Before she came, I'd loosely planned out an itinerary of things to do while she was here. I wanted her to see the best of the best, have an amazing birthday week/ Spring Break, and most importantly, have lots to do during the day while I was at work.
Yes, I wanted her to go to the fun clubs and nice restaurants we'd rated highly, but it also made me really reflect on how I define Argentina. What are the essentials to seeing Buenos Aires through the eyes of a porteñan. This seemed to be mostly tourist sights before she came, but as the week went I long I realized it was foods, types of people, and everyday happenings. Here's what it boiled down to:
El Caminito en La Boca
Soccer
San Telmo (the old)
Puerto Madero (the new)
Tango
Empanadas, Pizza, Pasta, Choripan
Coffee, oj, medialunas
Smoothies, ice cream
Steak and wine
Mate
Bus, Subway, WALKING!
Plaza Francia
Plaza Serrano
Getting hit on by boys
Protesters and demonstrations
Nightlife
These things to me represent Buenos Aires in a nutshell. What I also realized is that when someone visits, you really seen how much you learned since you got here. Anna, knowing absolutely no Spanish at all was sort of a measuring stick for how far I've come in the last two months. We went to all the obvious tourist places and some not-so-obvious local places, but statues are only fun for so long. Museums and parks are great, but we have those in the United States too. Although Anna was thrilled to be here, her silent appreciation of the places we visited made me question my selections. "Is this fun? This is what I think of when I think of Argentina; if it's not fun, I don't know what else to show you!" This was my personal overanalyzing as usual, but it really sunk in that our biggest accomplishments are day-to-day occurrences - the things that become habit.
I make it to work every day in a town of 11-13 MILLION people using a bus system with over 17 THOUSAND busses. At work, I only speak Spanish where I complete assignments that I've been learning to do for 3 years in J-school. I then make my way to class (also in Spanish). What I'm most proud of was things that Anna couldn't see. Yes, I still have to use a map and look places up, but I'm pretty darn good at navigating such a massive city. Also, most of the fun and beauty of Argentina is found on our weekend trips which require traveling. But it really is the mere act of being able to go to the bank and grocery store and have a normal daily routine here that makes me feel successful or appreciate Buenos Aires.
This week, routine went out the window. I worked from home for one of my internships because my bosses are in South Africa and spent the week touring the city with Anna.
Monday, we went to La Boca to see El Caminito (see: La Boca blog). There we saw tango and tried choripan, a traditional sandwich with grilled sausage. It's usually the first course to a parilla because it's the first meat done or a usual snack. From there, we walked to La Bombonera, the soccer stadium and the Museum of Boca Passion. Boca Jr. is the biggest soccer team in Buenos Aires and one of the most popular in Argentina. The whole neighborhood had graffiti shrines to the team and houses painted blue and yellow. 
That night we went to El Alamo to celebrate Anna's birthday with peso tequila shots. There ended up being no shots, but there was free beer for girls! We met a great group of porteños who spoke English, so Anna and I didn't have to sit in a corner talking to ourselves all night.
Tuesday=day from hell
After a 12-hour day at work and class, I couldn't have been more relieved to go home and get ready for a steak dinner and fancy cocktails at some of our favorite places. Unfortunately, when I got home, Anna was nearly in tears in the lobby of our apartment. She recounted trying several times to unlock our door which caused so much noise the doorman came to see what was going on. He began yelling at her in Spanish asking who she was and trying to explain that we weren't home. What he didn't know was that Alyssa's boyfriend was inside. He proceeded to call the landlord who also yelled at Anna saying that she shouldn't be there because she doesn't pay rent and that there's nothing that could be done until the next day. I felt terrible, but assured her that everything was ok. That is, until I couldn't get the door unlocked either. Nor could Alyssa. What. the. hell? We tried for a good 20 minutes before Kylie and other Anna got home. They couldn't get in either. We started to panic. We rang the doorman's station over and over and got no response. We thought maybe he locked it out of security because he didn't know my friend. Who locks someone out of their own house then leaves? Two hours and $400 later, we were finally inside. An emergency, after-hours locksmith had to completely replace the lock, which he said was in bad condition. I'm sure we will deal with being reimbursed for weeks. We decided it was the perfect time to break out the birthday cake.
Wednesday, we thought we'd have another go at the parilla. A perfect steak is an essential part to any Argentina visit. Plus, it makes a perfect birthday dinner. One by one, my study abroad group decided not to go, and it was down to Anna and I. No worries; we're all we need to have fun. We took a cab to Juanitos, where Kylie and I shared the VERY rare steak. They were closed!! Since it was in Palermo, a trendy neighborhood filled with great restaurants, we walked around looking for a place close by. There were none to be found, so we hopped in a cab to the direction of the bars we planned on going to later. We ended up eating at a 50's American diner restaurant and sharing a cheeseburger. Not quite the same as steak and wine. We headed to bed early making plans to wake up early and tour the city before day-drinking for St. Patrick's day.
Thursday, things began to look up. We went to the Botanical Gardens which were stunning. I felt so peaceful and energized in the presence of so much green. It was divided into different sections of nationality or types of plants There were French gardens, Asian gardens, cacti, evergreens, and more. It was a fairly large park. I can't wait to go back. We spent a long time just sitting in every section enjoying the beauty. It felt like a jungle or some remote getaway, definitely not a huge city. If my backyard could look half as beautiful as that garden one day, I would be the happiest girl in the world.Next, we took the subway to the famous Plaza de Mayo. We hoped to see the Mothers of the Disappeared (Las Madres de los Desaparecidos), but they weren't marching. The walk in a circle around the Plaza in silence wearing white scarves to mourn the loss of people who disappeared during the Dirty War in the 70s. They wore white to signify that they weren't associated with any political party; they just wanted their family back. It's an incredibly sad history that I recommend everyone read about. I've always been interested in reading about wars, but because I live here and it's so recent, the Dirty War is really fascinating to me.
Another stop in the Plaza de Mayo included El Catedral where lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I hadn't heard of this until Anna told me she wanted to see it, but I think it's a thoughtful tribute. The church was breathtaking. There were several distinct chapels each filled with sculptures, paintings, and wood carvings. There were also prayer groups in some of the chapels. We tried not to disturb them. Hymns/ chants played over the speakers as we passed through the beautiful halls. It was most interesting for me to see the casket of Jose de San Martin, Argentina's liberator. We learned about him in my Spanish class the first few weeks. I truly am intrigued by Argentina's history and want to learn as much as possible. Understanding the background of what we see in person is really satisfying. Every day, I feel less and less like an ignorant American who only knows their own politics and history.The afternoon ended by walking a whopping three miles home from the Plaza. We had gone to Florida St., a huge shopping area for lunch, with intentions of passing through and taking the bus home. However, there were so many protests in the streets that no busses could pass. Protests are common. They call them 'cortes' because they 'cut' the street. There's always police supervision and people directing traffic to avoid a mess. Thursday's protest was so big, it completely impeded traffic. By the time we passed it to catch the bus further down, there were two more protests. Hence, we walked the entire way home. I'm a big fan of fresh air and walking, but after a whole day of walking already, we were exhausted. Not to mention, we were walking through the middle of these mass demonstrations. Luckily, they were all peaceful. Some days, you can't say the same.
We had a wonderful St. Patrick's day celebration at the Buenos Aires Pub Crawl, but that's a whole other post!
We finished the week off with a trip to El Tigre where we took a boat ride to a public beach resort. By some miracle, we had the entire place to ourselves! Literally, not one other person was there. We soaked up the sun and had some good girl talk before rushing back to buy some last-minute souvenirs and make it to the airport.
In all honesty, it was a little stressful having a guest because I was constantly worried about her getting lost or having a good time (especially after the lockout incident), but I already miss her! It was nice to see Buenos Aires with one of my best friends. Having a sidekick is something I miss so much. Sometimes I don't want to go out in a big group, but I don't want to go out by myself either. It was really refreshing to have intimacy with someone. I didn't think I would, but I broke down and cried at the airport as she was leaving until I got home. Pathetic, right? She's one of those people you consider yourself truly lucky to have in your life. Growing from random roommates to someone I dearly love, she's the most thoughtful person I know. We're so different, but it makes us grow and appreciate one another. I don't know what I would have done these four months without talking to her.
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