A Weekend in Buenos Aires - Part I

You know I really have a cool job! I'm continuously marveling at the fact that I'm getting to spend the semester in South America. This weekend was our group trip to Buenos Aires. We were there from Thursday night to Sunday afternoon. We took the BuqueBus (a very fast boat) from Montevideo to B.A. Something came up at the last minute and Rhonda couldn't go until Friday, so I found out that I was in charge without a lot of notice. Normally, I like being in charge (no I'm not bossy), but the being in charge with finding out the details at the last minute was a bit stressful, esp. going to a new place where I didn't speak the language. Fortunately, everything was really well arranged and the students are awesome, so basically we just had to show up at the right time and we were in good hands.

We had a fantastic tour guide named Marcella who met us at the port, took us to our hotel, did our city tour on Friday, made sure we got to the tango show, and took us back to the port. I think I looked pitiful and helpless enough, that she was really worried that we wouldn't make it anywhere. (It was easier to be pitiful than to let her know that if I tried hard I could eventually figure it out.)

OK... once we got to the hotel at 10:30 on Thursday we all got checked in and then headed out to get something to eat. We hadn't had dinner. By the way... my hotel room was really nice. I'm uncultured enough that I took pictures including the one of the bathroom. That was complete with a whirlpool bath and phone... if only there would have been a TV. :) By the time we ate, I went to bed really late. I think I wouldn't have been so pitiful if I hadn't been so tired on Thursday and Friday.

Yes I still get excited about big hotel rooms with king size beds... I'm just a girl from Arkansas after all!







Friday morning we had a tour of the city with Marcella. She took us to the Casa Rosada (the Pink House), the presidential palace. It is famous because that is where the balcony is from which Evita addressed the crowds. There we also went to Catedral Metropolina. The liberator of Argentina is buried there. There are guards at his tomb and we managed to get to see the changing of the guard.


From there we went to La Boca, the mouth, which is where the mouth of a river is. The Boca Juniors, a very popular soccer team, have their stadium there. All around their stadium they have murals. The one in the picture is of famous Boca Juniors acting as members of a Tango band and Tango singer. They also have their own version of the Hollywood Stars with footprints of soccer stars instead of handprints.


La Boca neighborhood is actually rather poor. It was where the Italian immigrants worked on the docks. They had aluminum houses. When their wives came they painted the buildings really bright colors. It is still a poor neighborhood that is dangerous to visit at night. During the day however it is a major tourist destination (read tourist trap). The buildings were really pretty. Many artists displayed there work.


We then drove to the Northern part of the city center through Recoleta, a really rich neighborhood I'll talk more about it tomorrow, to the diplomatic district. We also got to see some cool things on the way like a sculpture that is a giant metal flower that opens when the sunrise and closes at sunset. We also saw the Tower. It was originally called the English tower because it was a gift from England. Well when England and Argentina fought over the Faukland Islands it just became the Tower.

We then finished up at a modern art museum. We were supposed to be there at 12:30 for a tour, but we were too late because of traffic and missed it.

We looked around a bit. I'm afraid I do not properly appreciate modern art, but it was pretty cool. At two, I finally fed my poor, starving college students. The plan had been to eat at the museum, but it was full. Marcella helped up find a nearby restaurant, and we ate and headed back to the hotel. All of this was made more exciting by the fact that we had a student on crutches. He hung in there though. It gave me a good excuse to take a taxi back rather than ride the bus. I had to make sure my student made it back ok.

In the afternoon, the students rested. After enjoying my giant bathtub, I went and explored Florida, the pedestrian street filled with shops a couple blocks from our hotel. I must admit that I enjoy souvenir shops waaaaay more than I should. Rhonda arrived around 7. I was super glad to see her.

At 8 the group met in the lobby to wait to be taken to dinner and a tango show. Marcella again went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure we made it ok. (Earlier in the day we hadn't known if Rhonda would make it in time, and I seemed pretty helpless, so she didn't want me to be on my own.)

Anyway... The Tango show was awesome. It was fun to all get dressed up and go out together. First of all the food was great. I had quiche, crepes, and chocolate mousse. (Oh one funny thing, we were sitting at a table full of ladies from Dunedin, New Zealand, a place I have visited several times. So it was fun to talk to them too.) The Tango dancers were incredible. The intricate steps that they could do without kicking and/ or stepping on each other was amazing, especially to a really uncoordinated person like me. I was also fascinated by the accordion player. That is quite a workout.

After the tango show... I went to the hotel and crashed.

I'll tell you about the rest of the weekend tomorrow (Tuesday). I should probably write lecture notes for class at 8 tomorrow rather than writing my blog.