Arte y Arquitectura

So our Graffiti Tour around the city was amazing. There are no strict laws against graffiti here-so there is street art EVERYWHERE. Most of the pieces are gigantic, beautiful works of art. Street artists simply need the permission of the owner of the building in order to paint. Graffiti is a celebrated art here, not a criminal act like it is in the US. Here are some of my favorite pieces.

‘bride and groom’ one of my favorite pieces; this was made with a stencil
A mural of Napoleon; his sword has been replaced with a can of spray paint
These bears were painted using dirt from the street instead of paint!
“pink girl” one of the cutest pieces we saw
Very colorful wall; my favorite is the mushroom in the middle

The city is so full of amazing art, architecture and sculptures. I love the contrast between new and the old that you can see all over the city. Most of the buildings are a very traditional style but they are surrounded but modern street art and sculptures.

La Flor: a huge, industrial-looking flower that can open and close

Las Pascuas en Buenos Aires

I had to celebrate Easter Sunday away from my family this year. I really missed being with them but I really enjoyed experiencing the holiday here in Buenos Aires. Holy Week (Semana Santa) is a holiday in itself and no one works or goes to school from Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday. Most people are very religious and about 90% of the country practices Catholicism. So, Easter Sunday is not a fun holiday for kids like it is in the US… there is no Easter Bunny and no baskets on Sunday morning. Everyone simply gets a hollow chocolate egg in the morning and then they go to mass. The religious aspect of the holiday is much more important here. Many people eat lamb on Easter Sunday or Italian food (many people here are of Italian descent). Holy Week and Easter Sunday in Argentina are associated with the coming of winter (which is very funny since ‘winter’ means 60 degrees and sunny!)
I attended a beautiful candlelight vigil on Holy Saturday in the park outside the church.

Candle light vigil outside of the church

Sara Smoter
Classmates Connecting Cultures
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Spring 2012

5 thoughts

  1. Muy interesante, Sara. Muchisimas gracias. Cuando regresas? Por favor, explicanos la forma de vos.

  2. Todavía tengo mucho para aprender sobre ‘vos’. Es algo muy muy muy común acá (casi nunca oye ‘tú’). Para el verbo ‘ser’ la conjugación para ‘vos’ es ‘sos’. Entonces, “Como eres” = “Como sos”.
    De donde sos vos? (en vez de De donde eres?)
    Tienes=Tenés
    ¿Entiendes? = ¿Entendés?
    ¿Quieres más? = ¿Querés más?
    ¡Duermes mucho! = ¡Dormís mucho!
    Puedes = Podés

    Cuando alguien dice “Hola, como vas?!”
    Responde: “Bien, y vos?”

    También estudio Portuguese acá y en Brazil usan ‘você’ en vez de ‘tú’.
    (Si ustedes les gusta español y quiere estudiarlo en la universidad puede también estudiar Portuguese. Es muy muy muy lindo y es más o menos fácil a aprender cuando sabe español con fluidez.)

    Este fin de semana fui a Uruguay con unos amigos. Fuimos a Colonia, Uruguay; una ciudad tres horas de Buenos Aires por barco. La ciudad es muy linda y las playas son bellísimas. Fue algo completamente distinta de la vida acá en Buenos Aires. Voy a incluir fotos en mi próximo blog! Fue muy interesante a ver que español en Uruguay es muy distinto que español en Argentina (no usan ‘vos’ en Uruguay mucho) Cuando llegamos en Uruguay yo dije “Tenés un mapa?” a una mujer y ella no me entendió. También algo cómico sobre Uruguay es cuando fui a ATM para plata(dinero) yo recibí un billete de 10,000pesos y un de 5,000!

  3. sorry girl..but you are wrong about winter…it’s not sunny at all down here. And,actually,what is coming is the Autumn (during the eastern) ..for example,right now we are in autumm, and its a raini cold day. 7 degrees right now….i dont know how much is in farenheit, but is cold and weet.

  4. Well in comparison from where I’m from in the US, I’m loving the weather! Not cold yet!

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