The next day Ashley's program started in Buenos Aires. For anyone that didn't know already, the whole reason we went to Buenos Aires is that Ashley was taking a 18 day business consulting course for her International Business major, and I tagged along for the ride. Her "class" only consisted of herself and three other guys. One of them, Jeff, has been our good friend since Freshman year, and the other two were transfers who we'd never met before.
The day started with a three hour bus and walking tour of the city. Buenos Aires is very spread out. It's easy to get around the districts on foot (Palermo, Recoleta, Retiro, Congreso, San Telmo, etc.), but getting between the districts requires taking the metro, bus, or a cab.
The tour started at the Casa Rosada, where the President's office is. Her name is Cristina and from what we learned from Ashley's class and from the locals, she's a very corrupt woman driving their economy further and further into the ground. There were a lot of sexist jokes made about how the house is pink because she's a woman... and then we moved on. The house is located on the edge of the Plaza de Mayo, which is a very historical center of the city. We visited it on a Thursday afternoon and there were lots of strikes and protests going on, which is typical of the area on Thursdays. They were protesting the corruption of the government in a very calm non-violent way.
Next stop was the neighborhood La Boca. La Boca is famous for all of its bright colored houses. During the day it's very touristy, with lots of craft souvenir vendors and restaurants with live tango dancers. At night however, it is a very dangerous area because it is right on the edge of the slums of BA. The gap in the standard of living was extremely sad to see. The lowest income families live in open brick buildings with no running water or electricity and garbage and graffiti everywhere. This area is half a mile from the most upscale and newest area of the city, Puerto Madero. The juxtaposition of the two districts was overwhelming.
Next we went to the area called Recoleta. Recoleta is the trendy, "chic" area of BA with lots of upscale shopping and newer apartments and great restaurants. The main attraction for tourists is el Cementerio de la Recoleta. This massive cemetery used to be for aristocrats only and the tombs were family tombs with marble and sculptures all imported from Europe. The maintenance of these tombs is strictly up to the living family members of the deceased. No one can enter the tombs except family. We spent a while getting lost in the maze of above-ground tombs.
Evita Perron is buried in her mother's family's tomb (Familia Duarte). There was a lot of scandal over the years about where to bury Evita because she would never want to be buried among the aristocrats she fought against her whole life. But that's where she ended up. People in BA are OBSESSED with Evita.
The cemetery was probably my favorite place in BA. It was peaceful and beautiful and a nice place to escape from the craziness of the city. It was about a mile from our hotel so sometimes when Ashley was in class I would wander there and spend some quality time with the tombs. It was so massive that I was always finding myself in new areas admiring new sculptures.
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