A Weekend in Buenos Aires - Part II

OK... I think yesterday I had made it through the Tango show Friday night. So we are ready to continue on with Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday morning, I got up and met some of the girls for breakfast and then we headed out to do what girls do best... SHOP! (OK, that was sexist... but I'm a girl and can say such things... and I'm kidding... kind of.) Anyway, we wandered down Florida to look in all the shops. Anne was looking for a leather coat, Chelsea was looking for boots, Kelsey, Jennifer, Kimberly, and I were just looking in general. After looking around for an hour or so we went to the Galleria Pacifica, which is a high end mall. We mainly went in to see the ceilings which are beautifully painted, not to shop as we were students and an ACU prof... we don't have that kind of money. After the mall we split up for a little while before lunch so the folks who were specifically looking for stuff could really look. Kelsey and I just went to cheesy tourist shops because we love them. I didn't buy anything then, either. (Don't worry myself control doesn't hold up much longer.) I then had my first American fast food of the trip. We decided to go to McDonald's because it is fast and cheap.

After lunch we regrouped at the hotel, partly so I could get my camera, I was a bit jumpy about carrying it around when I didn't need it. (I'm still a little jumpy over the whole purse snatching thing. My students have almost gotten back handed a couple times when they've walked up behind me and grabbed my arm, esp. when we are outside.) ANYWAY... the Jonathans joined us and we headed to Recoleta.

Recoleta is a very rich neighborhood in B.A. that is famous for its cemetery. There is also a crafts fair that is in the park next to the cemetery. To display their wares at the fair the artists had to be approved so it is all pretty high quality stuff. My shopping could not hold out against the crafts fair... OK... so I had actually planned to do some shopping there. I bought a painting of some tango dancers that I got to go with a painting of Tango dancers I bought in Uruguay. I didn't want to take sides in the whole Uruguay vs. Argentina who can claim tango battle. :) I also bought some other cool things, but as I might give them to people I won't go into detail here. Then again, I thought they were really cool... so I may keep them. nanner nanner nanner.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day, there were lots of people and entertainers out taking full advantage of the first full day of spring.






OK now to the cemetery... Cemeteries aren't really my favorite places to hang out, although old ones have pretty cool tomb stones, but this one was different. It is a city within a city. There 4800 crypts in the cemetery. Although, that being said, I'm not sure I'd just hang out here all the time either...


Most of them are family crypts and are full of people. When a family member dies, they are put in a casket in the crypt. When they've been dead for awhile, they are moved to a smaller box to make room for others. In many of the crypts you could see stairs going down to the underground part. (Those are two of the smaller boxes.)


Anyway... most of the crypts are "small" marble buildings that end up making streets, you could almost get lost in the cemetery.








Some of the crypts are well taken care of while others not so much. Supposedly the widows from the neighborhood go there often to take care of their family crypts and to feed the cemetery cats. Now I like cats, but there does seem something appropriate about cats hanging out in a cemetery. They scared us a couple times when they would jump out of a crypt.

Ok... These were just a couple of the cool pictures... If you want to see more, go to my facebook page, or I'll show you when I get home.






Eva Peron (Evita) is buried in Recoleta. It took awhile for her body to reach it, but it did eventually and she is buried in her family crypt (not the Peron crypt... I'm not sure if the Peron's have a crypt). Anyway... it isn't that exciting of a place.



After we passed Evita's crypt, Kelsey found one that had been broken... then we realized the top of the casket was open. Kelsey waved her hand over it, which was quickly followed by Kimberly and I saying in unison, "Ew Ew Ew!"




We wandered around the cemetery a bit more with Kelsey trying to break into a few more tombs. Then we (or really I) finished up our shopping and headed back to the hotel.






I then went back to Florida to buy some souvenirs. That night we all went out to an Indian restaurant. It was super good. Afterwards, Rhonda and I went back to the hotel and hung out for a bit. I then enjoyed my flat screen TV and king sized bed for a bit longer and went to bed. (I got to watch the replay of Argentina's rugby victory from earlier in the day.)

Rhonda and I had made the decision not to go to church in B.A. Sunday morning because we were afraid we wouldn't be able to get everyone back in time to get to the port. For once we were worried about "missing the boat" and we meant it literally! Some of the girls and I went to the park near our hotel to hang out in the morning after we checked out. In theory, we were going to read, but it was such a gorgeous day we just walked around or sat on a bench and laughed.


We got to see the Kavanaugh building which borders the park (Plaza de Liberador General San Martin). It is significant because it is evidence of what happens when you have too much money and too much spite. Apparently, these two RICH old women were feuding. One built this beautiful church across the park from her home where she could look out her window and see it. Her rival built the Kavanaugh building in front of it so that the first woman couldn't see it. Now that seems spiteful... but it gets worst. At least for awhile, I'm not sure if it still does, but the Kavanaugh building held the world record for how fast it was built, which was in 12 months. Mrs. Kavanaugh had it built that fast because her rival was dying and she wanted to be sure that the church was blocked BEFORE her rival DIED so the first woman would know that it was built to spite her. Is that crazy or what?

After lunch we all made it safely back to the port and got on the BuqueBus. The waves were pretty bad on the way back and it was a pretty rough ride. I don't think anyone in our group got sick, but other people certainly did. The attendants actually handed out barf bags about an hour in... EEEEWWWW

Once we got back to Montevideo we got into taxis and headed back to CasaACU. Luke's and my taxi driver has a sister that lives in Garland, TX. He also knew and remembered Rhonda... of course I think Rhonda knows at least a third of the people in Montevideo.

Once back at CasaACU, we unpacked, had a communion service, and got ready to start a new week. It's always a little sad to get back to reality after a trip... but its much better if that reality is living in Montevideo. Of course unlike my students, I don't have to take a biochem test this week... so I might have a slightly different view point.