Today our visit to the ranch was cancelled, so our only scheduled event was a walking tour. During our free time in the morning, some of us ventured back to La Boca to have more time to walk around and visit the local shops. La Boca is so beautiful and shows so much of the creativity that the Argentine people hold. We headed back to the hotel around one to go on our walking tour at 1:30 p.m. This tour took us all around Buenos Aires, highlighting the history of the city. We started our tour at a military monument close to our hotel that honors the soldiers who had fallen in the Falklands War. Then, we saw Paz Palace, which is a French-style building that is now owned by the military. We kept walking for about another hour and visited many more historical landmarks. Our last stop on the tour was a famous church called the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar. This church has beautiful statues and artwork, and it is the second-oldest church in Buenos Aires. The cemetery right by this church is called La Recoleta. La Recoleta contains the graves of some of the most famous people in Argentine history. One of the graves we saw belonged to Evita Perón, a famous politician who assisted her husband, Juan Perón, while he was president of the country. After we finished walking through the cemetery, we stayed in the town and shopped at the pop-up market until getting dinner. Today was an amazing day exploring the city.

Since our trip is focused on the healthcare system in Argentina, today we incorporated Perón and how he impacted healthcare. As we know, the Obras Sociales are the unions in Argentina that protect workers’ rights and help them receive healthcare. Well, we have Perón to thank for that because he started them. His presidency was dedicated to helping the people, and he and Evita advocated for the rights of Argentinians. He wanted to make healthcare more accessible and affordable for all citizens. This included pouring money into the public sector. Additionally, Evita started a foundation to care for poor children. Without Perón, I would not be in Argentina studying this system of healthcare today. Now, he is a hero in Argentina, and there are many landmarks that show the people’s respect for what he did for their country.

See you tomorrow!!