Just like the rest of the days on the trip thus far, we hit the ground running bright and early. We started with a bus tour of the city of Buenos Aires. We visited some of the major neighborhoods surrounding the city, including La Boca, Caminito, and San Telmo. These neighborhoods were all very bright, colorful, and vibrant in their architecture and in the history each of these neighborhoods held. For example, Caminito was the home for many immigrants in the 1800s which were very often poor. In this neighborhood most of the immigrants didn’t have enough money to buy a room to sleep in and would therefore sleep balancing on a rope suspended a foot off the ground. Learning about this reminded me of the United States and the mass immigration from Europe in the late 1800s to Ellis Island. The immigrants in the history of the United States did not have very much more or resources and often sleep in close quarters such as the immigrants to Caminito.  

After visiting these neighborhoods, we went to two different architecturally gorgeous churches and learned many facts about their origin, purpose, and history. One of the churches was even leading a mass which we were able to observe and listen to. Then we walked around the Capitol of Buenos Aires and learned about the history of the Pink House, or where the President carries out his duties. Here, we learned about the mothers of The Plaza which gave us insight into the history of Argentina’s government. The Mothers of The Plaza is a group of women that meets in the square of the Capitol to protest the government to find the children who were kidnapped during the military dictatorship in the 1970s/1980s. These women lost children or relatives during the military dictatorship as part of the members of the military regime’s efforts to insight a systematic campaign of terror. This part of Argentina’s history is vastly different from the history of the United States as we did not have a military dictatorship nor had a military regime kidnapping child. 

Following a painstakingly brief lunch, we got on a different bus to have a tour of the Graffiti of the city. This tour gave us some insight into the history of Argentina, but much less than the first one. We were able to view many murals and paintings expressing political activism and artistic messages. Some of the murals offered messages such as pleas to the government to help reinstate programs to aid people after retirement. Other murals featured funky images such as a cat on a slice of toast, and others forced you to ask questions about yourself! These murals were breathtaking and definitely enjoyed by all! 

Tip of the Day: Be careful walking on the sidewalks as they are not even in the slightest. Many of the sidewalks were cracked, had missing tiles/bricks, and gaping holes sporadically placed along the walkway.