A Day Off

Today is Saturday and we did not have classes, so I planned to spend the day with my host, Nani. I slept in this morning until about 8:00. We had breakfast and then headed off to the Estevez Museum. In honor of the bicentennial of the country, the museum was offering a walking tour about the history of Rosario and how it related to the country's independence. We had had a similar tour on Wednesday with a guide from UCEL. That tour was in English, and today's was in Spanish. It was a very good listening activity for me.

We arrived a little early so we took some time to look at the special exhibit in the museum. Mate is an Argentine drink, somewhat like a tea. It is consumed from a specific type of cup called a Mate. The exhibit at the museum was of Mates in porcelain. It was quite interesting and some of them were very beautiful. The tour began at 10:30, so we joined the guide just outside the museum. She explained much of the history of the buildings around the Plaza de Mayo. The Estevez Museum was actually the former home of Firma and Odilo Estevez in the early to mid 20th century. Senora Estevez bequeathed the mansion and its collection to the city of Rosario when she died at the age of 90. The mansion was acquired by the city in 1966 and opened as a museum in 1968.

After our visit at the museum, Nani and I continued on to Cordova and San Martin Streets for a bit of a shopping adventure. In class, I heard about the special cookies made at the Havanna Cafe with dulce de leche, so we stopped there first to get some of those famous cookies. Delicious!!! Then we were on the way to search for boots, a CD and a book on Argentine history. We stopped for lunch at El Cairo. Nani said it is one of the oldest bars in Rosario. It was very nice and the food was very good. Our waitress was kind enough to take our picture. We took the bus back to the apartment, since it was easier to do that than to walk with packages.

Tomorrow, the group from UCEL is off to Buenos Aires. We'll visit an Argentine ranch, watch a tango show and have a tour of the city. We return to Rosario late Monday night. Tuesday May 25th is the National Holiday, but this year it will be even more special as Argentina celebrates 200 years of independence.

Hasta martes! I'll write more on Tuesday.