A Heartfelt Flashback: Cherishing the Joyous Moments (Part II)

After we left our hosts in Córdoba in a bone-crushing goodbye, we flew to Buenos Aires. The next day, after a division-sowing, friendship-breaking scavenger hunt/tour, we visited the colorful neighborhood of Palermo. We managed to recover from the walking in time to go to a tango class (…it’s possible some of us will not become tango experts…) The following day, we toured the Recoleta necropolis and attended an empanada-making class. (It’s possible we will not become empanada masters either…). On our final day, we visited the memorial park monuments to the desaparecidos and then toured the urban art of the area. As our final meal, we finally surrendered to the esteemed Profe Levin and ate at a (surprisingly good) vegan restaurant. I’m really going to miss this trip but I’m so grateful for everything we got to experience! -Katie

On Thursday we began the morning by learning about the terror of the Argentinian dictatorship while at the concentration camp “La Perla.” We then enjoyed fresh sandwiches at the San Roque Lake where some birds also joined us, causing us to get up and get active. Many of us bonded over soccer but some also competed in pull up competitions. Finally, we took some pictures to capture the memory before we hopped on a bus to the escape rooms where the girls finished in just over 30 minutes, leaving the other two teams in the dust. Beckett

The picture I chose was of Katie, Evelyn, Kate, and I our last night in Cordoba 🤘🏼🤘🏼. We watched the basketball team that some of the Colegio San Martín boys are a part of play in the stadium at the Club across the street from the school. They were pretty good, but unfortunately they did lose. We had just attended a shabbat service, so we were all dressed very nicely. At the game, we tried Argentinian french fries (which needed just a little bit more salt). After this photo, we all went to a friend’s house to eat burgers (or homemade empanadas, if you were me), drink more Coca, and hang out on our last night together. I’ll miss my host family so much, but my friendships with many people on this trip have greatly deepened, and I’m excited to have more travel adventure with them in the future! Maddie

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Day 10: All Good Things

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...

Day 5: Los Porteños!

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...

Day 9: Day Trip to Colonia

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...

Poly GIP Argentina 2023-25

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