What a gorgeous day it was. After a well-needed apple for breakfast (now a developing morning tradition), we were ready to get the day started. On this Wednesday, we were returning back to Santorio De los Arcos to receive a lecture from Dra. Josefina Medrano, the former minister for Salta’s (an Argentine province) Ministry of Health. She was also the first woman in the history of Argentina to hold this role… we love women leading! However, our bus was stuck in the busy, typical Buenos Aires traffic so he could no longer make our pickup time. Yet, we compromised and today, I got to experience my first cab ride in the big city! This driver was well-experienced in his practice, getting us there within minutes! I was aware they moved fast in this city but not that fast!
Once we arrived, Dra. Medrano spoke about her role during the uprise of the COVID-19 global pandemic and how she managed the distribution of healthcare for folks within their province. She described Salta as an area filled with the lower-income side of the population, surrounded by forests and landfills. Due to this environment, folks in Salta rely greatly on the public sector to receive free aid. Thus, Medrano emphasized how teamwork between the national and provincial governments is dire to fight against such externalities. A dynamic like this is best described as federalism. Argentina’s national government sets the baseline of regulations for provinces, yet they also have the power to influence rules as they see fit. This is another aspect of Argetina’s extreme fragmentation. During the pandemic, these two forces needed to rely on each other to fight the bigger enemy. One way the nation helped the provincial out was through the distribution of social security to folks just like the stimulus Americans received to keep the economy churning during lockdown.
After her intriguing and eye-opening presentation, we set off to visit our first public hospital, Hospital Fernandez. The hospital’s director, Dr. Ignacio Previgliano, greeted us and spoke passionately about his authority within the hospital and what his challenges were during the pandemic. Previgliano mentioned one of his biggest worries was bed space. As the city’s best public facility for citizens, those sick filled the rooms of Fernandez. For a form of care that receives funding solely through taxes, being in a stay-in-place order, was difficult but under Previgliano’s authority, they were able to make it out of the storm. One aspect I admired was the grief relief program provided to family members of those lost to COVID. I truly believe this is such an amazing initiative to attack the emotional detriments of the pandemic as well. We as a race are always stronger when we work together during difficult times. Around noon, Dr. Ignacio gave a tour of the building which included seeing everything from the ICU to the emergency center. You can absolutely see the surface-level differences between private and public facilities. However, In my opinion, the public care of Hospital Fernandez was filled with heart and passion to make people’s lives better.
Once our tour was completed, we stopped at the IES study abroad office for salads then headed off to our walking tour hosted by Sra. Patricia from yesterday’s visit to La Boca. She took us deep into the city where we got to view the European influences Buenos Aries holds along with the history of wealthy families and commanders. As we made our way through the timeless city streets, we finally made it to our true destination Cemeterio de la Recoleta. This crypt is gated off by the city and holds about 4000 mausoleums containing generations of families to preserve their remembrance. Patricia was extremely knowledgeable about the cemetery and gave the best tour I’ve ever had. Not to mention, the architecture and scenery were muy magnifica! This was absolutely my favorite moment of the trip these far.
To end the day and let loose, a group of the girls and I were curious to see the differences between fast food here and at home. Therefore, tonight we enjoyed our dinner at McDonald’s on the thriving street of Santa Fe Avenue, which is packed with people and shops. They had a burger called the “Grand Tasty Turbo Bacon Triple” that was bigger than my head! If you thought America goes big, this sandwich went bigger! Such an experience. Who knows where we might try next… Kentucky Fried Chicken anyone?
