Alpargatas

Alpargatas are the traditional shoe of the gauchos (cowboys) in Uruguay. The soles are made of jute and the uppers of canvas. I discovered (with the help of Google) that "alpargatas" are the Rioplatense way of saying "espadrilles." And as we all know, every fashion guru owns a pair of espadrilles.


I gave my students the assignment to create an advertisement for something typically Uruguayan based on all of the principles we've been discussing regarding discourse analysis. Their ads were great. Among others I got ads for dulce de leche, towns to visit in Uruguay, beer, sneakers, a hotline, and alpargatas. The two students who created the alpargatas advertisment, also gifted me a pair of these traditional shoes. Thanks guys!

Apparently you can't get alpargatas wet or they will become too stiff, and then they are basically useless. So now I'm nervous to wear them. How can you not get shoes wet? Puddles have a way of finding me.