The morning began with waking up a little late, skipping breakfast, and quickly walking the 10 blocks on Gurruchaga to the Subte station. I saw the gate down on my subte station, and instead of thinking, "I need to try to the other entrance to the station," I thought, "AH! It must be closed because its Sunday. Guess I'll walk?"
Elina, my host mom, had explained how to hypothetically walk from our house to ISA, but I hadn't truly paid attention. Also, I lacked a map of Buenos Aires, which was inconvenient. However, I did remember that the subte linea (line) D ran via Avenida Santa Fe, so I started walking along Santa Fe. About 20 minutes later, I saw another Subte station...that wasn't closed! So I hopped on the subte (I wasted 3 or 4 subte fares by waving my card over the sensor several times. The reason I did this was because when I waved the card, the light turned red, which in the US means: Stop, something is wrong. In Argentina, apparently, it means: Buen Día! Go ride the subte.
And that is exactly what I did!)
I arrived at our ISA Orientation about 45 minutes late (oops). But I still received plenty of information about safety, cultural adjustment, how to identify counterfeit money, and many other gems. The info was supposed to scare us about safety in BA, and it worked! I won't be walking alone at night...ever. Nor will I carry my passport (only valid form of ID down here) or credit/debit cards unnecessarily. However, I do think that with time, and with feeling more comfortable with the city (yet still using street smartz), I will feel better about exploring.
After our Orientation, we got onto two large tour buses to go all around Buenos Aires, and get a sense of some of the nearby barrios, or neighborhoods. We started off by going to Recoleta, an area full of designer stores and boutiques. We stopped at the cemetery, which may not seem like a tourist destination, but absolutely was. The cemetery had monuments the size of small huts built above each grave, so the cemetary was like a maze. It was also fenced in by a brick wall. The most interesting part was that Eva Perón, among other Argentine celebrities were buried there! We didn't have much time to explore, but definitely worth going back to.
Our second stop was the San Telmo (a barrio of BA) Feria (outdoor flea market). I bought my first Argentine coffee! I got a cafe latte, which was the smallest sized coffee drink I have ever seen, and also a small taste of dulce de leche ice cream. It was a perfect snack to keep the day going.
Our third stop was in Plaza de Mayo, the square with El Obelisco (a very tall statue) and some governmental buildings. There was a troupe of actors who entered the square singing and dancing and then set up a performance space to act out the Spanish founding of Argentina. The square was very reminiscent of Plaza Mayor in Lima, Peru, with its colonial style architecture.
Next, we went to La Boca. Coqui, our tour guide/staff person from ISA, told us that it was one of the first places founded in Buenos Aires because its very close to the port. Its one of the cheaper places to live, seeing that all of the houses look as if they're made of scrap metal. The houses are brightly colored however, and the neighborhood is known for tango and fútbol (soccer). We walked around the touristy area and saw some tango performances (how authentic they were, I am not too sure). Our last stop was Puerto Madero, the wealthy newer area built just off the port of BA. Coqui said that it was an expensive area, built simply to show that BA could compete with other cities.
The bus then drove back to ISA, stopping in Palermo along the way, so that myself and the other Palermo-dwellers didn't have to take the subte from ISA to Palermo. Three friends and I stopped in a little place to eat on Avenida Santa Fe, and then everyone walked me home, since it had gotten dark outside. Unfortunately, with the winter weather down here (which is pretty mild) comes early nightfall. This limits when I can walk around! But hopefully, once I get a cell phone and some taxi telephone numbers, it will be less of an issue.
Ok! That was a long post! Tomorrow we are headed to Tigre, a picturesque island north of BA. I'm quite excited!
Sounds like you're set up to have an amazing time! Don't forget to eat breakfast, though ;)
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