Pe-rón Pe-rón Pe-rón Pe-rón

On November 11th at 4pm, after 11 days at sea, the MV Explorer spotted land. It was the coast of Uruguay (only 16 miles away)…and there was much rejoicing!

The next morning we found ourselves in Buenos Aires and, after the disembarkation process, immediately took off from the ship. We grabbed a taxi outside the port and headed into the city center. Our group consisted of 6 RDs, including Alison, who’s partner, Luis, was flying in to meet up with her. The short taxi ride took us to the Obelisk of Buenos Aires, which is a national historic monument. It was built in 1936 to commemorate the fourth centennial of the foundation of the city. Our group found a place to grab an early lunch (since we all missed breakfast) and ordered a pizza and some appetizers, and even bought a bottle of champagne to celebrate when Luis arrived. Just as the meal was ending, Luis showed up at the restaurant! Alison, being a smart traveler, had wrapped her purse strap around her leg to avoid anyone from taking it easily. This fact made this reunion entertaining to witness. As Luis came towards our table, Alison became super excited, and repeatedly tried getting out of her chair to run over to Luis…but couldn’t. Eventually she became free of the purse and had her reunion.

After downing the champagne, we headed to a famous bookstore in Buenos Aires. The El Ateneo Grand Splendid is an old theater that has been renovated into a bookstore. The theater was originally built in 1919 and was converted into a book and music shop in 2000. It is rated as one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world (by various groups and buzzfeed listed it as the #1 bookstore to see in your lifetime…check)…not quite sure who rates these, but the bookstore was lovely. You could grab a book and read it at the coffee shop in the back, or even in the theater box seats!

I typically could spend an entire day in a bookstore, but seeing how the majority of books were in Spanish, we didn’t stay too long. Besides…today was my day to do all things Evita!

The group next headed to Recoleta Cemetery, where Eva Perón is buried. The cemetery was unlike any I have been to. The cemetery (which is hailed as one of the world’s best) contains 4691 vaults (abover ground), of which 94 have been declared National Historical Monuments. The entire cemetery is laid out in sections (like city blocks), with wide tree-lined walkways branching into sidewalks filled with mausoleums. The vaults vary in age, as some date back to the 18th century, while others have been added in 2012. Each vault houses various family members’ tombs. No vault (including Evita’s) was marked by anything special and there were no signs indicating where hers was; thus it took us a little while before we found it.

 Recoleta Cemetery

 Eva Perón Tomb

Tomb of President Domingo Faustino Sarmiento 

(7^th President of Argentina, 1868-1874)

Afterwards, it was off to the Museo Evita (Evita Museum); though we passed a Monument to Eva Perón along the way. On our way, we met up with the Argentinian Interport Student (a student from Argentina, who was on the ship giving presentations throughout the Atlantic crossing), Camilla, who was showing a bunch of SAS students around the city. Camilla explained that when talking about someone lovingly or to show affection, you add “ita” (or “ito”) to the end of the name. Thus, Eva Peron, is often referred to as Ev-ita.  

"A New Argentina"

The Evita Museum was fantastic. It is a museum entirely dedicated to the life and work of one of the most important women of Argentine history. It was a modern-style museum that looks at various moments in Evita Perón’s life, recreated in rooms with the setting of the time. There were videos of Evita playing throughout the museum (of speeches, her acting career, her funeral, etc.) as well as lots of artifacts/outfits on display. Now I had not had a chance to watch the movie Evita on the ship during the Atlantic crossing. For some reason, they only showed Evita on the cabin televisions for 2 days (near the beginning of the crossing; ie: when Sea Olympics prep was taking all my time). The rest of the time they showed Gung Ho, a 1986 movie with Michael Keaton…not sure why. Luckily, at the museum, you really learned a ton of information about Eva Perón and her life.

Here’s some facts about Eva Perón:

-Eva Duarte was born in the village of Los Toldos, in rural Argentina, in 1919.

-She pursued a career as a stage, radio, and film actress and by 1943 was one of the highest paid radio actresses in the country.

-In 1944, Eva met Colonel Juan Perón in Buenos Aires during a charity event for the victims of the San Juan earthquake. The two married the following year.

-In 1946, Juan Perón was elected President of Argentina, thus making Eva the First Lady of Argentina.

-Eva Perón became powerful within the trade union

s, speaking on behalf of labor rights; founded the charitable Eva Perón Foundation; and championed women’s suffrage in Argentina (women were given the right to vote in 1947).

-Not everyone liked Evita, the opposition came mainly from the nation’s military and bourgeoisie.

-Eva Perón was given the title of “Spiritual Leader of the Nation” by the Argentine Congress.

-Eva died from cancer at the age of 33 and was given a state funeral (usually reserved only for the heads of state).

-The current President of Argentina, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (first elected female president), claims that women of her generation owe a debt to Eva for her example of passion and combativeness.

After the museum, our group selected a place to grab dinner, Gran Bar Danzon, but needed to wait until they started serving dinner at 6pm (as most people go to dinner much later…you will see this later). Everyone had been talking about steak in Argentina and Brazil, and it did not disappoint. I split two meals with Ruben (RD Janett’s husband) because neither of us could decide just one meal we wanted. We split a steak as well as veal…both of which were delicious! We looked around for a bar to head to afterwards, but had no luck (maybe because it was a Tuesday). Instead we headed back to the ship for an early night.

The second day in port, I was on duty, which kept me on the ship. It was a relaxing day as I slept in; finished Allegiant (the 3^rd book in the Divergent trilogy); watched Not Since You, a movie which Ashley Epting (my Belgium traveling buddy and the alumni coordinator on board) was the Executive Producer for; gave the Brazilian Interport Lecturer, Jenny, a tour of the ship; and tried to catch up on email. Luckily, it was another quiet night on duty, so I got a full night’s sleep…which was great because I was about to have my longest day yet!

"Everyone dies. It is how one lives that matters."