Plaza De Mayo

Today I went to LA Plaza De Mayo. It is The most famous square in Buenos Aires. According to my guid book, it has long been the center for protests and actives since the city began to develop. There were with crosses in the park when I was there, although it was unclear who they Were meant to remember. They even keep a fence near by to be ready for a moments notice to control a protest. Below are some pictures of my adventure today. 

Although it was quite since most things are closed on sundays, Avanida De Mayo Seemed like a very classy street. It is the home to many shops and cafes including the oldest cafe in Buenos Aires.  It was intended to be like the Champ Elysee in Paris. 

My original plan was to start to day with a tour of La Casa Rosada, but I had accidentally left my leatherman tool in my purse and I didn't want to risk having it taken away when they scanned by bag. Below is a picture of the outside of the building. 

Statue out side of La Casa Rosada

Beautiful purple windowed building that looks over the Plaza de Mayo.

If it was not for the purple building I would not have found this craft market on a cute cobblestone street. Although some stands sold items geared towards tourists, the majority of them had beautiful hand crafted trinkets. Some of my favorites included hand made ​​leather belts, bags and wallets, paintings, hand carved wood scenes and mate gourds. (Mate is tea and they drink it with a straw out of a gourd). 

The Cabildo - build Between 1725 and 1810

The Cabilo is one of the only remaining buildings of its time. It used to extend into the streets that are on either side, but parts were demolished to expand the streets. A Cabildo is a town hall, they used to be required of every city. Now it is a museum. Although inside the museum was nothing special, it was a great test for my Spanish skills, since all the exhibits were in Spanish. The white washed walls of the building looked slightly out of place compared to the colors and ornate decorations of the surrounding buildings. 

The Plaza de Mayo 100 years ago. 

Arch way outside el Cabildo. 

Next, I went to the main Catholic cathedral in Buenos Aires. It was a challenge for me to find because the outside is undecorated stone, and the steeple is not very apparent. I was only able to find it after consulting my map on exactly where it was and hearing the church bells ring. The original church was build in the 1500s, but the cathedral that stands today was not completed in the 1800s. There is mass in the cathedral every day with multiple on weekends. When I arrived a mass was concluding. 

View from the front to the back of the Cathedral. 

Tomb of Jose de San Martin is guarded by the statues Represent Argentina, Peru and Chile. The General died in exile in Europe, but the body was requested back in Buenos Aires twenty years later.  

The royal guards of the tomb. One of them smiled when an old lady was taking a picture of him.

Many of the Saint statues have flower Placed by them. This is a statue of the Virgin Mary.

That is all for today. Living in the city is great so far, but I need to find ear plugs so I can fall asleep faster and not be woken up by people yelling. I start Spanish classes tomorrow! 

Lots of Firsts

Today was a lot of firsts: my first time though customs alone, my first time traveling in another country alone, my first time grocery shopping in Buenos Aires, my first time exploring a new city alone and my first time watching the sunset and rise on the same day. I am proud to say that everything went very smoothly.

Argentinean customs was kind of a disaster. At least three international flights all landed around the same time, and they did not have enough ropes to keep us all organized. The lines randomly squiggled back and forth to fit everyone in them. I ended up being one of the last people though which didn't really matter to me since I didn't have any where to be. After clearing the passport check I thought it would be over but no. They scan everyones bags before they leave the airport. Again the line was very unorganized but moved a lot faster this time.

I was met at the exit by a driver that the school set up for me. He took me and girl from Germany to where we are staying. The drive into the city was beautifully quite as fog dusted all the buildings. Esther's apartment is in "El Centro" or down town Buenos Aires. To get into my room I have to use four different keys. One for the front door, two for the door to the apartment and one for my room. I also have a fifth key for my closet.

After unpacking, I decided to walk around. I walked to a small square called Plaza Lavalle which had some amazing old buildings around it like El Teatro Colon, and El Templo Congreso. The city was eerily  quiet I first left my apartment at 10:30, but by the time I was at El Obelisco (below) the city was becoming busy.




Obviously the grocery stores here have different food than in a typical American grocery store.  For example my go to break fast of greek yogurt and berries was not an option. Most of the yogurts came in bags and were very liquidly (which I don't like), so I took a guess about which one in a container would be the best. For produce, you get everything weighed and priced before you go to the casher. I got very typical Leah food, thing for sandwiches and salads, apples, oranges, granola and an avocado. Tonight for dinner though I bought 2 empanadas which are pretty much the Argentinean version of a calzone.







Next on my to do list is buy a cheep prepay or pay as you go phone and find a gym with a pool.

Adios PDX

It’s finally time. I’m sitting in the airport, struggling to use the WiFi and admiring the famous PDX carpet. My bag was 3lb under the weight limit and going through security was really easy. Now, we just have to hope for no delays an easy transition in Atlanta, Georgia. The flight is about 4 hours. Then, a 2 hour lay over and a 10 hour flight to Buenos, Aires! I land at 8:30am local time, so the first day will be quite the struggle to say awake. Hopefully, my excitement will over come my lack of sleep.

I have decided that from here on out I will not use anything that is REALLY important the day before I leave for a trip, but will pack it way ahead of time. First, when I was leaving Santa Clara, I packed my orthotics in the boxes I left at school. Alex dug them out as soon as he could get to them, but US mail did not deliver them when they promised. The most painful thing is that they are the Portland Airport’s post office right now. Alos, my retainer is sitting on my bathroom counter. Every trip something is forgotten, and in this case it just happened to be something very important. At least my mom is willing to mail them to me.

This weekend I will be exploring the city and getting my bearings. Monday I start classes, and have the afternoons free to be a tourist and figure out my life for the next 6 weeks.  Most weeks, class is from 10:00am to 2:00pm at El Pasaje, then I will volunteer from 3:30pm to 7:30pm with L.I.F.E.  (more information about the agencies is below).  

I'll keep this blog updated as often as possible. There will be lost of pictures posted too! Feel free to leave comments or questions if you want to know more about a specific aspect of my trip. 

Its Crazy To Think......

Its crazy to think that in 20 days I will be on my way to Argentina, throwing myself into a country and a city where I don't know anyone. I have never been more excited in my life, but at the same time I'm still not sure its actually happening. Above is a picture taken near the apartment I will be staying in. Mostly this post was to have something new up before I shared the link with my friends, but I am also procrastinating studying for finals. Its crazy to think how fast this year went by.

(The previous posts have a lot more information about my trip)