San Antonio de Areco

Our Group of BC high students took a trip about an hour away in the province of Buenos Aires, to a place called San Antonio de Areco. After waking up the first day, the first thing I noticed from this place was the horses and the distinct smell. It was terrible, then BOOM it hit me: grass field and muddy shoes. San Antonio was a farm country. We finally got to our spot and it was a nice cozy home next to some horses. It was really beautiful and wonderful. Once when we got to the house, we found the most adorable kitten. Immediately, the two youngest members of group jumped right on the cat and treated it like any other 16 year would: with so much care it was ridiculous. During this trip we got the chance to finally ride some horses. The riding was the fun part, but some of the horses thought that eating grass would be the best part of our little adventure around the farm. After the horse riding was done, we had an amazing lunch, including a dessert. The people of this great establishment made some amazing asado (BBQ) and their dessert was always a pleasure to take in and eat up. After this amazing lunch, we played some nice touch football and went into the pueblo where everyone literally knew each other. We took a nice tour and we may have found the best chocolate place ever built in humanity. It made Willy Wonka look like a child. We enter this place and all we smell is chocolate everywhere and as soon as we say "hola" they ask, "Oh would you like a sample of chocolate?" and we ate it up. We all met the man who made these delicious treats and bought what we needed. The next day, we went out to ride some horses again (I did not though because my sleeping habits are bad - but that's a different story!). From many reliable sources, though, the ride went well and was fun. Half-way through the day we got to see a horse rider do some tricks with his horse and we saw how close the relationship between him and his horse is. We took pictures and we as always drank our tea. Right after this, there was another show. This time it was a dancing show similar to what we saw in Salta of the traditional dancing of the Argentinian people. The dancing was really fun and later they included us in the festivities. We got the chance to dance with them and have some fun making each other look like fools! Later that night, we ate some more amazing dinner and we had some good times talking about what impacted us during the trip and what we found to be pretty fun. It was a deep conversation that brought us closer together. On the last day of this wonderful trip, we slept in for awhile, did what we needed to do, and had our goodbyes. After our hour long trip to Buenos Aires, we were greeted with the open arms of our host families.

Hasta luego,

Carlos

La Casa Rosada

A few of the BC High students were fortunate enough to visit the place where the president of Argentina works.









La Casa Rosada, translated to "The Pink House," has similarities and differences to our White House. For example, the biggest difference between the two is the amount of security. Entering the Pink House was so much easier than I expected. The lack of security astonished me.









However, the similarity between the two is in the importance of the buildings. Both buildings hold a tremendous amount of significance to its people. The people of the country look up to Casa Rosada the same way people from the US look at the White House.









They view this place as a place of honor and prestige. The people have confidence in whoever is in office; the same as Americans have in their president.

Hasta luego,

MacArthur

Argentinean Food: The Culinary Wonder of the World

Argentinean food can be briefly described as utterly AMAZING! The colossal array of food here is unimaginable. There is literally something for everyone, even the pickiest eaters. Nevertheless, it has become a tradition for us Yankees to use the phrase ¨Take a bite, let me see¨, which was coined by the one and only Mr. Smith in order to depict the unknown food that we were about to feast upon. Though, no matter what you tasted, with every bite explodes a new, scrumptious, juicy, and mind-blowing taste in your mouth that just makes your day in Argentina so much better.

Our first stop in the culinary wonder of the world comes at the hand of the magnificent yet delectable legend of the ham and cheese. Who would have thought that such a simple item can be used in almost every single way? In pizza, sandwiches, croissants, empanadas, pretty much anything you can think of has ham and cheese. At this point in the trip I would not be surprised to see a ham and cheese candy. Whether it is the gigantic ham and cheese pizza, or the simple ham and cheese sandwich, this legendary dish has been done over in every possible way, leaving its marks in Argentina.

The most famous café in all of Buenos Aires that most exuberantly displays Argentina’s culinary greatness is the Café Tortoni. According to a renowned expert on everything except arithmetic (Mr. Smith), the Café Tortoni is a place where ¨Anyone who´s anyone who´s been to Buenos Aires has gone. To say the least, it’s a big deal.¨ This entertaining café provides for some of the best pastries and revitalizing drinks to dine upon. A very popular drink amongst us BC High students has been tea with milk. This hot drink is something to take your time with, as every taste is filled with refreshing tea followed by warm luscious milk that will make any person want to fall asleep. Other popular drinks are the submarino (a warm milk with a submarine shape bar of chocolate), coffee with milk, and my personal favorite the iced coffee shake with rich creamy coffee ice cream inside.







Thus far, this trip to Argentina has presented us with an array of delicious desserts. From the absolutely astonishing and gooey dulce de leche pancake (different from an American pancake), to the orgasmic Oreo torta my host sister made, Argentinean pastries are simply amazing. Though one must buy dessert has to be the churros from Café Tortoni. These churros are as fluffy as a pillow yet still have that sweet crunch that makes everyone smile. Besides these pastries, there are a variety of ice creams and shakes that provides the bitter sweet refreshment of summer in winter-like weather.





Now for the one thing that makes this country´s food an absolute wonder of the world: Asado, otherwise known as BBQ. When you think of American BBQ, the first things that come to your mind are hot dogs, hamburgers, and meat drenched in tangy barbeque sauce. I can adamantly say that you haven’t had a true BBQ if you haven’t tried Argentinean asado. In order for me to describe how good this BBQ is… Let me just say that it had me salivating for more the rest of the night. The nice, juicy steak had me drooling before it reached my mouth. And the sight of the ever so succulent grilled chicken can cure any thoughts of hunger; dripping of tasty juices ready to explode in my mouth. The robust process of Argentinean grilling starts with stuffing the grill with a bag of coal, some wood, and even newspaper. Then Bam: Amazing! After a little more than an hour, things like churipan, steak, ribs, and chicken enter your stomach leaving an awesome feeling. After you try the mind-blowing provoleta, grilled seasoned provolone cheese that are well complimented by either crackers or bread, you are going to be saying goodbye American BBQ, Hello Argentinean asado. If BBQ is not your thing, there are always other delectable dishes such as milanesa, and the ever so flavorful empanadas.

Whether it is the fresh and vibrant array of meat, the crunchy and sweet selection of pastries, or even the neverending options of ham and cheese, there is something for everyone to eat here at the center of the culinary wonder of the world: Argentina!

Now time to go back to my Chow down….

Hasta luego,

Keith

Salta and Ju Juy

After a week or so in Buenos Aires, our group took a 2 hour excursion to the northern part of Argentina to the historical area of Salta. Upon arrival in the airport, we were taken by bus into the city of Salta to look around briefly before Argentina's big game against Greece in their final match of group play. We all watched the game in a restaurant right in the center of the city, and through a significant portion of the game, the Argentine team had its citizens on the edge of their seats, but they were finally relieved with a goal by a crowd favorite, Palermo!





The streets were deserted during the game but once the match came to an end, the main square in Salta was filled with hundreds of celebrating, ecstatic fans. The environment was incredible, especially coming from a soccer player.





Even though the game was over, our exploring continued. Our tour guide took us to numerous beautiful places throughout and around Salta to shop and also to learn of the city's great history. One place we went to was a beautiful creek outside of the city with a gift shop filled with traditional Argentine clothes, jewelery, and toys. While exploring the creek, the group of 7 teenagers decided to race up the stream, hopping rock-to-rock. Of course I ended up falling :) and had to wear wet, cold clothes until we got to the hotel. That wasn't exactly fun, but the group got a kick out of it :).





After going whitewater rafting the next day, we all went to a traditional dinner in Salta called a Pena, where they had typical Argentine food along with a stage performance with drums, dancing, and singing.





The next day, we took a long bus ride further north to Ju Juy where we learned of the endless history of Northern Argentina and the beginning of the country with Inca natives and colonization by the English and the Spanish. One place in particular we visited was a series of ancient fortresses in Argentina, the only one fully restored and reconstructed. The architecture and system of rocks was amazing and though it is the winter in Argentina, it never rains in Ju Juy and it became extremely hot at the top of the fortress.













Next we traveled to a few smaller towns where we experienced hand made goods made especially in this part of the country. After catching our flight back to Buenos Aires we learned we had no classes that Friday and we all looked forward to resting that morning.

Hasta luego,

Owen