My brother Andrew is spending this year in Argentina working as a Young Adult Volunteer with the Presbyterian Church. His placement is in a homeless shelter for boys, El Hogar La Casita, in greater Buenos Aires.
Andrew has more than a big heart… he also has a talent for writing. A few of his thoughts on where he is –
After dinner tonight, I went with the older boys to collect old bread from the local bread shops. They lumber down the street as only teenage boys lumber, like a graceful stumble that says, I’m too cool to look like I’m actually trying to walk. The boys whistle at girls. ?Por favor, [expletive deleted].? They bum cigarettes from the people on the main drag. One picks through the trash looking for anything of use. One leans close to my ear and says, ?After tonight, you won’t eat the bread at the Hogar.? Some bread shops give us a lot, one gives us none. We finish and I head home for the night.
You can read more of his insights (and find information on how to support him) on his website, AndrewinArgentina.blogspot.com.
Andrew’s being there is a good reason to visit Argentina. So, over his January summer vacation, my folks and I flew down to visit.
From Atlanta to Buenos Aires is a 10 hour, overnight flight. Jack Daniels and Miles Davis help the night go by faster. Three hours into the flight, I could see the lights of Cuba below. It’s puzzling to think that 35,000 ft above the ground may be as close as I’ll ever get to Cuba. For most of the flight, we flew at 37,000ft (a Boeing 767) with 39,000ft the highest point of the trip — over Paraguay. At that altitude, the temperature outside the cabin was -68 degrees Fahrenheit. I thought skiing in Quebec was cold.
We crossed the Equator (to no fanfare or even notice) sometime between 2 and 3AM Argentina time. The sun rose while we were over Bolivia.
Buenos Aires, the Paris of the southern hemisphere, is a cosmopolitan city like I never knew existed in South America. Truly defined by its eclectic European influences, life in the porte?o city is a beautiful collection of French architecture and wide boulevards, Italian street caf? culture, German beer, and the Spanish language.
And as usual, traveling gave me the opportunity to take pictures of (and ride) some bicycles.
La Bicicleta Naranja, a bike rental place in barrio San Telmo, provides great bicycle maps of Buenos Aires. They rent bikes for 6 pesos (about 2 dollars) an hour.
La ciclista, by Oscar Manuel Dom?nguez. A painting in el Museo Bellas Artes.
I will be writing more about Buenos Aires later, but for now, enjoy the rest of the pictures.
