Day 11 Highlights:
Akshay’s Post:
As per usual we began the day of school with the raising of the Argentinian and Quilmes High school flags in the school’s courtyard. Unlike previous days, todays temperature was in the 60’s, so I absolutely knew it was going to be a great day.
Upon the finishing of the flag ritual we headed to what I call the exchange trip room where we waited for about 20-30 minutes before hopping on a bus to the absolutely breathtaking city of Buenos Aires. Immediately upon arrival we walked to a statue just outside of La Boca of Benito Martín. For a few minutes me and my peers listened as a local tour guide explained the rich history of the famous Argentinian painter known for his oil paintings of boat ports.
As anticipation built up, we began to walk to a nearby museum showcasing some of his work alongside the work of many other talented artists. One of the pictures showcases three of his famous boat port photos. Though all of the pieces were stunning, the picture on the far left truly touched my heart in a special indescribable way.
After touring the Museum for quite a bit of time we stepped outside and walked two minutes down the street into La Boca, a beautiful historic Argentinian neighborhood located inside of Buenos Aires. We discussed the history of the town before stepping back on the bus and heading to lunch. For lunch we visited a food hall filled with many restaurants of diverse cuisines. However me and many of my peers settled for a good old fashioned meal consisting of a Hamburger, French fries and a Coca Cola. We concluded the meal with some of us getting gelato however others, such as myself resisted the temptation.
We hopped back onto the bus to visit yet again another art museum. This museum named Belles Artes was located in Buenos Aires near a beautiful park with statues and memorials. However, this art museum was filled with the work of none other then the work of Pablo Picasso. We first visited the bottom floor which is seen in the picture of the many art pieces surrounded by the red background before visiting the upstairs filled with the rich and unique work of Picasso. We listened to some of the rich history of his artwork described by what I believed was an art expert; however, many of us later zoned out due to the heavy meal we had previously indulged in. That was sadly it for the school day as we hopped back onto the bus and returned to Quilmes High School where we awaited our hosts to take us to our evening plans.
For my evening plans me and a few other peers met at the house of Simon’s partner, Juliana, for tea time. We talked, ate, drank tea, played foosball, (surprisingly popular in Argentina) and laughed. Though I forgot to capture a better picture I somehow managed to snap a photo of Simon with a traditional Argentinian sweet bread which is eaten during tea time. By the time we finished tea time as they call it, it was already late at night and I was dead tired so I told my partner Guille that I would like to skip dinner and go to bed to prepare for the next day.
Adam’s Post:
In the morning we left via bus to La Boca. “La boca” in Spanish means “the mouth,” named after its location at the mouth of the Riachuelo River where it meets the Río de la Plata. The first thing you will notice in La Boca is the vibrantly colored houses, hued bright blues, pinks, and yellows. This tradition of painting the houses in such colors dated back to when Italian immigrants were the predominant occupants of the neighborhood. These immigrants took leftover paint from the nearby shipyard to paint their houses, whose colors became a dominant part of La Boca’s identity.
The Caminito is perhaps the largest tourist attraction of the area. The Caminito is a famous street and open-air museum that fully displays the colorful buildings in addition to artworks and tango performances. The buildings are reminiscent of the humble dwellings of early immigrants, with traces of corrugated metal and wood. In La Boca, and especially around the Caminito, you will often see tango dancers taking pictures with tourists. Tango is deeply intertwined with the culture of La Boca. La Boca was a melting pot of different cultures and immigrant communities. La Boca became a hub for tango, where many locals and visitors would gather to dance and enjoy the music. Today, La Boca is still considered a vibrant center of tango culture. However, our primary purpose with this excursion was to visit art museums.
The first had works of Benito Quinquela Martin, an impressionist painter. His works often depicted the city of La Boca, its ships, and the working class. A notable trend in this museum was the lack of facial features in many paintings. The figures in the paintings had no personality nor uniqueness, but instead represent the average people in the maritime atmosphere. Within the museum we also toured where Quinquela Martin lived, exploring his rooms with old furniture. We then shortly stayed at a park before lunch.
For lunch, we visited a marketplace which in the past served as parking for the wealthy and their horse drawn coaches. I had empanadas and they were good. Later, we visited our second museum with works of various artists like Van Gogh, Gauguin, and at the end of our visit: Picasso. There was an interesting history of a painter of one of the artworks, Cándido Lopez. He lost his right arm in the Battle of Curupayty, yet later continued to paint, supposedly, with his paintbrush held in his mouth. At the end of the museum visit we saw works of Picasso, and were guided through his inspirations, his goals, and his history.
On this short day trip we heard of unexpected commitment to one’s craft, of culturally rich origins of a port city, and the peculiarities of it and its people. I myself had a wonderful time, though perhaps a bit tired of walking nearing the end. While artwork may not seem the most exciting to observe, they serve as reflections of the people who made them, and represent the stories of the subject painted and sculpted. If you find yourself in Argentina, near La Boca, it is a place worth visiting.
