Hello!
Another great week here in Buenos Aires! I'm finally getting all the pieces of my schedule to fall into place, and am really starting to feel like I'm living here as opposed to just visiting. Here's a few of this weeks highlights...
Saturday was the Argentina vs. Brazil qualifier game for the World Cup. Nearly to say, the whole city was buzzing with excitement all day. We found a cool sports bar to watch the game in, which was absolutely packed. Everyone was intensely into the game, and lots of them were wearing flags draped around their shoulders. We spent most of the time singing, yelling at the group of Brazilian fans and pounding on the tables. Even though Argentina lost, I had a great time.
On Monday, we went to a play called El Vampiro. It was a very small, independent production- the only reason we knew about it was that one of my American friends knows one of the Argentines who acted in the play. Even though I didn't quite understand everything, it was very interesting to go experience an alternative side of Buenos Aires culture.
Tuesday night we went for tango lessons at this really cool place called La Catedral. It looks like nothing from the outside but inside looks like a giant converted barn covered in cool artwork. After our lessons, we hung out and watched a lot of the Argentines dance tango (they're really good so it's basically like going to a show). At about 2 o'clock in the morning, a group of tango musicians came in so the dancing stopped and they performed in the middle of the dance floor. Everyone sat around on the floor, sipping on wine and listening to the beautiful guitar. It really made me feel like I was in the real Buenos Aires.
I finally made it over to the Recoleta Cemetary, which is full of the Argentine rich and famous. It's enormous and full of beautiful family tombs- we wondered around for a few hours and I definitely would have been happy to stay a few more. The most famous tomb is Evita's, which is still to this day covered in fresh flowers brought in by visitors. We saw a funeral procession coming in as we were leaving, which really put the whole thing a bit more into perspective. Although it's an awesome place, it's kind of strange that a cemetery is such a touristy place.
I'm starting to understand more and more in my classes (probably due to the fact that I now have tutors for both history and politics). In politics class, we discussed populism and the patterns of economic reform in different Latin American countries. For history, we're still focusing on the Mexican Revolution. However, both classes often drift towards the role of the US in Latin American politics. What the students and teachers have to say about the US is usually quite harsh. I'm tempted to join in, but it's kind of hard to defend a lot of the actions of the US government in Latin America. The resentment of US foreign policy here is pretty overwhelming- I've heard several people say that they think the US was involved with the coup in Honduras and there are almost weekly protests of the US construction of military bases in Colombia. Although it's kind of discouraging for me that they distrust and dislike the American government so much, I've been given an incredible opportunity to learn about the roots and manifestations of this distrust from a first-hand perspective.
Finally, I started my internship with Help Argentina yesterday. My first project is to translate different grantee profiles from Spanish to English. It's hard work, but really good practice for my Spanish and a good way to learn more about what different organizations are doing. I'll be working there 8 hours a week. The people there are really cool- I'm looking forward to getting to know them all better.
That's all for this week. Buenos Aires has been treating me great- I continue to find cool cafes, restaurants and parks everywhere I go. Tonight, I leave for Mendoza and then next week I'm off to Jujuy. I hope you are all well and I send all my love!
Photos from Recoleta and a couple random ones from the game
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