1st Day in Argentina

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Buenos Aires, Oct. 25, 2008

WOW, can I just say that even after all my travels I am still amazed, that one can hop in a plane, fall asleep and then wake up in a “different” world! So here I am now in the Paris of South America, and I am already in love with this city!
But let's start at the beginning... my flight arrived on time, after 10 hours in the air, a little bumpiness over Cuba, but otherewise uneventful at 7:45 local time, and as promised, the Spanish Schools Remise Service ( a sort of private Taxi service) was waiting for me to take me to my new home. The apartment of Gustave and Cristina in the beautiful Belgrano neighborhood of Buenos Aires. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous, not so much about meeting the host family, but rather whether I would remember a single Spanish vocab once I actually had to start talking! Once we managed the hola's y que tal's I realized that Cristina does not speak any English and neither does her 20 year old daughter ( I have not met Gustave, since he is out of town for the weekend）and so here I am now really diving in to the culture full force.
And so far so good! I managed to find the way to my school ok, which I did this afternoon as a bit of a trial run. First a short walk through the neighborhood, then the train(metro), for about 15 minutes and then a 5 min. walk through the city to the waterfront and past the high rises in the financial district. After that, I set out to explore the Microcentro a bit, including the bustling Florida, a long pedestrian street with shops galore, modern buildings next to European style 19th Century multi story houses, which you can find in Madrid, Paris, London, Berlin etc. Here you can get anything from Tiffany's to Lacoste, from Dior to Boss,, all while being entertained by various street artists, being hustled for the “finest cashmere sweater in all of South America”, and by dirty, little kids who beg for dineros. What a mix of people! The Galleria Pacifico, which covers an entire city block, even has vaulted ceilings with paintings and murals for those who actually look up, rather then have their eyes glued on the fancy shops.
Well those of you who know me, know that I am not much of a shopper, but this was impressive nevertheless. After saving thousands of dolares (by politely resisting all the invitations to enter the shops) I arrived at the famous Plaze de Mayo and La Casa Rosada. It was from the balconies of the Casa Rosada that past presidents, incl. Juan and Eva Peron spoke to the throngs of Argentines gathered below. (Madonna btw also sang from this balcony in Evita). Since all that sightseeing and walking made me quite hungry, I stopped in one of the cafes for cafe con leche and a great little pastry and sat back, relaxed, watched the hustle pass by and counted my blessings to be sitting in yet another amazing place!

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Comments

[Monika]

Juan
Good luck with all the Juans... best way to practice a language :-)