My first couple days in Buenos Aires...

Where do I even begin??! 

I've only been here for 5 days, and I already have too many stories to begin to tell.

My plane ride was 9 hours long. Thanks to my beautiful family that works for AA, I was able to fly business. I was put in the middle of 2 men, and quickly I noticed how business class is dominated by men (not cool dudez). I was pretty anxious during my flight because there was so much turbulence. Around 8AM I arrived to Buenos Aires, went through customs (which was kinda a joke compared to US customs), picked up my bags, and met with the CEA representatives who were there to pick us up. On the car ride there I met my new friend, Eleanor. Instantly we realized how much we had in common (admiration for Beyonce, secret phobia of pigeons, the list goes on). Our driver dropped me off to my home and finally I got to meet my new mama, Graciela.

Graciela has the beautiful heart I predicted she would have. She always tells us "tranquila, tranquila" which means "calm, calm". She is trying to show us the relaxed cultura of Buenos Aires and Latin America. My gorgeous roommate, Rachel, doesn’t speak much Spanish and Graciela doesn't speak much English. Playing translator with them I feel has helped my language skills along with becoming a better listener. I'm really thankful I was placed with the both of them to have as my family this semester.

My program is very small this semester, only about 11 or 15 of us. It's hard to tell exactly because some of us take classes at the global campus, some of us are from the early start program, and the other bunch are taking extensive Spanish at the local university. Plus I'm bad at math, so that will be my excuse as to why I don't have a more exact answer...

 For those of you who don't know much about the city of Buenos Aires, let me fill you in:

To the left you can see the province of BA, to the right is the city of BA

Buenos Aires is the largest city in Argentina and the 2nd largest metropolitan area in South America. So Argentina doesn't have states, it has provinces. BA is a province of Argentina. But the city of BA is neither part of the province or it's capitol, it is it's own autonomous district.

Plaza Recoleta

Buenos Aires is formally divided into 48 barrios (neighborhoods). I live in the barrio Recoleta, a downtown residential area in Argentina.

People from the autonomous city of BA call themselves as "porteños" meaning "people of the port".


Here are some photo's of my time here so far:

Instead of the White House, they have the "Pink House" & their President does NOT live here.

San Telemo- Calle Defensa : One of the coolest markets in town!

A mural in La Boca to commemorate the birth of firefighters in B.A. Street art really defines the city. 

Con mis chicas in la Plaza Recoleta (in my hood!)

I'll be back with more stories to tell :)
Con mucho amor,

Julietta