el verano pasado en Buenos Aires / last summer in Buenos Aires

So as I said before, this will not be my first time in Buenos Aires.  Last summer I served for two months as a multi-week fellow with JDC Entwine.  I spent my days volunteering at a daycare center called Baby Help, which provides daycare services for Jewish children aged 1-3 on welfare.  It was a perfect volunteer position for me, mainly because my Spanish was at the level of a two-year old so I could clearly understand the little ones (most of the time).  Here are some of the precious two-year olds:

Most of the children did not come from the best home situation so my job was to be a loving figure to the kids by playing with them, hugging them, and sometimes disciplining them.  One day one of the troublesome two-year olds snatched a toy out of his friend’s hand so I said to him “please share your toys nicely”.  His response was a screamed “NO” so I replied “you need to give the toy back to your friend, when she is done it can be your turn”.  His response was to run over to me and slap me across the face (he tended to hit the other teachers and fellow two-year olds so I knew I was supposed to grab his hand and tell him that hitting was not okay).  The little two-year old looked at me and with his little attitude replied “mi papá golpea a mi mamá todo el tiempo “ (my dad hits my mom all the time).  Oh how was I supposed to explain to this little boy that his father’s actions were wrong.  I left it at “I’m sorry but we do not ever hit our friends or teachers here”.  That was my saddest moment all summer but my time in Buenos Aires was mostly filled with a whole lot of fun.  From learning salsa and tango, to eating at the famous Argentine steak restaurants, 

Derek & I learning tango

Ellie, Jay, and I eating at La Cabrera,
a famous parrilla restaurant

and going to different Shabbat dinners every Friday night, my two months in Argentina were full of exploring, meeting people, and a whole lot of eating. My fellow multi-week fellow Megan and I even got to travel to Igazu Falls which lay at the border of Argentina and Brazil. 

I am most excited to go back and continue to explore the amazing Buenos Aires street markets, travel around the area (I'm thinking Patagonia, Mendoza, and Uruguay to start), meet tons of cool Argentines, and make Buenos Aires my home for the year.  Any other places you think I should travel while there?