Last day! Don't cry for me, Argentina!

Today is our last day in Buenos Aires. This morning we had to pack and check out of the hotel. We were anxious because it started raining. Elsa said Buenos Aires is crying because it's our last day. From there we went to la Casa Rosada, and took a tour of it. I've never been to the White House, so I can't compare, but this presidential house was impressive. At the entrance there were paintings of important Latin American figures, and once the tour started, we went through many different rooms like the original towns room- where the history of the indigenous people of Latin America was displayed, the woman room- honoring many important women in Argentine history, the patio of palms-a courtyard with four palm trees in it, the balcony where the presidents talk to the people and where Madonna sang "Don't cry for me Argentina",  the white room where many presidents assumed the presidency, the north room where agreements are made, the south room for informal events and the presidential office. Then the tour ended in the hall of busts-as the name implies, it's a hall full of busts of important people.

Casa Rosada
Original Towns Room - Latin American Artists Room
Argentine Woman Room - Patio de las Palmas
Presidential Balcony
White Room - Hall of Busts
Casa Rosada

Don't cry f or me Argentina!

From there, we went to the bicentennial museum, right next to the Casa Rosada. In it, we learned the history of Argentina and saw some important national paintings and a mural art basement (hard to explain-just imagine it! ) It was interesting.

Then we went to have lunch...more meat. I think I will be a vegetarian for a while! Afterwards, we went to the San Telmo fair. It's like a flea market, just with artisan and antique items. We were supposed to go to another one, but not many people set up because it had rained in the morning. So instead we went to the cemetery in the Recoleta to visit Evita's grave. She was buried with her family, in the Duarte grave. (It was interesting to see my last name in the tomb! )

Then we went shopping at two different malls to wait for the bus. I had dinner at the food court-a sandwich from a French restaurant.Elsa tasted it and assured me that it was good enough to pass as French.
Then we went to the bus, hopped on and got ready for a long ride home. Franklin and I discovered some headphone jacks and that a fútbol game was going on. Santi quickly asked to borrow my headphones, since his team was playing. If was fun to see him on the edge of his seat, and celebrating with every goal! The movie playing was Pompeii. Pretty good. I got some sleep, and later woke up in Córdoba.  I went home in a taxi with Lucile and Weston, since we live relatively close together.  This was a good weekend.  I can't wait to go back to Buenos Aires someday. I cannot wait.

Even Paola ran out of energy!

TANGO SHOW IS INCREDIBLE ! Simply Incredible

Ack. I am completely overwhelmed right now. Tonight we walked from the hotel to Piazzola Tango, a restaurant and live Tango show. We came early for a Tango lesson before the show. The dancers taught us the basic Tango step and three moves. After demonstrating, the instructor said "gentlemen, attack! " and we found partners to dance with. He also pointed out that they were teaching Argentine Tango, not Hollywood Tango! And we danced. It was fun! I danced with Elsa and Lucile. We had a good time.

Dance hall, where we learned how to dance

Then we walked into the dining hall, there was a beautiful stage in the center and everything was fancy. We were taken to our seats, and we had to choose a starter, an entree and a dessert. The food was delicious.I ate like a French person again-Elsa was proud. Then the show started as we were eating dessert.

Dining hall, where the dinner and show took place

Unfortunately, (truly, I am so upset) we were not allowed to take pictures or videos of the show. It was phenomenal. Indescribable. Captivating. Men and women danced in the stage in front of the musicians - a pianist, an upright bass player, two violinists and two accordion players- playing live music. They're outfits were amazing, they're dancing even more so. The Tango is a fun, romantic, sensual and sometimes melancholy dance. There were also two singers, make and female, who sang and the band would play instrumental Tango music while the dancers changed clothes. We were all filled with emotion after the show. It was incredible.

Our group with the female singer. 

Walking back to the hotel, all of us enthusiastically talking about our favorite parts of the show, among other things. When we got there, I eventually went up to my room to sleep, but I had to write this down so I don't forget! But now that that's that, I'll see you tomorrow.

Note: Check this post again for pictures of the dancing lesson and maybe a video.  My friend has to send it to me. 

Tango basic step (for men): Starting with right foot, back, left, forward forward feet together (right foot) forward(left foot) right feet together

The River People of Paraná

Today we got on a train and went to a port town called Tigre. From there we took a boat tour of the Paraná River, a river that leads to the enormous Rio de la Plata. It was interesting because there is an entire community that lives on this river- There are houses, churches, schools, parks and recreation spots along the river, and people navigate to and fro on their boats.  There's a gas station, grocery boats that you can buy groceries from if you don't want to go to the mainland, boat "buses" that function just like the buses in the city, except for the fact that it's a boat. I was very impressed by this culture of these river people.

Our Tour Boat

The Police

"Bus"boat. Stops in certain places for
people to get on and off

Grocery Boat

Gas station 

Convenience store

Museum that used to be a house

The delta had many small waterways that people navigate through
as with cars on land.

We turned right before actually going into Rio de la Plata, and eventually made a circle that took us back to Puerto de Frutas in Tigre.  We ate milanesa (like country fried steak, but rather, its a thin meat...it's good).  Elsa told me that United States Americans eat too fast, and *showed* me how to eat like a French person.  Afterwards, we took the train back to Buenos Aires.  We had free time for around three hours before going to a Tango show, and all of us were tired, so most of took a nap. When I woke up, there was still time, so I walked to the Obelisk, where I heard some of the others were headed earlier.  I met them there, and we watched as a lot of people were gathering with flags and wood.  That's right. A manifestation in the making.  We thought they were going to light the wood on fire, because they were making a big pile. However, it was almost time to meet up at the hostel, and nothing had happened. As we were leaving, I asked someone working on the protest and it turns out they weren't going to burn anything anyway.  Apparently, this morning, the police violently kicked homeless people out of municipal territory, and so the people were going to build a shack and live in front of the Obelisk to protest against police violence. Hmm. ok. so we went back and got ready for the Tango show tonight.

To be continued...

Buenos Días, Buenos Aires!

First view of Buenos Aires

After a nice little 9 hour bus ride (no sarcasm-it was nice. The seats were semi-bed and they played a movie for the first hour or so), We woke up in Buenos Aires. When we got off the bus, we started walking to the hotel- and we found it after walking 20 steps! One letter really does make a difference though. The Ritz Hotel and the Ritz Hostel are different places!  Still, it's a pretty good place. We had time before breakfast, so the girls went up to change clothes, and us guys (Weston, Franklin, our travel agent Santi and me) stayed in the reception lobby drinking mate. We are breakfast and began our busy day. We took a three hour city tour of Buenos Aires. This city is enormous, and so amazing. In the center of the city there's an enormous obelisk. The obelisk in Buenos Aires is analogous to the Statue of Liberty in New York. Except more accessible. People come here to meet up with others, to visit (tourists), to protest, etc.  It's an important landmark.  

The Obelisk

Then there's a stark contrast dividing the city in half. The north side is richer than the south side, and it shows. The building in the north side are big and fancy, with European architecture. The south side has smaller and less attractive buildings. We went through la Recoleta and Palermo, two of the top areas in the north side, and then to Boca, an old port town in the south side. Then we went to Puerto Madero, a newer and more beautiful port on the north side. The city is so amazing!

European Architecture of the
rich, north side

Architecture of the south side

Plaza de Mayo

We got off to see the presidential house, or La Casa Rosa (The Pink House), the Cathedral, and Boca. La Casa Rosada is where the president works.  Unlike the White House, this is not where the president lives. We'll be taking a tour of the Pink House on Sunday, so I'll talk about it then. We also saw the Plaza de Mayo, a plaza in front of la Casa Rosada. There are "headscarves" on the ground as homage to the Mothers and Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo (History lesson in a future post). The women actually march on Thursdays, so I we missed them. Oh well.

Casa Rosada

Then we crossed the street to go to the Cathedral.  The current pope was/is the archbishop of this

cathedral.  Not only that, but this cathedral houses the tomb of José de San Martín, the liberator of Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay.  The Cathedral is beautiful, but as you can imagine, the 

The Cathedral

San Martín's tomb

Tomb is a little bit more popular to visit! There are even guards stationed there.  It's impressive. San Martín's coffin is on a pedestal adorned with four sculptures, with plaques underneath commemorating his victories and the gratitude towards him. On the walls around the chamber are lamps over plaques that commemorate his important military victories.  The Argentine flag is draped over his coffin and hangs over the edge of the pedestal. Just wow. 

Every hour, there would be a changing of the guards, We got to witness this.  It was fantastic! Here's a video: 

As mentioned, Boca is a port on the poor south side of Buenos Aires. Well, was a port. The water in Boca is completely contaminated; no one drinks it because of the chrome and lead in it.  The buildings are smaller, the smell is pretty bad, and the people are poorer, but Boca is very lively even so.  There's a path called El Caminito (the little path) where people sell things and Tango dancers dance in the streets.  The buildings are all painted in different colors.  This is because originally, the people would use the leftover paint from the ships to paint their houses.

Lulu and I "dance" Tango in Boca!

After the city tour, we had lunch and returned to the hotel.  After some free time, we went to El Museo de Bellas Artes (The Museum of Fine Arts) and El Museo Malba for Latin American artists of the 20th century.  The first one is what you would imagine a museum to be- paintings and sculptures from the Classic era and also from Argentina's own history.

The other museum was really abstract. Really abstract. The top floor was art made from light and mirrors, and the art was...interesting... I did see some more notable pieces from artists like Diego Rivera, Frida Khalo and Botero, but that was it for me.

After that museum we went back to Puerto Madero and walked to the restaurant we would eat dinner at. Puerto Madero, as I mentioned before, is on the north side.  It is also the safest and most expensive area in Buenos Aires, because of all the police. Since the Casa Rosada (presidential Pink House" is very close, The Federal Police are nearby. Since it's one of the top ports, The Naval Police are stationed there. And since it's in the city of Buenos Aires, the Municipal Police are there too.

One thing that stands out in Puerto Madero is el Puente de La Mujer (Bridge of the Woman). It's an impressive bridge with a spire that juts up in the center.  It is said that it represents a couple dancing Tango. The roads in this area are also all named after women in Argentina's history. It's a lovely stroll for couples.  We finally got to the restaurant.  It was a Parilla- I thought the Asado was meat party, but this was a diente libre, all you can eat meat restaurant! Bwah! So much meat! 

Afterwards, we should have walked again!!! But we took cabs back to the hostel, and from there, I went to sleep. What a day! I can't wait to see what happens tomorrow!

And we're off! To Buenos Aires

Tonight I'm going on a trip with UBP students to Buenos Aires for the weekend. Buenos Aires is the federal capital of Argentina, and it is several times larger than Córdoba. I'm pretty excited; the itinerary is really good and it'll be fun to travel within the country. So here goes.

I was going to meet Elsa and Lucile at the dino mall to go to the departure point together via bus, but our classmate Taylor told us that her host family would drive us there in their car. So I made sure I had everything and went to the bus stop. When the bus was coming, it ignored me and kept going! Either the bus was at maximum capacity or the driver was in a bad mood.

So I had to take a cab. When I got there, I was a bit early, so I waited inside with Taylor and Lucile. Once everyone came, we loaded up and went to plaza Alberdi. Once there, we went to a nearby sandwich shop and Franklin, Weston and I got sandwiches for dinner. We went back to the plaza and waited a bit. Paula showed up soon after.I didn't know she was coming!

So in the end there were ten of us, including the 2 "chaperones".  The bus eventually arrived and we got on. My seat was next to Elsa's. We started moving and a movie started playing. That's when I started writing these posts-there's no Wi-Fi, so they probably won't post until later. It's 10:51 p.m.-not technically late, but it feels later on this bus. That's all for now; next stop, Buenos Aires!