Bon Voyage : Blog Post

Buenos Aires - Argentina

Buenos Aires, a place vastly different than anywhere else I have known before in every way possible, has won over my heart with its free spirited atmosphere, abundance of life and excitement, and depth of culture and history that fascinates me to no end. Here are five reasons you should study in Buenos Aires.Coming to a Spanish speaking country after only taking one year of Spanish was a step out of my comfort zone, but study abroad is nothing if not challenging yourself. Immersing yourself in a culture is the hardest and most difficult thing you can do while studying abroad. Do not doubt that you will experience what I call brain constipation for the first week, and only slightly less after that, but when you start thinking in Spanish and spend the day with locals and realize you have not spoken English in over twelve hours, it is an incredible experience.The Argentinians do food right. The food of Buenos Aires succinctly sums up its name of The Paris of South America. This is not a typical Latin American country. You will not find tacos or anything spicy here. What you will find are cafes on every street corner that serve medialunas, which are like sweet croissants, cafe con leche, and every different pastry you can imagine. The national dish of Argentina is asado, or steak, and believe me there is a reason it is the national dish. All around the city are parilla restaurants with giant skewers of sizzling meat to admire and later feast on. You will also encounter lots of Italian food, due to the exceptional amount of Italian immigration that happened here, such as gnocchi, pizza, pasta, and ice cream. My personal favorite is a tarta, which is like an Argentine quiche. The architecture and history are quite incredible. Due to the colonialization of Buenos Aires by the Spanish in the sixteenth century and architectural influence by the French, followed by a large influx of immigrants from France and Italy in the early twentieth century, Europe has left its mark on Porteno culture. Buenos Aires is unique because, as I have told my friends and family back home, it is literally impossible to get bored here. If you follow the tourism pages on Facebook and keep an eye out for events going on around the city especially, there is some kind of cultural event going on every single day. From outdoor markets which usually happen on Saturdays and Sundays, to park frolicking when the weather is nice, to exploring all the old churches and museums, there is always something to do and a lot of it is free. Aside from the city itself, the people of Buenose Aires are incredibly unique. They are blunt and, in general, friendly. People will randomly come up to you in the streets when they hear you speaking English and ask where you are from and what has brought you to Buenos Aires. One night, a lady approached my friend and me as we were talking in a restaurant. When I told her I was studying journalism, she said that she was a well known Argentinian journalist for many years. As she left she kept saying, Sos muy bonita or, You are very pretty. While I did experience culture shock at a variety of situations during the beginning of my time here, it took about two weeks to be completely replaced by my awe and winder at this city. I love walking down the street and never getting bored because there is always a new store window to look at, or interesting people to watch, or the dog walkers who somehow manage to navigate two dozens beautifully groomed dogs on the narrow sidewalks, or the extensive flower stands on every block that bring even more color to this already wild, diverse, colorful city.