We had a very exciting morning as we didn’t have to be anywhere until 1:30 today, which was a very nice break from having to meet at 8 am. So we decided to sleep in a little bit and then head over to La Boca which is a neighborhood here in Buenos Aires. We had stopped there on our bus/walking tour but we all wanted to go back to the markets.
Once we got back to the hotel we had to meet up with the rest of the group to head over to our first museum of the day. We went to the museum of immigrants which was very interesting to learn about. When immigrants first arrived in Argentina they had to go through the port of Buenos Aires where they registered. If they already had a job or family here waiting for them they were able to immediately go, if not they were not left to figure it out for themselves. There was essentially a hotel for immigrants to stay in, there were 3 floors with 4 rooms each and each room housed 250 people. There was also a cafeteria type place that provided everyone with 3 meals a day. They didn’t just give these people a place to stay but they also provided them with training for the skills they would need to get jobs. Whereas in America immigration was completely different. Most immigrants came through Ellis Island where they were also registered and had to go through inspections with doctors as there were dormitories for the immigrants to stay there was no training and help for them to start a life in America. In both countries many immigrants ended up living in tenement housing when they were first starting their new lives.
After our first museum, we went to another where we learned about traditions in certain cultures such as Japanese. We then discussed indigenous culture, the rituals, and their significance in Argentinian history. We ended our day with a lovely dinner with some Pitt alumni. It was cool to hear them talk about their time at Pitt and where they are today.
