3 Weeks Until Take-Off!

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 2^nd 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