Dan In Argentina: …and Chile

August 19, 2015
04_friends

This weekend, I went to Chile with a bunch of Richmond friends! We stayed in Santiago, skied in the Andes and lunched in Valparaíso. Bergen, Lauren, Sam, Jackie, Ben and I did a lot of planning and had a lot of luck to result in an amazing trip. Despite an unintentional hour of cross-country skiing across the mountain and a delayed flight, everything seemed to fall right into place.

 

buildings

Santiago was an incredible city. Compared to Buenos Aires, it has a lot more nature. They have sky scrapping palm trees, large patches of green grass and a wall of massive mountains surrounding the city. The view from our (*clears throat*) “penthouse” apartment perfectly displayed the city’s landscape with the amazing Andes backdrop. Here, in Plaza de Armas, the historic (1748-1800) architecture of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Santiago contrasts lovely with a modern office building.

 

paintings

Valparaíso, Chile is one of the country’s largest port towns, receiving more than 10 million tons of goods annually. The city is known for its large hills filled with vibrantly-colored houses and funicular railways. The quaint town was relaxed on a Sunday afternoon and was filled with street vendors, artisans and boutique shops. This artwork gives you a sense of the masterfully-painted and historic city.

 

poterillos

When traveling on a budget, sometimes direct flights aren’t the best option. Four of us had a 10 hour layover in Mendoza, Argentina. Seems horrible, right? Not exactly. We traveled an hour from the airport to Potrerillos, a small town at the base of the Argentine Andes. If you ask me, this beautiful lake and the breathtaking views of snow-capped peaks was a pretty incredible solution to our layover situation. Shout-out to our taxi driver, Daniel (no relation), for making it all possible.

 

market

El Mercado Central in Santiago was expansive beyond belief. It was the same size as a Costco, and with the amount of vendors as a major state fair. The fresh fish and fruit were displayed gorgeously. As the shopkeepers run around to sell their produce, customers enjoy the smells, taste-tests and people watching. Of course, when in Chile, I made many “it’s chilly in Chile” jokes and was excited when I saw chili peppers.

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Posted by Dan H.

Dan in Argentina: And So It Begins…

August 11, 2015
Coffee

As I mentioned in my last post, porteños (as the people in Buenos Aires are known) live at cafés. There’s one on almost every corner, always filled with people relaxing and catching up with a cup o’ joe. My host mom knows my affinity (and frankly necessity) for coffee so she prepared the French press for my first day of classes and left a little note. “Happy first class in Argentina” she wrote.

 

At my host university here (Torcuato di Tella), I am taking an Argentine Literature course and a Latin American Cinema class. My last class is on the dictatorships of Chile, Argentina and Uruguay during the 60's and 70's. We got the chance to visit El Parque de la Memoria, which opened in 2001 and was completed in 2007. The park and its central monument aim to solidify a place in history for the "desaparecidos" or "disappeared ones" that were kidnapped and killed during the dictatorship of 1976-1983. Located on the Rio Plata (where many bodies disappeared to), there are 30,000 names and counting recognized as victims of the regime.

At my host university here (Torcuato di Tella), I am taking an Argentine Literature course and a Latin American Cinema class. My last class is on the dictatorships of Chile, Argentina and Uruguay during the 60’s and 70’s. We got the chance to visit El Parque de la Memoria, which opened in 2001 and was completed in 2007. The park and its central monument aim to solidify a place in history for the “desaparecidos” or “disappeared ones” that were kidnapped and killed during the dictatorship of 1976-1983. Located on the Rio Plata (where many bodies disappeared to), there are 30,000 names and counting recognized as victims of the regime.

 

pensar

“To think is a revolutionary act.” This Marie Orensanz sculpture welcomes you into the park and suggests its ultimate purpose. The park is meant to be a place of remembrance and reconciliation. The use of steel, the two divided panels and the elipse at the end contribute to its symbolism. I would tell you more about it but it’s more fun for you to make your own judgements.. and the tour guides spoke in Spanish while a plane flew overhead, so I only got about 50%… Anyway, dope sculpture though.

 

boca

The other night, one of the most famous Argentine Soccer Clubs and the current defending champion, River Plate beat the Tigres of Mexico during the Copa Sudamericana, 3-0. After each of their three goals, an earthquake of screams erupted through the streets around my apartment and out of every surrounding window. It was, frankly, a bit scary. Fútbol is very important here. This picture was taken in the neighborhood of River Plate’s rival, Boca Juniors. These kids play pick-up soccer games here hoping to, one day, end up on the field of the giant 49,000 seat stadium two streets over.

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Posted by Dan H.

Dan in Argentina: Traveling Around Bs As

August 3, 2015
Buenos Aires subway

Buenos Aires, a major metropolis, has all the bells and whistles when it comes to public transportation. While some of these bells and some of these whistles may not always be perfectly polished, they still ring and…whistle. In Boston, it’s the T; in London, it’s the Tube; and in Buenos Aires, it’s the Subte. I have only explored “Linea D,” apparently the best line in the city, but I have to say, it’s the best for a reason. So far, the subway is 10/10 in my book.

 

Buenos Aires bus

In sixth grade Spanish class, we learned about city terms. “Semáforo” means traffic light. “Rascacielos” was a fun one to say meaning skyscraper. And “autobús” is bus. Well, not in Argentina. Here, the busses are called “colectivos.” Why? I have no idea. Regardless, there are about (not even exaggerating) 160 different bus routes, each with its own fleet of identically colored colectivos. It’s can be confusing but at least there’s always a bus for anywhere you want to go! You have to be careful though because they often start driving before the doors are shut!

 

Bikes in Buenos Aires

The Spanish word for bike is “bici” and the city of Buenos Aires has recently been trying to go green and promote bike riding. Yellow bikes like this one are all over the city. The riders mostly ride in the designated bike paths (which are on almost every street) but sometimes they’re right in there with the traffic next to the huge “colectivos.” I haven’t signed up to take advantage of this free bike share yet but I will soon!

 

Bikes in Buenos Aires

While running to my last appointment before obtaining my student Visa, I stopped for a moment to appreciate the beauty of this bike, its shadow and my favorite word ever: “café.” We love a good café in Buenos Aires. As the winter weather turns each day from gray to sunny, sights like these will become more common and I can’t wait!

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Posted by Dan H.

Dan In Argentina: Obligatory First Week Sightseeing

July 22, 2015

 

grafitti

After getting off the plane at Ezeiza International, I hopped in a cab with all my stuff and headed to my host-family’s house. My first impression of the city was that it’s gigantic! My second thought? Graffiti…everywhere. Maybe Boston and Richmond are abnormally graffiti-free cities but I am nonetheless surprised by its prevalence here. I mentioned this to my host-family and they told me that many times the graffiti has political significance and some politicians even pay artists to paint graffiti favorable of them. This could be political mockery of an opponent or a statement on governmental policies of animal protection…but then again, it might just be a parrot.

 

cemetery 1

La Recoleta Cemetery is located in the neighborhood from which it gets its name. In 2013, CNN ranked this cemetery one of the 10 most beautiful in the world because of its expansive grounds with the juxtaposition of slightly deteriorating historic tombs and gorgeously maintained modern mausoleums, still utilized by families today. It was too tough to choose just one picture of this amazing cemetery, so here are three!

 

cemetery 2

Eva

Among politicians, Nobel Prize winners, and entertainers, former First Lady of Argentina, Eva Peron was laid to rest 19 years after her death. In Argentina, the Perons are extremely controversial. You either love Eva or you hate her. Obviously her grave is a bias place to see this as it is perpetually filled with flowers and flooded with teary-eyed visitors. Lauren (another Richmond student) and I searched all around the 14 acre cemetery for her very modest and relatively secluded tomb.

 

bagels

As an”extranjero,” I have found it exciting every time I get to tell someone about the US or see an imported Pringles can in “el supermercado.” Well, on Sundays, there’s one place in Buenos Aires, we Americans can find New York bagels and cream cheese made freshly by a guy named Sheikob. Sheikob is a former PhD candidate who decided to take an adventure and move back to Buenos Aires where he had studied abroad as an undergraduate. Now every Sunday he sells bagels outside a little café in Palermo. (He even has a Facebook page!!) Ben, Bergen, Lauren and I sought him out our first Sunday in the city and told him all about our new adventure, coming from Richmond to study.

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Posted by Dan H.

Dan in Argentina: Getting Ready!

July 17, 2015

Hey everyone!  I’m Dan.  As a junior at the University of Richmond, I am majoring in International Economics and minoring in Spanish. At UR, I am on the Mock Trial team, am an RA and participate in Greek life. This semester I will be attending the Universidad Torcuato di Tella in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The school recently moved its campus to an amazing new building. It is right across the street from a major football stadium for one of the most popular teams, River Plate! The university is about 5,000 students, among which about 80% are graduate students. Their main areas of study include business and economics, political science and architecture. While I am there, I plan to take political science courses about Latin American and Argentine politics. For nearly six months, I will live in the northern neighborhood of Palermo. Palermo borders the neighborhoods of Belgrano (where my university is) and Recoleta. I have already mapped my travel plans from my homestay to my school. The porteños (people from Buenos Aires) call their subway, “el subte.” So, on “el subte,” I will take the D line for about 30 minutes!

gifts for my host family

Lipton Tea Bags, BBQ Sause and Dijon Mustard were the requests of my host family. These items are not imported by Argentina so buried under sweaters and shoes, I’m sneaking them in! Well, not exactly… the law is that foreign merchandise totaling less than $1,000 is fine. But still, I feel like Mark Wahlberg in Contraband.

Everyone keeps asking me if I am nervous to go. I can’t say “no” completely, but I almost want to. I really don’t feel worried about getting down there, assimilating and excelling. I am very adaptable and feel I will truly thrive in this new place. While I wish I were more confident with my Spanish, I think I will be okay and can only improve from here! I am so much more excited than I am nervous.

Dan's tickets

Here we go! Got my boarding passes, pesos and Passport and I’m ready for a 22 hour travel day! After flying to Miami in the afternoon, I’m on the redeye straight to Buenos Aires! I’ll arrive at 10AM their time (1 hour ahead of Richmond) and go meet my host family! I have been Facebook messaging them a lot so I can’t wait to meet them!

I cannot wait for all that I will experience while abroad, and to document it for you this semester as a photo blogger. The new foods, drinks, customs, activities, tourist attractions, travel destinations, etc. will undoubtedly be amazing.

suitcase packed and underweight

Saying goodbye is tough. Missing my dog will be ‘ruff.’ But packing! Packing is by far the hardest part of leaving. Two checked bags (under 50 lbs each) and a backpack is not nearly enough room for 6 months of necessities. That being said, I’m not trying to pay a $100 fee for a bag a pound too heavy!

I am going to travel to Iguazu Falls, northwest of Buenos Aires. Eleanor Roosevelt exclaimed “Poor Niagra” when she visited this massive group of natural waterfalls.

I want so badly to ski in Patagonia. I promise to show amazing pictures of this. The clothing brand logo does not do the Andes justice.

I will definitely be hitting up a vineyard or two in the Mendoza province. Argentina is the sixth largest exporter of wine in the world and the first largest in Latin America.

I am so excited to take a Tango lesson, go to a street Tango performance and learn everything about Tango. Tango, Tango, Tango.

While many of my friends hit the beach or complain about their summer internships, I get to go back to school! Of course, I can’t exactly be upset because my school is in a different country where filet mignon is eaten daily and the coffee is freshly imported from Brazil. Plus, with flip-flopped season in December in Buenos Aires, I will leave the 90-degree palm tree climate for a snowy mid-winter Boston making me the tannest guest at the Christmas dinner table; sure to be envied from all my relatives. Could this get any better!?

While I will be learning everyday, the way I see it, it’s more of an adventure than an academic semester. I will be learning so much more than just political theory or economic equations. My Spanish skills will grow exponentially. I am ready for a semester of learning, new experiences, difficult communication problems and excitement!

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Posted by Dan H.

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