Light Enough to Travel: 21st Birthday in Buenos Aires

How many people can say that?

I haven't posted anything in a while because I had exams all last
week....all testing my spanish level which I do not feel very confident in....so basically I was very relieved when those were done. All I want is to be able to take the University classes I want to take! I have yet to find out my results. Anyways, after a week of exams my program had organized a trip to Buenos Aires! It really does live up to its nickname of the Paris of South America. The old architecture, wide streets, plazas and numerous museums reminded me of the city in France. I had a lot of fun but I would have rather gone with a couple friends and spent more time doing exactly what we wanted to do. Instead it was organized like a tour with a time limit for each place we visited. We did have some free time to do what we liked which was nice but for only 3 days we only scratched the surface of this massive city. But I don't want to complain so for now I'll talk about what I liked about this trip.

We took a bus from Cordoba overnight (the trip is 10 hours!) on Thursday so we arrived in Buenos Aires Friday morning. Then we took a "city tour" complete with a tour bus and guide (BARF I was so embarrassed!) but I guess it was a good way to see the giant city efficiently. We hit the highlights with speed, ate lunch and then were given free time which most of us (including myself) spent the majority of it catching up on sleep from the semi-restless night on the bus. That night I went out around town with my friends for some shopping and then to a boliche that turned out to be pretty risque with a raunchy dance contest late in the night/early morning. But it was entertaining to say the least! I had a lot of fun dancing with my friends though. There was one point in the night were we went upstairs to an empty room and starting to dance like no one was watching (well I guess that was the truth at first) and as people started to filter in it was like they didn't know how to react to a bunch of crazy girls busting their unique moves all over the place. For a while we were dancing in the center of the room and people were just standing around us watching. Some guy did venture in for a moment (probably to try and dance with one of us) but I think we scared him off again. Then later in the night an Indian man who lived in Hong Kong (who I met in Argentina...) in his late 30's possibly 40's asked me to teach him to dance. I was kinda creeped out so I just told him I didn't know how.

Saturday we went to the museum of Evita (which honestly I was kind of bored at...I don't really understand why she was so famous...) and then to a barrio called La Boca. Even though it was very touristy I did like it. All the buildings were painted with bright colors and there were many unique boutiques, a feria (crafts market) and an art museum. Rebekah, Lucina and I stayed longer than the "tour schedule" told us to because we wanted to hang out here more and take it in. It was nice to escape that regimen for a bit. That night we all went to a tango show with a delicious dinner of seafood salad, steak and potatoes, and coconut flan. yum. The show itself was a bit cheesy but the dancing was incredible! The footwork in tango is amazing and the movement is so fluid and flawless. It made me want to learn! After the show, well, it was midnight and therefore my birthday so my friends and I went out to a different boliche where I got in for free! and my friends gave me a constant flow of Fernet (the liquor of choice here...which is mixed with coca cola....very delicious) which didn't feel too great the next morning but the night was great! I danced it away complete with a party hat with winnie the pooh on it (I still don't really know where it came from but it is still with me now in my room in Cordoba).

Our last day, Sunday, was spent at a huge feria in the San Telmo district where I spent way too much money but walked away with some good finds and things I actually did need. Well, some of them. After a hot afternoon walking up and down the crowded streets of the feria we went to the Museum de Bellas Artes. I did not have enough time here at all and if I return to Buenos Aires (which I really want to) I'm going here first! There is an Argentine artist Antonio Berni which I am falling in love with! He is a 20th century painter and muralist. His work usually portrays images of the poor and some of his work consists of collages made from trash and spare parts he would find in these neighborhoods. Here are some of his paintings: The top one ("Juanito Laguna aprende a leer") I saw in the museum. In all of these paintings the character Juanito Laguna is portrayed. Berni created this archetype to represent all the disadvantaged children that he had met in the barrios. There are many paintings of Juanito in different situations and all of them say so much. I really want to see more of Berni's work in person.