And the Buenos Aires adventure begins!

May 18

Wake up, pack up, eat up, leave. Bus to Buenos Aires. Finish reading “The Thumpin’”

Arrive at The Language Experience (TLE) office in downtown Buenos Aires. Hustled off the bus. Longish orientation session by Adriana about the homestays. Lunchtime. Steak sandwiches and empanadas. Martín arrives. We head off with him and Valentina for a tour of the city. We take the subway. There was a crippling subway strike the day before, so today the subways are free for everyone to apologize. We visit Plaza de San Martín, the liberator of Chile, Bolivia, Peru, and Argentina.

Lots of construction everywhere because the city elections are approaching:

Cool trees in the park around Plaza de San Martín:


Big protest march through the city. At this point, we’re not sure what the protest is about. Photo below. Note Che Guevarra likeness on lower right of the sign. He’s a hero to the Argentine left.


Then to the Plaza de Mayo, which is bordered by the national cathedral, La Casa Rosada (a rose-colored house that is the seat of the executive branch) and the mayor’s building.

There is a major protest here. Fireworks going off like gunshots. Deep, impassioned speaker’s voice is broadcast through loudspeakers, reverberating around the plaza.

The police have erected a temporary fence around the Casa Rosada, and stand ready in riot gear just in case:


The protest is against child hunger in Argentina. There was a long march to B.A. from the provinces that capped with this protest. (Read the BBC article here). This banner reads, “Hunger is a crime:”


It is a crime. My project in Isonza helps fight malnourishment in Argentina’s rural children. That is a crucial component of the project, and it’s important to me. There are protests in Plaza de Mayo almost daily. Protesting seems to be a national sport. God bless the freedom to assemble and petition your government. But there’s more work to be done than just protesting. For me, some of these protests are frustrating. A protest is not the solution to child hunger. Imagine the good that could come if every one of the thousands of people here were to go to work on this issue in a more productive manner rather than just waving signs and making noise.

Onward with the tour. Buenos Aires has beautiful, and diverse, architecture:



We take a bus to Boca. It’s a neighborhood with brightly-painted houses and lots of gift shops. Reminds some in the group of Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Tango dancers in seedy costumes dance for music and pose for pictures with passersby.


The iconic iron bridge over Boca:



Back to TLE offices. We’re about to meet up with our host families. We’re going to live with these families for three weeks. The host mothers are in the back room of the TLE office for an orientation with the staff; we’re in the front lobby mulling about in hushed tones. Seems some kids are nervous about the homestay. The program officers really built up the homestay over the past few days. I’m not anxious.

All of the sudden, noise. The mothers are piling out of the back room. “Nicolas!” someone yells. My host mother is the first one out of the room. A kiss on the cheek and a big hug. We greet each other in stilted Spanish. Soon she’s grabbed my bags and we’re the first group out of the office, marching down the street to her car. I’m surprised by how long the car ride takes. The Aguilar house is in Parque Chacabuco, a neighborhood far from the center of B.A. But it’s easily accessible by subway. It’s near the end of the the Plaza de los Virreyes line. That’s how I’ll get back and forth to my activities downtown.

The family consists of Marta, the mother, and Facu, her 15-year-old son. The house is comfortable but humble. On my first night there we ordered out for empanadas and spent time talking and getting to know one another. They seem very nice and I’m pleased with this selection. It should be a good three weeks with la familia Aguilar.