Category: 2025

I woke up bright and early at 7:55 am. However, I had put off packing after a long night of tango, so I quickly tossed my dirty clothes into a shopping bag, crammed my toiletries into another, and rolled my suitcase out the door. The elevator was slow and I almost missed it, but by 9:30, I had checked out just in time.

For the last time, we walked out of our hotel lobby and toured the city of Buenos Aires with our trusted tour guide, Sebastian. European-style architecture stood with bursts of graffiti and a lot of old antiques. We eventually stopped at a church and tried yerba mate for the first time! It was slightly bitter and had the texture of drinking grass through a straw and a hint of attitude.

We visited the Teatro Colón production center and passed the Boca stadium. In Boca, the neighborhood was alive with color, as buildings were painted with vibrant colors, loud music played, and street art was everywhere. We ate a cheap but incredible lunch of grilled asado, and it might as well be some of the best I have ever tried.

Afterward came the moment everyone had been anticipating. We boarded the bus to Colegio North Hills, filled with nerves and excitement. When we arrived, I finally met my Argentinian exchange student on his home court. Lucho greeted me with a smile and friendliness that instantly calmed everything. His family welcomed me like one of their own. Lucho and I went grocery shopping together and saw the unique snacks and foods Argentina has to offer. That night, we sat around the dinner table, enjoying a traditional home-cooked meal, laughing, and learning about one another. It made me feel special, and I can never forget the memories I had with Lucho.                    — Hasaan

Our group woke up bright and early this morning and got ready to leave at 9:45 am! We took a gorgeous walk through the city to St. Martin’s Plaza. We learned about the history of the its name and explored the beauty of the park. This coming Saturday, it’ll be the plaza’s 110th birthday! After, we took a lengthy walk through the city to the beautiful Teatro Colon! The theater was gorgeous. We learned about the history behind its French and Italian detailing and the paranoid history of its architects, with the first two both dying at 44 after starting their work on the project. We received the privilege of watching a wonderful group of ballet dancers perform a rehearsal in the most expensive seats that the theater has to offer! They were around 200 US dollars, with the cheapest seats being around 10 US dollars. After, we rode the bus to the Recoleta, an extravagant cemetery, with the graves looking as if they were mansions for the dead. We learned about a couple sad stories of some graves of young girls who lie in the Recoleta. Both girls that we learned about died at an incredibly young age, and died an unfair and unexpected death. After, we took the bus to “Corchio”, a restaurant, where we enjoyed a wonderful lunch! My favorite part was the delicious pizza! I also enjoyed the dessert. It was similar to a Klondike bar, I thought. Very delicious, for sure! After, we were all stuffed. Some of the girls and I tried to take a short nap on our bus ride over to see Palermo, a marvelous statue, and take pictures. We spotted the Quilmes group while we were there! It was shocking that we saw our friends in such a big city on a whole other continent. After, we made our final visit to the Japanese Garden. It was so pretty! We enjoyed watching the coy swim around and the tranquility of the place after a long day of walking around and learning. Finally, we headed back to the hotel to prepare for our dinner and tango show! Everyone dressed in their best attire as we headed off to the spot. We enjoyed a lovely dinner. I had the steak and chocolate mouse, and it was so good! Usually, I’m not a steak person, but I wanted to try something new, and I’m so glad I did! It was great! After our dinner, the show began. It was mutually agreed that the show was incredibly entertaining, with the dancers being extremely talented and passionate with their craft. So far, the tango show has been my favorite part of the trip. It truly was awesome, and so different to any show I’ve ever seen. I hope the rest of our days are as amazing as today was!          –Avery

We arrived in Buenos Aires around 10 am. As the plane finally landed near the airport, I breathed a sigh of relief. This was because after around 12 hours of not moving around, this resulted in my legs being sore, sweat stained across my back, and my tailbone aching. After passing security and claiming our luggage, we got onto the bus that would transport us towards the hotel. As we drove past the airport and onto the highway, it finally sunk in to me that we were in Argentina, and it wasn’t just a fever dream. We arrived at the hotel, and as we moved our luggage to the hotel, we were met with a handsome hotel lobby. After checking in, we were able to finally unwind and rest for an hour and during this time, we were able to shower and eat some snacks. Afterwards, the whole group met up in the lobby and we went to eat lunch at La Parolaccia. I was amazed by how quick and professional the service was but personally, I thought that the appetizer and entrée wasn’t that good, but the tiramisu dessert hit the spot. Afterwards, we toured around the city and took pictures around the famous landmarks such as the Casa Rosada. Finally, around 6 pm, we arrived at the hotel to rest again but I went to the gym with my friends for a workout. After, we went to La Bistecca, which was a really nice buffet restaurant, and I ate some pretty good food. Although the first day sounded pretty straight-forward, we had some struggles.  Hopefully the following days, we can make this trip a lot more stress-free.  –Patrick 

In spite of a bit of delay out of RDU, our intrepid travelers remained patient and good natured. And with a little help from Delta, we just made the flight to BA!