June is here and we are in shock. It seems as if it was just a week ago I wrote my first blog saying, “T minus 48 days until start my adventure in Buenos Aires”, and now I’m saying T minus 20 days until we are headed back to our previous lives in the United States. I’m not going to get nostalgic just yet because I still have 3 weeks to do that, but anyway I digress.
I’m going to tell you the truth; it has been really hard to think about what the theme of this blog was going to be about since Buenos Aires doesn’t really feel like a semester vacation anymore but now more like a home. So, after a few days of deliberating, I decided that I was just going to compile my favorite activities of the past weeks and make that my theme. It’s going to be a bit sporadic, but here it goes:
It is not uncommon after a night out at the boliche to wake up around 11 on Sunday morning and head over to our favorite brunch place called Magdelenas Party. Here we all meet up and enjoy an amazing American brunch and bottomless mimosas as we reminisce about the weekend and talk about the weekend ahead. This place has now become one of our favorite spots!
As you all know, on Tuesday nights I take a class at the local university. What you all didn’t know is that it is 6 hours long, ending at 11:30 at night, which is sometimes pretty difficult to handle. Preparing myself for 6 hours of intensive Spanish, every Tuesday I give myself at least 20 minutes before class to sit on the benches facing the canal and just drink in the beautiful scenes. Its even better now because its fall and getting darker sooner, so I get to enjoy the beautiful pink sunset that transforms the water and skyscrapers into a rose colored dream.
Last week my history class took a trip to the MALBA, one of the most famous art museums in Latin America. Although it is small, it was probably one of the coolest museums I have ever seen. Being home to an original Frida Kahlo piece and numerous interactive exhibits, this place is really incredible. My favorite exhibit, pictured below, merely seemed like room with thousands of names written in perfect lines, (still cool, but just wait) As we casually looked at all the names, a man in a black suit comes up to you and asks the time. When you respond, he asks you to follow him to one of the walls where he then asks your name. When you tell him your name, he pulls out a black marker and continues the list of names adding your name and the time. You are now a part of one of the most famous museums in Latin America. How cool!
As sort of an end of year get together, IES planned a trip to an Estancia called Estancia Porteña this past Saturday. Here we walked the beautiful grounds of this antiquated ranch filled of gigantic trees that were over 150 years old, enjoyed an amazing asado and got to feed the grounds animals. One of those happened to be an emu- yes, there was a pet emu. There isn’t much else to say about this, but it was a great way to get out of the city and relax on a weekend.
We ended the weekend in a very classy way, checking out one of the most famous private dining experiences in Buenos Aires, Casa Salt Shaker. Tasting better than your average 20-peso deli sandwich, we enjoyed a 5 course Peruvian Mediterranean fusion meal with wine pairings for each course. It was some of the best food that has ever touched my lips. Even though we will have to eat scraps out of the garbage for the next week, it was totally worth it.
Can’t wait to see what the next 3 weeks has in store for us! Let the adventures continue!
Callan Swaim
<p>Hola! My name is Callan Swaim and I am a junior currently studying Business and Spanish. In the United States you can find me either frolicking in the cornfields of Indiana or perhaps strutting to class at Wittenberg University in Ohio, but in Argentina I will experiencing a whole new world. Stay tuned and I will take you on my adventures exploring though the life, streets, and culture of the magical city of Buenos Aires. </p>
