When discussing the things one needs to know before traveling to a certain place, the knowledge is endless. One could read travel book upon travel book and still never truly grasp the ‘genius loci’ or any other sense of the location. But, existing within the realm of study abroad sites and a college student framework, there are certainly a few tips that can be passed down from student to student. I hope to relay a bit of my experience on things I wish I had known and things that I know now about Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Reasons why one should come to Buenos Aires: (oh god, where do I begin…?) if one is interested at all in Argentina, or perhaps South America in general; if one doesn’t mind stepping into a different culture, astray from that of the United States or Europe of which we are so closely related to; if one knows a little bit of Spanish, or is willing to be immersed in it and learn much more; if one has a little adventuresome wanderlust, to see epic beauties and glorious cities across the continent one never thought one would ever have the chance to see (which is more a reason for anyone to study abroad anywhere, no?). These reasons, among many others, drew me to this location. South America is more or less made up of ‘second world’ countries. But what did I know about any of Latin America before coming here? Shamefully, not that much. But now I have so much history and cultural studies that I have gained through my classes and through my experiences here, and I could not be more pleased with finally beginning to know an area of the world I was once previously clueless about.
The weeks before coming here, I was apathetic and lazy, but excited to make this new change in my life, and excited to go from bitter Wisconsin winter to this sort of paradise I made out in my head. Friends of mine were excited for me because they figured I was moving to the jungle. I had to get through to them that I would be living in an incredibly large and very modern metropolis, although ideas of moving somewhere that would be more or less ‘tropical’ sent me in dizzying reveries. Too bad I am sitting here, writing this in pants, thick socks, a shirt, a heavy sweater and a scarf. Which brings me to another important tip: PACKING.
One is always warned to pack as minimal as possible, and this is beyond true. I tried to do this (I basically had one big duffle bag with me for my four months here), but most definitely still ended up bringing too much with me (and I’m the kind of person who very much enjoys bringing my entire wardrobe, especially all my shoes, with me almost anywhere I go, but cut it down so low, and somehow it still was too much). Also be incredibly aware of the climate of the place you are going. People warned me it would start to get a little cooler right before we left back to the states, where it will be summer again (that will be an interesting change to make). No one said it would be this cold, however. I only brought one sweatshirt, and thankfully had some jeans on me. I was lucky to have my parents come and visit, in which I asked if they could be the wonderful parents they are and BRING ME MY SWEATERS. Thank goodness they did.
I could go on and on, and talk about how one should be in a homestay, and about traveling throughout South America while here (Uruguay is just a ferry away, there are buses that travel internationally to almost anywhere you want to go, etc), but I suppose I’ll save that for pre-departure orientation, NYU study abroad fairs, and the like. All I must say, however, is that Buenos Aires is such a unique experience, and NYU does an excellent job with the education and the staffing here, and I could not be happier with my choice. Leaving will be a difficult thing to do.
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