Monday, March 24, 2014

Mar 24: Welsh Immigrants Chubut Valley

I went to Gaiman today, a small town in the Chubut Valley.  It was the designation for Welch immigrants several hundred years ago. They came here from Wales in order to protect their language and culture from English influence.  It seems that the Spanish influence succeeded though.

I took several buses from Puerto Madryn to arrive in Gaiman.  I had expected to see a town full of white people.  But all I found was the same darkish Argentinan. The town is known for its teas and cakes. I did find a cafe with the Welsh flag flying outside. I went in and found another darkish Argentinan behind the counter.  I asked her in Spanish where all the white folk were? She took me around to the back of the cafe and I could hear her ask a woman the same question.  I peeked around the corner to see her boss. She was white! I said "Si. Blanca! (Yes. White!)". The brownish Argentinan woman busted up laughing and actually lost it. She had to excuse herself as she couldn't stop laughing! I later learned from the white Welsh owner that her relatives were multiple generations removed from immigrating.  She only knew a few words of Welsh and she claimed she wasn't 100% pure either.

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