The Yanqui's Latest Adventures

For those of you who’ve been dying for more information, I am going to put up a monster of a post.

Let’s see: the last time I wrote I was heading out the door to Buenos Aires. Luckily my friend Martín (pronounced in the Cordoban accent as Maaaaarteen) came with my to the bus station, because without him, I probably would have missed my bus. Apparently, they were announcing over the loudspeaker at the bus station that everyone who was supposed to be traveling with the company with which I had bought a ticket was supposed to get on another company’s bus. About two minutes before the bus was supposed to leave, Martín actually listened to the announcement, ran up to the driver, and then told me I was supposed to be on that bus. So then, por los pelos, I was on my way to Buenos Aires in a Coche Suite bus, which I highly recommend to anyone traveling by bus in Argentina. For about 10 bucks more, you get hot food service and a seat that fully reclines 180 degrees, meaning I actually slept about eight hours on a moving bus!

When I arrived in Buenos Aires on Friday morning at about 8:30 AM, my friend Enrique was waiting for me at the bus station. It has to be interesting for anyone arriving in Buenos Aires for the first time by bus because the back of the station is right next to a really poor, makeshift little village. But then when you leave the station and begin to walk, you see beautiful buildings and lots of green (parks, trees, etc.). We walked to my hostel, which was in the posh neighborhood called La Recoleta,” (Evita is buried in this neighborhood) dropped off my stuff, and began exploring the city. We took the Subte (the subway) to the Obelisco (a big, Washington Monument-like statue) and then walked the length of calle Florida, which is a purely pedestrian street with tons of shops and restaurants. Then we walked along the river in Puerto Madero, which is full of new red brick buildings and even a Hooters restaurant!! Our plan was to eat at a restaurant called “Siga la Vaca,” which is basically an all-you-can-eat steak buffet for the equivalent of about 13 dollars (oh, by the way, Argentine beef is INSANE), but at 1:30 PM the wait was already super long.

Instead, we walked into the San Telmo neighborhood and ate at a restaurant there. Afterwards, we stopped by this museum where each floor shows what life was like in Buenos Aires at different points in history, but in the end we didn’t go in because it was really expensive. Then we took the bus to Enrique’s house, and that night a bunch of his friends came over and we hung out in the bar he and his brother built behind their house. At about 2 AM we all headed out to do some dancing, and by 4:30 AM (very early for a Friday night in Argentina) I was in my bed ready to get a good night’s sleep.

The rest of the weekend flew by. On Sunday, Enrique and I went to a neighborhood in Buenos Aires called “El Caminito.” It’s the principal tourist area in Buenos Aires because it is full of colorful wood houses and tango dancers in the street. I bought an awesome painting depicting the houses using real wood pieces for the equivalent of about $27 and I can’t wait to hang it up in my room when I get back. I also bought a necklace with a beautiful pink Argentine gemstone called “Rodocrosite” but I will just pretend it was given to me by a foxy Argentine man hehe. That night I treated myself to a fancy dinner of salmon ravioli with shrimp cream sauce, and two glasses of Chardonnay, all for less than $20, and I felt very Sex-in-the-City while doing so. Then I went out with Enrique and his friends to one of the largest dance clubs in Buenos Aires, but the combination of cigarette smoke, expensive drinks, and inability to move meant that I left after about two hours.

Even though I had an awesome time in Buenos Aires, I was definitely ready to head back to Córdoba Monday night. The coolest thing was that when I was on the bus, I felt like I was going “home.” Córdoba really is an awesome city in which to live because even though it’s the second-largest city in Argentina, it has a “small town” feel to it. Plus, the neighborhood where I live, Nueva Córdoba, is full of students, so there is a really cool vibe.

Since my trip to Buenos Aires I have stayed in Córdoba and had tons of fun. Last week I actually moved out of where I was living and in with some friends I met here and it’s great because I no longer have to eat alone and now have people with whom to watch movies and the like. I would have to say that my #1 favorite thing about Córdoba is the people. Everyone is so incredibly friendly, and I have already made friends whom I feel like I have known forever. One of my friends is actually going to come to William and Mary for a weekend in August because she’s going to be in Virginia visiting her Uncle, so I’m super pumped for that! I also love the tradition of drinking “mate” because it’s a chance to relax and spend time with your friends in a simple way that is rarely done in the U.S.

In honor of the 4th of July, some friends and I threw an American party at Martín’s house on Saturday (even though I’m the only American here). We had hot dogs, red and blue lights, and, of course, BEER PONG. Unfortunately, the spirit of beer pong didn’t take hold as much as I was hoping, but I did create a few fanatics. After the party we, or course, went out dancing. En fin, I went to bed at 7:30 AM. Needless to say, I had a very chilled-out (aka unproductive) Sunday, but it was definitely worth it.

A lot of people have been asking me about my job. First of all, I have to say that the people who work at CEDHA are some of the most incredible people I have ever met. They are so friendly, and are always interested in how I’m doing here and making sure I’m having a good time. Even though work got off to a bit of a slow start, I am now involved in two really cool projects as a member of the Corporations and Human Rights group. The project that I am working on with other people deals with developing a tool to measure corporate impact on Human Rights. The second project I’m working on is one that I basically created myself, and about which my supervisor very excited. I have been spending most of my time researching something called the Alien Tort Claims Act, which is an old U.S. statute that gives federal district courts original jurisdiction over claims of violations of the law of nations occurring outside of the U.S. Essentially, this means that people from outside the U.S. have a chance of suing a corporation in a U.S. court for violations of human rights that have occurred at the hands of that corporation outside the U.S. There are a lot of interesting things happening in the courts right now over the meaning and application of this statute, so it’s a really exciting project. Plus, it allows me to take work on something that is useful for Argentine (and all Latin American) NGOs, while also becoming familiar with a U.S law.

Thursday is the Argentine Independence Day, so I am taking a long weekend and going with a friend to the North of Argentina, which I’ve heard is absolutely gorgeous. Plus, I am super excited because I’ve been told that the best empanadas are found in Salta, the city where we’ll be staying!! I’ll make sure to post pictures as soon as I get back, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it. I hope all of you are doing well and that you’re enjoying Argentina with me.

Take care,

Kate