Conocer La Ciudad.

BIG MAP for those who enjoy visuals (Dad)

Christa, Colleen, yo, y Paula en el cementario

Hola a todos!!

Today we went on a quick tour of la Capital Federal (the actual city of Buenos Aires). By "quick" I mean four hours, but it flew by and we didn't even get to most of it!
Our guide, from my study abroad program, said that the purpose of the tour was just to familiarize us with the city and to give us a general idea of what all was out there so we'd have a better idea for planning our own trips in the future!  So we didn't stop anywhere too long, but we got to see so many cool areas that I definitely want to go back to and spend a whole day!

Buenos Aires has many different "barrios," (neighborhoods) that each has a distinct feel. They vary in their architecture, history, activities, and social class.  The map above shows the different barrios. I live in the middle of Belgrano (square 6 & 7), which is relatively residential and quiet.   Today we went through Palermo, Recoleta, Retiro, down through San Telmo and La Boca, and then back up through Puerto Madero.

Our first stop was the La Recoleta Cemetery. Recoleta has a beautiful park area and cultural center that I want to go back to! The cemetery was huge and full of giant mauseleoms. I've heard a lot of important people are buried there, but I'll have to go back and spend more time there to give you a full report. 

La Plaza de Mayo

On left, la Casa Rosa (Pink House), which is the center of the Argentine governemnt

Next we stopped at la Plaza de Mayo, which is a huge political center in Buenos Aires, and many protests have and still do take place there (like Las Madres de la Plaza in the late seventies). Our guide said that basically, if anything important happens (you know, like the favorite fútbol team winning, or losing), people run to the plaza to celebrate. Or cry together. 

Caminito, La Boca

We also got to walk around this little area called "Caminito" in La Boca barrio. It was very colorful and full of life! Lots of street vendors and tango dancers. There was a tango couple that carried around a jacket/hat and let passerbys take pictures with them. (For a small fee, of course). Overall a very cool area!

Kevin, with a street tango dancer...

Caminito, La Boca

We also walked around Puerto Madero, one of the more upscale areas of Buenos Aires.  You can see from just these few pictures how different all the different areas look! It's like you travel to a whole new city after driving for five-ten minutes. So cool!

Bridge en Puerto Madero

After our tour, a little group of us wandered over to el Barrio Chino... or Chinatown. It was almost too many cultures colliding for my brain to handle! I saw "Amigos: Restaurante Chino" and another restaurant called "Dragón Porteño," both of which made me chuckle. It was a really neat area! I wanted to take pictures, but I also didn't want to be that one obvious-American taking pictures so you'll just have to use your imagination :]

We stopped in our first café for a snack... dulce de leche ice cream for me. Let me tell you, it is about to become a staple.

It's a good thing I enjoy walking, because I mapped it out once I got home, and just from my apartment, to the ISA office, to Chinatown, and back home was four miles! That's good news though, it just means more helados y medialunas para mí :]

Shwell, I have yet to buy adapters (all the stores except for food places are closed on the weekends... which is bad news for the foreigner who arrives Saturday morning and wants a cellphone and wall converters!), and have all but exhausted the remaining energy on my electronics so that'll have to be all for now.

We're taking a language placement test in the morning so they know how hard of classes we can handle so.. fingers crossed. (Porque las clases que quiero tomar son un poco difíciles..)

LOVE.