Buenos Aires Blog 4

Happy (almost) Flag Day! Today we dressed up in shirt and tie to celebrate the promise of loyalty to the Argentinian flag, an event that is called “el acto.” The celebration was very passionate and the Argentinian national anthem definitely made me miss the old “O say can you see.” We then hit the streets, and after everyone tried their fair hand at reading the map, we still had to resort to asking a local for directions (but our very own Jack Rindini faired very well in his Spanish asking for help). After quite the journey, we ate in an authentic café in the Law District instead of submitting to our hedonist desire of McDonald's. After all, the Spanish phrase is “al país que fueres hazlo que vieres,” which is the equivalent of “when in Rome, do as the Romans do.” While paying for our meals, we had quite the time dealing with all of our pesos (Argentinian currency). Right after, we visited El Teatro de Colon, a very beautiful and historic lyrical theater that is still used today for operas and ballets. We made sure to take our fair share of selfies with all the sculptures and took a lovely group photo in the mirror. Our tour guides always speak very fast, but slowly and surely, we are improving our listening skills and are learning more every second. And when we had some spare time, we practiced our pronunciation skills with some rather difficult Spanish tongue-twisters and learned that the only justifiable response to “más mejor” (meaning “more better”) is “menos peor” (meaning “less worse”). Over the weekend, many of us went to the countryside (or in Spanish “el campo”) for an “asado” which is very similar to a barbecue. We ate chorizos (Argentinian sausage) and a vegetable torta (a pie), while playing soccer and video games, solving Rubik's cubes, and playing in a makeshift band. On Saturday we watched the best soccer team (Boca) win their match, and on Sunday watched their rival (River Plate) lose 3-2 (que lástima). Overall we are definitely getting adjusted to the different eating schedule and the city in general. We have only been here for one week, but it feels like a lifetime with all the different things we do every day! I am positive that the rest of the trip is going to continue to get better and better. ¡Hasta luego! – Tommy Bruzzese ‘17 

Teatro Colón

Teatro Colón