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Day 8: ¡Ciao! Buenos Aires, Hola San Juan

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 Buenos díaz/tardes/noches!! Shrine of the Ages has departed Buenos Aires and landed in San Juan which is the location of the San Juan Canta festival we will be performing at. After a short 1 hour 30 minute plane ride we were whisked away to our 4-star hotel on a double decker bus. You know those buses they have all around the UK? Yeah, it was one of those. 


After a quick bus ride to our hotel, we were dismissed to freshen up and grab a bite to eat. The hardest part of the trip for me personally has been finding foods to fit my dietary needs. I am gluten intolerant and it has been a bit difficult finding “comida sin gluten” in a place with heavy Italian influence in their cuisine, but somehow, I manage.


My favorite part of the day which also has been my favorite part of the tour is when we visited “Colegio Secundario Augusto Pulenta” in the city of San Martin. Here, we sang 4 of our repertoire for high school students and in exchange, they shared a part of their culture with us, a dance. As a dancer I found this dance to be very beautiful and will definitely do more research on its cultural influence. I was so grateful that they shared a part of their culture with us as a gift. After the performance, we had the opportunity to mingle with the students which was so lovely, everyone was so kind and excited to meet and talk to us. There was one student who I complemented her hair scrunchie and she gave it to me. It threw me so off guard but I almost started crying she was so nice. 


The exchange was definitely my favorite of the trip so far, the students were skeptical at first, but once we started singing, they were in awe. We also got to experience a performance of a traditional song from San Juan! This experience left the choir in high spirits as we headed about 5 minutes away on a wine tour where we got to see one of the best wineries in Argentina!


Dinner was definitely another highlight of today, I went with Sam Martin and Sam Smith to the Maño Rojo to enjoy some good steaks. Muy Bien I must say. Funny enough, we saw Dr. Westerhaus and other faculty of the San Juan Canta festival at the same restaurant! San Juan is so pretty and such a different vibe than Buenos Aires. I am expecting lots of fun to be had here on our second and last week of this tour. ¡Nos Vemos!

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