Cordoba, Argentina

Cordoba seems to be a fun city, but we have not gotten to experience it much.  Compared to Buenos Aires, the scale of the city is much smaller.  I do not feel quite as overwhelmed by the chaotic bustling of people around the city.  Cordoba is the place to be for college students; about 10% of the city’s population is students who attend the National University of Cordoba.  There are roughly 14,000 students in the Architecture and Design program alone just to give a scale on the size of the school.

We arrived in Cordoba late afternoon on Wednesday.  Ana and Spodek showed us around the downtown area, visiting several cathedrals along the way.  We had group dinner at a nice restaurant that had several dishes unique to Argentina.  I tried a few different meals; everyone ordered different things and shared their food.  It was a fun dinner but it lasted about two hours too long.  I really enjoy the culture in South America, the act of coming together to eat and converse, but sometimes I am just ready to go back to the hotel and chill.  The food at this restaurant was delicious, but I was ready for bed about half-way through. 

We got back to the hostel around 11 p.m. and four of the girls needed to take showers, myself included.  At this particular hostel we only had one bathroom for the six of us.  The hostel life is cheap, but with it comes many challenges.  Fighting for the bathroom is one of them.  By the grace of God, Ana offered her private room and bathroom to me for the evening.  I took a very refreshing shower and enjoyed the “me time”; it was much needed. 

Thursday in Cordoba was unfortunately my least favorite day of the trip so far.  Ana worked very hard to arrange a day for us to visit the architecture school in Cordoba and participate in a workshop with the students.  We arrived mid-morning and got introduced to the students right away.  We came on the third day of the workshop.  Students had to design and build a piece of furniture that functioned as a place to relax, study, and work.  The first two days that we missed were design days, so when we got there they had already started building the design.  We were paired off into groups; Amanda, Reeva, and I joined a group of about seven people, only one of those spoke English.  The language barrier definitely played a very unfortunate role throughout the whole day.  Plus the fact that our group seemed uninterested to help get us involved.  I understand.  If I had a group of international students I couldn’t communicate with, I would not exactly be keen on letting them help build a project they know nothing about.  I’d like to think I would at least try to get them involved though.  After several attempts asking them if they needed help, we gave up and began sketching to pass the time.  After six long hours of watching them cut and build their design, the workshop finally came to a close, well almost.  We sat through a couple hours of critiques for each group’s project… in Spanish.  The workshop ended with a lecture by Spodek to all of us, the students and faculty involved.  He lectured in English, while Ana translated in Spanish.  I didn’t mind the lecture at all because I could understand it, plus I was genuinely interested in the topic at hand, that was constructing a framework for historic and cultural preservation.

I know other groups had a much better experience than Amanda, Reeva, and I.  Their groups spoke a little better English and included them most of the day.  A few groups even bought lunch for them.  Despite our group experience, it was still interesting to participate with international students.  It was very different, yet familiar at the same time.  These students come from a completely different culture than I, but we find a common bond through architecture.  Once you find this camaraderie between cultures, it makes the world seem so much smaller.  I have a lot more in common with people from other countries than I realize.  I just have to take the time to understand them, their languages, and their culture. 

After the workshop finally ended, it was about 9 p.m.  Frustrated from the day and tired from an oncoming cold, Amanda was not having it.  I got her a McDonald’s cheeseburger and fries and headed back to the hostel ASAP.  We were able to eat and get ready for bed before the others made it back from dinner. 

Today was definitely an improvement over yesterday, mainly because it was pretty low-key.  I failed to mention earlier that we found a laundry mat a block away shortly after we arrived in Cordoba.  It was only 5 American dollars for a load; a clean bag of laundry is definitely worth that in my book, but I digress.

We woke up around 8 to pick up our laundry at the nearby laundry mat.  Amanda was still not feeling well when we woke up, so I opted to skip out on the morning activities and stay back with her, so she would have more time to rest.  Ana gave her some medicine and gave strict instructions to take it with warm tea.  Amanda and I headed out mid-morning to a café in search of coffee and tea.  We met up with the rest of the group around noon and talked with the dean of the architecture school in Cordoba.  He showed us a few of his projects and shared his philosophy on all things architecture.  Again, it was great to see that his ideas and inspirations parallel the education that I have gotten at Ball State during the past five years.  The most interesting take-away from the conversation was the challenges he faces as an architect, and how they differ from the challenges architects face in America.  This is a result of the differences in culture, economy, and environment.  It was a great privilege to speak with such a talented and renowned architect.  The rest of the day wasn’t too demanding as we ate lunch, stopped for ice cream, and then headed out for a short walking tour of a few significant buildings.  I won’t bore you with the details of the architecture, just know that they were pretty unique, yet successful designs.

Currently I am sitting on an over-night bus to Buenos Aires.  We have to return to the city to catch a flight tomorrow to Santa Cruz, Bolivia.  I was dreading tonight because the idea of sleeping on a bus all night sounds even worse than sleeping on a plane all night.  I have to say though; this is the nicest bus I have ever been on.  The seat I am sitting in rivals the comfort of my favorite recliner at home.  There is even a padded support for my legs.  One thing that I learned on World Tour was to expect the absolute worst in a situation, and then everything that happens is always better than your expectations.  This bus ride is far better than my expectations.  I mean, I have so much space that Paul and I are both using the same arm rest at the same time and we aren’t touching!  Here’s to a restful night’s sleep… hopefully!