all7in7

What’s up guys? A couple of days ago I visited a museum dedicated to María Eva Duarte de Perón.

I’m sure some of you have heard of Evita from an earlier blog post of mine when we visited her grave at the Recoleta Cemetery.

Or maybe you know her from the movie that was made about her life. In case you haven’t, Eva (better known as Evita) was a very charismatic person who was married to the president of Argentina from 1946 until she died of cancer in 1952. She was a social activist who believed that everybody should be allowed a certain amount of pay, a house, and a job. She was also in favor of many human rights which made her popular and very loved by the lower and middle classes in Argentina – still to this day, many Argentines wish she was here to lead the country. Being the wife of the Argentinian president at the time, she was able to influence the government to implement her ideas. The museum had a lot of information about her life and the causes she was behind. Here are some pictures from the museum:

The house (which is nowadays the museum) used to be a private residence with Italian and Spanish architecture. When Evita’s foundation (called the Maria Eva Duarte de Perón Social Aid Foundation) bought the house it was used as a home for multiple homeless, poor, and sick children and women.

Unfortunately, in 1955 there was a coup d’ etat which overthrew Juan Perón (the president), Eva’s husband. Once they did that, they banned all of Evita’s initiatives and seized all of the foundation’s assets, including this house itself which was made into a government building. Then in 1999, the government declared the house a national historic site and designated it as the venue of the Eva Peron National Institute of Historical Research.

A couple of the things I learned about Evita’s life are that she was an actress when she was younger, and also that she supported sports for kids … including soccer!

Here in Buenos Aires there are a LOT of professional dog walkers, and they are walking a LOT of dogs. Sometimes they have up to ten or more dogs on a leash. We often see a group of dogs playing with each other in the park with a dog walker. One time I saw a bulldog leap at another dog with this ‘HI!!!’ expression on his face! Anyway, these are a few pictures of the dog walkers and their dogs:

What’s up guys? So far I’ve been having fun in Argentina. I’m playing LOTS of soccer and picking up Spanish here and there. This is the 5:00AM sunrise from our apartment:

I’ve also been obsessed with the Moonwalk lately, and have been working on it when we find a slippery sidewalk or on the Subte (that’s what they call the subway here).

Some of the subte stations have these cool murals from the 1930s:

The beef here is really good, and I often have a burger or a steak for supper. Luckily, we also found a gluten-free bakery not far from our apartment. They make gluten-free bread, muffins, and empanadas. Empanadas are like mini meat pies. They also come with chicken, ham, and spinach.

My parents and I took a walking tour of the city and learned some really cool stuff! Here are some pictures:

The beginning of the tour:

Ever heard of somebody named Evita?

National Congress Building:

Listening to our guide:

Admiring one of the three original Thinkers by Rodin:

The Palacio Barolo was designed to reflect Dante’s Divine Comedy. In fact, the Thinker is supposed to be Dante! Mom showed me part of his poem, and it’s very hard to understand… even translated into English! Basically it’s about Dante’s dream of visiting Hell, Purgatory, and finally Heaven. (The two basements and the Ground Floor represent Hell, Floors 2-14 represent Purgatory, and 15-22 represent Heaven):

I guess this is the elevator to Heaven:

The Government House:

The Obelisk:

One day we went to Cafe Tortoni, the oldest café in Buenos Aires, and got ‘submarinos’.

You get a submarino when you dip a chocolate bar into hot milk. It melts and you stir it up. Sometimes the chocolate is shaped like a submarine! We ordered three submarinos, one for each of us, but the waiter refused to bring one for my dad. He said men drink coffee, not submarinos. Submarinos are for kids! So dad had to drink a coffee. Poor dad, because the submarinos were really good!

The waiter also insisted on taking our picture. Here it is:

Dulce de Leche (I can’t believe they put free caramel on the table at breakfast):

Catedrel Metropolitano de Buenos Aires:

San Telmo Sunday street market:

A crazy gardening attempt:

We aren’t just doing touristy things, though. We are also doing everyday things like working on my blog.

For example, today I got my hair cut! I’m going to make a video about it. Unfortunately, I only have two weeks until I head back to the US, but I’m having a fun time right now! This is the 9:00PM sunset from our apartment: