Last Day in Argentina 08/16/08

The final began at 8 AM. Hmmm...it was a lot harder than I expected. I finished a little bit before noon and then headed over to Recoleta Market to spend the last of my pesos on souvenirs. Then Katie and I headed to Alto Palermo Mall for our last lunch in Buenos Aires and to do a little more shopping. We had to check out of the hotel before we headed to the final, so we opted to go to the airport early for our flights back to the U.S. Unfortunately for me, Continental wasn't ready for check-in yet, so I sat for an hour and a half waiting for them to open. The lines weren't too bad and passing through security and customs was pretty quick. I toyed with the idea of spending more money at the Duty Free shops, but decided that I'd save my money for when I got home. The flight boarded and took off pretty close to schedule, and other than some scary turbulence over much of Argentina, the flight was pretty uneventful. I made it back to Oklahoma City a little early, actually. Then it was time to purchase my books and start studying for the next day's classes at OCU.

Day 27 in Argentina 08/15/08

Today was full of sleeping, eating, and studying for tomorrow's final. It's the last full day in Argentina, and I'm pretty excited about sleeping in my own bed soon and not sharing a place with 2 other people!

Day 26 in Argentina 08/14/08

Last day of classes! After class, Katie and I went back downtown and ate at a really nice restaurant on Florida Street and then we went to Plaza de Mayo so that she could see Las Madres march. Just a nice, relaxing, lazy day.

Day 25 in Argentina

Today's highlight: A bunch of us went to an Argentine soccer match. Boca Juniors (the most popular team in Argentina) was playing Arsenal. There were hundreds of police officers in riot gear and on horses all over the place. The Boca fans were jumping and singing the entire time. Boca won, 3-1.

Day 24 in Argentina 08/12/08

Today after class, Judge Santiago Otamendi took us out to lunch at Puerto Madero. The food was excellent. Then he arranged for us to visit the law school at the Catholic University of Argentina. The facilities were modern and really nice. I coaxed Professor Stephanie Vaughan (program director from Stetson) to brave the subway with me back to the hotel. We got some great shots of the Argentine flag in front of the Casa Rosada (presidential palace) next to Plaza de Mayo while walking to the subway station. The subway is pretty crowded in the late afternoon, but we made it back without incident. I was still full from lunch, so I just did my reading and then went to bed.

Day 23 in Argentina 08/11/08

Today we started our last course. This week, we're studying International Human Rights Law with Professor Monica Pinto from the University of Buenos Aires. After class, I bought a t-shirt and a few souvenirs at the Hard Rock Cafe, which is across from the law school. Then I had some empanadas at Bakano, followed by a nap and more reading for the next day.

Day 22 in Argentina 08/10/08

Today I went back to San Telmo for the Antiques Fair. I ended up buying a few magnets and taking a few pictures. After that, I headed back to the hotel to start reading for Monday's class.

Day 21 in Argentina 08/09/08

Just a lazy Saturday. John and I took the subway to Plaza Italia and then walked to a pizza place in Palermo Hollywood and had some pepperoni pizza, though it didn't really seem like there were real pepperonis on it. I saw some place that said "Kentucky Pizzeria" but I was scared of it. We had been told that Argentina is the number 1 exporter of horse meat in the world. I just pictured pizza covered with horse meat.....

Day 20 in Argentina 08/08/08

It's Friday! I love going to Florida Street, so I went back down there and walked around. Then it was back to the hotel for a siesta (of course). I took a few pictures down on Florida, showing some of the street performers and the crowds.

Day 19 in Argentina 08/07/08

Today was my big sightseeing day. I took the subway down to Plaza San Martin after class and took pictures there. Just to the north of the Plaza is a monument to the Falkland Islands war between Argentina and Britain. The Falklands (Malvinas, to the Argentines) are controlled by the British, though Argentina says they are Argentine. The citizens of the Malvinas are all British and I think it's just full of sheep farmers. Anyway, Argentina invaded the islands in the early 80's. The military government kept telling the people that Argentina was winning the war, so it was a huge shock for everyone (except the British) when it was all finished and the Argentines had lost. After seeing the memorial, I walked down Florida Street to Plaza de Mayo to watch Las Madres de los Desaparecidos. Every Thursday, the mothers and grandmothers of the people who were "disappeared" by the government march in the Plaza de Mayo. Many of them hold pictures of their kids who haven't been seen in over 30 years. It was really moving.

After the obligatory siesta, a group of us went to Palermo Hollywood to some Peruvian/Japanese fusion restaurant. I had the ravioli stuffed with sweetened duck. It's the only meal I had down here were the portions were tiny. I had 3 (count 'em, 3) raviolis. They were tasty, but come on....3? Then we met some other people at a bar down the street, and some Argentines invited us to a disco. After walking for way too many blocks, we finally arrived at the club. There was a huge line, full of young Argentines. John and I were in no mood to stand in line with a bunch of teenagers, so we grabbed a taxi and headed back to the Shamrock.

Day 18 in Argentina 08/06/08

After class today, I ended up back down on Florida Street. I keep looking for souvenirs, but I haven't been impressed with anything yet. Katie from GW accompanied me. We found lots of stores, but nothing that impressive. After a big lunch at a downtown restaurant, we took the subway back to the hotel and enjoyed siesta time. I took a picture of the MaxiKiosco (little convenience store) across the street, along with a picture of the MaxiKiosco dog. He's absolutely beautiful and behaves very well. He just hangs out in front of the store, sometimes takes a nap inside the store, sometimes walks around the block to check things out. He never goes out into the street, which amazed me. I just wanted to hug and squeeze him, but I refrained.

Day 17 in Argentina 08/05/08

I got to witness an unusual ritual at the law school. Apparently, people toss eggs and flour at new graduates. I would have to break out a can of whoop ass if anyone tried that on me, but I guess it's considered good luck here. After class, we went to Bakano, a cafe a block from the hotel. John had pizza and I had sandwiches de pan de pizza, which are sandwiches made from pizza crusts. I had the tomato and cheese ones. They were really good.

Day 16 in Argentina 08/04/08

Our course for the 3rd week of the program is Comparative Constitutionalism, taught by Professor Ritchie from Mercer. Very interesting stuff. After class, I took the subway back down to Florida Street for more people watching. Then I bought some sandwiches de miga for lunch. They're tasty triple-layer sandwiches with the crusts taken off. After stuffing myself, I took a nap and then did homework.

Day 15 in Argentina 08/03/08

Today, I went to some museums with Katie, a student from George Washington. She told me that she planned on taking the subway to Constitucion, which is in a pretty shady area of town. I refused to let her go alone....yeah, I know....like I'm so intimidating and would be able to beat up any thugs. Our first stop was the Argentine National History Museum. I was expecting the Argentine equivalent of the Smithsonian. I was wrong. I believe there were 4 rooms. Then we hit several other lackluster museums while walking back to the San Telmo Antiques Fair and to Florida Street. Katie got some great pictures on our adventure. I foolishly left my camera back at the hotel.

Day 14 in Argentina 08/02/08

Today was a pretty lazy day. I went back to Recoleta Market, yet was unable to find anything that I felt like buying. Shopping is an ordeal in Buenos Aires. ATMs dispense 100 peso notes, yet most merchants/vendors never have change for the 100 peso note and often times, won't make the sale because they can't break the 100 peso note. It's frustrating. There are also a LOT of counterfeit pesos in circulation, so I always had to make sure I had the real deal.

I had dinner at a cafe around the corner. Most restaurants don't open for dinner until after 9 PM. Luckily, we had a 24 hour cafe nearby. After dinner, I decided to check out the nightlife. Bars don't open until midnight. I found a bar and it was waaaaaaaaaaay too crowded for my taste. Argentines are, by and large, really thin people. I happened to stumble across the only place in Buenos Aires that was full of Rubenesque individuals in their 40's and 50's, undulating on the dance floor. I had one Quilmes and then ran back to the hotel.

Days 11,12, and 13 in Argentina 07/30/08-08/01/08

I pretty much just went to class and then took cold medicine and slept. A group of us did find a great restaurant called Casa Blanca, in the Palermo SoHo neighborhood. We went there on the 31st and then again on the 1st. The filet mignon was excellent and the side orders were huge. The cost was less than $20 American per person, and I know that an equivalent meal in the U.S. would have easily been double or triple that amount. I should have taken pictures of the food, but I didn't think to take my camera. The cab rides to and from there were interesting, to say the least. Cabs are fairly cheap in Buenos Aires, but terrifying. Argentina has some of the most frightening drivers on the planet. No one observes the traffic lanes, no one ever yields to pedestrians, and driving is the only thing that Argentines do quickly. Everything else is slower than molasses.

Day 10 in Argentina 07/29/08

Today's highlight was a trip to the U.S. Embassy. Professor Pasqualucci arranged for the embassy staff to speak to us. Once again, no cameras were permitted, but we did learn a lot about U.S. commerce in Argentina. After that, we had a tour of an NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) called Unidos por la Justicia. Ben, a student at Tulsa, did an internship over the summer at Unidos, so we got to speak with Judge Santiago Otamendi, the Director of International Relations for the organization, and Martin Gershanik, the Executive Director. They talked about the Argentine judicial system and the challenges facing it. Since I couldn't bring my camera to the embassy, I have no pictures. :-(

Day 9 in Argentina 07/28/08

This week, we're studying Globalization and International Trade with Professor Jo Pasqualucci from the University of South Dakota. My cold is kicking my butt, so after class, I ended up just going back to the hotel and taking some cold medicine. I would have killed to have some NyQuil, but I didn't see any at any of the pharmacies. I took a photo of the painting of Che Guevara on the footbridge leading to the school. Che is a big deal in Argentina. He grew up in the city of Rosario and then traveled all across Latin America trying to bring revolution to as many countries as he could, before being assassinated in Bolivia.

Day 8 in Argentina 07/27/08

Today, a group of us took the subway down to Plaza de Mayo and walked up and down Florida Street. Florida is a huge pedestrian mall area, with a ton of people and lots of touristy stores. Great people watching area. We ate lunch at a little cafe, then we headed down to the San Telmo Antiques Fair. I wasn't impressed with the merchandise....it was kind of like if your crazy aunt cleaned out her attic and decided to have a yard sale. There were plenty of interesting street performers there, though. I saw an older couple performing the tango, along with a lot of other, much less talented entertainers. We then took the subway back to the hotel and I read for class. A few of my classmates wanted to go to Friday's for dinner, so we headed over to the mall for that. Much to our disappointment, the food wasn't that great and it was expensive. Argentina's only Starbucks was right next to Friday's and there was the biggest line I've ever seen outside of it.

Day 7 in Argentina 07/26/08

I was feeling a bit homesick today, so I had lunch at McDonald's. The Quarter Pounder Value Meal was 18 pesos, which is $6 American. It tasted just like it does back home. The exchange rate is 3 pesos per dollar...which I guess everyone could figure out from my description of the cost of the Value Meal....hee hee. What confused me is that in Argentina, they use the $ symbol for pesos, so I was always thinking that I was paying in dollars and not in pesos and a few times I was irate at the cost. Then I'd have to remind myself to divide by 3.

After lunch, I went to the Recoleta Market, near the cemetery. There were a lot of crafts for sale there, some of them neat and some of them not so much. I decided not to buy anything, but I did spy some Asturian bagpipers playing, so I snapped a picture.

There is a laundromat around the corner from the hotel, and I had taken my dirty clothes there on Friday. I picked them up today and for 30 pesos, they were all washed and dried and folded for me. Nice.

It was a quiet evening of taking cold medicine and watching television. Most of the shows on TV are American shows with Spanish subtitles. It was funny seeing the bad translations.

Day 6 in Argentina 07/25/08

It's Friday and no class! So today, I took the subway back down to Plaza de Mayo and then decided to walk over to Avenida 9 de Julio and take some good pictures of El Obelisco. Avenida 9 de Julio is an insanely busy street, with about 20 lanes of traffic at some points. I got all twisted around when walking from Plaza de Mayo and had to stop a police officer and ask for directions. But I finally found it, woohoo!!!! After taking pictures, I headed back to the hotel and my roommate John and I decided that we really wanted to see the American Embassy. We walked over there and I got out my camera. Then I heard the armed security guards screaming at me to put the camera away. No picture taking is allowed. There were security personnel everywhere, and apparently there are lots of plainclothes security all over as well. We were allowed to pass through a security checkpoint and go to Window 15 inside, which is where people go when they have an issue, e.g. a lost passport. I went up to the window and told the woman that I didn't have an issue, I just wanted to say I had been to the embassy. She gave me an odd look and said, "Okay......" and then we left. That night, John and I went to an Irish pub called The Shamrock. Other than the name of the bar and the fact that they served Guiness, I didn't detect anything particularly Irish about the place.

Day 5 in Argentina 07/24/08

After class today, we went on a tour of the city prosecutor's office, down by the National Congress building. I was pretty proud of myself, since I managed to figure out how to take the subway and actually switch to a different subway line all by myself. Later on, around midnight, I started getting sick and had to try to explain to a pharmacist that I needed cold medicine. He looked at me and tried to sell me Kleenex. Grrr. I ended up leaving and going to a different pharmacy. One of the biggest frustrations for me in Buenos Aires involves the language. The Spanish here is so different from what I studied in school. Portenos speak really fast, they drop off the ends of words, and there's a mix of Italian slang (called "lunfardo") and an odd Italian lilt to everything. People here can understand my Spanish, but I can't for the life of me understand them when they speak to me. I explained to one person, when he asked me something, that I hadn't spoken Spanish in 23 years and that I needed for him to speak slower. He gave me a dismissive hand motion and walked away.

Day 4 in Argentina 07/23/08

On the way to class today, I took some pictures of the paseaperros, the professional dog walkers. Every day, one can see dozens of people walking around with anywhere from 10 to 30 dogs on leashes. People here love their pets. Unfortunately, no one bothers to clean up after their pets, so each walk down the sidewalk involves having to make sure you're not stepping in a big steaming pile of anything.

After class, we went on a tour of the statehouse for the autonomous city of Buenos Aires. The city of Buenos Aires is its own province, so it's kind of like if Washington, D.C. were a state. After the tour, we went to an exhibit about "Las Abuelas", the grandmothers. Argentina's military junta had about 30,000 people "disappeared" and the infant children of those people were often given to military families to raise. Now, through DNA testing, those adult children are finding out that their adoptive parents often played a role in the kidnapping, torturing, and murder of their biologicial parents. They are now being reunited with their biologicial grandparents and many are suing their adoptive parents.

Day 3 in Argentina 07/22/08

The rain finally stopped! So today, I went to Recoleta Cemetery after class. It's close to the law school and is just an amazing place. I wanted to see Eva Peron's tomb, which was surprisingly unimpressive. Evita is either the most beloved Argentine in history or the most reviled Argentine in history. It depends on who you ask. Most people that I talked to hated her.