Poly GIP Argentina 2023-25

Tuesday, our last full day in Buenos Aires, was as packed as every other. After breakfast at the hotel buffet, we took the bus over to Palermo, where we embarked on a tour of street art and murals. We talked about the importance of street art to the culture of Buenos Aires, visiting murals ranging in subject from Frida Khalo to the LGBTQ community to soccer. It amazed us to see murals in many parts of the city, each symbolizing something different. Many of the murals wowed us with their intertwinement of 2D art with 3D art, incorporating aspects of the building’s architecture into the paintings. After the mural tour, we headed to another graffiti workshop, where we learned to paint a distinctive form of art central to Argentine culture. This style of art, called Fileteado, incorporates colorful components like borders to decorate parts of the city, including buses, signs, taxis, and trucks. At first, we attempted to mimic our maestro’s masterful paint strokes, but eventually diverged i...

Monday morning was wet and windy. We walked a short way to the ferry station where we caught a boat to Uruguay. Once on the boat, some of us chatted while others slept, and to our pleasant surprise, across the river, we found specks of blue and some sun. Profe. Levin crossed her fingers, hoping that the temperate conditions would hold for the day.  Colonia was founded in 1680 by the Portuguese, and for much of its history, the settlement has passed from one controlling power to another. In the 18th century, the Spanish and the Portuguese fought for its possession, and in the 19th century, Argentina and Brazil became its new claimants. Finally, in 1825, Uruguay, along with Colonia del Sacramento, gained its independence.  This history of hostilities had a hand in the settlement's design; the Portuguese surrounded the old peninsular town in a thick stone wall, whose battlements held cannons directed at whatever enemy the river might bring. We walked the cobble stone streets, whi...

We started off Sunday with a tour of the Teatro Colon. The theater's backstory is intriguing because while the theater was being built, two of the architects both died mysteriously at the age of 44. After this happened, they hired a Belgian architect who was 52 because they were worried about, what appeared to be, a curse. After learning the backstory, we began exploring the theater. We were able to sit in the viewing area and saw the crew working on a set--they were preparing for an adaption of Britten's Billy Budd . Although the theater's lights were turned off for maintenance, this crew turned them on momentarily, so we had a chance to see one of the greatest opera houses in all its glory.  Lots of Carrara Marble in this Pic Teatro Colon After completing the tour, we began walking to San Telmo to begin our bike tour of Buenos Aires. At this point, we were quite familiar with the neighborhood, passing by familiar avenues and alleys. The building where the biking company w...

By Saturday we had begun to settle into a morning routine: wakeup call, hotel buffet breakfast, meeting in the lobby (undoubtedly to forget an item or two). This morning we strolled over to the laundromat across the street for a much needed wardrobe refresh before heading out for the day. Then we trecked through the rainy streets of Buenos Aires to the historic Café Tortoni. The coffeehouse was first opened in Paris but relocated to Buenos Aires before the First World War. On entering the ornately decorated cafe, we were greeted by an enthusiastic waiter who was eager to show us photos of the notable people who had visited the cafe, including Pope Francis and Hillary Clinton. After ordering coffee, tea, and pastries, we headed towards the back of the cafe where Sofia and Olivia serenaded us with piano and song in the same room famous for its tango shows. We took the long route back home, braving the muddy streets to see the Congress building and snapping a photo against the rain and wi...

To the Argentinian, Los Angeles is in flames. Radios propped up on the counters of small tiendas describe how protesters march through Downtown LA, launching beer bottles at the shields of the national guard. TVs situated just above the dining tables of our hotel show plumes of white smoke engulfing the streets right outside of city hall. Even our tour guides, though they do not illustrate the scene, hint at the chaos as they jeer back and look at us with faces of worry when they learn we are from LA.                                                                                                                            ...

On Thursday, we started our day with a swift breakfast in the hotel and a short walk to the Casa Rosada--workplace of the Argentinian president--where we began a scavenger hunt that was organized by an Argentinian travel company that we have been working with so far on this trip.  As we split into groups (los carpinchos, los chocotortas, y los empanadas), we began to walk around the city and complete tasks along the way. These challenges often included talking to friendly strangers or organized actors and asking many questions regarding the daily lives of Argentinians. For example, we asked an actor (our previous tour guide Fernando) and other locals (pedestrians, workers, police officers, etc.) questions about Argentinian football. In turn they taught us facts like how fans of the team River Plate are called “Los millionarios” (the millionaires) because their home stadium, which is el estadio mas monumental of South America, is located in a wealthy neighborhood. In addition, we we...