Buenos Aires

After a long and amazing week in Buenos Aires, I have some time to sit down and write again! First I want to address Chile. In case anyone doesn't already know, there was a very large earthquake in Chile last week. I want everyone to know that I'm doing fine, and unfourtuanetly I didnt feel a thing. I would like to experience an earthquake some day just to see what one feels like or even just experience an aftershock. Being from Iowa, I've seen pictures of what earthquakes do, however I can not imagine the earth moving so violently that it toppels buildings and destroys roads.

The bus ride to Buenos Aires takes about four hours. Its hard to know where to start, there were so many things in Buenos Aires. It is an amazing city, and there is always something going on. On my first day in BA (as it is called here) we got set up in our hostile. All of the group was a little on edge when we first got our rooms. Not because the rooms were bad, but because the group had been split up kind of oddly. But everything worked out ok in the end. In my room there were two other simpson students, myself, and three other guys from all over the place. One was from Germany, one from Brazil, and one from Italy. After gettting settled into the hostile we visited Puerto Madero. It is beautiful, so beautiful infact that I returned at night later in the week to see everything all light up. The first night we were in BA was very interesting too. We went out, without our fearless leader Jim Palmieri. We walked up to the Obelisco and had drinks. It was a little intense for a bit with such a big group. I worry it interrupted the feel of the cafe. But it was alot of fun sitting right beside the Obelisco and sharing some wine with everyone.

The second day in BA we traveled and visited many different places. We went to the Casa Rosada, the Malba museum of art, the Congress of Argentina, and the mothers of the disappeared restaurant. After a long day a couple of us went down to Puerto Madero again and had dinner. The port was very beautiful at night.

Thursday was our third day in BA and we visited the plaza in front of the Casa Roasada. This is where every Thursday the Mothers of the Disappeared have a protest. The protest is against the atracities of a former Argentine government. During the time of this regime many people who opposed the government were rounded up and never seen again. Some people were taken for no reason at all and killed. It was a very dark time for Argentina. The mothers, wifes, and friends of these people gathered together and began protesting these actions. They began the protests when that regime was still in power. So this group is made up of very strong and courageous people! This was a very powerful and moving thing to see! That same day i visited Boca, which is a touristy part of town but very neat too. The houses there are all painted bright colors and there are tango dancers in the street. There are lots of little shops with souviners and trinkets. It is a very cool place to visit.

Friday was a free day for all of us. And since we were leaving the next day I decided to go visit a place that many people had recomended. Its funny, because it is not something unique to BA because most major cities have one and even Des Moines has one. I went to the Zoo! LOL. But it was a really cool Zoo, and I'm not even a big fan of Zoo's. I got to see animals that are native to Argentina learn their names, as well as learn names of animals from all over the world like ¨mono¨ which means monkey. That was about the extent of my day on Friday, I did relax a bit more, shopped some, and more or less just took in BA.

Saturday was my final day in Buenos Aires. We got up early and checked out of the hostile. Then we went to the Cemetary in Recoleta. The cemetary is similar to the one in New Orleans because the graves are above ground. This was pretty cool, because I've really only seen pictures of a cemetary like this. The graves are beautiful and some are very large, housing more than one person. Many have entire families, with plaques indicating when each member was born and when they passed away. After visiting this we made our way back to the bus station to return to Rosario. Once again it was a pretty uneventul bus ride. I slept most of the way. Its really odd, because the scenery along the way is more or less the same as Iowa in the summer. There are lots of corn and soybean fields, as well as cows, horses, and other farm animals grazing in pastures.

I really wish I could post pictures in this Blog, but for some reason it is not working now. I will try to upload some pictures tomorrow at UCEL.

Sunday when I was back in Rosario I went to the main park in Rosario with several other Simpson students. We layed out in the sun, walked around, and just enjoyed the beautiful weather. It is really neat too see the park though because unlike many parks in the US. The park is very important here. There was alot going on in the park and alot of people were utilizing it. I thought it was neat anyways. So today I started classes. It was more or less an introduction to one of my main courses. But it went very well. I got put in the intermediate Spanish group which I'm very happy about. I'm excited to get going with classes because its been so long since I've had a class. I ended classes in December! Well I'm sure that the classes will keep me busy, but I hope to still have time to do some traveling and to explore Rosario.

I think in my next blog I'm going to talk about the food here. If anyone has questions or things they want to know about Argentina, my trip...etc. Please leave me a comment. I want to share what I have experienced here. I hope that everyone back home is doing well!

-Nick