Día 15: Lions, Tigers, and Barrio Chino: Oh My!

I can't believe I've been here two weeks! I feel like I know this city so well and have done so much. It's also crazy that this program is already halfway over. Anywho, I'm taking it all in while I can, and today was no exception!

First stop: the Buenos Aires Zoo! It was literally a 5 minute walk from my host apartment, and on the way there, we cut through the Botanical Gardens (beautiful!) and also saw some kind of parade (or protest?) march down the street. It was a good start to a great day!

The Botanical Gardens

The zoo was fun and had a lot of interesting exhibits. My favorite thing was how close we were to the animals! Back in the U.S., a lot of precaution goes into distancing the animals from the humans, but not quite the case here! Some of the more "dangerous" animals had extra cage protection, but for the most part, we were usually on 2-6 feet away from most of the animals! I was also fascinated by these rabbit-wallaby like animals that were everywhere in the zoo: in the exhibits, in the landscaping, on the sidewalks...everywhere! According to Google, they are called Mara- a jackrabbit like rodent. We decided they must be the equivalent of squirrels here, because there we so many of them...and so friendly!

Buenos Aires Zoo!

Mara: the Argentine squirrel?!

After the zoo, we hopped on the subway to Chino Barrio: the Buenos Aires China Town! Wow, can you say mix of cultures?! We stopped for some Argen-chino (the word for Argentine/Chinese food) lunch, which was delicious and a little different than the Chinese food found in the states. Argen-chino food is a little less spicey, and incorporates some Italian influences into the cooking. After lunch, we browsed around a few shops, which all basically sold dollar store type items, mixed with a few Chinese elements.

Where Spanish and Chinese collide!

After Chino Barrio, we walked around the surrounding area and happened to stumble upon a mini-feria (craft market). We ended up watching a free musical mime show for a while; it was very funny and upbeat!

Musical Mime Show: you never know what you'll find at the ferias!

After all these festivities, we called it a day and went back to our host homes. For dinner tonight, we ate a little after 9:30 pm. While I'm getting used to the late dinners, I still sometimes worry when it starts to get late, thinking that maybe my host family forgot about dinner! Haha, We had ravoli in a creamy tomato/ cheese sauce. Freddy and Cecilia's daughter, Tamara, also joined us. She is a biologist who lives a few blocks away. I couldn't quite comprehend any of the conversation between Tamara and Freddy, but I did learn that the daughter is going to run a marathon in September! Whew! Overall, today was a successfully busy day, full of interesting sights! Tomorrow's another day, so buenos noches! :)