6 hours later on the bus……Mar del Plata!

The view from our hotel window!

La Boca was definitely one of my favorite neighborhoods of Buenos Aires. While it was extremely tourist targeted, the colors everywhere were just intriguing. As a whole group we went to a tango show. Tango is a seductive and passionate dance. I hope to take a few lessons while in Mar del Plata. Since this was our last day in BA, I went to an outdoor cafe with a couple of friends to have a Quilmes and enjoy live music and a tango show. It was a relaxing end to the chaos of La Boca.

Ice cream in Argentina just tastes better. Maybe it was the beauty of sitting outside of the cafe in the warm sunshine, with the lingering thought of escaping the harsh winter in New York, or it could have been the freshness of the ingredients. Freddo is a brand name that I kept passing throughout the day. It was a sign calling out to me for more ice cream, and with a quarter kilo for 15 to 20 pesos, why not?

Finding each other without cellphones is very difficult. We found this out while waiting for another cab of us to arrive at the Cementerio de la Recoleta. The cemetery was nothing like what I was expecting. These grave stones were beautiful monuments of architecture arranged in what seemed as a maze. It was incredibly easy to get lost, which we did manage to do while in search of Evita Peron’s grave.

We also took a trip to El Ataneo, an old theater transformed into a large bookstore. It was an incredibly upgraded Barnes and Nobles. To experience BA, we decided to ride the subway. Each ride is only two pesos! True the cars are not air conditioned, have windows open, and extremely crowded, to me it did not seem too different from the 7 train during rush hour on a hot summer day.

After almost losing my luggage in Peru and fighting my way in broken Spanish for a earlier connecting flight (I was NOT going to spend another night in an airport, no matter how nice of a change the Lima airport was), I got to Buenos Aires. FINALLY. But my journey wasn’t over yet. Exhausted and tired, i still had an hour ride left to the hotel. Ugh. Great. The entire ride, it surprised me how much the city reminded me of my hometown, another big city in India.

I got to the hotel to see my lovely roommate MARIA SNEHA waiting for me in our room. Of course, 30 minutes later I was out on to my first Buenos Aires night. A group of us from the program took cabs to Palermo, the Soho of Buenos Aires, first to a bar called Sugar, and then on to a club called Hype/Kika. Dinner is eaten late in BA and going out doesn’t start until 2-3. Both places we went to were super Americanized. A football game was playing on a huge screen at the bar and my middle school hip-hop itunes list was on at Kika. The burgers at the bar were just amazing. As an Indian I definitely stuck out in BA, me and Maria being identified as “Indian Beauties,” at first glance. I guess my Indian identity will always follow me. The nightlife seemed to be relaxed and people take their time to eat and drink, before they begin to dance at around 3 am. Of course, we didn’t realize the real party didn’t start until this time, and we left as soon as a long line began to form outside the club. I had great food, a great time, and met great people all on my first night in BA.