Author Archives: Emeling Navas

Visits to Santiago and Valparaiso

The program officially ended June 24 but due to the fact that I studied at a local university, Torcuato di Tella, my stay got extended until July 1. Exams at the university, where I took two classes, weren’t very difficult and honestly di Tella is one of the most organized universities in Argentina. I highly recommend attending that university although it is 45 minutes away from the program headquarters.

Since I booked my departure back home two weeks earlier I decided to visit Chile specifically Santiago and Valparaiso. Santiago, the capital, is vastly different from Buenos Aires with more modern architecture and of course a free-trade economy. Santiago’s nightlife is a bit lacking though, my guide said that was due to the many years of dictatorship in which people were afraid to live freely.

Palacio La Moneda

On my second day there I took a ‘Find Waldo’ tours for tips tour. We meet at the Museo de Bellas Artes, which by the way is absolutely gorgeous and free. Our tour guide was a young 20 year old woman who was very helpful and showed us some of the most iconic places in the city. We visited the Moneda, the presidential palace and learned about the history of the dictatorship, a subject I thoroughly studied at di Tella. We also visited the Plaza de Armas, the central square in Santiago, and a couple of neighborhoods.

View from Cerro Santa Lucia

View from Cerro Santa Lucia

I spent three days in Valparaiso, a port city protected by the UNESCO and I honestly liked it better than Santiago probably due to the fact that its closer to water. It is a very picturesque and calm city somewhere you can probably retire to. I also to a ‘Find Waldo’ Tour and it was also very informative.

Valparaiso

Valparaiso

 

Valparaiso

Valparaiso

The food especially seafood, something not very good in Argentina is fantastic. While I stayed in Chile I tried to eat as much seafood as possible including ceviche, a seafood dish cooked in lime juice. I also tried chorillana, a typical hangover plate with french fries, caramelized onions, and meat (sausage,beef, and sometimes chicken). The cazuela de vacuna (a soup with meat, potatoes, corn, and pumpkin) is also very delicious, I had it on my last day. It is especially good with the fierce cold weather in Santiago.


Location: Santiago, Chile

Estancia La Porteña

On Saturday, a couple of students from my program went to an estancia, or a ranch. These places used to owned by caudillos or the landed elite and demonstrate the rich history of Argentina. The estancia we visited is called La Porteña and is about an hour away from the city.

Currently in Buenos Aires, it’s fall and very uncharacteristically cold which I think made the scene a bit more beautiful. Being surrounded by nature and the rustic outdoors makes the cold weather comforting.

Estancia La Porteña

Estancia La Porteña

We arrived at 10 in the morning and were greeted by empanadas, a breaded perogie-shaped biscuit filled with meat or veggies. We then proceeded to watch a gaucho unsaddle his horse and teach us how gauchos would sleep in the fields in the 18th century.

We took a short walk in the forest and learned a bit about the history of the estancia. Many of the trees brought to it were from different countries like an old Lebanese tree and a huge ombu that happens to just be a humongous bush.

Ombu; bush not a tree

Ombu; bush not a tree

The group had turns riding on a horse carriage around the estancia and we also got to see the pig and piglets. Shortly after we got served asado, which many foreigners confuse with barbeque but it is not. It is not smothered by barbeque sauce it’s Argentine-cooked meat on a special grill fired by wood logs not charcoal. Juicy pieces of sausage, vacio, and lomo are served outside surrounded by your friends where you proceed to speak about futbol not soccer and politics.

At this particular asado we were served a buffet of food all the meat you could want, chorizo or sausage, chicken, salad, bread, and wine. In short it was wonderful.

Whilst we were eating dessert and drinking coffee later we were basically serenaded by the gauchos performing love ballads and typical gaucho songs. We were then met by another gaucho that performed horse yoga with his horse. This was the most different thing I have witnessed in Argentina, when ever I started to understand it it got weird again. Horse yoga is basically used to build a relationship with the horse and calm it down.

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With that we ended the evening which was relaxing and all in all was wonderful. I absolutely love estancias, you can spend a day or a weekend there getting away from the chaos that is the city.

Gorgeous field on otherwise cold day.

Gorgeous field on otherwise cold day.

Argentina’s Economy

I have begun to work at a digital media company here in Buenos Aires, not only am I gaining experience and all that I am also being introduced to Argentine culture and politics like never before.

Argentina’s new president, Mauricio Macri was elected last November, he is part of the Cambiemos party, a fairly new political party that is a far cry from Kircherismo. Kirchnerismo, is derived from president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Nestor Kirchner. Nestor served one term as president and then was followed by his wife which served two full terms, together they rules the country for 12 years.. Kirchnerismo, is a left leaning party while Cambiemos is more to the right.

Argentine politics really can’t be described. Currently many of the past politicians that served in Cristina’s government have been accused of massive corruption and embezzlement. One of her close friends, Lazaro Baez, benefitted greatly from government contracts. His size of all of his estates put together are about the size of the province of Buenos Aires.

Argentina recently paid their massive debt and as a result economy is struggling, there have been thousands of dismissals from government jobs and inflation is rampant.

I don’t usually frequent supermarkets but I do feel the inflation when I pay for laundry or my lunch. When I first arrived to BA a load of laundry was 70 pesos or roughly $4.50 now it’s 80 pesos or roughly $5.50. It may not seem like a lot but in the long run it is especially if you wash frequently.

I always think that you if you are a middle-class worker in the United States working on a American-dollar based salary then you’d be doing well in Buenos Aires. Many of the services offered here are priced that way. For example, lunch here depending on where you go of course costs upwards of 100 pesos or about $7. Dinner might be more expensive especially if you’re having drinks. Drinks are usually 70-100 ($5-$7) pesos, of course depending on what you order. Also, water here is not free like in the U.S., most of the time you will get charged the same amount as if you had ordered a soda or juice.

Clothes are very expensive in BA, no fast-fashion prices here. The clothes and shoes are expensive and are usually bad quality. I advice you to bring what is necessary taking into account that you might not want to buy any clothes or shoes here. Another issue in the retail business are the sizes, clothes here run small and stores only carry certain numbers. This has to do with the European and American influence on Argentine fashion. Argentina has a huge epidemic of eating disorders only second to Japan.

 

 

Mendoza: Argentina’s Wine Country

Over the long weekend me and a couple of friends decided to travel to Mendoza, a city know for serving Malbec wine to very thirsty Argentines. In order to get there we booked our bus trip on what seemed like a sketchy website but in the end things worked in our favor.
The bus trip to Mendoza was 13-14 hours with pit stops along the way. Some buses serve two meals to the passengers and seats on Flechabus are very comfortable.
We arrived in Mendoza around 3 o’clock and took a taxi a taxi to our hostel: Hostel Mayam. The place didn’t have the best interior design but the service and the kindness provided to us was wonderful.
After freshening up and taking a nap we decided to see the center of Mendoza and go out to dinner. The resto-bar, the name given to a restaurant that happens to have a bar, was nothing special but we did have the opportunity to watch the soccer or futbol game between Argentina and Chile. It was intense but it was wonderful to see the passion and blind loyalty some people share for the sport.
When we arrived to Mendoza we had nothing planned but we did know what we wanted to do. On that Friday we went to the Tourism Department, which by the way was very helpful, and received brochures from some of the tourism agencies in Mendoza.
We decided to have a half-a-day wine tour in Maipu. The agency would pick us up from our hostel and take us to two wineries and one olive factory. One of the wineries belonged to a big company in Argentina and the second was a family-owned business. The olive factory was small and produced olive oil and other cosmetic products.

Wine from Bodegas Lopez

Wine from Bodegas Lopez

The first winery: Bodegas Lopez was big and beautiful. We were given a tour of the distillery and then given a tasting of the Malbec and sparkling wine. Our guide showed us how to taste the wine and appreciate its distinct flavors. The same thing was done and the second and smaller winery but we had the chance to see the gardens and the vineyard. At the olive factory our guide also gave us a tour of their business and then proceeded to give up a tasting of their different kinds of olive oil. I didn’t expect much from the tastings but it was very good; we were served small pieces of French bread with virgin olive oil, garlic olive oil, rosemary olive oil, and dried tomatoes.

Winery Bodegas Lopez

Winery Bodegas Lopez

Gardens in Don Arturo's Vineyard.

Gardens in Don Arturo’s Vineyard.

Don Arturo's vineyard

Don Arturo’s vineyard

That night we got back to our hostel and were served an asado (Argentine barbecue), possibly the best asado I’ve had in Argentina. For the cost of 100 pesos or roughly 6 dollars we got a ton of meat, salad, bread, and wine. We also got to socialize and talk with the other students, which I think is the best part of staying in hostels. I meet Australians, Swedes, and French people I whom I had the pleasure of speaking with.
On Saturday we booked two activities at Argentina Rafting, a tourism agency. We decided to go rafting and horseback riding. The agency provided up with transportation and the proper equipment to raft (wetsuits, boots, and life jackets). The water was especially cold but it was crazy fun. The horseback riding was my favorite as we got to ride the horse around the mountains.

Poterillos in Mendoza

Poterillos in Mendoza

The trip to Mendoza was surprisingly cheap. The bus trip to and from Mendoza was around 190 dollars, the wine and olive tour was 30 dollars, and the each of the activities was 30 dollars as well.


Location: Mendoza, Argentina

President Obama Visits Argentina

After 12 years of Kirchnerism an American president finally makes an official visit to Argentina. With a newly elected president, Mauricio Macri, the United States is stretching its arms in acceptance. Mauricio Macri was elected in November, preceding Cristina de Fernandez Kircher, a member of the Peronist party with anti-American sentiments.

Obama arrived to Buenos Aires on Wednesday at 2 a.m., I can tell you with certainty because I heard his very loud entourage by my window. The president made his way to the American embassy in Palermo, a new and hip neighborhood in Buenos Aires.

My host mom and host brother were ecstatic with Obama’s visit, perhaps even more than some Americans in Argentina. Argentina is very polarized, therefore with Obama’s visit there was both anger and joy from the people. President Obama came during an interesting time in Argentina, on Thursday it was the Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice. That national holiday serves as an anniversary of the beginning of the Dirty War and dictatorship in Argentina where thousands of people “disappeared”; they were tortured and  killed by the military. Many people believe that the United States allowed and helped the dictatorship thus resenting Obama and the U.S.

During his visit the president attended the memorial for victims of the Dirty War with Macri. The president and the first lady also attended a state dinner where they both danced tango. Michelle Obama also made a visit to a group of girls with Argentine first lady, Juliana Awada, and made a speech about girls education and her humble background. The family ended their visit in Bariloche, a town in the south of Argentina where many American presidents have previously stayed.


Location: Plaza de Mayo

First Impressions

After a very long flight, I finally arrived to Buenos Aires. Orientation week was hectic but it felt like a long vacation before the start of classes at IES (the exchange program ) this week. In a week our group of about 56 students toured Buenos Aires city and its outskirts.

On our first day we visited Puerto Madero, a relatively new neighborhood that hosts many businesses and youth. Soon after we visited La Boca, quite the opposite of Puerto Madero, an old neighborhood that hosted many European immigrants during the 1900s. The most striking feature of La Boca, is Caminito, a vibrant street filled with colorful houses and street art.

Walking through Caminito.

Walking through Caminito.

The exchange program IES offers courses at partner universities or local universities like Universidad Catolica de Argentina, Universidad Torcuato di Tella, and Universidad de Buenos Aires. The first two universities are private and are modeled after American universities, many middle and upper class students attend these universities. Public university in Argentina is free therefore anybody can attend including foreigners from neighboring countries.

View from IES Center. Carlos Pellegrini.

View from IES Center. Carlos Pellegrini.

Additionally we visited Recoleta, a wealthy neighborhood in Buenos Aires which also houses Recoleta cemetery. The cemetery is unlike any cemetery I have ever seen, it encases a couple hundred mausoleums from some of the wealthiest families in Argentina. Not all who rest in Recoleta were wealthy though, one of the cemetery keepers who began working there since its inception worked all his life to buy a plot. He bought a space and then promptly committed suicide.

The Congreso Nacional or National Congress was also in our tour of Buenos Aires. The congress is open to the public and may be given a guided tour. The structure of the constitution and congress is modeled after the United States. With two senators per province (not state), and the number representatives represented by the population of each province. The architecture of the building has Italian influence, a notable aspect of Argentinas culture and history.

Congreso Nacional. Much of the room is illuminated by stained glass.

Congreso Nacional. Much of the room is illuminated by stained glass.

On the Saturday before the start of classes we went to an Estancia in Lujan called Rodizio. An modern estancia mostly resembles a ranch but with more land dedicated for leisure activities like swimming, playing soccer, riding bikes, or just sunbathing.

Estancia Rodizio in Lujan.

Estancia Rodizio in Lujan.

Basilica Our Lady of Lujan.

Basilica Our Lady of Lujan.


Location: Carlos Pellegrini

To New Horizons

My name is Emeling Navas and I am majoring in journalism with a minor in political science. At this moment I am in Sao Paulo before making a connection to Buenos Aires early in the morning. I am excited and anxious, awaiting one of the greatest adventures of my life.

I am from Miami, Florida a vibrant city full of Latinos and people from all around the world. In these past couple of weeks since winter break and my arrival to Miami many of my friends and relatives have been asking me why I chose Argentina. I chose Argentina mostly on a whim, I know I wanted to study abroad but Europe realistically speaking is very expensive. The choice was between a country in Africa or Latin America, and I chose Latin America because I speak Spanish and wanted to improve my writing skills in the language. Also Buenos Aires is called the “Paris of Latin America”, so if I couldn’t go to Paris, France then I would at least go to its twin city.

In this blog I plan to inform you about the typical life of a student on a budget. I know that often times students put off studying abroad and traveling because it’s expensive, but I want to demonstrate that it can be done. I will also blog about the politics, culture, and lifestyle of Argentines.


Location: Sao Paulo, Brazil