Bienvenidos a Buenos Aires!

Well, I'm back in Buenos Aires, this time for a much longer stay. I arrived yesterday and am settling in pretty well, thanks in large part to a "porteña" classmate from law school. She recommended that I take a "hop on, hop off" bus tour of Buenos Aires to get a better sense of how all the neighborhoods of the city fit together. It turned out to be great advice! I also got to see a number of the sights I visited last time I was here, and it was interesting to get a better sense of where the landmarks are in relation to each other.

This is the Casa Rosada, which is the president's office. The current president is Argentina's first female president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. (There is a presidential election later this year and I'm excited that I will be here for that!)

This is the congress building. Apparently Argentina has a bicameral legislature, with two houses. The representatives are called diputados, and the senators are senadores. My friend Samanta used to work for a diputada, so I'm hoping to learn more about the government from her while I'm here.

This is the Boca Juniors stadium. The Boca Juniors are a famous soccer team here, and apparently the Buenos Aires experience isn't complete without going to see a game. I'm looking forward to doing that before I leave!

This is a sculpture of a flower that I spent a lot of time trying to find last time I was here. This time, it was conveniently right on the bus tour! :) It opens during the day and closes at night, except on holidays when it stays open all night. Today is a national holiday so apparently if I had seen the sculpture after dark, the flower would still have been open. Cool!

This is the Puente de la Mujer, a bridge designed by a famous architect. I think it's supposed to look like the sail on a boat. Last time, I remember thinking this was really hard to find and kind of far from everything, but in reality it is right downtown. So funny.

That's it for today, but tomorrow I start my language lessons and my fellowship at the nonprofit, the ACIJ (Asociacion Civil de Igualdad y Justicia). I'm looking forward to an exciting first week! Also, tomorrow I promise to take pictures of my host family house and neighborhood!...