A Lull in the Action: Dont Cry For Me Argentinaa

Ay carumba! After the tear gas incident Thursday afternoon I broke out in a nasty rash on my arm from the gas residue, and then had to leave later that night for Buenos Aires! We left Vina del Mar at 3am on a bus, but it was ok since we all went dancing beforehand and had the bus pick us up at the club!
We got to the airport in the morning, checked in, and flew to Buenos Aires at 730am. Buenos Aires is an hour later than the time in Vina (the time in Vina is the same as east coast time), so we lost an hour, and by the time we landed at the airport we were all exhausted, tired, but really excited to be there! However, when we got to immigration, they made us pay $140 US to enter the country, which we were pretty bummed about.
After getting through the airport drama, we boarded a bus and headed to our hotel in downtown Buenos Aires. Our hotel, Hotel Carsson, was on the corner of Avenidas Florida and Viamonte, right in the heart of a large shopping district (which was great for the 15 girls that went on the trip - there were 16 of us in total, which left Francis, the only guy, having to deal with 15 girls all weekend!)
We met a really nice travel agent who gave us a tour of the city in the afternoon after we checked in and ate lunch, and it was nice to take the tour and get our bearings. On the tour we saw many government buildings, monuments and statues, some really old trees, a cathedral, and the soccer stadium where Maradona played!. However, by the time the tour was over we were all literally falling over from lack of sleep, so we went back to the hotel for a short nap and some dinner before heading to bed for the night.
On Saturday, we woke up early ready for a day packed with fun stuff, but at breakfast one of the girls in our group got her purse stolen, so we spent most of the morning talking to the police and trying to get her stuff back - with no luck :( After lunch, we went on a leather tour where a guide took us to different leather factories where they sold cheap leather goods. After that, we went shopping on Avenida Florida and I bought a pair of leather boots! The shopping on Avenida Florida is unbelievable...its a miracle I came back to Chile with any money left! Aside from the shops, there are many "caminandos" in Argentina, or streets that are solely for pedestrians. Most of the roads in Argentina are very wide, and there are vendors that sell their goods on blankets in the middle of the street.
Saturday night we went to Sabor a Tango (flavor of Tango) and took a tango lesson, where we learned the 3 most basic Tango steps. Our teachers made it look so easy, but it is tricky! However, we learned some cool steps, and our Tango instructor was tri-lingual, as he was teaching the class in Spanish, English, and Portugese at the same time! After the lesson we went to dinner and a Tango show, which was awesome as we got to see live music, Tango, and traditional Gaucho performances all while enjoying Argentinian steak and wine. After the show we went out for Francis' 21st birthday, and had a really good time.
The next morning we took the bus to Recoleta, the cemetery where Eva Peron is buried. Eva Peron was like the Princess Diana of Argentina, as she devoted her short life to helping the poor and the hungry. The cemetery was all mausoleums, so it looked like a tiny village when we were walking around inside it.
After the cemetery, me and some other girls took a cab to the San Telmo antique market, which is held every Sunday morning. We shopped for a few hours there, and then returned to the hotel to work on our essays which were due Monday morning. :(
On Monday, after submitting our essays, we all went on a walk to the ecological reserve near our hotel, which was beautiful. We listened to the presidential address on the radio as we walked through the park, since it was Argentinian flag day. After the park we went to the Bicentennial museum near La Plaza de Mayo (the plaza where all the government buildings are). The museum was really interesting, and after that we took a walk around La Plaza de Mayo and got some pictures of La Casa Rosada (the pink house) where the president of Argentina works (but not lives). It is pink because in the old days when paint was less resistant they used to mix white paint with pigs blood to make the paint stick to the walls easier. They don't use pigs blood anymore, but they have kept the color the same to honor the tradition. After that we walked back to our hotel down Avenida Florida, stopping to shop and eat Alfajores, the national dessert of Argentina (which as absolutely delicious!) on the way.
Monday night we left for Chile, exhausted and ready to return "home" to our host families in Vina del Mar. We all agreed that Argentina was a beautiful and amazing city, but that we liked Chile much better. Buenos Aires was very modern, cold, and had an every man for himself feel to it, where as Vina del Mar and Valparaiso are very slow-paced, traditional, and homey. We got back at 5am, and I slept for a few hours before waking up for class today at 9am! After my weekend, I am hopeful I will sleep well tonight.
Last but not least, Martin and I have decided to make a documentary while we are here about the strike that is still going on at La Catolica. The strike has gone on for over 3 weeks now, and the protests are growing in size and strength. There was a huge storm this weekend that blew all the signs on the building away, but we have lots of pictures of school and we are planning to interview several students involved. More about that soon!
Viva La Chile!

Julia Marie