Travels, Part 1

Two weekends ago, FLACSO, my study abroad program, took us on a trip to Tigre. Tigre is the biggest town in a river delta area about an hour outside the city. We stayed on a resort on a small island about an hour away by boat from Tigre. FLACSO takes us on two trips - one educational and one recreational - and this one was very much the latter. We got off the train to one of the first warm, sunny days of spring and almost immediately got on our guided boat trip to the island. The guide talked to us about life on the delta islands, which consists of taking boats to school and to the supermarket, and of being vulnerable to the hot, humid summers and cold, wet winters. Soon, we arrived at the hotel and spent the day relaxing. There was a "nature trek" which consisted literally of a twenty minute stroll in the woods (a pleasant stroll in pretty woods, but still). Besides that, I spent the day sitting in lawn chairs in front of the river, talking to friends, reading, and eating the copious amounts of food FLACSO provided for us. At night, there was karaoke, made more lively by the beer and wine FLACSO also provided, and after that a campfire, complete with sing-a-long songs and a guitar (dad, you would have loved it).

More than anything, it was lovely to get out of the city for a night. Buenos Aires is great because it's the cultural and political center of Argentina; I will never run out of things to do. At the same time, it was wonderful to hear the quiet, to walk on grass, and to be surrounded by water instead of clogged streets. I can't say I saw a different side of Argentina, since all I really saw was the hotel. Nonetheless, it was a great place to spend the weekend, and I had a lot of fun.