La vida en Buenos Aires

My first days in Finland I have tried to recover from time difference. At Helsinki-Vantaa airport I was confused. I had to say goodbye to my exchange friends but on the other hand there were waiting my family and boyfriend who I had missed so much. I’m glad that my job starts not until after one week because I think I need now a little time to go trough everything what has happened during four months.

I have learned what kind of business environment in Latin America is and how to do business in Latin America. Working in multicultural groups has improved my language and social skills. I think I’m more independent now and I have grown up as a human.

I can’t believe that four months has gone, I have packed my luggage and tomorrow I’m going home. A lot of wonderful memories and I wouldn’t change this time at any price. Luckily there’s already summer when we go back to Finland. My birthday is 22. of May and I’m on the plane..maybe we have to order some champagne

My exchange has taken all of my savings but this experience has been a worth of every penny. Luckily I have a summer job We have travelled a lot..Chile, Mendoza, Uruguay, Brazil, Iguazu..so it has been nice to see a lot of Latin America.

I haven’t ever written a blog before so this has been nice experience and good practice if I sometimes start to write some other blog. I just hope that I would have had more time for this but I hope that people who are planning studies or travelling in Argentina or Business Studies in Latin America-course can get some useful information from this blog.

Now I’m heading to enjoy my last day in Buenos Aires. I’m gonna miss this city and my life here but it’s also nice return back home <3

One local man asked me what I knew about Buenos Aires before I came here..I said tango, wine, football, city of millions of people..so not much, but when I´m thinking how much I know about Buenos Aires now, it’s so much more. During these four months this city has become every day more and more familiar to me. Some places here are really fascinating and the history of this city is interesting.

Before I came here I bought Buenos Aires encounter (Lonely Planet) and it has helped a lot during my stay. From this encounter you can see all the attractions, their opening hours, tips for what to do and where to go and at the same time you can read the history and description of different places. It helps you also if you have Spanish dictionary with you..and better if you know even a little Spanish. Usually the local people don’t speak English.

We have travelled around the city and discovered different places and attractions. Here’s a lot of places and things what I really recommend to see and experience. Argentina is well known about its tango, wines and beef. You can see here tango in the streets but here are also many tango shows in the restaurants and you can learn tango in old-fashioned dance halls. Here wines are much cheaper than in Finland. You can participate wine tasting here in the city or travel to Mendoza (15 hours by bus) where you can rent bikes and cycle from one wine yard to another and taste wines there. It was so much fun! I recommend ordering an Argentinean beef because the meet is the best quality in the world. For example bife de lomo is a good choice. Football, horse polo and gauchos are also big part of the Argentinean culture.

Some of the most popular attractions in Buenos Aires are for example Obelisco, Cementerio de la Recoleta and Floralis Generica. Obelisco is a symbol of modern Buenos Aires. This monument is in the Microcentro, in the middle of the world’s biggest street, Avenida 9 de Julio. With the help of this monument we learnt in the beginning to head from one place to another. Cementerio de la Recoleta is cemetery where are the graves of the city’s most famous families, like Eva Perón. Floralis Generica is a huge metallic monument. It should open in the morning and close in the night but now unfortunately it’s broken and we have seen it only when it’s open. Here are just a few of the attractions. I’m sure you never be bored if you come to Buenos Aires.

Obelisco.

Floralis Generica.

Cementerio de la Recoleta.

I have lost my heart to La Boca. It is very poor area in Buenos Aires but what makes it very interesting is how all the houses are painted in the La Boca’s famous street, Caminito “little walkway”. La Boca has the city’s highest crime rate, so it’s safer to go there daytime and by bus or taxi and for tourists it’s safer to stay only in the Caminito-street where all the colorful houses are. This area is one of the most famous attractions in Buenos Aires.

In the Caminito you can see tango dancers, buy souvenirs from various stores, and take a picture with one of the best football players in Argentinean history, Diego Maradona..well at least he looks a lot of him Tomorrow I’m going to La Boca to eat some good Argentinean meat There are nice restaurants and terraces where you can watch tango at the same time you’re eating.

Picture with Diego Maradona.

La Boca. Caminito.

La Boca. Caminito.

Like in every big city, also here in Buenos Aires are some dangers what you should take considering. Some neighborhoods are safer than others. For example I wouldn’t recommend going La Boca in the evening but in Puerto Madero you can walk in the streets without fear. Richer areas are safer than poor ones. It is always better to walk with somebody or in a bigger group than alone. But if you necessarily have to walk alone, choose bigger streets where is a lot of people. Don’t amend along parks to get faster to your destination.

Many of students have robbed here. Good advices are like keep your handbag always in front of you and don’t keep all your moneys, passport or credit cards with you. Anyway it is good to have always a little money with you..if robber asks your money, you have to have something to give.

If I have to describe traffic in Buenos Aires with one word, it would be crazy! The worst traffic jams are after six when people get off from work. In the morning buses and subways are crowded. Here people don’t know what the turn signal is. Once when we were sitting in taxi, the crash was really close when a car turned in front of us without using a turn signal. Use seatbelts always when it’s possible! The traffic isn’t that bad when it’s summer here. During January and February the locals are spending summer holidays out of the city but when they are coming back prepare you for a chaos.

In Buenos Aires are lots of protests. I have seen couple of protests but it’s not safe to go near them because they might get worse really fast. Usually during the protests some streets are closed.

It’s easy and cheap to use taxis here and you get them easily midair almost in every street. RadioTaxis are the most reliable but sometimes taxis might take a higher price when they notice that you’re a tourist. They might also drive a longer route. Memorize always the name of the driver and a number of the taxi. I think that lot of pesos have been cheated from us when we have used taxis in the beginning our stay. Now when we know the distances better it is easy to notice if the drivers are cheating.

It is good to remember that Latin America isn’t that organized like Finland. Some things are more complicated and some things take a lot of time. Like our Spanish teacher said when we had waited three hours to get in to Spanish oral test, “This is Latin America, this is how we do things here.”  Here you need a lot of sustainability.

If you just use common-sense you’ll get along just fine

Trafficjam in Buenos Aires.

Finally after 4 months studying, there’s a diploma in my hand. I’m really proud of myself because that paper demanded a lot of work! Our closing ceremony was on Friday 13^th of May. We got our diplomas and teachers and students were keeping speeches. In the evening we had a dinner in Puerto Madero. Atmosphere was maybe a little sad because after couples of days we have to say goodbye for each others

Yesterday happened something historical..Finland won its second world championship in ice hockey after 16 years!! and the best thing was that it was against our worst enemy..Sweden!! We had big parties with Finnish students On Saturday we are leaving back to Finland to celebrate this amazing victory

River Plate vs. Velez football match in Club Atletico River Plate.

I like sport. Here in Buenos Aires don’t have to be afraid that you can’t do sports. Several parks are offering perfect environment for jogging. Here are also several gyms, some are expensive but you can find also the cheap ones. I have a membership in Megagym which costs 140 pesos a month (it’s only about 30 euros) so cheaper than in Finland. In Megagym you can use the gym and go every lesson you like. Some of the gyms are demanding medical certificate. In UADE there is also a gym but its use don’t include the course fee.

Argentina is very famous about its football culture and you can notice it easily. Here are big stadiums where you can go and see football matches. We were watching River Plate vs. Velez match and the atmosphere was breathtaking It has been one the most memorable experiences during my stay here. The most popular match is Super Clasico where Boca Juniors plays against River Plate. Some of my friends are going to watch the game. Unfortunately it costs a lot..

River Plate fans let the game begin!

Uff, this course demands a lot of work!! Last weeks we have been struggling with our projects and essays hoping to find even a little free time. I feel like I don’t even have had time to wrote this blog Next week this stress will be over and I hope there’s a precious diploma in my hand!

Time is running out and after two weeks we have to leave this autumnal city behind us. During the last weeks we are trying to travel around the city as much as possible because here are still places where I would like to go and experience. For example the city is full of parks, old buildings, museums and every weekend you can visit in several fairs. I have already been in San Telmo’s and Recoleta’s fair where I bought some gifts to my family.

It’s so funny how different this large city looks like now than in the beginning. I remember how lost I was during first weeks, desperately trying to locate places in the map   When I’m thinking now, after all this city isn’t that big. When you are visited once in the different neighborhoods like Recoleta, Palermo, Puerto Madero, San Telmo, Microcentro and Retiro, it’s easy to perceive Buenos Aires as a whole.

Okay, well now I’ll go to sleep so tomorrow I’m again full of energy to go to the gym after a rough party weekend Tomorrow I can write more about sport possibilities…

During this exchange I have learned a lot of myself and what I want from the future. My career plans are more clearly now. I would really like to work abroad and maybe I’ll return here in Buenos Aires to do my second practical training

I have also thought a lot of my life in Finland. I miss my family and friends and I have noticed how important they are for me. I have also got new friends here and I think our friendship will continue also after this exchange.

I have started to respect many things in Finland in a different way. So many things are better in Finland than here. I think I’ll respect some little things in a different way when I go back to Finland..like clean drinking water what comes from the tap, Finnish nature, lakes and beaches..

I love Buenos Aires, but I’m missing Finland a lot.

I just came back to Buenos Aires from two and a half weeks holiday. We were travelling in Uruguay, Montevideo and Punta del Diablo and then we went to Brazil, Florianópolis. There we would had an opportunity to study but it was optional, so I just relaxed in the beautiful beaches and made some activities We tried sandsurfing which was fun! It’s like snowboarding but in the sand then we were hiking in the jungle, which wasn’t a very good idea with flipflops because there were dangerous snakes and actually we saw one!! Our hostel had a boat, like a party boat..music and a lot of speed so one beautiful sunny day we made a boat trip and went around almost the whole island..such a lovely day, good memories.

In the end of the holiday we went to see the Iguazu falls. You can’t see in the pictures how beautiful they are, you have to see them with your own eyes. During the holiday we were changing from one hostel to another but my attitude towards hostels has changed in a positive way. In Punta del Diablo we were spending four nights in a hostel called Hostel de la Viuda and I can recommend it to all! The holiday was awesome but it was also nice to return back home..yeah, BA is like a home to me and we exchange students are like a big family here <3 Here’s some pictures from my holiday.

Uruguay, Montevideo

Uruguay, Punta del Diablo.

Brazil, Florianopolis.

Iguazu falls, Argentina.

This exchange time hasn’t been just travelling and having fun. We have a lot of school and group works take a lot of our free time. Our study programme consists of marketing, international law, spanish, micro-macro economics, strategic management and entrepreneurship. In some of the courses we have to do a big groupwork which replaces our final exam. One of my main goal for this exchange was to learn more spanish. I’m a little disappointed that the local students aren’t participating this business studies course. Luckily I have got to know some local people and developed my spanish during my free time.

I really like life in Buenos Aires and I’m glad that I’m spending my exchange time here. The city never sleeps and the range of bars and restaurants are making sure that weekends are never boring Santa Fe’s shopping street has also come quite familiar to me..here clothes and shoes are much more cheaper than in Finland. Now here is not so warm anymore..hmmm, I think that I have to go shopping some warmer clothes..and just because I need them!