In 1930
Juana decided to leave Los Toldos with her "tribe," as
she liked to call her family, to seek a better fortune in the
nearby town of Junin, where Elisa had been transferred. Blanca
would soon begin teaching at the Sacred Heart School and Juan
would find work in the town's pharmacy. Erminda began secondary
school at the Colegio Nacional and Eva was registered in third
grade at Public School #1, Catalina Larralt de Estrugamon.
In Junin
at lunchtime three people sat down at the family table because
they preferred Doña Juana's homemade cooking over anything else
the small town had to offer; with time they would become part of
the family.
Major
Alfredo Arrieta, Commander of the Military District, would marry
Elisa. Don José Alvarez Rodriguez, rector of the Colegio
Nacional, came with his brother, Dr. Justo José Alvarez
Rodriguez, who would one day marry Blanca.
In Junin,
the childhood theatricals of Los Toldos were replaced by roles on
a real stage. Eva began to stand out for her ability to recite
poetry. In her autobiography, The Reason For My Life, she
would say, "Even as a little girl I wanted to recite. It was
as though I wished to say something to others, something important
which I felt in my deepest heart." (pg.21) The Commission of
the Artistic and Cultural Center of the Colegio Nacional often
organized theatricals. Erminda was a member and even though Evita
wasn't, she was still allowed to join the group and participate in
a play called "Arriba Estudiantes." In Junin Evita's
voice was broadcast for the first time over the loudspeakers
installed in Prime Arini's "House of Music." Once a week
the young people of the town would take the microphone in hand and
display their artistic talent for singing, reciting, or
declaiming.
Evita's
"profound artistic vocation" (as she herself spoke of
her calling) was nourished by Junin's cinema, her teenage radio
auditions and her collection of film star pictures.
In Junin
Evita had to make her first choice: "Shall I remain a small
town girl and marry here as so many girls do? Shall I be a teacher
like Blanca? Or an employee like Elisa?" By 1935 Evita had
made up her mind: "I'II be an actress.
The
characteristics of Evita's personality fit her vocation. She
herself would say in La Razón de Mi Vida, her
autobiography, "Like the birds, I've always preferred the
freedom of the forest. I haven't even been able to tolerate that
minimum loss of freedom which comes from living with your parents
or in your hometown. Very early in life I left my home and my
hometown and since then I've always lived free. I've wanted to be
on my own and I have been on my own." (La Razón de Mi
Vida, C.S. Ediciones, Buenos Aires, 1995, pgs. 193-194).
The
circumstances which surround Evita's leavetaking from Junin have
generated countless versions, the most common of which involves
Augustín Magaldi, nicknamed the "Gardel of the
Provinces" [Carlos Gardel was a famous Argentine tango
singer]. Depending on which version you hear, he's either
interceding with Doña Juana, at Evita's request, to obtain her
permission for Evita to go to Buenos Aires, or simply providing
Eva with letters of introduction which will open the doors of
stardom for her. Erminda's memory of the conflict caused by
Evita's unshakable decision to go to Buenos Aires and Doña
Juana's no less unshakable desire to prevent her from going,
contradicts the Magaldi versions. After pondering the words of José
Alvarez Rodriguez, who advised her not to stand in the way of her
daughter's vocation, Doña Juana gave in. "The rector
insisted so much, that Mother, clenching her teeth, took you to
Buenos Aires.
Doña
Juana returned alone, "furious with the Rector of the Colegio
Nacional, furious with everyone, "having left Eva in the home
of friends of the family, the Bustamantes" (Duarte, Erminda:
op. cit., pg. 71). The little girl of Los Toldos and Junin had
been left behind. Together with a few personal possessions placed
in a suitcase and lost over the course of the years, Eva took with
her the pedaling sound of the New Home Sewing Machine, the
remembrance of toys wished for but never obtained, the impact of
the discovery that there are poor and rich in the world and the
emotional indignation felt when faced with injustice... these
things she would always keep.
