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.

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.

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.

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.

Basilica Our Lady of Lujan.

Location: Carlos Pellegrini