A little over a month ago, I had the opportunity to go back to my mom’s hometown of Buenos Aires, Argentina, where I had not been in almost seven years. To say that Buenos Aires is a vastly different city from where we live here in Rockville, Bethesda or Kensington is obvious. The capital of Argentina is hundreds of years old, filled with European influence and its own flair. One of the biggest takeaways from my trip that contributed significantly to the character of the city I was revisiting, was the countless murals I encountered. And of all the things I saw, that is the one thing I would love to see incorporated more in my hometown and across the DMV.
Back in December 2022, the Argentina National Team fulfilled what seemed to be a prophecy, winning the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. This championship, which was over 35 years in the making, sent the country into a frenzy. In the days that followed, over four million people took to the streets in celebration and Argentine pride, concentrated around the famous Obelisk. This moment in history also gave the artists of Argentina a time to shine. All across the large city, murals of Messi and Maradona covered the walls of homes and businesses. As I walked through the neighborhood of La Boca, not only were there countless of these murals, but many of the buildings were colored blue and yellow, representing the world famous soccer team Boca Juniors, whose iconic stadium ‘La Bombonera’ can be found there.
What I loved was that as you walk those streets, you know exactly where you are. You’re in a country that may have its problems, but you have no doubt in the pride the people who live there have for their country. The buildings may be run down or old, but you don’t even notice.
This is what I think we need to bring back here in the U.S., and more specifically here in the WJ community. Sure, it may be great that everything is being rebuilt into some state-of-the-art structure, whether it be a house or office building, but when every building is the same brick or pure glass structure, the city begins to lose what makes it special.
We may not have Messi or a world cup to show off, but we have plenty of other people and accomplishments to show off. Bethesda is home to one of the greatest swimmers of all time in Katie Ledecky, so why not a mural of her? Or even Walter Johnson, named after one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history? How cool would it be to have a large mural of him on the outside of our school, or even somewhere on the walls of our baseball stadium?
With so many different people from so many different backgrounds, there is no shortage of inspiration. We have so many talented artists in our school and our area as a whole, and we could channel this skill and give our city some more life and character.
