January 2, 2014

January 2, 2014

After some much needed rest we were able to once again meet up with our wonderful guides, Alejandro, Miguel, and Ty. As some of us were getting ready for the day we didn't  take the time to look outside. If we would have noticed the pouring down rain and not walked outside with shorts on. Even though it was raining cats and dogs it did not put a damper on our day!

Our first adventure for the day was to travel to Tigre an island town located within the city of Buenos Aires. In Tigre they offer boat tours on the River Tigre. Our bus driver Miguel was kind enough to run in and get the tickets we would need for the tour. Meanwhile outside we were having a little problem of our own. Miguel happened to park our bus illegally. A traffic police officer walked up to the bus and asked us to move. We tried explaining that we can not drive and our driver would be back shortly. He was not having it and he wanted the bus moved now! So our man Ty came to the rescue and we started driving around the block. This being his first time ever driving a bus things got very interesting, but we made it back around the block where we found Miguel waiting for us so he could take his bus back. After getting our boat tickets we had some time to kill so we went to a small market where most of us spent our time at a small cafe enjoying Argentine coffee and their free WiFi! Let me tell you when a place has free internet we are on that like bees on honey.

We finally made it down to the river where we got on our boat and headed off for our tour. We were able to see many houses on stilts which helps prevent flooding when the water rises. One of the coolest parts of the tour was the house enclosed with a glass cube. This house was the first house built on the river and so to preserve it they have encased it with glass. We saw many old and abandoned boats as well that looked very neat with the rest of the scenery. The boat tour was very entertaining as well as informational but I was ready to be back on land.

After the tour we had about 5 hours of time to ourselves. Many of us went shopping as some of the group slept. The group that went walking around shopping was able to see where Alejandro lived as well as get our American on in the local Starbucks. We were able to see many new things since most shops  were  open once again after the holiday. We were able to get gifts for our families as we waited.

Our next event of the day was probably te most exciting, the Tango show! The Tango show was at a dinner theatre in which they served many traditional Argentine dishes. Our group tended to stay on the safe side and either got chicken or the beef. The show was very entertaining. The dancers are excellent at the tango. They also had singers, drum players, another guy dressed as a Native playing some instruments as well as a live band. My favorite part of the show was when the drum players started twirling these ropes with a ball on the end. It look very cool and hard to master. Everything about the Tango show was interesting I would love to go back.

To wrap up the day we all headed back to the hotel to get a good nights rest as tomorrow is a travel day and we must be up early to catch the bus and make Dr. Scramlin happy. It was a great day in Buenos Aires I cannot wait to see what the rest  of the trip will entail.  

With much love,
Aaron Wetzel