Midterm Retreat to Tigre

Wow, I can't believe most of the volunteers in my group are already halfway through their stays! It still feels as if we just arrived.

FSD provides a midterm trip for all volunteers to rotating destinations. Our group went to Tigre, a summer weekend getaway for those trying to escape the chaos and heat of Buenos Aires. Despite our trip being in the middle of winter, we got lucky with some sunshine and weather in the mid-70's! We trip started from the Tren de la Costa, a touristy train that stops at 11 different stations during what would be a 30 minute ride, if taken straight through. The first station is Maipu, in the center of Buenos Aires.

The first stop was just a little station called Borges with a cafe on the outskirts of Buenos Aires (photo, right).

The second, Libertador, featured a shopping mall and kids' arcade, reminiscent of a mix of Chuck-E-Cheese and Dave and Busters.

Next up was Anchorena, where we stopped for coffees and snacks in the surprising sunshine, with a view of the river (photo, left).

Having satisfied our appetites, we dawdled through the antique fair at the next stop, Barrancas, before finally hitting the motherlode stop of services, San Isidro.

Lunch barely fit into the conservative budget FSD had given us for this tourist mecca, but we managed to find some specials that did the trick. Then, we wandered out the the artisan fair, sloping up a large grassy plaza, where a band was performing and the shopping featured a great selection of fun Argentine trinkets:

We finally arrived in Tigre, and checked into the very hotel-like Tigre Hostel, before heading to another fair, the Feria de Frutos, which was only mildly interesting due to the high quantity of junk and cheap-looking accessories and some cool house-stuff, though unfortunately none of us have our own places here (yet!).

Our FSD director, Marcella, cooked dinner for us in the hostel, and we hung out talking and drinking wine until late...

Sunday, we went on a boat tour of the Delta, where our guide pointed out boat supermarkets, an island school, and the vacation houses used by the locals when they're staying on the delta.

An asado (the famous Argentine BBQ) was arranged for lunch...courses of sausage, followed by different cuts of meat and bread were served until the group could stand no more. A small green salad was also given, and to see the look of horror on the server's face, when we asked for more salad as opposed to meat! (For those who are worried, a nice, if uninteresting pasta with a cream sauce was made for me.)

While we awaited the boat to return us to the city, we sunned our bellies and played some futbol, then headed back to La Plata.