Buenos Aires

I have been slacking a bit lately on my blogging so I am going to recap:

Last weekend was La Cumbre- amazing.

Monday: Candi’s birthday

Tuesday: culture class

Wednesday: tango (always entertaining)

Also, on Wednesday we got a whole new group of international students. These students didn’t need to come for the intensive month so their Spanish is really good, and therefore makes me want to study more! We’ve been here for a month so we should be better than them! Haha but no I’m really excited to get to know them and since we are going to all be in the same classes so It will be great to get to know kids from all over the world.

Thursday: we had out final test. It was easier than the first test but I still had trouble with a lot of vocab- we get our grades back tomorrow so fingers crossed. After the test we had about 5 hours until we had to be downtown packed and ready  for our trip to Beunos Aires!!!

And so begins the Buenos Aires post:

We left at 10:30 Thursday night and embarked on a 10 and a half hour bus ride. It sounds unbearably long, but the buses were actually really nice- more comfortable than an airplane that’s for sure. We watched a movie and then slept the whole rest of the way- not half bad Argentina! (also, gracias to the Benedryl that helped me sleep through the night) 

(me and my bus buddy Jules)

We arrived in BA early sat morning and went on a bud tour. BA is the capital of Argentina and the largest city in the country. I expected it to be a lot like NYC with huge buildings and tons of people, but I was pleasantly surprised. Yes there were large buildings and a lot of people, but there were also a ton of huge parks and open spaces. I loved the architecture and the total feel of the city. 

After the tour we went to La Boca which is the neighborhood were Tango was “born”.

La boca is the neighborhood where Carlos Gardel the father of tango lived, and it is such a cool neighborhood. All the building are different colors and there were tons of people dressed up in tango gear to take pictures with people in the streets. There was another open market and I never get tired of seeing all the hand made art. The people down here are so creative with what they can make from random materials! I've decided to start accumulating art from all these fairs to bring home with me- it's cheap and really good. (and I can say that I got it from Argentina)

After la Boca we went to a few museums and walked around a bit.

That night we went to the port (NAME) and it the smell of salt water reminded me of home. There was this really cool bridge called La Puente de la Mujer ( The Woman's bridge) and it is apparently a replica of a bridge in Savannah GA? Pretty cool to see at night

We went to dinner at a restaurant on the water called Sige la Baca (I think) and it was a parilla libre, which means open grille. If you have ever been to a Brazilian steak house where you have a green card and a red card- that is what this place was like. There was a huge open grill in the middle of the restaurant and two big salad bars. You could go up as many times as you wanted and just point at which part of meat you wanted and they chef would use his HUGE knife to whack you off a slice, and give it to you. They had all different types of meat- cow, chicken, sausage, and many other things that I would just rather not know.  They also had an amazing salad bar- but the salad bars are pretty different here because it included many different “pickled” things. But still good!

(this was round one for Esther)

In this country when you order a coke at a restaurant they bring you a glass bottle- which is smaller than a can I'm pretty sure- and there is no such thing as free refills. But at this restaurant, one of the perks was that, included with your meal, was one of three options for a drink: a 2 liter of coke, 2 liter of  beer, or a bottle of wine: PER PERSON. Ahhh I didn’t have to conserve my sips because I had two liters of coke light! It was glorious. O and the desert was amazing, Missy and I had a good time sharing 2 cheesecakes ( or 3, or 4, I don't really remember....)

O and yeah I tried pickled tongue. I promised myself I would try everything in this country at least once. If it wern't for the texture, (and the fact that it was tongue) I might have actually liked it. 

The next day we woke up and took a train out to El Tigre, which is a river in BA. We took a long ferry ride and drove past tons of country clubs. Apparently El Tiger is where the rich people of BA and of ARgentina go to have their summer houses or weekend houses. The coolest part was that there are no grocery stores out past a certain point, and the only way to get groceries is by a "grocery ship". You drive up on your boat and pick what you want off the ship full of fruit, coke, crackers and tons of other stuff. Very inventive.

We ate lunch and then went to another open market. Everything is so cheap I have to stop myself from buying it all. Leather is especially cheap down here, because it is made locally and made done- very cool.  

That night we got dressed up and when to a really nice dinner and tango show. But first, we went to another market. This one was different thought because it was at night, and there was dancing! It was the dance of the gauchos (cowboys) that we had learned in our culture class so I convinced Jeff to dance with me and we joined in. I love this culture :)

 Dinner that night was dinner and a show. It was a really nice dinner with a fixed menu. We chose an appetizer, entree and desert right when we got there and everything was delicious! I had pumpkin creeps with mushroom sauce, two of my favorite foods together. The best part was just the ambiance of the place. Everyone there was dressed up and, ready for the tango show. I loved feeling like a true Argentine for a while. When we finished eating the the show started and it was amazing. I loved the costumes and the dancing. Mom- I know you would have absolutely loved this. The dresses were all from the 60's and between the dancers they had two singers come out and sing original Gardel songs.  Great night.

The next day we woke up, and you guessed it, went to another market. But I'm telling you, they never get old! I love seeing what they have and since it is so cheap I don't feel guilty buying things. Get ready for some awesome souvenirs. 

Later we went to Recoleta Cemetery where Eva Peron is buried. All of the tombs were above ground mausoleums and were huge! Many of them could be small houses and had beautiful architecture.

It took us forever to find Eva's tomb because it was more or less hidden down one random aisle and surprisingly it was the size as all the others. When we finally found it people kept walking in front of us and didn't seem to care that we were trying to take a picture, so John stepped in to help. He wanted a picture so he decided to put his size to good use. He told us to get ready because he was going to block the way so we could take pictures- and thats what he did. He just stood in the way until he had a line behind him, waited until we got a picture and then, in his words "Watch out I'm about to open the flood gates" hahah no wonder everyone hates Americans- O well we got good pictures. Gracias Juan.

Came back to Cordoba by plane because it was easier and I was greeted in the airport with a big hug from my mom and Willy. I can't say enough how great my mom is: most of the other student had to find rides back, or take a taxi, but my mom insisted on coming to pick me up. The Lord really blessed me with a great family. 

Yet again, another great weekend.