After months of preparation and twenty-four hours of grueling travel from Pittsburgh to Buenos Aires, the day has finally come! We may have hit a few bumps in the road during our Plus3 Atlanta layover but nothing was stopping us from taking on Argentina full force today.

                Upon arrival, we were transported to our apartments in the Recoletta neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Throughout the bus ride to the apartments, signs of increasing development in Argentina were evident. As we travelled through the outskirts of Buenos Aires, the buildings were very run down. However, as we got closer to our apartments, it was evident that the building quality was improving showing signs of development. When we got to our apartments, we dropped our bags and headed to what Argentines call “Merienda” which is translated to mean “snack.” When Mariela, our in-country program representative, said “snack” I was expecting possibly a bag of chips and a bottle of water. However, we went to a nice restaurant and sat down to eat a very big meal. I ordered a breaded chicken dish that was similar to chicken parmesan but also had ham on it. I was expecting one piece and some fries but the waiter came out with two giant pieces of chicken and caught me by surprise. After our Merienda, we had our CAPA program orientation and took a pit stop at the ATMs and grocery store. I was surprised to see how cheap grocery items were relative to its US currency equivalent. Then, we took a long walk through Buenos Aires to our welcome dinner location. Throughout the walk, I noticed a lot of global influence on local businesses including McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Apple popping up a few times. Also, many of the dishes at our Merienda restaurant were influenced by other countries such as Italy, Spain, and the United States. Our walk included an introduction to our local branch of our host university of Austral. Then we had our welcome dinner at a very nice restaurant called El Mirasol. There, we were given multiple courses that mainly featured different forms of red meat including sausage, meat empanadas, sirloin steak, and flank steak. Dessert was a delicious Chocolate Mousse dish. One thing that surprised me most about both meals that wasn’t much emphasized in our Culture Smart books was how long the meals were. We were at El Mirasol for about two and a half hours and kept getting food fed to us.

                Overall, day one in Argentina was one to remember! I’m very still very full from dinner so it looks like it’s going to be an early night for me to prepare for a very early morning tomorrow! Hasta Luego.

Highlight of the Day: The flank steak at El Mirasol was possibly the best steak I’ve ever had. Also, getting off the plane was rewarding.