¡Buenas noches! Today we got the privilege of heading to the city hall state government building for the city of Buenos Aires. From here we got to listen to the current minister of health Daniel Ferrante. We learned a lot about the current position as well as some problems that he faces. As the minister of health, Ferrante described the power that is held within the unions (obras sociales) and how all of the money flows through them. As a result Ferrante has to set regulations and monitor the system. Other problems are the result of inflation in the city because the healthcare systems have to account for this and raise prices, which then increase inflation.

After this lecture, we moved back to your host University, Austral, to listen to the current Director of the Commercial Union. It was very interesting to see the difference in perspective so closely after listening to the minister of health. Gabriel Lebersztein, Director of the Commercial Union, was very interesting to listen to and engaging when he spoke. The unions are so much more complex than I realized, especially regarding the chain of payment. Most unions are funded with 3% of the employees salary and 6% of the salary covered by the business. However there are some expectations with self-employed people as well as those who work under the table that are not accounted for by the government which we dove very deeply into. Some interesting facts about the unions in Argentina is that they are required by law to give care to anyone who is part of their union. The unions are based on the salaries as well, and you are assigned to the union, unlike the US where you can pay more for better quality service.

Finally, we ended the day with a bus tour to the neighborhoods of Plaza de Mayo, San Telmo, and La Boca. El Plaza de Mayo is the head of the government, where all of the official buildings are including the presidential office, the IRS, the federal bank, city hall, and more. It was beautiful to walk around and learn about the history of the country, especially regarding freedom from Spain and England. After this, the trip to San Telmo was interesting because we got to walk around in the street markets. This really felt cultural, similar to a large flea market town in America with many people enjoying the food, goods, and company. La Boca was my favorite place, with tons of local markets, however it was very artsy. There were many murals and paintings, as well as colorful buildings including the stadium of La Boca Juniors. 

Today was a great day!