Argentina turned 200 on Tuesday May 25th (well it’s actually the 200th birthday of when they declared war on Spain, their independence took place July 9, 1818). A very exciting time to be in the country, and something I am very excited to be able to celebrate, but at the same time this means I had to say good-bye to many new friends who are heading home or continuing on their journeys, and most importantly Nick had to head back home to work, so it’s a bittersweet time.
After Mendoza , Nick and I arrived back in BsAs Thursday morning, after our overnight bus, and after napping we decided to be active and see the MALBA (or Museo de Arte Latinoamericana de Buenos Aires), it held many interesting exhibits of Latin American artists, including a painting each from Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, two artists from Mexico that I really enjoy. They also had an exposition of Alberto Passolini, called Malona to commerate the Bicential, absoultly beautiful and interesting to read the story behind. We had lunch at an organic and natural restaurant Tea Connection, which has decent food, but the best part is the delicious tea and the teapot wetsuits, I really fell in love with those. That evening we had dinner with some friends from school at a Moroccan restaurant and then met my roommate Louisa at Casa bar for a nightcap.
Friday we spent the day walking in Puerto Madera, the refurbished area built around the manmade diques for ships which are no longer in use, but a beautiful area with the Puente de la Mujer, or pedestrian bridge which has become an icon of BsAs. There we explored an old sail boat the Uruguay which actually traveled to Antartica many times, something we couldn’t understand after touring it, it had to have been freezing on that ship. We stopped for drinks twice at outdoor cafes, and were pleasantly suppriesed when one gave us tortilla chips as a free drink snack instead of peanuts. It was the first time I’ve seen tortilla chips, besides on the MacDonnald’s Mexican Burger ads. They were fine, but they call them nachos, which is a horrible misrepresentation of a name in my mind. We watched a movie on the computer that night because we had just been so tired.
Saturday we got up early and headed on the train to Mitre, where we then switched trains to the electric line Tren de la Costa up to Tigre and the Delta, about an hour’s ride outside of town. I recommend taking this scenic route out there. We then hopped on a commuter ferry to the island town of Tres Bocas where we were promptly met by our dog guides, who literally stayed with us the entire time we were on the island, unfortunately; we took the hard path, which in Summer would have been fine but, in Fall was a bit muddy. Expecially, when a new dog wanted to play with one of our guides and ran and slid into me, knocking my knees out and making me back bend over another dog(good thing I practice backbends in Yoga or I would have been on my ass in the mud). It was entertaining to say the least, especially when I slapped Nick in the face because a mosquito was attacking him; in my defense I do think I was getting him back for hitting all the mosquitoes off me; too bad we still ended up getting eatan by the vampire bugs. That evening we took the regular train home in time for a party at my friends, Hannah and Gussies, for drinks and then out to the bars….a long night, is all I can say.
The actual bicentennial was on Tuesday May 25 and they had huge celebrations all weekend, actually a very exciting time to be in the city. Saturday morning Nick and I walked over to Avenida 9 de Julio to check out the festivities and the parade of all the provinces. A bit of background, Argentina officially started the war against Spain for independence May 25, 1810 and gained their independence July 9, but the 25th is the big day in their mind. The parade was amazing, but super long, about 4 hours. We were so tired from the parade we didn’t really feel like going out that night, so good thing my landlord Jose decided to have an Argentine asado for everyone at the house. An asado at an Argentines house is something that everyone needs to do when visiting Argentina, and I have been lucky to have been invited to 2, or rather had 2 at my house. Who can say no to lomo beef, endless wine and great chatter in Spanish? We couldn’t.
Sunday was a bit sad, Nick was leaving that night but we had a wonderful day exploring the San Telmo street fair for all the gifts he needed to bring back home and having a wonderful steak sandwich at a pub in the area before exploring El Zanjon, or Jesuit tunnels dating back to 1730. We made it back to the hosue just before the major thunderstorm hit and Nick’s plane took off just after the storm stopped. I was sad, but I know we will see eachother in 5 weeks, plus I kept myself busy by cooking dinner with my roommate Louisa as a goodbye to our friend Hannah, who left Monday to head back to Chicago. Who couldn’t enjoy a night of great vegeterain sir fry(much needed after the carne overload the night before and at lunch), good wine, alfajores, and girl talk? Ah, fun….
Monday was a big day for me. I attended my first football (soccer) match, Argentina v. Canada. It was exciting, and Argentina just killed Canada 5-0, I don’t think Canada ever even got close to their goal. It was fun to be there in person to see all the fans, and hear the cheers, but I have to say I would much rather watch soccer in a bar or house, where its warm, there is commentary and beer. I couldn’t believe there was no beer at the game. That evening I met a new friend, as my internship program is now starting over with a new group of people. So although I have to say goodbye this week to all my old friends, I will have many more in the coming week.
Tuesday was a full day of classes (8 hours), we spent most of the time learning about the history of Argentina which was pretty exciting, especially now that I could understand more of what all the floats in the parades were about. That evening I had to say goodbye to my friend Gussie, who was also heading back to Chicago. Instead of braving the 6 million person crowd at Plaza de Mayo we opted for cooking dinner, drinking wine and watching it on TV. I think it was the better choice as we had a great view of the floats from the TV and my roommate Louisa who had been there in person really didn’t get to see much and had her camera stolen right out of her hand!
As this blog is also about goodbyes, Wednesday night I went out with my Argentine roommate Jessica to have a farewell dinner for Louisa our British roommate. I now am living with only Argentine’s, which is good because I have to speak Spanish all day, but sad because some night’s I just want to talk English….Now I need to focus on meeting new people since all the foreigners I started out with are gone. It will at least keep my next 4 weeks interesting!
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