Today we visited "La Bombonera" Stadium. It seats approximately 50,000 people. The structure is called a 'chocolate box' because it is stacked three platforms high and in the shape of an oval, which is how chocolate boxes used to look.  Why are their colors yellow and blue? The original colors of the team La Boca were white and black, but they lost a game to their rivals, so they had to give up those colors. The team decided they would go to the harbor and their colors would become the colors of the next ship to pass through.  That ship was painted blue and yellow and arrived from Sweden.  Pretty neat!  There are blocks of houses along the harbor that are all painted bright colors because they used the leftover paint from the ships to paint their houses...the most colorful area in Buenos Aires.

So last Friday we went to an estancia (ranch) at the Rodizio Campo.  This place was amazing. We got off the buses and were escorted to the camp by horses and wagons.  They served us bread, cheese, salami, argentine "cheetos" and assorted beverages as we mingled with one another and explored the grounds. We gathered in the restaurant to find an abundance of food...I had never seen anything like it.  There were a variety of salads and vegetables to choose from before we were served the good stuff.  Fifteen waiters came out of the kitchen with sausage links on a skewer and a cutting board beneath....fancy service.  They took the meat off and cut it for us before serving it on our plates.  There were eight more meats to follow (beef, chicken breast, cow neck, pork, duck, ribs, and another style of pork and beef).  It was ridiculous and absolutely delicious....minus the cow neck.  After all of this they provided us with eleven different desserts that I DEFINITELY saved room for!!!  After this lunch we were ready for a nap, but that didn't happen.  We went to visit all the animals in the barn and then I got to ride a horse around in the pasture!  I was nervous it would take off on me, but we trotted along nicely.  Another activity was biking the trails.  Apparently bikes are a one size fits all in Argentina. The first bike I was given didn't have brakes, but the guy insisted it was safe.  Knowing me, I didn't want to risk it.  The second bike was quite tall, but I was done waiting, I just wanted to ride.  I climbed aboard and tried to push off and failed.  It was like I had never learned how to ride a bike. The Argentine man got a kick out of this and just laughed his ass off. I was quite embarrassed. I did manage to conquer the bike and had a delightful ride on the trails as you can see in the pictures above. It was a very beautiful and relaxing day. Reminded me of being at home and a great way to end the week.
On the weekend we were straight up tourists. Saturday we took a two-decker bus around the city snapping photos and shouting to the locals. It was great to explore the area, but it was quite chilly.  Later that night, my friends and I explored Chinatown...I guess there is one everywhere and somehow they always manage to be extremely cheap..something is wrong with this.  We were confused as to why there weren't many Asians wondering the streets, but then we realized they were all working! The food was alright, but as my friend Alicia says, "it runs right through you!"  hahahaha I thought that would be a nice touch :)   lo siento.

Sunday was another great day. It warmed up a bit and we were able to have a lovely bike tour around the city. We rode on orange bicicletas with baskets and banana seats...classic! Now just picture seven groups of eight bicicletas riding around the city...no big deal. My group played games with cars..not the smartest idea, but what do you expect from five bros and three girls. It was a blast and a much better way to explore the city than the bus.  Below is a picture of a slum next to the railways.  This is a famous slum of an artist, but I forget the name. He was very poor and collected scraps from the trains to start creating art work.  He has quite a few masterpieces around the city. An inspiration for many because he worked his way from the absolute bottom to a comfortable living status.

Besos!