about Bs As

Our journey began with a long ride in a sleeper bus that probably never felt above 50 degrees inside. I was able to snooze for a good amount of the trip, but I was deffo tired and groggy for Friday. Once we arrived in Buenos Aires, we were whisked away to our hotel where we simply set our bags down and then had to leave for a tour of the city. I made myself sit in the very front of the bus so that I could absorb as much information from the guide as possible. Buenos Aires is a beautiful city with a rich cultural background and some amazing European architecture. It's really huge, like New York, but the people are more friendly and there is more wildlife (dogs, plazas, little parks). During the tour, we got out to walk around "Plaza de Mayo" which is the important plaza of the city. Surrounding it is the Casa Rosada, Banco Nacional de Argentina, a beautiful cathedral, and more vital buildings. The Casa Rosada is like our White House and it's literally red-ish. The president doesn't live there (she has a ranch outside of the city), but that's where business is conducted. We also got to walk around "La Boca", a neighborhood famous for its roots in tango and it's colorful buildings! After the tour we had lunch and some free time, and then we went to two art museums and dinner in and area called "Puerto Madero". The dinner was a dream come true to meet lovers out there because it was literally a salad buffet with a seperate portion just for cuts of meat. I'm not talking little pieces either, some of the things my friends brough back looked like cow legs. One girl tried tongue. TONGUE! On Saturday, we had to wake up kind of early (8am!) to take a train to the Rio de la Plata where we hopped on a boat and mulled around. Then we had another buffet lunch, but this one was not very good or fresh. Afterwards, there was an artesans fair that we visited, then we returned to our hotel for some free time. That night, we went to "la feria de mataderos" which was a artisans fair and celebration in a neighborhood that I guess was founded upon the same concept as the meatpacking district in NYC. Then, we went to have dinner and see a show at a tango hall. It was really cool and posh, but I got sick during the meal (probably from the lunch), so I missed the entire show which was disappointing, but oh well. On Sunday, we went to ANOTHER artisans fair, and then to lunch. Afterwards, we went to El Cementario de La Recoleta, which is this really sweet place where there are no graves, but little house-like things for the deceased. It's also famous because it's the burial place of Eva Peron, the beloved wife of an ex-president here. Finally, we went to the airport to fly home instead of riding in a bus (ah, soo much better). Right now, we are on a little pre-lenten holiday, which is nice, but classes start tomorrow, which I'm not suuper thrilled about! It's awesome though, because we don't have Friday classes, so I'll be more open to travel or just relax more on the weekends.

I have to go eat dinner, but I'll probably post again after I get into the groove of being in realschool again...boooo!

chau chau