The city is so beautiful. The architecture is breathtaking, it's all French and Italian inspired. Buenos Aires is very green too, there are lots of parks and the biggest trees I've ever seen! I love just waking around and exploring new cafes, stores and neighborhoods. There is a subte (subway) right next to my house, so I can easily travel anywhere in the city. I live in Retiro, it's a pretty safe spot and it is very central to all of the cool spots! I can walk out my front door and I've got everything I need within a couple of blocks. Below are a few pictures from around the city...
There are many parks in Buenos Aires. Above is a picture of my SOLmates playing futbol in a park near our school. Buenos Aires runs along the widest river in the world. It's a natural border between Uraguay and Argentina. There are many ports and lakes in Buenos Aires, making the city super green and lush! The trees are amazing!
Above is from the famous Cemetario de Recoleta. Muy linda!
This week has been a whirlwind of field trips, cultural activities, meeting new friends, and getting to know my way around the city. Each day I take the subway, which we call the "subte". Between the subway and walking it's about a 50 minute commute to school. I love my campus. It's in a beautiful neighborhood! I love the walk we take each morning. There are fruit markets, cafes, and beautiful trees. I usually pack my own lunch, but my friends and I go for coffee and pastries after school each day. My eating schedule is a little strange here. We eat toast and coffee for breakfast each morning, lunch at 1:30pm, coffee and pastries around 4/5:00pm and dinner at 9/10:00pm.
Above is a picture of my school! From the top you can see the most beautiful view of the city! My school is just one building, because it's a private college, and the building is 15 stories tall.
This week Raul, our program advisor, has been taking us on tours to the main locations in Buenos Aires. I am becoming very familiar with the city already. Each neighborhood has a different vibe, but over all Buenos Aires is very laid back, friendly, artistic and practical. For example, there is not air conditioning in most buildings, the elevators only go to half the floors, and all of the coffee comes in tiny cups. But I am falling in love already! I absolutely love it here!
Above is in Palermo. There is a huge book line of book stores down the main street, Santa Fe! Just another charming aspect of Buenos Aires.
My SOLmates are so rad! All of the girls are already pretty close. Everyone is a little younger than me, but I enjoy their company. We stick together and go on excursions throughout the city. This weekend we went to the Craft Market in the Recoleta neighborhood. This is the "Hollywood" of Buenos Aires. It's very upscale and the people are super trendy. I got a really pretty leather purse, handmade, for $10.00. Not bad! The people are so beautiful, helpful and kind. They are very patient with my pitiful Spanish. If I am having trouble communicating I always say "Aprendiendo espanol!" which means, "I am learning Spanish!" and I usually get a smile and a nod. Better to speak poor Spanish than none at all!
Okay, so one of my favorite things about Buenos Aires is that there are fruit markets on almost every block. I kind of stay away from apples and oranges, but the plums, pineapples, peaches and kiwis are excellent! AND THE FIGS ARE HUGE AND SOOOOOO GOOD!!
One day all of the students took a tango lesson! It was really fun! My roommate, Alexis, is in the red shirt.
I went to a boliche this weekend call "The Mo" or "Alamo", boliche is what we call a "night club" in Argentina. We went out around 1:00am and came home around 3:30am (which is pretty early here, believe it or not!). Most people stay out until sunrise. At first, I was really nervous about going because of safety reasons and my lack of Spanish, but we actually had a great time! The music was great, and the locals seemed to love us! It's funny to hear what "North Americans" are associated with. I've heard things like "Do you like Obama?" "Do you watch breaking bad?" "You have the same nose ring as Christina Aguilera!" Haha! It's funny to meet people from other countries and see what we have in common. It's easy to think people in other countries are so different, but at the end of the day, we're all just people right?
This house is across the street from our university. Albert Einstein lived here while in Argentina!
It's really common to see people playing music in public places. If you're lucky, you'll get to hear live music in the subte too!
Argentina loves Frida Khalo! And I do too!
Over all, I am having a really great time here in Buenos Aires. I feel like I am learning and growing so much with each day. I am building confidence in myself, expanding my mind, and opening my heart wider. My Spanish is getting better as quickly as my friendships are growing with my incredible classmates. I finally feel like I have a routine, and I feel more familiar with my surroundings. I am almost overwhelmed with all that I am experiencing, but I will do my best to share my adventures with you! I feel like a sponge, I am just soaking it all in. I am pouring over with gratitude for all that has been given to me thus far. I cannot wait for what is soon to come! Thank you for reading, more next week!
