A visit to Alta Gracia

A few weeks ago I went with a few of the students to the city of Cordoba. About 30 kilometres outside of Cordoba is the town of Alta Gracia. Nick, Devin and I found the bus station in Cordoba (in the basement of the meat market!) and bought tickets for Alta Gracia.

One of Alta Gracia's most famous residents was Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Che was born in Rosario, but because of his asthma and the humidity of Rosario (it can get humid here because of the Parana River) his family moved to Alta Gracia when he was 4. The house where he lived has been turned into a museum. The house was nice (Che's father was a physician).



Inside the house there is a replica of the kind of motorcycle Che rode when he took his famous motorcycle tour around South America to witness firsthand the poverty that common people were enduring. The film, Motorcyle Diaries, with Gael Garcia Bernal documents Che's trip.
Here are pictures of Che when he was a young man, and when he was a boy.

Oftentimes, people don't know that Che was married and had a family. I didn't see any discussion of his home life in the museum, although since he spent extended periods of time outside of Argentina, I don't know how much time he spent at home. I would think it very difficult to be a revolutionary, a husband and a father all at the same time.

By the time Che wanted to enter Bolivia to work with the resistance movement there, he was a well-known figure. In order to enter the country, he disguised himself as a businessman. Here is a picture of his disguise.

Gracias,

JP