Closure

I probably should have posted this a couple weeks ago, but I'm back in the US! I've been meaning to write this post to give a bit of closure to my experience, but somehow I kept putting it off. But here it is. Being back in Seattle has been wonderful so far. After returning I only had three days of rest before beginning classes and work again. I really like the busyness of school though and the structure of work/school. The spring flowers are beginning to bloom and the city looks so beautiful. The quietness of Seattle was so refreshing and shocking after being in Buenos Aires for so long where I was constantly bombarded by city noises. But I do miss the liveliness of being in Buenos Aires and the relaxed atmosphere of people and time.

This is my last quarter before I graduate in June so I am very busy trying to finish up all my graduating requirements, apply for jobs and figure out a general "life plan" post-graduation. So far my plan is to apply for the Peace Corps, research jobs at NGO's here in Seattle and apply for any and all job opportunities that will allow me to work abroad. We'll see what happens...

Anyway, thank you to all who read my blog during my internship in Argentina. I'm sorry this post was delayed so much, but better late than never!

love,
Robin

Teatro Colon

Last week I went to see my first Opera show at Teatro Colon. Originally I had just planned to take a guided tour to see the beautiful theater that was only recently reopened after years of renovation. But after realizing that it cost 110 pesos to take a 50 min tour (~$30 USD) and 55 pesos (~$10 USD) to see an Opera show I opted to go to a performance (granted they were standing room only tickets in the back of the theater, but it was worth it). I will also note that Argentine citizens only have to pay 30 pesos to take the tour. Taking advantage of tourists, not fair! Hahah. Anyway, the Opera I went to see was "La pasión según San Marcos," a passion play composed by Argentine composer Osvaldo Golijov in 2000. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but the Opera's mixture of Salsa, Cumbia, African drums and percussion and classical European Opera singing was a surprise. The odd mixture of sounds and styles made the performance very enjoyable, despite being cramped in an odd position on the floor of the standing room section (because I'm so tall if I stood up the balcony above cut off all vision of the stage, hahah). The interior of the theater is spectacular, with beautiful detailing along the balconies and viewing boxes. I'm so glad I had a chance to go!

Los ultimos días

Its hard to believe that I only have one more week left here in Argentina. Tomorrow is my last day of my internship and then I will be flying home next Wednesday night. For my last day it just so happens that there is a conference scheduled that we were invited to, so I will be going with my coworkers to an event sponsored by a coalition of groups dedicated to the issues of people of African descent in Argentina. My last week has been mostly about tying up loose ends. On Monday I visited the US Embassy again to use their database of grant organizations to make sure I hadn't missed any the first time. After working on grant applications for the past 10 weeks I have come to realize how difficult it is for small NGOs to grow and expand their impact. Grant applications usually include questions about the success of previous or current programs in order to gauge the capacity of your organization to manage the funds responsibly. Similarly, they often ask about what other sources of other funding you receive. Its hard to sound convincing if your NGO is in the process of beginning programs and doesn't have a long history of previous funding.

On Wednesday I went on my final visit to the Office of Immigration. First however, we passed by the Bus terminal to represent a Senegalese man named Bamba who works in vending merchandise such as sunglasses, jewelry and watches along the coast of the Rio de la Plata. On his trip back to Buenos Aires all of his merchandise "went missing" from the cargo area of the bus he was traveling on. The bus company upheld that it was not their responsibility and had no way of recovering or compensating him for his suitcase of merchandise. The suitcase was everything this man had, and the only means of making money to support himself. The approximate value of all the merchandise in his suitcase was about $2400 pesos (~$550), without accounting for what he could get from selling it. After a year in Buenos Aires, the thought of starting over is devastating. We left the bus terminal without much consolation that the bus company really had any intention of following up with the case. While waiting at the Office of Immigration I spoke with Bamba about how he ended up in Argentina. He said he arrived with the intention to make enough money so he could go back to Senegal and make a better life for himself. He spoke Spanish very well and said he like it in Buenos Aires, but his intent was, and still is, to return to Senegal.

Today was my last day in the office (since tomorrow is the conference). In retrospect I think this has been an amazing experience and I am grateful that I was able to work alongside people who are so passionate about giving immigrants an opportunity to succeed in Argentine society. Although I had a lot of frustrations with the structure of my work and the difficulty I experienced in gathering information for my grant applications, I think I have gained valuable experience in the field of international development and in relation to immigration policy both in Argentina and internationally.

Alfajores

Alfajores de maizena: dulce de leche sandwiched between fluffy sugar cookies (maizena means corn starch which contributes to their fluffy texture) and then rolled in coconut flakes. Alfajores are a very typical desert here in BA and can be ordered in almost every café. They come in other varieties too including white or milk chocolate covered ones with different style cookies.

El amor de tango

I've been getting really interested in tango culture here in Buenos Aires, both as a dance and the people's passion for the music. Through one of the musicians and the tango place I've been going to I met a girl from the Seattle area who is doing her post grad work in ethnomusicology on the study of tango culture here in Buenos Aires. She is super knowledgeable about all the best places to see authentic tango performances (live musicians, not necessarily dancing) and how the tango movement has changed over the years. Contrary to the exported image of tango culture in Argentina, it is not all about glittery outfitted women and sensual dance moves. Dancing is part of it, but the music itself is what seems to be at the heart of Argentina's love of tango.

I went with my Seattle friend to a tango show a few nights ago and it was incredible. It was so fascinating to see how passionate people are about tango music here and how much it brings old and young generations together. Its hard to explain, but I feel like the spirit of tango in Argentine culture is more than just a custom or societal trait. We went to this one tiny little bar that is over 100 years old--the walls were lined with high shelves of dusty alcohol bottles and tattered paintings. Two old men played guitars (and at one point an accordion) and singing tango songs for hours, occasionally taking breaks to invite others to sing or refill their glass of wine. Since the bar was so small, people leaned in to see the music from the open windows and crammed behind the bar. My friend said that she met the same two old men in this bar six years ago when she first arrived in Buenos Aires. She explained to me that tango culture began to decline around the 1960's but experienced a revival in the 1990's as it became more publicized as unique to Argentine culture to inspire tourism. As a result tango bars and shows began popping up everywhere, creating new jobs for dancers and musicians. After the crisis of 2001 tango was taken up my younger generations as an expression of patriotism and pride. The revival of tango is about the rediscovery of the most famous classical tango singers, most of which are from the 1930's. My friend said that there is a budding movement for the integration of new tango songs written by current generations, but the majority of songs are well-known classics. Although one can experience tango culture in ritzy expensive tourist shows, the real tango culture is found in the back-ally tango bars where the Argentine people meet to share their love for the music and dance.

Asado!

Restaurants that serve traditional Argentinean Asado (grilled meat) are called "Parillas" (the "ll" is pronounced like "sh"). Beef is a huge staple in the Argentine diet. According to a 2009 study Argentina was found to be the country with the highest per capita consuption of beef in the world, with an average of 64.6 kg per person. The U.S. came in second with 40.2 kg per person. The meat cuts are very different here to the meat cuts you encounter in the U.S. The Argentine's have a very particular way of cutting beef and preparing it slowly on the asado grill. Parilla restaurants usually have the grill out in front as you walk in so you can see all the meat spread out as the "Asador" is cooking it. A typical Asado meal will come with a variety of different cuts on a metal grill plate. Each cut is distinct and prepared a certain way. For example, "mollejas" (the lining of the neck apparently) is very popular and is eaten with fresh lemon. Below are photos of the asador cooking at the grill and a typical asado dish served at a Parilla.

Aconcagua

Last weekend I took a trip to the city of Mendoza in the Province of Mendoza with two other U.S. interns. After an overnight bus ride lasting about 15 hours we finally arrived in quaint city of Mendoza. After being in an enormous loud city for so long, it felt incredibly quiet and laid back. The province of Mendoza is famous for its vineyards which produce the majority of Argentina's wine. It is also well known for its mountainous terrain. Along the western coast the peripheral peaks of the Andes mountain range separate Argentina from Chile. Among them, the peak of Aconcaugua--the mountain with the hightest elevation in the Southern hemisphere with an altitude of 6,962 meters (22,841 ft)! We got to catch a glimpse of the southern face of Aconcagua while on a bus ride up into the lower peaks of the Andes.

Globalization

In Mendoza, Argentina happy meals come with wine and empanadas.

Reflection 2

Since I posted my first reflection for my International Internship Program class I thought I might as well post the second one as well. Here is a section of it:

In comparison to some of the other IDIP students, my experience here in Buenos Aires has probably been way less dramatic in terms of culture shock or change in lifestyle. The things that I have had to adjust to are more related to the pace and structure of time and living is such a big city. Buenos Aires is an enormous modern city full of a vibrant energy fueled by 14 million or so residents. My apartment is sandwiched between a bookstore and small clothing boutique and right across the street is an Italian restaurant, two banks and a Hyundai car dealership. There are several grocery stores very near my house and I have a kitchen in my apartment, so even my eating habits haven’t changed drastically and in the interests of saving on money for food I eat a lot of meals at home. I have become pretty close with my roommate—an Argentine girl who rents out a room in her apartment to international students—and we have been cooking a lot together. It has been fun sharing different recipes for things I assumed to be pretty simple such as French toast or scrambled eggs with vegetables. Sharing stories and cultural observations during meals together has been a comforting and fun way to learn about Argentinean culture and history. From talking with my roommate, co-workers and other Argentineans that I’ve met, I am beginning to gather an understanding of the economic situation of Argentina over the past few decades.

Argentina has experienced several periods of extreme economic crisis, most recently in 2001, when the Argentine economy crashed and the peso became practically worthless. I recently watched a documentary about the economic history of Argentina and was surprised to learn about the economic restructuring that occurred during the presidency of Carlos Menem. During his presidency, from 1989 to 1999, he privatized a large portion of Argentine industries and state enterprises. Although these measures had some initial stabilizing affects to the economy, over time they caused a lot of damage and allowed for the concentration of wealth in private companies while the majority of citizens suffered. The day after I watched this documentary I mentioned to one of my co-workers how I had found it fascinating to look at the historical context leading up to the 2001 crisis in terms of Menem’s presidency. He quickly informed me that people do not use Menem’s name directly because of the terrible economic policy he inflicted upon the Argentine citizens, rather people refer to him as simply “Carlos” or some variation of “the president that shall not be named.” Later that day I asked my roommate about it and she said that there are a lot of people who still refuse to use his name, but it varies across society. She explained how in younger generations his name is often used to describe frivolous or extravagant locations, for example a tacky bar or restaurant would be described as very “Menemista.” The legacy of his frivolous behavior and lavish lifestyle at the expense of the Argentine citizens is still evident.

The reality of economic instability is subtle in daily life, but I am becoming more observant of its continued affect on society and the consciousness of the people. Although there is no official state-sponsored recycling collection, men with huge carts walk up and down the streets daily to rummage through the trash and pull out all the cardboard and bottles. President Cristina Kirschner recently announced that citizens are no longer able convert their savings from pesos to dollars in an attempt to reduce capital flight and encourage more internal spending and investment. Yet the inflation of the peso continues to rise and fluctuate. The other day my roommate told me to start being more conservative with my use of electricity because electricity prices just went up 600% due to a cut in government subsidies. The instability of prices and the fluctuating value of the peso hardly inspires much confidence in the citizens to trust their money to savings accounts and government banks.

Although this experience hasn't been exactly what I had expected, it has been amazing. My internship experience has taught me so much about the management of small international NGOs and the difficulties they face in addressing social problems with a limited budget and little government support. My NGO has a lot of growth ahead of them and I am glad that I have had the opportunity to be a part of that growth. I hope that with the help of my grant applications perhaps they will have a chance to expand some of their services, or at least gain more international attention for the work that they do.

Train Accident

Yesterday there was a terrible train accident in Buenos Aires. The train didn't brake soon enough while coming into the station and smashed into the platform barrier. 49 people were killed and at least 600 of the 800 or so passengers were injured. I thought I would post this article to let people know what's going on down here. This is one of the worst transit accidents in Argentine history and everyone is in shock and solidarity for the families of those injured or killed. To read more you can go to the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/23/world/americas/commuter-train-crash-kills-dozens-in-argentina.html

Barrio Chino

About a 15 minute walk from my apartment is an area of town know as Barrio Chino (China Town). I have been there a few times now and its funny how comforting and familiar it feels--almost as if I'm back in Seattle International District! At the entrance to Barrio Chino there is an elaborate arch in a Chinese style. Before checking out Barrio Chino I had been reading about it on the internet and I found out some interesting facts about the arch. In 2010--the year of Argentina's bicentennial celebration--the Chinese government sent the arch as a gift to the Asian community living in Buenos Aires. But according to Wikipedia there are some details surrounding its installation that not all residents in Barrio Chino are too happy about. Apparently the donation of the arch was not conducted according to municipal laws and is in conflict with two articles f the Constitution of Argentina. The Chinese government sidestepped the authorization needed from the Foreign Ministry of Argentina and never consulted the community before its installation--angering many Taiwanese members of the community who feel the arch is a symbolic affront on their community by the Chinese Communist Party. To any tourist walking through Barrio Chino however, the arch is probably seen as nothing more than a decorative entrance to a street lined with Asian grocery markets and restaurants.

On my last trip through Barrio Chino I couldn't resist buying some yummy items from the grocery store! I found Sriracha, which I was super excited about. I've been looking out for it everywhere. Its only been four days since I bought it and the bottle is almost a quarter empty. So delicious! Also, I bought the fixings to make spring rolls. My roommate and I made them last Sunday afternoon for lunch and they turned out really tasty.

Long time no post

I'm sorry it has been more than a week now since my last post! Time is going so fast that I can hardly keep track of the days. As I have been here for almost 6 weeks now I have begun to reflect on the progress of my internship and the experiences I have had. During my 45 minute commute to work each day I have had a lot of time to think (or listen to Democracy Now podcasts). Some of the more frustrating moments of my stay here have been related to the lack of structure in my work. I am accustomed to the value of punctuality and structure that I encounter in much of my life in the U.S.--with school, my job and the general social respect for time. At my internship however, it is not uncommon for my boss to arrive 1-2 hours after he says he is going to arrive for our weekly trips to the Office of Migration. Or on several occasions he simply calls to say that he isn't going to make it in to the office that day. I would not generalize to say that this is evidence of a lack of respect for time in Argentinean culture as a whole, but in general I have found that the pace of life here is much more relaxed and less concerned with a structured work-schedule. Apart from this frustration, I am still really enjoying my work and the opportunities to learn about immigration policy. Today I completed and emailed in two different grant proposals for funding from U.S. philanthropic organizations. I hope that my work in appealing for funding will succeed and enable the Fundacion to expand their programs and services. Anyway, these are just a few reflections on my experience so far.

La Bomba del Tiempo

Every Monday night at an outdoor music venue called "Konex" there is a special show called La Bomba del Tiempo. It is a percussion show consisting of a variety of drummers and other percussionists. The show was spectacular! The venue was packed with people gyrating to the rhythmic beats of the drums. Before the actual show started there was a introductory show that included three girls who did a dance performance while the lead drummer dragged people from the crowd in to join them. Then the lead drummer brought out a rope to show off his limbo skills. It was incredible! The rope was probably only two feet off the ground maximum. The music was really incredible too. The guest of the night was an electric guitar player who was invited to jam along with the drummers. It was so hot and sweaty, but the show was spectacular. Its no wonder the show continues to sell out week after week!

My co-workers!

These are my amazing co-workers at Fundación Ciudadanos del Mundo! Left to right: me, Manuel, Juan and Luciana. Here we are in the conference room--the only room in the office with air conditioning. Staff meetings are a good excuse to escape the heat.

Reflection

Because my stay here in Buenos Aires is part of an Internship Program sponsored by Seattle University, I am required to write periodic reflections on my work and experiences. Eventually I think it will be posted on the SU website for the International Development Internship Program, but I thought I might as well post it here as well:

After about three weeks here in Buenos Aires I am starting to get into a routine with my work and daily life. Adjusting to the busy city life has been a lot easier than I thought it would be and even though I’m living in a city of over 13 million, the facility of public transportation has helped to make the city feel approachable and welcoming. The city is amazing and full of a vibrant energy, especially at night. Argentineans are accustomed to dining later in the evening, usually around 10 or 11 pm, and on weekends it is not uncommon for people to stay out until 4, 5 or even 6 am before catching a public bus home. At first it was difficult to adjust to later dinners—by 6 or 7 pm I was starving—but it has come to feel quite normal now. Sometimes I don’t get home from work until 8 or 9 pm, so eating dinner later has become a comfortable routine. It has been so hot and humid though that I haven’t felt like cooking much and I try to stick to foods that do not require the use of the stove.

Although I have experience living abroad in Spanish speaking countries from my study abroad in Mexico, the Argentinean way of speaking has taken some getting used to. In Argentina, instead of using “tu” to informally address someone as “you,” they use the verb form “vos.” Because of the influence of European culture and heritage, the influence of Castilian Spanish is more evident in the pronunciation and formality of the language. The accent is so fluid and beautiful that sometimes I have to be careful to pay attention clearly otherwise I get distracted by the accent and don’t catch what someone is saying. I’ve even found myself started to pick up the porteño—someone from Buenos Aires—accent in the pronunciation of “y” and “ll” with a stronger “schu” sound. The Argentine vocabulary is also a bit different than I’m used to and is mixed with a lot of regional slang, so I’ve been learning lots of new words.

For my internship I am working for Fundación Ciudadanos del Mundo, an NGO based here in Buenos Aires, which works with immigrants and refugees to offer them support in the application process for legal residency and assistance with integration into Argentinean society. Although Argentineans seem to take pride in their heritage as immigrants, the majority of the population is decedent of European ancestors, from places like Italy, France, Spain, Germany, England as well as others from Russia and Poland. Immigration law has historically been very open to the immigration of people from these regions but has rejected the integration of regional migrants from bordering Latin American countries and even less exceptive of Asian and African migrants. Between the years 1976 to 1983 Argentina was ruled by a repressive military dictatorship, which instituted very xenophobic and restrictive policies towards regional migration. Since then however, Argentinean immigration policy has improved. In 2010, Law 25,871 was passed that replaced previous immigration policy on deportations and immigration restrictions and allowed for 460 thousand immigrants already within the country to receive naturalization. Although the law upholds immigrants’ rights to hospital care and education, immigrants without proper residency papers are vulnerable and often find it extremely difficult to find work. The application process for residency papers is difficult and confusing, especially for a migrants who do not speak Spanish. At Fundación Ciudadanos del Mundo, they offer assistance to immigrants by accompanying them through the application process, by offering interpretation help at the Office of Immigration and assistance with the paperwork. Several times per week I have been going with my boss to the Office of Migration to meet with migrants who are pursuing their residency paperwork.

After becoming more familiar with the policy on immigration since 2010 I was heartened to see that the law offers better protection of migrants than the United States, especially in terms of deportations. However, the abuse of the law is just as prevalent and many migrants are taken advantage of. Though there are thousands of Bolivian, Paraguayan, Uruguayan and Dominican migrants in Argentina, this reality is not visible on the busy streets of most of the city. However if you walk deeper into the immigrant barrios of the city you begin to see the concentration of immigrant populations, especially in an area called Plaza Once. The founder of Ciudadanos del Mundo explained to me that he was inspired to start the Fundación because of the depressing reality of undocumented immigrants in Argentinean society. Walking though Plaza Once, you see the evidence of drugs, prostitution, homelessness, and vendors struggling to sell cheap trinkets. These people are trapped by the insecurity of their status as undocumented immigrants. The goal of Ciudadanos del Mundo is to offer relief from the oppressive cycle of exploitation that immigrants face.

Working at Ciudadanos del Mundo so far has been great and I feel so lucky to be surrounded by inspiring coworkers who are passionate about their work. Because it is summer right now most of the other volunteers are on vacation. In February more people will return and things will be a bit busier. I’m never quite sure what to expect when I go to work, as some days I accompany my boss Manuel on his visits to the Office of Immigration or visit Plaza Once to check up on the women who work the streets and other days I sit for hours in the sweltering office working on the translation of their newsletter or grant proposals for U.S. philanthropic agencies. I have really enjoyed how I have been included all aspects of the work at Ciudadanos del Mundo. Whenever Manuel has work to do outside of the office he lets me accompany him to truly understand the situation of the people the organization represents and assists. I am learning so much and I hope that I will be able to leave this experience having felt like I have left a positive impact, however slight, to the ongoing work of Ciudadanos del Mundo.

During my free time after work and on the weekends I have been exploring as much of the city as I can. Buenos Aires is truly amazing and I have enjoyed just walking around soaking it all in. So far I have been Tango dancing, learned the ritual of yerba mate (herbal tea) drinking and eaten the best steak of my life. The city offers no end of entertainment and activities and there is so much more I still want to see and do. I’m looking forward to more explorations and adventures over the course of my internship as I continue my stay here in Buenos Aires.

El Caminito

El Caminito is a famous tourist destination in Buenos Aires for the brightly colored houses that line this tiny little street in an area of town called La Boca on the mouth of the Rio de Plata. There were tons of tourists, restaurants offering free tango shows while you dine and alleyways lined with artisans selling Argentine souvenirs. Lots of vendors selling leather bags and shoes, mate cups and trinkets with the Argentinean flag. The street were really beautiful and I enjoyed walking by the different dance performances going on in each of the restaurants.

Casa Rosada

This is the "Casa Rosada" ("the Pink House") where the president of Argentina, currently Cristina Kirshner, lives. The government building is located in the Plaza de Mayo where thousands of mothers gathered to protest the "disappearances" of their sons and family members during the military dictatorship in Argentina between the years 1976 to 1983. During this period, known as the "Dirty War," it is estimated that anywhere from 9,000 to 30,000 people "disappeared." Las Madres de la Plaza Mayo held protests against the dictatorship and their violence. To this day, members of the Association for the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo gather on Thursday afternoons to march in commemoration the disappeared and the mothers who opposed the regime. I was there the other day when they were marching around and I got a few photographs. The original mothers dressed with scarves tied around their heads with the names of their missing family members embroidered on the cloth. The image of the head scarf is iconic and can be seen around the city in graffiti art. You can kind of see the bonnet image on the flag that they are waving.

Luis Maria Campos

This is the tomb of Luis Maria Campos, who also happens to be the man for whom the street I live on was named after. I'm not sure what he accomplished in life as a General, but he has certainly been celebrated quite grandly in death.

Cementerio de la Recoleta

I spent the morning before work today wandering around the beautiful cemetery in Recoleta. Though packed with international tourists taking guided tours in a variety of languages, it was easy to shed the crowds and get lost between the aisles of tombs. The surrounding city architecture made for an interesting combination, displaying the contrast between the classical style of the cemetery's tombs and the surrounding high-rise apartment complex and mall billboards. Every turn presented a new spectacular view. And there were cats--shabby old cats that seem to have claimed the cemetery as their home. Here are just a few pictures:

Floralis

This amazing aluminum flower sculpture opens and closes in accordance to the movement of the sun. In this picture it is open to the morning sunshine, while throughout the day the petals slowly close as the sun goes down. Apparently it adjusts to the changes of the seasons too.

Facultad de Derecho

Facultad de Derecho--Universidad de Buenos Aires. This building is the law school branch of the University of Buenos Aires, which boasts the largest student enrollment for any university in Latin America.

U.S. Embassy

Today I had a meeting at the U.S. Embassy! The building itself was actually really ugly and industrial looking compared to all the other embassy's which are in old grand mansion like houses. The embassy house (where the embassy guests live I guess) was much more appealing, it is located just around the corner from the embassy on John F. Kennedy St! Anyway, for my work at Ciudadnos del Mundo my boss made an appointment for me to visit the embassy. In the past they have worked closely with the U.S. embassy when they have interns who are U.S. citizens. After a security check and getting a visitor badge I was taken to one of the resource offices that deals with U.S. related relations with Argentinean based NGOs. They let me use a database that keeps track of U.S. based philanthropic organizations based on their geographic area of interest and focus of grant giving. This database is a goldmine for any NGO seeking grant assistance. It allowed you to choose a geographic location (Argentina) and a area of interest (such as Immigration and Refugees) and then it would give you a rundown of all the donor organizations that give based on that criteria. It was a pretty amazing database! Good news: I found lots of organizations that offer grants to similar causes such as the work done here at Cuidadanos de Mundo. Not so good news: now I have to start applying for them all! (this is the picture of the embassy house, not the ugly embassy itself)

Hipodromo Horse Track

About a 15 min walk from my house is a major street known as Av. del Libertador where the Hipodromo Argentino de Palermo is located. The European influence in the architecture here is very apparent, especially in this grand building at the entrance of the horse racing track. The basement of the building is a Casino! There are about 5 or 6 other similar style buildings along the track with fancy restaurants and viewing decks that look out over the 2400 meter (1.5 mile) race track. Today when I walked past there were hundreds of people milling around the track sidelines placing bets and waiting for the next round of jockeys to take to the track.

TOMS

Ever wonder why the TOMS logo looks a lot like the Argentinean flag? That's because they were modeled after the Argentinean style of shoe known as the alpargata. I started to wonder why everyone seemed to have knock-off TOMS here, until I made the connection that it was I who was wearing the knock-off brand and everyone else was wearing the original alpargatas style of shoe made in Argentina.

La Oficina de Migraciones

4 bus rides + 5 subway rides and 2 taxi rides = an exhausting day of traveling. On Tuesday I spend the day tagging along behind my co-worker Manuel as we traveled all over the city meeting with different migrant families about their specific concerns regarding their immigration status. First we went to the Office of Migration near the port where as early as the 1800 immigrant families were detained upon arrival and made to stay in a hotel facility for up to 3 months before being allowed to enter the country. Now the buildings are used for the offices of immigration. La Fundación works with families and individuals trying to navigate the complicated process of obtaining residency papers. As we walked around Manuel seemed to know a lot of people and we had to stop and greet many families and individuals as they waited with number tags to be called for their turn to speak with an immigration official. First we met with a woman from the Dominican Republic who has been living in Buenos Aires for 4 years. After waiting for quite some time Manuel helped to explain her status to the official and to turn in a signed document that she was asked to provide, only to be given another document and told to return ten days later! Then we met with a Korean family who had also been living in BA for 4 years and was having trouble getting papers because their son had just turned 18 so they had to change his status so he could apply as an individual.

After meeting with a couple other families we took a break and walked along Puerto Madero. It was hard to adjust to the contrast of the immigration offices and the ritzy port and tall condominiums. Here is a picture of the "Puente de la Mujer" (bridge of the woman) in the locks of Puerto Madero.

La Fundación Ciudadanos del Mundo

After almost a week in Buenos Aires I am starting to feel pretty comfortable at navigating my way around the city using public transportation. I use the bus at least 2 or 3 times a day to get to and from one area of the city to another and now that I have my SUBE card I don't have to worry about having correct change. So convenient! To get to work I take a bus on the corner of the block near my house to the downtown area, which takes about 40 minutes.

Today at work I spent the majority of the day reading publications and reports that La Fundación Ciudadanos del Mundo has published in relation to Argentinean immigration law. The reports were pretty heavily laden with terminology that I am not very familiar with, so it was slow going, but I'm learning a lot of new vocabulary. One of the projects that I will be working on soon will be to help with the translation of their newsletter. One of my employees has already done the majority of the translation, but because he translated it literally (word for word) it needs a lot of corrections to make it readable.

After completing all the readings I feel a lot more familiar with the Argentinean policies which many of the immigration cases I will be dealing with pertain. In 2010 the government of Argentina passed a law that made it illegal for refugees and immigrants to be deported or discriminated against for lacking identification papers. All citizens--and non-citizens--are legally granted free access to hospital care and education. But a big issue has been that hospitals have been denying immigrants access to medical care when they are unable to present their papers.

Today I worked with my co-worker Juan on a current case of a woman who has been denied access to a heart procedure which she desperately needs. The woman is from Paraguay and had been to the hospital to be examined for her heart problems and was told she would need to undergo a procedure for further analysis, but the hospital refuses to provide it. First they told her it was because she didn't have identification papers and then they told her it was because they didn't have the correct machinery to conduct the tests. If this were so the hospital would be obligated to give the woman a referral to another hospital, which they have not been willing to do. This case, like many others is part of what La Fundación deals with regularly. Sometime this week one of the Social service providers will accompany the woman to the hospital to put pressure on them to provide a referral for the woman to receive the care she needs. If they still refuse to cooperate as a last resort La Fundación will have to notify the police. Juan said I might get to go with the social worker to the hospital if I am in the office when they plan to make the visit.

Tomorrow I am going with the director of La Fundación to the Office of Immigration and Migration to deal with another case and observe the procedure immigrants must take to obtain naturalization papers. Super excited! Sorry for the long post, but I hope this gives a better impression of what my internship is all about. More info to come!