El Papa

a.k.a. the Pope, not to be confused with la papa (potato), or el papá (dad).

My host mom is an avid Catholic, so I was first alerted that white smoke had gone up from the Vatican by her excited shriek exhorting my host grandparents to turn on their TV so they could hear the new pope's first blessing. I proceeded to open up nytimes.com and learn that the church's next leader was Jesuit (Hoya Saxa!) and Argentine - a first on both counts. While this was of course interesting and news-worthy, I didn't really think much of it until I was out running errands later this afternoon.

Along the four-block walk between my house and the municipality, I heard multiple conversations that all included something along the lines of, "¿Escuchaste? ¡El Papa habla castellano!" (Did you hear? The new Pope speaks Spanish!) In a country where 81% of the population is Catholic, the first-ever Pope from their corner of the world is a big deal. That their number-one religious figurehead now speaks their own language is cause for excitement, for feeling like they're sharing in something special. Multiply this over the rest of the countries in Latin America (almost all of which are similarly high-majority Catholic), and you get the same big deal on a continental scale. It's a positive moment for the region, and even the cajabambinos are celebrating.