http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from South America , Argentina , Buenos Aires en-us Mon, 06 Jul 09 20:59:07 +0000 Mon, 06 Jul 09 20:59:07 +0000 Well its been a hell of a two weeks but I won't bore you with the details... wait thats not right I am going to bore you with the details.We got into Buenos Aires about 30 minutes after we left Sydney 14 hours earlier. Sleep had been minimal and jet lag was high. We stumbled through the airport like a couple of zombies and were lucky not to be robbed there and then. After negotiating a taxi to http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-415517.html Swine flu is amongst us ya'll Yesterday we found out that the new health minister of Buenos Aires has called a state of emergency. The old health minister resigned because she suggested holding off elections until after the flu went away and disagreed with the amount of action the government was implementing. Well now it's bad. Public schools are shut down borders are tightening up hos http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-415166.html Wow. The last leg of my South American journey.Writing to you from the centre of Buenos Aires party capital of the world The atmosphere here is electric. But it has been a while since I wrote so will update you on the last week first.Left San Pedro de Atacama last Friday with an American traveller towards Salta. The bus ride was...interesting. The scenery on the way was just incredible. We trave http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-414879.html me...why cant you walk BESIDES me Not several meters ahead. I have short legs and I walk slow walk slower so we can chat. Or do you walk faster so as to not be near me It is one of my biggest pet peeves. Weve been traveling a bit together and i know you are not my boyfriend nor my girlfriend but have some courtesy yes Well most dont and its something I have to get used to. O http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-414565.html Greetings ReadersLast week I went to school like normal. English was absent and I met the priest for my weekly meeting on Wednesday. On Thursday I was sick and thus I stayed home from school and then went to the doctor to get a prescription. I did not go to any activities and missed a football game. Friday I stayed up late doing nothing but talking with my family and slept until 900 on Saturday http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/La-Plata/blog-414228.html My mind is racing today and there is a lot running around my head so forgive me if my thoughts bounce around a bit. So letrsquos talk about food. I enjoyed the food in Argentina. I didnrsquot love it Brazilian food to me was much better. But I did enjoy my meals in Argentina. One thing that I noticed was the amount of restaurants in Argentina. There were a lot. So many that to me it s http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-413991.html Well I now have 23 days left in Argentina. Just typing that made my eyes well up with tears. I am writing this entry in tears. How can you not love this countryRyan and I went to Mardel with Camila and stayed with her family this weekend and it made me so sad because I had to say goodbye to Camila this morning since she's staying at her house until the end of July for winter vacation. After http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Mar-del-Plata/blog-413882.html Drunken Voting The market at San Telmo is bustling crowded and over flowing with tourists and locals ok mostly tourists every Sunday. Every Sunday except this Sunday. While not exactly a ghost town Buenos Aires was definitely a few notches lower on the volume and density including the San Telmo market. Stores and cafes were all closed because it was Election Day. In the States the President http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-413560.html Well we are back in Buenos Aires again for our final night and are heading to Peru tomorrow. We have been in Puerto Iguazu Argentina the last couple of days visiting Iguazu Falls. We arrived on Saturday and checked out the small town there. It is incredibly different from BA lots of trees no pollution and a slower pace of life. Yesterday we spent most of the day visiting the falls and wal http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-413498.html The boiler is broken...so no warm water in the morningDwent to Sugar at night. Sign at the door Dancing not permitted This is a bar not a discoHappy Hour from 812pm Gin TonicBeerWhiskey Cola etc for 5 Pesos 1euro http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-413447.html MartesFinally back in good old Buenos Aires and finally perfect vision again replaced the contactlenses I had lost in Iguazu on the second day. Made it just in time back twenty minutes late for second class of the day. In the afternoon I got to learn a South American card game called TRUCO. it is sooo much fun and soo weird. The first thirty minutes we spend trying to understand the order and t http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-413435.html Perceptions in Latin America and the United States I saw a film at LASA about censorship in Cuba that actually talked very little about censorship in Cuba. Instead it explored the very nature of censorship including the idea of selfcensorship. This corresponded quite nicely with a conversation I had with Jake over dinner the night before about perceptions. I believe overall the film Jake and I http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-412671.html Soccer as an Identity Good or Bad This is a topic that deserves far greater coverage than a 300 word individual blog. However my discussion of this question will be based purely on my personal observations or conversations and as such is inherently under informed. The club Ferro is not the most well known team and nor was their rival that day and neither team was vying for a title r award. Rath http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-412659.html A new kind of Equation If Fireworkspride and pridesense of identity then the Greater the fireworks the greater the sense of identity ldquoFireworks take many forms to produce the four primary effects noise light smoke and floating materials confetti for example.rdquoA simple and effective definition taken from the everreliable Wikipedia fireworks are just that and provide entertain http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-412656.html A People Behind Bars Two things soccer and politics have appeared to shape the culture and city of Buenos Aires and seem to inspire passion and frequently violence among the people often leaving tangible impacts on the city. It should be noted that there are character traits of large cities that I am generally unaware of and as such my ability to compare is limited to my brief time in Atlanta a http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-412654.html Well today was officially the first day that I went to LIFE and left feeling a little bit down. There were soooo many kids today and it was incredibly hard to give everyone the attention they needed with the 6 volunteers we had. And then there was this one girl who was probably around 8 years old or so and didn't know how to read or even write numbers. I did a math worksheet with her which to http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-412636.html BA was as a friend had promised a wonderful mix of some of Europe's most fun cities like Paris Rome and Barcelona wrapped into one. For the first few days we laid low as on arrival Zoe was pretty sick with some kind of virus which of course had all the matching symptoms of Mexican flu if we had a pound for every backpacker we have met who is convinced they have had swine flu then we would http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-412283.html So next stop on our tour was Buenos Aires which felt a bit like coming back to civilisation after parts of Peru We arrived at about 5 in the morning and made straight for our hostel. The original plan was to head to an Estancia kind of like an argentinian farm where you can do horse riding trekking etc. but due to the aforementioned food poisoning we thought it would be best to get some re http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-412216.html Creativity for titles have left my brain a long time ago. So ill start titling strange stuff. Hope you dont mind. But all is well in the dream world of claudia. Ive remembered a few funny stories so grab a coffee or tea sit back and pay attention. Story Numero 157999 Bus Numero 1200. Um just kiding. Well I arrived in Buenos aires got treated horribly at retardo HOstal Tango b http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-411613.html We have been in Buenos Aires since Saturday. Weve mostly been walking around and getting a feel for the city. It is broken up into different neighborhoods each with its own character and we have managed to visit most of them. On Sunday we went to Recoleta and walked through the market and then through the cemetery where Evitas grave is located. We also went to a Boca Juniors soccer game. http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-411518.html