Mate, Tango, and Horses

Day 2: Another walking tour of Buenos Aires and Palermo with Pablo. José de San Martín, the Argentine general who led the war for independence in the 1810s, is immortalized throughout Buenos Aires in parks, monuments, and street names. Today we experienced mate, an herbal caffeine drink that is drank primarily in social settings. Mate has even become the national drink of Argentina. We also had our first tango lesson. Today we learned a traditional set of steps called the ocho count. It was rather interesting learning both the leader and follower parts with all girls.

 

Day 3: We went to the main square of the city of Buenos Aires. We visited a cathedral that had been redone in 1880 featuring a tomb memorial to San Martin. The oldest church in Argentina was also housed in the square, having been built in 1811. The presidential building was in the back of the square. Unlike the White House, the president of Argentina does not live there. There are two rumors as to why the building is pink. One rumor is that the two political party colors were red and white, so the president mixed the colors to show the mixing cooperation of the parties. The second, and more likely, is that the paint is made out of cows' blood to protect the building from the humidity.

 

 

 

Day 4: Rode bus to San Antonio de Areco. This town is the oldest in Argentina. Their whole life is about preserving the old culture of the gaucho lifestyle. The first and oldest gaucho novel was written here as well as the place of inspiration for TOMS (based off the gaucho shoes). We then moved to the estancia, El Ombu de Areco. Some of the most beautiful landscapes.

 

 First time horseback riding. My horse was a bit feisty, and scrapped me and my saddle off of himself using a tree. So let us just say, I am not an equestrian. The next day I did go horseback riding again, and I was successful on staying on my horse the whole time. During our stay at the estancia, I had the best talks with the professors on the trip. It is amazing to have a relationship with your professors outside of the classroom--you can learn so much!