Palermo

Buenos Aires, Argentina. Where could I possibly begin in detailing my absolute love that I have for this city? I came here a year ago after a year long journey of self discovery in Peru and Ecuador, primarily working with medicinal plants. My roots run deep within Latin culture. I was born to an Argentinean father and a Dominican mother, and grew up in a bilingual household. Retiro

I am currently pursuing a degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology here at the University of Buenos Aires, one of the top universities in all of Latin America. It is a free, public institution and works on a completely different system than what you would find in the United States. Here, there is no acceptance rate to get into the university, (although there is an application process) and at La UBA (the acronym commonly used to the university), you have to go through a first year called el ciclo basico comun (the common basic cycle). This year acts as a filter and allows for students to get used to the rigorous study that is pursuing an academic career here. The classes that compose my CBC are Introduction to Scientific Thought, Anthropology, Sociology, Semiotics, Economics, and Introduction to the Society and Estate of Argentina. This system deeply resonates with me, because it gives everyone the chance to study at an amazing institution without the hierarchy and division of social clases that you would find in the US. This has been by far my favorite element of living in this city, as it has been one of my main observations that the free public higher education really seeps into the society and the culture as a whole.

You see, here there is a completely different attitude in regards to higher education. Degrees here take an incredibly long period of time, on average about five to six years, sometimes even more. But instead of just looking at the degree as a title that will get you a job, it is often viewed as a formation that gives you a broad perspective and way of looking at the world, allows you to question and really works for the betterment of society.

La Boca

Buenos Aires in itself is a city filled with culture, art, and various means for expressing oneself. Never have I seen so many creative workshops (classes, although here they are often referred to as talleres) in one place, so many opportunities to channel your energy into things that bring you back to life. The people are open, friendly, passionate and above all give you a feeling of warmth and comfort. People take the time to spend with friends, drink some mates and just enjoy each others company. Sure, this place isn’t perfect, the economic situation is troubling, and you never know how much things are going to cost due to staggering inflation and rise in the cost of living. (Especially after this recent change of government). And although those things do get to me sometimes, I realize that I wouldn’t change this for anything in the world.

Because it feels like I’m home.