November 4 - 8

WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS

Our family spent three weeks in Argentina.  Marcos (dad) was born in Argentina and many of his distant relatives still live there.  We planned a trip for all 5 of us (not our oldest son who no longer lives at home) to visit the country and learn all about the culture and history of Buenos Aires.   

PRESTON

Preston spent three weeks learning about the culture, language and history of Argentina.  One of his favorite things about Argentina was the City Tour.  It is a hop on, hop off bus that takes you to 22 different locations within the city of Buenos Aires.  He learned so much about the history of Argentina and many of the famous locations that people travel to see.  He loved learning about the soccer players and rival teams.  He also loved learning about their congress and "la casa rosada" (the pink house) where the president works.  

MARISSA

Marissa loved learning all about the plants and animals in Argentina.  We spent many days visiting parks that she loved.  Her favorites were El Rosedal (the rose garden), ecoparque (eco-park, which used to be a zoo, but has been transformed into a location for learning about natural plants species that grow in the area.  We took pictures of lots of trees we weren't used to seeing and looked them up through google lens or at home after our daily outings.  It was super cool to see so much biodiversity in a huge city like Buenos Aires.  

Loquat tree

A nest belonging to a bird

Date tree

Bamboo fence

She also loved visiting El Tigre, which is about an hour north of Buenos Aires on the train.  It is a city where you have to go by boat to get to the houses.  It was so fascinating to see a city like that (similar to Venice, but quite different also).  People who live in this area take boat "busses" to get to school, go shopping, take out their garbage, etc.  We learned so much on a boat toar that took us down 6 different rivers and canals in the area.  

CALEB

Caleb's favorite part of our Argentina trip was learning more about the culture.  He loved sampling the different foods like asado (bbq), milanesa (breaded steak), empanadas, pizza (it's totally different than the pizza here), gnocchis, alfajores (cookies), choco torta (chocolate cake) and dulce de leche ice cream.  He also loved meeting new people, working on his Spanish skills, and swimming in anyone's pool any time it was warm enough to put on a swimsuit.  What a great experience for all of us!