weeks in advance before the big day, so if you are the one in charge of booking the table do not forget to do it ASAP. Turning up casually on the door is not a possibility. Friends don’t feel so friendly when you are stuck with a hotdog and cup of cola as the only option.

– Get some cardio in.
Be prepared to be running from friendship meeting to friendship meeting all week. This is not a one slot shot, it is a week long marathon. Get in training comrade!

– Ixnay on the boyfriend.
This is friend’s day. And any ‘friend’ you see with less than their underwear on is not allowed on your peripheries during 20^th July. Don’t be tempted to invite him or her along, unlike most nights in Mendoza, lovers are definitely off the menu. It is very bad form if you do.

– Deadly Virus.
If you really can’t handle the pressure, the only way out of this overly-happy holiday is by contracting a seriously infectious or deadly disease. ‘I’m tired’ will not wash, nor will ‘lots of work’ or ‘previous engagements’. Any excuse will look like a direct snub to your friendship, so if you really want out on 20^th July, start practising your doctor’s notes and drawing scabs and rashes on your skin now.

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It is one of the busiest days of the year… no, Christmas hasn’t come early, nor has Thanksgiving been adopted by Argentines. This Friday is Friend’s Day.

It sounds sweet, soppy and like something taken from an episode of Sesame Street, but this is actually one of the biggest days on the Argentine calendar. When the 20 July comes around everyone starts to sweat beneath their collars and start planning for weeks in advance on how to fit their friends in, see them all and not offend anyone. The big day to see your friends is on the actual Dia del Amigo – the 20th – and this is the premium friend slot (reserved only for those that you really, really love), but in a country where people invite on average 500 people to their wedding, you can imagine how many other friends they feel obliged fit into their busy friend week. I have one Mendocino friend who will be celebrating Friend’s Day with a total of 11 friend gatherings spread over 5 days this week… This is not as unusual as you’d think.

There have been many attempts to set up an international Friend’s Day, but no-one (not even Hallmark) quite achieved it. Paraguay was actually the first country to organize a national Friend’s Day and they celebrate it on 30 July. Argentina, just to be different, made theirs 20th July. Why the 20th July you might ask… because that is when we celebrate the Apollo 11 landing. Confused? Yes, me too. But apparently the Dia del Amigo founder, Dr. Enrique Ernesto Febbraro (a professor and general do-gooder) felt that this was a day of international friendship as the moon landing united all mankind. And so he declared it Friend’s Day in 1969 – one small step for man, one giant leap for friendship and drinks promos in bars. It was later legalized as an official day by the Argentine government. So far it is only Uruguay who also celebrate Friend’s Day on 20 July. But you can’t blame Dr Febbraro for not trying – he did send 4000 letters to 100 countries asking them to be part of Friend’s Day too. No-one else really took him up on the offer.

So perhaps if you are reading this from outside Argentina, you could raise a toast with your friends this Friday (maybe it calls for a good Malbec) and give Dr Febbraro a friendly metaphorical pat on the back. If you are however in Argentina, be warned that this Friday night you won’t find a table or stool in any bar or restaurant for love nor money, and the phone lines will have a complete breakdown for the majority of the day.