Welcome to the official WYSO 2014
Argentina Tour blog! This blog is dedicated to all the WYSO friends and
families who want to be informed at home about the exciting events happening in
Argentina. The blog entries will be mainly from student contributors, but there
will be a few times where the parent chaperones or WYSO staff will write about
their experiences. Every day, there will be a timely blog post update online
about the events going on during that day—memories, sights, music, food, and
concerts in Argentina—along with some funny or memorable photos. Before the
tour, there will also be a blog post every few days about preparations for the
tour. Thank you to all the WYSO students who volunteered to sign up for the
blog to write a little about their memories every day.
I’ve been a WYSO member for 7 years
and this will be my 2nd time going on a WYSO international tour. The
last WYSO European tour to Prague, Vienna, and Budapest was such a blast and I
hope the South America tour will be equally or even more fun. Some of the
things I’ve done to prep for this long awaited tour are to read up on the
different city attractions in Argentina and brush up on my Spanish. I’ve felt
that it’s always been useful to read up a little about the culture, history,
and attractions in a place before traveling to it. My three years of studying
Spanish in school may also prove helpful during the trip to Argentina.
We are going to three cities in
Argentina: Buenos Aires, Mar del Plata, and Rosario. Buenos Aires—the capital
of Argentina—is often known as the Paris of South America. It is the birthplace
of tango and one of South America’s top tourist destinations, known for its
European-style architecture and rich cultural life. Buenos Aires also holds the
highest concentration of theaters in the world, not to mention the city’s
abundance of museums and opera houses. The next city we’ll be touring is Mar
del Plata, which is a city on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean about 250 miles
south of Buenos Aires. Mar del Plata is one of the major fishing ports in
Argentina and holds the biggest seaside beach resort. The last city we will be
touring in Argentina is Rosario, the third most populous city in the country.
The city is an important educational center both at a national and
international level, home to more than 10 colleges! For those of you who are
World Cup soccer fans, Lionel Messi—who is considered to be one of the best
soccer players in the world today—was also born in Rosario.
One thing to point out…Argentina is
in the middle of their winter right now. The temperature in Argentina during
this time of year varies in the 40’s-50’s range. Some people might think that bringing
clothes suitable for fall weather might be enough, but I was told to bring
WINTER clothing. It might get quite chilly in the evening time, and shopping
for warm clothing in Argentina is probably not what you want to spend your
money on. I’d say pack a jacket or some gloves just in case it gets brisk.
~David
Cao
