Last Wednesday, May 22nd, was our first full day in Buenos Aires which we spent taking a bus tour of the city to give us a feel for the layout of the areas we’d be exploring for the next nine days. Wandering through the Plaza de Mayo, La Boca, San Telmo and a few other locations, we learned some background on these popular areas and got our first taste of this vibrant and eclectic culture.
Later on we took a bus (which we learned is never an easy process in this city) over to a bar in Palermo Soho to meet up with the Argentine students from UBA who we had been emailing with over our spring semester. In one of the younger areas in the city, it was the perfect atmosphere to talk comfortably with these students, only a few years older than us, comparing both our academic and social lives to gain a better understanding of our different lifestyles. Our equal curiosity in each culture made our conversations both lively and informative.
This day was particularly exciting for me because it was also my 19th birthday. Not only did my classmates make this evening a special celebration for me but all the students who we’d only just met we’re equally as eager to make this an unforgettable night which I thought really represented their welcoming nature and their ability to throw a great party.
As a whole I felt we were happy to have our full group finally here in the city together and our interactions with this energetic city and its interesting people left us incredibly excited for what was in store for us in the coming weeks. After anticipiating this trip for so long we were definitely off to a promising start.