After surviving the W Trek in Patagonia we were ready to tackle our next project as well as hopefully relax our legs. Well, the relaxing our legs part didn´t happen. What we originally thought was going to be “community development” ended up being construction, our favorite…
We volunteered in the beautiful city of Buenos Aires (BA), Argentina. The project was located in Barrio (neighborhood) Rodrigo Bueno and involved helping the local organization at the neighborhood´s community center. The location in and of itself was quite spectacular. Rodrigo Bueno is a low-income community, similar to the projects in America, nestled only a few miles away from the wealthiest neighborhood you can find in BA, Puerto Madero. When standing on the roof of the community center (where most of our construction work was done), we had a view of the low-income neighborhood and the multi-million dollar skyscrapers in Puerto Madero – an unfortunate dichotomy between rich and poor that exists in many cities throughout the world.
Although our hostel was located in a not-so-safe neighborhood and the room was basically a jail cell, we felt at home when working at the project site. The employees of the local organization greeted us with warm welcomes and immediately treated us like family. The people who lived in the neighboorhood were always friendly and even invited us to their weekly futbol matches. Don’t worry, we repped America well and went undefeated until Nate (naturally) got injured. Hence why I had to cart him around in a wheelchair during our weekend trip to Iguazu Falls…
Our days consisted of lugging 1,000+ bricks up dangerously uneven stairwells, carting around and shoveling wheelbarrows of sand for mixing concrete, trying to understand our two leaders (who didn’t speak a lick of English), and distributing food to the local families. In addition to subsidized meals, the local organization that we worked with serves as a hub of help for the neighborhood. From healthcare services to food and shelter, they selflessly dedicate their days to providing for their community. One morning we arrived and ten homes had flooded from the rising river levels. New mattresses and blankets were provided for every family within 12 hours due to the organization’s relationship with the government.
This particular project was extra special, as were the friendly faces who joined us during our time in Argentina. We were extremely fortunate that one of Nate’s best friends from The U was a BA local (love you Laura!). BA is one of those cities where you really want to know someone to find the hot spots that you wouldn’t have otherwise found. We were also blessed to cross paths with another Hurricane homie who was on Remote Year (keep crushin’ it Suz!). To top it all off we were able to convince our noncommittal parents to come spend time with their angelic children. The Three Musketeers (Ross, Kathy, and Clementine) joined us for a week filled with every tourist trap possible, jamming out to a ridiculous drum show (you must go – La Bomba de Tiempo), hilarious dinner topics, and repeated wedding inquiries (still no plans peeps). Neither of us had traveled consistently for this long so getting to hang with our parents while away was the cherry on top.
From hanging with close friends and family, to becoming part of a new BA family and community, our experience here was nothing short of phenomenal. The people we worked with and met have a special place in our hearts and we look forward to reuniting again in the future.
Thanks for treating us so well BA, off to Brazil for our first Carnaval!
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