El Tigre

This morning began with an early wake up, when it was still dark outside! I walked my familiar route to the subte, only to find that it hadn't opened yet! (I know, me and the subte, we have some issues). So I waited a few minutes with some other Argentines, until the subte opened at 8, thank goodness!

After arriving at ISA via subte, our entire group walked to the train station. We took a 30 min train to El Tigre. It was interesting to see areas outside of BA. The train reminded me of the El in Chicago, seeing slums pass by the window. Eventually, we arrived at Tigre.

El Tigre is an area outside of Buenos Aires, that in the late 1800s/early 1900s was a vacation spot for the wealthy Buenos Aires dwellers. Apparently, BA would be crowded and full of disease, because it functioned as a port, and Tigre was a nice get away. Tigre is located right at the delta of the River Paraná. Instead of roads, there is a river and instead of grocery stores, there is a grocery boat, and a school boat instead of a school bus...you get the point. We took an hour long boat tour of the area to get a sense of life in Tigre. We saw a Social Club established in the 1920s and 30s, which is now a museum, among many other houses and buildings. Something interesting as I got off the boat- There was a German man who was speaking to an American man in front of him. The American had said a few words of German to the German man, but was explaining that those were the only words he knew. The German said, "I have never met an American we can have a conversation in a language other than English." This was quite interesting to hear for several reasons. One, it gave a very clear depiction on how people stereotype American ignorance. Two, across the boat from these men were 30 or so kids (us) trying to learn to converse in a second language!

After our boat tour, we walked to an area called Mercado de Frutos, basically an open market that sold touristy items. Although I definitely want to get an Argentine soccer jersey and a mate recipiente y bombilla (bowl and straw), I figure that I have plenty time before I need to buy anything. We had several hours to stroll & eat, and some of the vendors even thought that we were Brazilian! We kept trying to practice our Spanish as much as possible, introducing the Argentine 'sh' into our speech.

We finished at the market, and took a bus to a delightful Parilla (BBQ) restaurant on the river's coast for merienda (snack, the "meal" in between lunch and dinner). We had the most delicious hot chocolate- warm milk that you put solid chocolate in, medialunas - sweet croissants, cookies with dulce de leche (my favorite!), and brownies. This mini-meal was packed with sugar, and definitely reenergized the group. After our merienda, we explored the coast line a bit, spending some quality time outside. As we drove through the rest of Tigre, we saw some affluent areas- including where the

We drove back to BA, spent some time hanging out in Belgrano, the took the subte home to Palermo. At home, I had some delicious vegetable soup for dinner, then a nice long chat and some tea with Elina, my host mom.

Tomorrow we have our placement test for our intensive language month- yikes, I didn't study! And more exciting, I will finally get a cell phone. And most exciting, is Argentina playing Greece in the world cup...I can't wait to see the city's reaction to the game!

¡¡¡VAMOS ARGENTINA!!!