Sunday March 15th was a beautiful sunny day in Buenos Aires with temps in the high 70s. After attending Mass (in English) in a beautiful church we walked to a large plaza called Plaza de San Martin. This is a beautiful plaza and park with many gigantic trees. There happened to be a traveling exhibit of bears (all standing upright) sponsored by UNICEF. There are over 240 bears in the exhibit (each 2m tall) and representing as many countries recognised by the UN. Each bear shows the individual design created by different artists on behalf of their native countries. "The Buddy Bears stand together hand in hand in a peaceful circle, promoting tolerance and understanding among different nations, cultures and religions." These bears have been on a world tour since 2002. Unfortunately in the list of countries on the tour I do not see the US. We were fascinated and hope that the pictures help you enjoy them also.We then walked to San Telmo which was the first suburb of Buenos Aires. Wealthy Spaniards built ornate homes there in the early 19th century. In 1871 an epidemic of yellow fever hit and many of them fled to higher ground which is now the neighborhood of Recoleta. Immigrants then crammed into these abandoned mansions. Now these same houses are fought over by foreign buyers hoping to get in on the wave of urban renewal. The main street, (pedestrian only) still cobblestone and very narrow, is lined with artists, hippie looking folks, etc. all trying to sell you something from their display on a makeshift table or on the sidewalk. It is difficult to walk quickly on these old cobblestone streets so we took a leisurely walk and enjoyed looking at all the different items for sale. Toward the end of the street we noticed antique shops lining both sides of the street. We ended up in a plaza that was completely filled with stalls selling all varieties of art and antiques. We could not believe all the antiques that were for sale. The stalls were crammed to the brim as were the shops. Wow! An antique lover's paradise. Along the way there were guitar players, tango dancers, magicians, and singers and folks selling fresh empanadas of which we sampled. This was great entertainment for a Sunday afternoon. We managed to leave with all our belongings unlike Barbara Bush (George's daughter) who had her bag snatched while visiting the area.
This week we are enjoying not having to be in school for 4 hours. We have managed to fill our time with Spanish tutoring for an hour each day, 2 private tango lessons, haircuts, and walking in the neighborhood. We will be gone to Asuncion, Paraguay, from Friday until Monday or Tuesday. We are meeting Jason and Lori at the airport in BA and flying together to Asuncion where Jason's good friend and ex-business partner lives. Next post will be about our adventures in Paraguay.
