NAU Shrine of the Ages Blog: Adventures in Argentina

Today was our first full day in Buenos Aires! We began the day learning how to navigate the subway system. This was my first time ever riding a subway and I was happily surprised with how smooth of a ride it was and so convenient (and cheap).  We located our rehearsal space in a small dance studio with a beautiful outdoor garden. We began a very detailed and productive rehearsal to refine our a cappella music for our concert tonight. It's been very rainy, so the room became a bit warm and stuffy from the humidity.  After rehearsal, we had free time to explore the city. Karina, Lucy, Meg, and I set off to go to the LDS Buenos Aires temple. We learned from Javier that Ubering was the most reliable way for direct transportation to our destination which allowed us to communicate our destination without worrying about the language barrier, pay online without needing pesos, and to have a set price without haggling.  Initially we tried taking public transport and acquired a bus ...

Hello from beautiful Buenos Aires! Today Shrine embarked on two wonderful tours that helped me feel more connected to the history and feel of this city. First was a tour of the Teatro Col ó n opera house, with its high marble walls and stained-glass ceilings, it was a lovely blend of Italian, French, and English architecture. After the tour (and for me a yummy lunch of the juiciest fried chicken) we hopped over to the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, where we had the opportunity to see 3 exhibits from Argentinian artists with a wide range of styles and mediums. I've included some of my favorites for you, and if you're caught up with my posting buddies, you can see we have similar taste! León Ferrari, " M ú sica ", Ink on Paper Hose Horna, "La Marinetta (The Puppet), Sculpture    Mondongo, Juliana Laffitte and Manuel Mendanha, "Calavera #05 (Skull #05)" Plastiline on wood Once I had thoroughly looked over the different exhibits (it took...

 Hola! Mi nombre Bailey White! It’s now the 5th day of Shrine of The Ages International Tour and what a day it was. After an eventful night of tango lessons and a brilliant Tango performance at Madero Tango, I basically died in my bed and resurrected 7 hours later to the alarms I set when I was much more motivated to explore the city. After snoozing until 8:30 my roomie, Mia, and I woke up and got ready for a day of guided tours through Teatro Colón, a trip to the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA), and the famous El Alteño Grand Splendid, which had me the most excited. Our First stop for the day was the Teatro Colón, one of the world’s most opulent and grandiose opera/performance venues, and most certainly in Argentina. With influences from many different cultures and countries and the funding of local wealthy families, Teatro Colóns creation was motivated by a pride and love for Argentina and her people. Pictures could not do the theatre justice, because around...

 ¡Hola! Me llamo Hope y canto como soprano dos en Shrine.  This post is the result of a sudden burst of energy at 2 a.m. after the tango show (of course, lol). It's long, but it's worth it! 💃💃🕺🕺🇦🇷🇦🇷💙💙🎶🎶 The day began with a brisk walk at 7:15am to the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral and Plaza de Mayo. The sky was a rich idigo hue which highlighted the intricate white architecture beautifully. A phrase I consistently say during this trip is, "woooah that railings, pillars, terrace, etc. is gorgeous...". Additionally, Buenos Aires smells even more like metallic sea air at dawn than midday which was lovely. The city reminds me of Seattle, WA from the misty sea aesthetic and the trees. Fun Fact: the really cool building is the home church of late Pope Francis! It is very elegant and breathtaking. After my morning adventure, I joined more friends to eat an early breakfast at a Cafe. I ordered Cafe de la Leche (coffee) with this coffee cake/pastry-thing that...

 Today was one of the most fun days I’ve had on this trip so far! Starting out the morning right, I went to a café with some friends and enjoyed a nice cup of coffee and some pastries. Afterwards I gathered up the guys and we went out to start our market trip! We first went to the  first market called San Telmo. It was pretty close by and was absolutely beautiful inside. The stores were awesome to look through and I bought some really neat stuff! Practicing my Spanish has been fun for me especially making conversation to purchase an item. When we got through the entire market, we took an uber to the Feria de Mataderos. This was a larger market about 30 minutes from the first. Our uber driver didn’t speak any English which was another great opportunity to attempt to speak in Spanish. We successfully had a conversation and were able to communicate with him throughout the ride. The Feria de Mataderos was amazing. There was live group dancing in the center and a whole array of sho...

I started out this morning with exploring Plaza de Mayo, listening to the morning bells chime and watching the sun come up. After this, I headed back to the hotel to meet up with a small group to get breakfast - most of the group got cafe con leche or espressos with pasteles or a savory meal of huevos, jamon, y tostada. This fueled us for a long day of exploring a weekly Sunday market: Ferrio de Mataderos. Here, we saw group dancing, live music, and many leather, jewelry, and food goodies! After adventuring around the market we took the Subte back to the hotel to get ready for a Tango dance lesson. Here, we learned lots about the basics of Tango: feeling a ‘oneness’ to your partner as your two beings form into one, trusting each other, and being open to the process (after all, I don’t think any of us really mastered the dance quite yet). I think these same skills can be applied to our ensemble too, and just had a fun time dancing with my lovely partner Sarah. To end the night, we celeb...