Week 8:
check, check, check…

August 1, 2016

As of Sunday, July 31st, I have 12 days left at the Embajada, 18 days until I come home, and 34 until I move back into Bowman Hall. Time flies by so fast, I can hardly believe it. I am getting a bit homesick, but I simultaneously am very excited for the next two weeks here. My current work projects I have either previously discussed or am not able to discuss at the moment (intriguing… stay tuned!), so instead, I’m going to write about the last two weekends of Bucket List items I’ve been pursuing. These past two weekends have been incredible, and I’ve gotten over half of the items on my list checked off already!

Saturday, 7/23: Nia and I rode the train from Barrio Chino to Tigre, a small river town 45 minutes away from Buenos Aires, to see the river delta and the famous market there. I was very excited to get away from the city, but I wasn’t sure what to expect. It surpassed my expectations, and I was blown away by how beautiful it was. We were really lucky to get sunny weather in a swath of cold rainy days, and spent the entire day strolling up the riverside shops, and exploring the largest market I’ve ever been to. There were stalls ranging from crafting booths, to souvenir shops, to home decorating and carpenter shops. As a deep lover of crafting and sunlight, along with delicious food, this was a nearly ideal day. To top it off, when we arrived back to Vuelta de Obligado, we played Truco, an incredibly complicated and addictive Argentine card game that has become the interns obsession. We drank Yerba Mate from my new Mate and Bombilla (the special cup and straw used to drink Yerba) and had a great night.

Sunday, 7/24: As I woke up late on Sunday, lying in bed contemplating my day, Nia knocked on my door and asked me if I wanted to go to an event with her. She had gotten tickets from the Embassy to attend an event hosted by Buddy Valastro, aka the Cake Boss. Apparently Argentina is obsessed with his show, so he was coming to Buenos Aires. I gladly accepted, and we headed out to the location, a huge facility dedicated to hosting large expo events – Argentina apparently is also obsessed with expositions. We got to the event, not sure what to expect, but whatever our preconceived ideas were, we were not prepared for what we saw. The event had more than 3,000 people in attendance, with a huge stage and different tables set up. The next two hours were a strange mix of events, including a cake decorating contest in which everyone was declared a winner, a conversation about Buddy’s family and rise to fame, tango dancing, and a lot of Argentine celebrities and children running across the stage. Nia and I ended up leaving early to check out the other expos going on at the facility at the time, before heading home, stopping at a fancy mall for window shopping and dinner on the way back.

This past weekend, I got lots of bucket list items checked off my list, as well as some new items that may not have been on my list but that I’m very glad I did. This was the weekend of museums and cultural experiences, of delving into Argentine history and culture more than I previously had.

Friday, 7/29: my friend Vicky and I went to La Rural, the famous agricultural exposition that is hosted by Buenos Aires every year. This may not sound like the most exciting thing in the world, but this event was certainly one of the high points of my time here – it was a lot like the State Fair back home. I was surrounded by farm equipment and livestock for the first time in months, which made me a bit homesick. At the event, there were tons of farming equipment on display, along with tents for each province of Argentina selling their own specialized goods. There were also tons of other stalls, including food stalls selling as many Choripan and Papas Fritas as you can eat (a challenge I accepted). While we may not have been able to find our other friends in the jumble of people, we spent multiple hours there before the cold set in and we headed home. Later that night, the other Vuelta de Obligado interns and I played more Truco and drank more Mate, before they went out to the boliches and I went to bed, in order to be ready for Saturday.

The face you make when you lose your friends….

Saturday, 7/30: I adventured on my own for most of Saturday, checking off quite a few list items. First, I headed to Parque 3 de Febrero, a huge municipal green space spanning blocks dedicated to walking paths, sculptures, and more. There was a Japanese garden, different plazas representing different countries, and scenic rivers and trees. Missing green space more than I realized, I spent over two hours wandering the trails, before heading to my next stop, the Museo Evita Peron. Evita the wife of President Juan Peron, is an incredibly prominent historical figure here in Argentina, and while I’d already visited her tomb in Recoleta, I wanted to understand more why Argentines are still in love with her to this day. The museum detailed her early life, her marriage to Juan, and her work as first lady both politically and socially, before her death and the preservation and removal of her body. Fun fact of the day: upon her death, her body was preserved and put on display, until the dictator didn’t want her to be a martyr political figure, and stole the body and moved it to Europe, where it remained for years before being returned home.

After that, I headed towards Recoleta, where I wandered around the market before attending a lecture on Photojournalism during the Dirty War with my roommate. During the conflict, there were iconic photographs taken, and three of these photographers were there to discuss their jobs, the hardships faced during the conflict, and how these images had impacted society. Though it was in Spanish, I was able to understand most of it, and it was a very interesting perspective on something I’ve only read history books about. The fact that it was something that people alive had lived through, and I was in the room with them, is a bit surreal. Then, I headed to the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, where I only managed to make it around the first floor, but I saw works by Van Gogh, Rembrant, Manet, and Pueyrredon, before I went home and crashed.

Sunday, 7/31: I again started off my day solo, going for a run before heading out to San Telmo yet again. I had a few last presents that I wanted to get for friends and family (and myself), so I wandered up and down the streets of my favorite Ferria, until I happened to run into Harold and Ellis. We stopped for Choripan and Empanadas before making our way to the National Historical Museum. Though a smaller museum filled with items from Argentina’s founding to the 20th century, this was one of the more challenging experiences I’ve had thus far, as everything was in Spanish. I enjoyed the challenge though, and we spent almost two hours there before braving the rain and running for the Subte home. Upon arriving back at the apartment, I spent the rest of the evening lentil curry, steamed spinach, rice, and tomato soup for the upcoming week, and FaceTiming with my family.

As this trip winds down, I realize that I am leaving at the perfect time, as my Dad has described it – just beginning to get homesick while still enjoying where you are at. Especially considering the rate at which I’m checking items off my list, I know that when I board that plane at Ezeiza, I’ll be ready for two weeks of R+R before heading back for senior year.

Of course, no blog would be complete without some food updates, so here are pictures of my latest dinner conquests: A burrito bowl, spicy tomato soup, and typical Argentine “picada”