Oh! What a week! It is finally Friday, but today I took time out to do things that I really wanted to do, and get some culture. This has been a very interesting first week in Argentina, here in Buenos Aires, I got to explore so many cool things which means I didn’t write at all. I want to take the opportunity to write today. This week has been really cool; I got my first opportunity to ride the subte, or subterreneo. I got to drink Yerba maté, and I also got to see a bunch of different museums and cool things. Walking, exploring the neighborhood, I got to experience of Argentine culture a little. I feel in the Argentine culture there’s a lot of eating, family time, celebrating, and a lot of late nights out.
So let’s start with my week, I got an opportunity to explore Palermo on foot. I walked to work everyday I work around six blocks away from the office I walk four blocks down and two blocks over to Nicaragua, and I’m there I’m at work very simple and wonderful commute. To me, it’s great living here, because a lot of the clubs are here and my work. There’s also a lot of great different farmers markets in cool things to do here, many restaurants here are probably the better restaurants in all the neighborhoods from what I’ve been told. I haven’t been to them yet. I got to experience one thing about the Argentine culture that is ubiquitous—everybody is drinking it.
Whoever isn’t familiar with yet with the culture, or you have not been to Argentina, wouldn’t know it. For some you see them drink it all day, I don’t love it so much, but it was okay. What am I talking about?? Yerba maté! You brew the Yerba maté leaves, then you let them sit for maybe an hour or two hours. That’s it, you’re drinking it all day. Most don’t drink it too hot, you drink it around room temperature. Trust me, it’s a drink that a lot of the argentines they’re drinking all day—so you’ll be in the office and everyone has a cup on their desk. When you are outside, you just see people with these thermoses or these large cups with a strap, and you know what’s in there. It’s good Yerba maté, or vodka. I would say it was really cool seeing it and experiencing it for myself I heard a little bit about it, but I didn’t know how much it was widespread and how everybody really does do it. It’s the thing to do in Argentina. Don’t sign me up for my thermos yet, not sure if I will be drinking it like that here but my tea sure. For me, I don’t think I can drink it every day or all the time like they do but every once in a while I’ll take a sip—why not
One of the things really cool CABA things that I got to experience this week, was going underground, and I got to taking the subte for the first time. I got to not only experience the subway system, but I got to compare it to some subway system in New York. I’m taking the subway in New York all the time, the subte is similarly organized. There aren’t as many stops, it’s not as confusing as New York City, but it was just really cool to see that they have something like this. Such a cool train system outside a well known place like New York. For accuracy, I should mention it’s called el subterreneo, or it’s called el subte for short. Travelling is easy using this system. It’s fairly modern. You buy a subte card, which you have load value on, you can put any amount on it. Based on where you’re going and where you’re getting off, they’ll charge you that amount for the ride, so it’s not a one fair system like how it is in New York City. It is very fair on the amount they’re going to charge you, because it is exactly what it cost to transport you that exact distance. Using the subte, I would imagine, is very convenient since the stops are located in very popular places along the in the city. Place like Nueve de Julio for the obelisk, Palermo for Palermo and other very distinct places that you will discover on your own or if you ever decide to go to Argentina and explore.
Today I took a long walk because I am working in this country, and it was an opportunity for me to see so the places that I may not get an opportunity to see otherwise. I walked down to some of the museums I went to el ministerio de defensa, casa rosada. I was in part of the city with different museums, cultural, art and historical ones. It was a really wonderful experience seeing some of these great places going to some of these museums and I must say I enjoyed a lot of what was in the Modern Art Museum’s, MACBA I think it’s called. I have so many pictures from I love to share them with you, but you have to go visit yourself because there was just so much great artwork to see there in the museum and that was my first week here in Argentina, hope to see you soon.
Likkle more.
—TBN