Today we took a break from the business casual and got to explore and learn about deeper into the city. a bus tour through the city. We saw many sites such as the pink house, the obelisk, and walked through multiple churches. We then walked through La Boca, Caminito, and San Telmo. The streets were beautiful and filled with color. We stopped and walked through La Boca and I bought some gifts for my family and a bag for myself. A lot of the stores and outdoor stands that we passed through were owned by families which was very cool to see. A lot of us stopped at a print stand and the painter would sign them with our name and draw a special drawing on the back based on a hobby of ours. Afterwards, we then went to the oldest bookstore in Argentina and looked around. They were beautiful buildings and the bookstore had a lot of cool things to look at such as old newspapers and books filled with art. 

We stopped for a quick lunch break and then headed off to the next part of the day, a graffiti tour. We walked through Palermo and would stop to look at the artwork. There were many with different styles of artwork, my personal favorite being a building wall covered in papers from different artists forming a collage. There was also a building with fish scale looking metal pieces covering it that had pulled forward to sign with their names, phrases, and stickers. We took a break to stop at a flea market that was being repainted for some new murals and looked around inside. It was huge and had so many different styles of furniture, light fixtures, and dishes. I wish that I could pack everything in there and bring it to my apartment next year! Finally, we headed on the bus back to the hotel. Overall, I learned a lot about the culture and history of the city and definitely plan to head back to some of the spots we saw today, especially La Boca!

Today was very educational in seeing the similarities and differences between the US and Argentina’s history and how it affects the political climate today. Although the Argentine and US governments are similar in that they are both democratic systems, they vary in the public’s trust in the government. We passed many murals that depicted parts of Argentina’s history, many of which featured the mothers of the plaza. Before Argentina became a democratic system in 1983, the dictatorship would kidnap people who didn’t support the government, and give their children to dictator-supporting families with the aim that if the children were raised in families who supported the regime, they wouldn’t face opposition in the future. The mothers of those who disappeared still protest in the plaza for information of their missing daughters and grandchildren. We also saw a statue of Manuel Belgrano where the people below had put stones with the names of lost loved ones to COVID, in protest of the government preventing this vaccine access. This history affects the public interactions with the government and how they view the system as a whole which can be seen through the murals, graffiti, artwork, and protests that we viewed today.