Friday – August 3

Friday, August 3

Me in front of the Boca Jr's soccer field!

This morning we got up, ate breakfast at the hotel, and boarded the bus for another round of sight-seeing. We went the Boca Jrs. soccer field and museum first. It’s really incredible to me how fanatical these people are about their soccer teams! Anyway, we spent way too much time there, and then we walked around La Boca. We walked down the Caminito, an outdoor art fair, and went into some gift shops. It’s a very touristy area.

Then we got back on the bus and went to MALBA – Museo de Arte Latinoaméricana de Buenos Aires. I didn’t really like it. I like art museums, generally, but this one was mostly modern art with no explanations or context, so it was pretty boring to me.

After that we went to the museum of Evita Perón. Now THAT was really interesting! Our guide was incredible. He had a lot of historical information but he used it to paint a picture of her life and her personality. He also presented her as a real person – he showed both her good side and her bad side, the promises she kept but also her hypocrisy. The museum is located in a women’s shelter that Evita founded during her reign as First Lady.

After that we were free to go. I went with Mary Marshall and Julian to a tack shop in downtown Buenos Aires, not far from the hotel. They had some beautiful stuff! Mary Marshall really wanted to buy one of the dressage saddles (for like $1200 pesos! So cheap!) but she couldn’t figure out how she would get it back to the USA. So we all three bought Polo Team shirts and scarves instead.

After that, I went back to the hotel and changed clothes. I went with Mary Marshall, Julian, Russ, Peter and Peter’s cousin Mary – who lives in Buenos Aires – out to dinner. Mary is really interesting. She’s like 26, and decided to “study” abroad the year after she graduated from college. She’s been here ever since! I’m extremely jealous.

I came home around 1:00 am and went to sleep. Allyson left about 1:30 am to go out with Carmen and Jessica. They came back to the hotel around 5:00 am and woke me up to take pictures of Carmen and her new friend Paulo. Let me tell you, that was a wild time! LOL After they finally left, Allyson and I went back to sleep. Thank God!