A Very Educational Weekend

Weekend #2 in Buenos Aires was very interesting and we got to see new sights within and outside of the big city....

Friday

Class field trip! We went to the center of town, ate lunch, and stopped in a bookstore where I found a book by my favorite author: Gustavo Adolfo Becquer. Then we toured the Manzana de las Luces, which includes an old church, my professor's old high school, and 1st government building. The kicker is that they're all connected by underground tunnles which were used to resist the first and second English invasion of Argentina.
In the afternoon the Holly, Eric, and I met Jeff and his friend (Jeff) for a tour of Puerto Madero, which used to be the actual port part of BA. However, as the boats got bigger they could not enter the port and now-a-days Puerto Madero is a nice little "slice of America". We also saw an excivation site of an old boat buried underneath Buenos Aires. National Geographic is doing a special on it, and we got to see it first hand!

Saturday

Emily, Eric, and I met Jeff and went to El Tigre, a collection of islands with tons of rivers to connect them. There are no cars, just boats so it's like a small, country-style Venice. We took a river boat tour to see the houses and stopped by the market too. That afternoon we had traditional BBQ and I ate parts of beef that I had never planned on trying ever in my life: kidney, intestine, stomach, etc. I tried but did not like it, but at least the people here are not wasteful with their food.

Sunday

I went to mass at the round catholic church a few blocks from my house. Because of the swine flu we did not greet each other with a kiss, were not allowed to hand hands during the closing hymn, and did not drink from the communion cup. H1N1 is becoming a national phobia but even more a national joke because it really is not a pandemic. It is not bad at all, but the goverment is using this "health crisis" to distract the citizens from policial issues following the recent election.

Another result of H1N1 is that we could not longer take the boat to Uruguay but instead got a personal tour of the zoo outside the city. I have always loved the zoo, thanks to my animal-loving family, and impressed the tour guide with my zoo knowledge. I also learned alot of animal-related Spanish vocab. The zoo was very spacious and well kept although there were not more than 20 exhibits. Quality over quantity, right?
Apparently the lady who owns the zoo also owns an ice cream shop called Munchi's, and makes fresh ice cream and dulce de leche from the cows she keeps at the zoo. There is a Munchi's near the train stop by my house so Eric, Holly, and I visited it. It was the best ice cream I have ever had! Even better than Italian gelado (gasp!).

Politics, Art, and More

Here's a rundown of what happened during my 2nd week in BA:

Monday
Talk about the elections most of the school day. PRO won the majority vote in this legislative election and Christina Kirchner's (current president) party lost - showing that she lost most of her support in just 2 years.

After school we went to a yoga class that was amazing! Got to use some new equiptment and just relax instead of trying to run around all afternoon. At night we went to a concert of the improv percussion group call "La Bomba del Tiempo" (Timebomb) and it was incredible!!! The live music here in Buenos Aires is to die for. Tuesday
Learned lots of grammar and more politics in school and then relaxed at home or around town during the afternoon on Tuesday.

Wednesday
Watched a political documentary about the 2001 economic class during school. In the afternoon we visited the MALBA (an art museum) which contained many modern pieces, which are the more common type of art in Latin America. A few blocks away was a huge metal flower that is solar powered, thus it opens and closes as the sun rises and sets. It was aweseome!
Thursday
Took my first Spanish test and it was pretty hard, but I think I did well. After class we hustled to the main town square (Plaza de Mayo, by the pink President's house) to see the Madres de la Plaza. These are the women of the "disappeared" generation that was against the dicatorship in the 70s, who march every Thursday in memory of the goverment to took their children. We also went down the street to see the Obelisco (looks like the Washington Monument).
Later in the evening we went to tango lessons at La Viruta and stayed for salsa lessons afterward. I'm getting better at tango, but still prefer the rhythm and energy of salsa. Another thing that's improving is my Spanish. I'm even starting to develop the "porteño" accent (porteño = person from Buenos Aires), according to my house mom.