And how are things in Buenos Aires?

Buenos Aires, where shall I begin? South-America with a touch of Europe, which makes me happy. I have already been spending my time in Argentina since the beginning of July and still I don’t feel like returning to Eindhoven. This probably has something to do with the approaching summer on the southern hemisphere and my love for warm weather.

However, BA: no sightseeing city, but a great place to live. If you like food, drinks and dancing, you’d be a very happy person here. I don’t know any exchange student who will return slimmer, on the contrary. Wine, meat and more tasty stuff are part of the culture.

With the increasing temperature, the buzz on the streets is increasing as well. Terraces on every corner of the street, sitting in the park or chilling on your roof terrace at night. Forget about the tango, at night (yes at night, nightlife starts at two and finishes at seven) Argentineans dance salsa, cumbia and reggaeton. And the average Argentinean man can do that better that the Dutch girls. It is therefore that I propose to include a month of South-America in the professional skills of every Dutch male student.

Besides all the fun stuff, it must be mentioned that Argentineans are always late, the 'fifteen minutes of Brabant' is nothing compared to them. Even I, always late in Holland, am a punctual girl here. It is a young country as well, with complicated political and economic situations. Argentina has a closed economy with little import, what can be noticed as exchange student as well (panic, there is no H&M!). 

Three days a week I travel to ITBA (Instituto Technológico de Buenos Aires), which is completely different from TU/e. Although it is a good, private university, the building is comparable to the Paviljoen (I feel remarkably at home). I read in Iris' story (South-Korea) that students don't have the courage to ask a question during lectures, as they are afraid to waste the teacher's time. Here, it is the other way around. Students are tumbling over each other and are sometimes almost screaming to say what they want. An entertaining experience and good for some extraversion.

Finally, Argentina is beautiful. I made trips to the tropical Iguazú Falls, colorful rock formations with dry ground and cactuses around Salta, to the Andes with mountains, lakes and glaciers in Patagonia and endless fields of wine in Mendoza. All of this in one country, incredibly divers.

These journeys, together with the nice Argentinean people, vibrating city and cozy university including its students, make my time here unforgettable. I’ll be back and as Argentineans say, nos vemos Argentina!

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