The First Walking Tour

After I unpacked and felt comfortable with my surroundings, I decided to ask Patricia (my host mother) if she would like to go on a walk with me. She was actually heading out to a friends, so I decided to just wonder into the general direction I knew would be safe and interesting.

I walked a few blocks down Junin street until the crowds became heavier and the scenery became much more decadent. On the corner was a clown mime, and he was fooling around with people on the corner and waving traffic around. I stood among the crowd of mostly Argentenians to watch the clown. The one thing that never needs a translation is comedy, and this instance proved that case and point.

From there, I ventured down a street and noticed that I was walking alongside the gates for the Recoleta Cemetery, of the the most famous sites in Buenos Aires. Eva Peron, along with many other notable names are buried there. This cemetery is not like a standard American cemetery, but more like the ones I saw down in New Orleans. That is the graves are all above ground in built shrines. I did not walk into the cemetery on this trip, but enjoyed the view from outside.

The street led me down into an open air market. More clowns and street entertainers awaited me there. The first, a clown that moved and sounded like a robot, reminded me of the scene from Eurotrip. After looking from shop to shop I noticed there was a sunny hill adjacent to the marketplace where locals where sitting, drinking their yerba mate, and relaxing in the sun. I decided I would sit for a moment and look through the phrase books that I had perused during the flight. A few minutes there and I saw something else I wanted to explore. Another statue was awaiting for a picture against the blue sky.

I walked from there alongside more shops until I saw a crowd forming a circle and music coming from the area. Something about that combination rubbed me the right way, so I ventured over. Waiting for me was a group of men and women playing the drums and some other local instruments. Their friends danced to the music, but this was no ordinary dance. This was some form of kickboxing practice. Two dancers sparred with each other, with roundhouse kicks, and quick foot movements, but never landed a blow. This was a great place to sit and watch, so I watched the men and women dance around play-fighting for around 20 minutes.

I then left and walked down the street until I found a live band playing in the shade under a tree. Although the words were in Spanish, I still think I understood the basic meaning of the song from the music and the band members body language. I listened to a few songs, left them a little tip, and moved on.

I again started walking, but this time back into the city instead of towards the river. A few blocks in I noticed a beautiful church and a small park that was next to it. I was attracted to this area for a nice photo. Next to the church was a playground filled with screaming little children beaming with joy. I took some pictures of them with the church in the background.

On my walk back to my apartment, I stopped at the corner bar to have a drink. I ordered the local beer, Quilmas, a dark lager that tasted great with the peanuts they served it with. From there I headed home.

Patricia had given me the keys to the building and the apartment before I left, so I got into the building without a problem. I walked up the white marble stairs to the third floor, and put my key in the door. I could get the lock to move, but for some reason I could not turn the doorknob and open the door. After a few minutes of playing with the lock, Pepin, Patricia's husband (whom I had not met yet) opened the door to see who was making that strange noise. I introduced myself, we chatted for a little, and then he retreated to his bedroom, where I assume he is watching TV since I can hear the TV on.

Back in my room, I start to reflex on a very interesting day. Although it is not even dinner time and the night awaits me, today has already been a successful day.

With so much going on in the first day, I can only imagine what tomorrow and the rest of the semester holds in store for me. I am excited to start orientation tomorrow. We are meeting at 10am...and I think I am going to walk the 8 blocks to our meeting spot.

As for now.....I am going to lay in bed for a little and try to learn Spanish.

Check out the link to the pictures in my last post for images from this entry.

Hasta Luego