After an unfortunate delay, we finally made it to Buenos Aires. Exiting the airport we received a warm welcome by the staff at IES, who greeted us individually and with delectable treats. They made sure to shake each of our hands, and were heavily considerate of those with allergies. Their kindness and hospitality gave me a good first impression of what our trip would be like. A quick bus ride led us inside the city, and after settling in we were formally welcomed with a family style dinner. With fantastic food and an overhead view of Nueve de Julio, I was starting to see the warm and rich culture of the city. Starting our first full day was a completely foreign experience. I have traveled abroad before; even doing so on my own – but traveling with an academic purpose was a new feeling. This enabled me to gain a new perspective in my cultural learning. Learning from local experts let us see the city as not just an escapade, but a lively, complex place. Hearing about the challenges of the people who live here gave us the opportunity to better understand daily life and the culture within Buenos Aires to a different level. 

Another new experience was exchanging money. I was nervous to trade a lot of money and put my trust into a foreign system. How could I know that I was getting the equivalent value in Pesos? We’d also been informed of so many nuances when it came to using and protecting our cash while here that I would normally never consider. I’m interested to see the reality of these things as we spend more time in the city. 

So far though, we have yet to see much of the city. Most of the impressions and understanding I have about the city and culture are from second hand experience. We gained valuable insights during our lectures from Gabriel Novick and Luis Jiminez that will be critical in our final projects, and to understanding the city in general. Gabriel Novick is a director at Swiss Medical Group, and Luis Jiminez was the former director at the National Ministry of Health. They brought interesting perspectives on the current state of public health and its interactions with Obras Sociales and private health care, and how the state of health care is really impacting the people. However, I can’t wait to see things for myself! We did get a glimpse of the culture through a tango class. Pablo and his partner taught us the basics of tango and the proper traditions surrounding it. They were very talented dancers and made us all excited to see more of it at a Milonga. 

In the coming days I’m excited to try more foods (from nice steak dinners to local convenience store snacks), continue hearing from health care professionals, and see the city. I held back from creating expectations before arriving, but so far I’m enjoying my experience and eager for more.