A Whirlwind Week in Buenos Aires

Upon arriving in Buenos Aires, it hit me that I would be in this country for the next 8 months.  Needless to say, that first night was a soul-searching, disbelieving, crying mess.  I blame the travel-exhaustion.  The following day, I was out and about, and things stayed that way until I arrived in Salta.

Enter the Fulbrighters.  A few of us arrived early and set out on many adventures throughout the city and even out into the province.  

Day 2: Embracing the Gringo

We were able to go inside the Casa Rosada [Pink House : a.k.a. Presidential House]

 There was a display of "Latin American Patriots" to celebrate Argentina's Bicentennial - I can only imagine that there would be very different portraits on the walls if another president were in power.

Juan Peron:

 Che Guevara:

 Pancho Villa:

Days 3 and 4: Exploring the unknown

There is a place in Buenos Aires called Tierra Santa [The Holy Land]...and it's not messing around.  A few fellow Fulbrighters and I checked it out.  I think we got a lot more than we bargained for!

We watched the Creation of the Universe.

Jesus resurrects every half an hour.  He's 18M tall.

I put a wish in the Wailing Wall.

Overall it was a really great day.
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The next day, Max and I had quite the Argentine Adventure.  We took a train from Buenos Aires to a place called the Tigre Delta.  The guidebooks and travel sites really hyped up this place, and we figured it was a great thing to do on a Saturday.  Unfortunately [or maybe fortunately] we encountered a slew of obstacles, but like the Charlie Sheen devotees we are, we overcome them, and WE WON!

Tigre is almost entirely a water-based community.  The major land attractions include a casino, an amusement park, and several docks where tour boats pick up tourists.  The community commutes solely by boat, and the canals have names just like streets.  They also have convenience stores on the edge of the water, where you can go to buy pop and snacks.

We did pass by the house of former President Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, who was famous for creating the public education system in Argentina.  It was just a small cabin completely enclosed in plexiglass.  Good thing we didn't take the tour that took you on land!

I had expected much more of a resort atmosphere, but it was a pretty ordinary community with lots of neat markets.
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On Sunday, we began our Fulbright orientation.  There are lots of things that I could say about it, but what really matters is that I have already made some fantastic friends and will be visiting them in all corners of the country!  I consider myself incredibly lucky to be among their company.