Argentina’s first gold medal in the Beijing Olympic Games was won yesterday by Juan Esteban Curuchet and Walter Fernando Perez in cycling, specifically the track cycling event the “Madison.”According to La Voz, Curuchet is 43 years old and this is his final Olympic Games.This is also the first time he, or any Argentine, has won a medal in cycling.When he and Perez accepted the medals on the podium and heard the Argentine national anthem, they and their families in the audience all cried.In the race, Spain finished second behind Argentina and Russia finished third.The other events that Argentina is anticipating gold in are yet to come; they hope to reach the finals and win in field hockey, basketball, and soccer.

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It is vacation time in Argentina, and everyone is talking about the best places to visit.According to La Nación, one of those places is Parque Nacional Baritú (Baritú National Park).Located in northeastern Salta, the park is the heart of the jungle of Yungas.To get there, visitors must take Route 50 towards Bolivia, a part of the Panamerican Highway that is sinuous but worth it because of the stunning scenery.The park is 72,000 hectares of almost completely unspoiled jungle and it is protected by those who live in the area and know the jungle like the back of their hand.For anyone looking to really experience something new and beautiful over vacations, the Parque Nacional Baritú is a place where cold weather and human construction do not touch.

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Fotolog, a website on which people can share photos, has 12 million members in Latin America and is the second most popular online social network in Argentina.The “flogger” culture in Buenos Aires is strong; floggers are people who post pictures online and then comment on each other’s photos.They meet every week at the McDonalds in Abasto shopping mall.According to Earth Times, Fotolog is owned by Hi-Media Group, which is responding to its success in Latin America by making deals with Spanish language businesses wishing to advertise on their site.Over the past year, Argentine internet use has sky rocketed and the importance of the Spanish language market online continues to grow.

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The Spanish travel company Marsans agreed to sell they stake in the airlineAerolinas Argentinas to the Argentine government.According to Reuters, the sale comes after an extended period of problems with the airline including strikes, complaints about poor service, wage delays, and debt.Aerolineas currently runs 80 percent of all domestic flights, making it an important service for Argentines as well as traveling foreigners. In order to aid the airline, the government paid 16 million dollars in unpaid wages to keep flights going.In the next 90 days, Marsans and the government will discuss the selling price as well as what to do with the company’s debt.

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The 22nd Atlantic Jazz Festival began on July 11th in Halifax, Nova Scotia and was opened by Argentina’s Orquesta Tipica Imperial.This great jazz festival, known for bringing the best in jazz together every year, is expanding to include different types of music such as avant-garde, world, pop, folk, and fusion.Tango music may not initially seem like it has a lot in common with jazz, but its roots in the experiences of every day people and its growth to a high art form give the two many similarities.According to All About Jazz, the Festival runs through the 19th and is only the first stop for the Orquesta Tipica on its first North American Tour.They will also be playing in New York and Chicago before returning to Argentina.

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This Saturday was the Carreras de las Estrellas, the equivalent of Argentina’s Breeders’ Cup World Championship.Taking place at the Hipodromo Argentino de Palermo in Buenos Aires, the biggest race of the day, the Gran Premio Estrellas Classic, offered a grand prize of $236,710.According to The Thoroughbred Times, the money and the glory went to the horse Flag Copado, who won easily by nine lengths.Horse racing is very popular in Argentina, with a special short section of the Clarín devoted to it every day.This particular race is one of the biggest of the year and the results made ripples in both national and international horse racing news.

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