Today was an incredibly long day. I woke up around 5:30 in the morning to eat breakfast and pack my things. Breakfast consisted of 2 Oreos, 3 crackers, Dulce de leche, and coffee. Once we’d left the house, the dawn was very foggy and beautiful. Me and Feli were running on about two hours of sleep so the bus ride was a chance to catch up.
Upon awakening, we were back in Buenos Aires! Either a little breakfast and one hour Power Nap, we were off to our first tour: Congreso Nacional. The tour was super interesting and the building was beautiful. Much of the walls, furniture, and paintings have been there since the late 1800s! In one room, a massive chandelier hung from a ceiling painted in gold. We learned that a special painting technique was used to make the gold shine very brightly. We even got to see a copy of the Argentine Constitution, written in 1864. After the tour, we left the building and noticed a protest had started. There was a lot of law enforcement and the gathering of people continued to grow.
We took the bus to our lunch spot, a cool little playground area called Plaza Haroldo Conti. We ate lunch, messed around on the swings for a bit, and then we went to a coffee shop before our next museum visit. I bought a Dulce de leche frappe and a dulce de leche cookie. I really love Dulce de leche! After our little pit stop, we walked over to our next tour, the Holocaust Museum
The museum was another guided tour, but for this one we got headphones and a radio. The structure of the tour was a chronological guide through the entire holocaust, start to finish. While we didn’t cover absolutely everything, we learned a lot. We learned more about Hitler’s rise to power and the methods he used to dehumanize the Jews, how his election spiraled into this violent systematic oppression and genocide of over 6 million Jews. At the end of the tour, we saw a memorial for those who had been killed and those who had saved at least one life.
After the tour, we were all very tired, and ready to head home. I was sitting on the back of the bus again with Hassan, but before I crashed, I changed Hassan’s entire life. I introduced him to Pick up the Phone by Travis Scott. I slept so good on the bus ride back that I actually had a dream! I guess that’s what two hours of sleep gets you. Once we got back, we said our goodbyes and one of Feli’s friends drove us home. Dinner was Papa de Crema con carne, and as per usual meal in Argentina, it was delicious and I had too much. While we ate, me and Feli watched this famous Argentine show called The Eternaut. The show is basically about an apocalypse where this magic snow kills people. We watched it until midnight and we headed off to bed.
Overall, the day-trip was really fun. We made a lot of memories, learned a lot on our tours, and at least I had an overwhelming amount of Dulce de leche. Before I leave I hope to buy at least 3 tanks of Dulce de leche to bring back home… for me… and me alone. –Joey
