Buenos Aires

Well, Buenos Aires is definitely different from anywhere we've been so far in South America-- except it is just like home. This city has a definite Manhattan feel, with bits of Paris being very clear as well. There are lots of Upper East Side-esque buildings, beautiful gardens, and plenty of open spaces. It's a bit overwhelming at times because there is so much to see just within the city that I really think it's impossible to cram everything in when we're working during the week. The people here have a cosmopolitan (and snobbish) attitude unlike other Latin American cities. Argentines are notorious for saying they are more European than Latin American, yet they are extremely proud to be Argentine. Walking down the street, everyone is dressed in their finest, and I'll admit that I feel compelled to dress well even if we're just doing some sightseeing. It's frustrating because I didn't come here to feel competitive about fashion, yet it's just the type of city that makes you like that. At first it's a bit overwhelming, but I'm comfortable enough now to not care as much.

Eben and I will be here for about 2 weeks, mostly doing volunteer work. We are working with a wonderful organization called LIFE Argentina (www.lifeargentina.org). This group is so different from Inti. First of all, the LIFE office is very clean and nice and located in a rather wealthy neighborhood. The organization has regular staff members, usually people around our age, as well as lots of volunteers. The volunteers are free to stay for as long as they want and pick which days they want to work. Some people are students studying abroad, and others are just passing through like us. There's usually a set schedule for the week's activities, and we can pick what we want to do each day. For example, on Monday we could do Juegoteca (recreational activities) or English/computer classes, on Tuesday we could do school support/computer classes or teach English, and so on. The volunteers gather at the office beforehand and then travel together to one of four slums outside of Buenos Aires where LIFE has a community center. While the area of Cusco where we were working was definitely not very nice, the slums where we work are a bit more dangerous. When we go to work, we have to wear LIFE t-shirts (slightly cheesy, but also pretty rock star) so that the neighborhood people know who we are and don't think we are silly lost tourists that they can mug. This rests on the assumption that they value the work we do with their kids, but so far so good, right? El Jaguel, the slum where we have been teaching English on Tuesdays and Fridays, is kind of amusing because it is set up just like a Long Island suburb (designated wide streets, blocks of houses), but all of the houses are made up concrete slabs and sheets of aluminum. There is also the occasional house that resembles more than just a shack, and they look like they could be decently nice inside. Eben said that the slums in South Africa are like this too and not too unusual, but I guess I just don't have much of a comparison to really know. It's nice to actually go into these communities and spend a few productive hours with the kids on their own turf, and it definitely is a HUGE contrast to what we see in Buenos Aires.

Besides volunteering, Eben and I have been relaxing and having a good time. The night life in Buenos Aires is INSANE. People eat dinner sometime after 9 pm and don't go out to the bars and clubs until 3 am. Then you are expected to stay out until about 7 am, sleep well into the afternoon, and do it all over again. Since I've had a cold all week, we have only done this once so far, but to be honest, this just isn't for me. I can't imagine doing it on a regular basis. I enjoy waking up before noon! Oh well. We've done other fun things like exploring the city and, most recently, meeting up with Cindy, one of the girls from Vassar Women's Chorus who is here on a language fellowship! It'll be nice to see more of her and have a fellow Vassar person to hang out with. Today we also met up with one of the LIFE volunteers, Kellee, and headed down to La Boca to go to the futbol game. La Boca was such a cool neighborhood. I was feeling a bit stifled by Buenos Aires because practically everyone here is white, and it can really feel like this city is devoid of the sort of funkiness that I love about NYC. La Boca, while still very very shite, is a bit of a rougher neighborhood with a few tourist-friendly streets. These streets are colorfully painted, there are lots of markets, and it's just so fun to walk around. We did that all afternoon before the futbol game, and it was just perfect. The game itself (Boca Juniors v. Estudiantes-- we cheered Boca of course) was lots of fun, though Boca definitely did not play as well as we had hoped. This stadium was a lot larger than the one in Quito, and with actual seats instead of benches! In addition, they cannot sell alcohol in the stadium because, as one vendor laughed at us when we inquired, "otherwise everyone would kill each other." Passions run high at these games. The police wouldn't even allow us to walk in one area outside the stadium because the visitors' entrance was there, and since we were all wearing the Boca colors, it just wasn't safe. Definitely a bit different from the games I've been to, but that's life I suppose. Futbol without beer is very sad indeed, but at least it saves lives?

In other news, we are slowly progressing with uploading our photos online! We've got most of Peru online, so feel free to go to sagodoy.myphotoalbum.com to see them. Hopefully we'll get up to date soon!