Day 3: Saturday, March 22, 2025
By Aashi and Ali
Today marked the end of our stay in Buenos Aires and the start of our trip down south to Patagonia! We started with an early breakfast at 7:15 a.m., consisting of apples, bananas, bread, and some sweet bread with chocolate on top. At 8:00 a.m. we took two vans to visit three sites before flying out of Buenos Aires.
We stopped by La Floralis Genérica, a monument of a massive metal flower with mechanical petals that bloom during the day and close at night. Unfortunately, desperation in Buenos Aires has led some to take down much of the metal on the petals, and even to steal two of the six massive metal petals themselves. We also learned about the unfortunate government corruption in Buenos Aires. A famous scandal involving the restoration of La Floralis’ petals saw city officials simply pocket the restoration money for themselves. What no one could misappropriate or steal, however, was the gorgeous scenery surrounding the monument; a variety of trees colored every hue of green and brown imaginable encircled the steel behemoth.
After visiting La Floralis, we got back in our family groups to visit the El Ateneo Grand Splendid bookstore, a former theater. The theater was unable to be completed, however, and so it was renovated into a bookstore. The stage of the theater has since been turned into a quaint restaurant, with the lower balcony seats transformed into reading nooks frequented by book lovers with cups of coffee.
Finally, we visited Plaza de Mayo, the main square of Buenos Aires. Plaza de Mayo has a long history of protests, including what were once frequent demonstrations from the human rights organization Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, the grandmothers and mothers of children kidnapped and relocated/made to disappear under the Argentine military dictatorship. It’s important to note that the pain of this history is still raw, as said dictatorship ended only 40 years ago. White headscarves — the symbols of the grandmothers — could be found around the square. We also saw Casa Rosada (the Argentinian presidential residence), which once took its signature pink color from cow’s fat, blood, and lime (in order to ensure permanence in the Argentinian humidity), though today modern paint does the job just fine.
After we finished off our sight seeing, we headed to the airport for our trip to Bariloche. After a quick plane ride and a bus ride, we reached the house in the mountains of Patagonia. As we arrived at the house, activist Dr. Lorena, who is native to the land and is a part of the Mapuche community, explained her story and work to us. A big part of her story was about how big corporations are taking over the land in Argentina. After Dr. Lorena spoke to us, the group was permitted to go down to the lake behind the house. The water was still and the mountains and other scenery was beautiful. Shortly after seeing the lake, the group had an amazing dinner consisting of traditional Argentine steak, chicken, potatoes, and salad (such a meal is also called an asado). The meat was described as “glorious” by many students. We ended the night with a nice reflection session and then headed to bed to rest for the exciting day tomorrow.
Sounds amazing. What an adventure!