La Estancia Santa Susana, located roughly an hour outside the city of Buenos Aires, was our break from big city life. After exiting the highway we were greeted by bright pink buildings and sprawling land, an oasis away from the bustling city. While the surrounding area developed, Santa Susana’s nearly 3000 acres remained, a peek into Argentina’s guacho history.

We toured the pink house as well as the chapel, which provided confession to the families. Pictures scattered throughout the house gave a glimpse into the people that used to live and ranch here. There was an abundance of crosses and religious figures, showing the integral role of Catholicism in the daily lives of Argentinians.

After touring the home, we were offered empanadas and wine (yes, at 11:30 in the morning). Beef empanadas for those so inclined and humita (mashed corn) for those not. We devoured our snacks and were ushered towards the horse arena. The pen was filled with stocky polo horses ranging in color and size. Once atop the los caballos (with a jsa sound) we set forth to take a loop around some of the land. Although it was cloudy, windy and a touch chilly the land was flat and vast, not unlike the Midwest. Wagon rides were also offered and provided a faster (and bumpier) tour of some of Santa Susana’s grounds.

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Lunch was next on our agenda and we were directed into a large dining facility. However before entering, we walked through where the meat was being cooked. Later seven variations of this meat was served, but instead for me, I was given a cheese omelette of sorts on a bed of rice. We were treated to live music as well as traditional tango and Northern Argentina dance.

Our final event at la Estancia was a guacho show. The cowboys rode around the ring herding groups of horses and performing tricks like picking up a ring while galloping. They even took us for rides cantering, and in some cases galloping *cough cough Leah* around.

The festivities concluded and we boarded the bus to return to the city. It was a fun day for all and an interesting look into a different aspect of Argentine life. Thus far, it has been my favorite day. Being on the ranch made me realize the similarities between gaucho culture and culture of Western cowboys and that maybe we weren’t so far away from home.

Friday’s adventure was an interesting cultural experience as we explored two of the most prolific art collections I have ever seen. Our first stop was the National Museum of Fine Arts, a collection of 215 permanent works of art housed in one of the most heavily guarded places we’ve been so far. With an art history general education class under my belt, I was able to appreciate some of the Renaissance and Impressionist works displayed in the gallery and other works that were inspired by Carravagio, Van Gogh, and Pueyrredon. My favorite Pueyrredon work was a larger than life sized portrait of Manuelita Rosas, a revered Argentinian political figure and daughter of Juan Manuel de Rosas. I learned that Pueyrredon was a key figure in the design and fabrication of the May Pyramid in Plaza de Mayo, a monument that has been at the center of our adventures in Buenos Aires. In the contemporary collection, I enjoyed that the pieces focused on great detail but when you took a step back the artwork revealed a completely different pictures. My favorite piece from the contemporary collection, for obvious reasons, was a piece entitled “Escuchando a Bruce Springsteen.”

Our second stop was a collection of artwork in the National Museum of Decorative Arts which was housed in a French style mansion that was designed to be the retirement quarters for a wealthy Latin American military family. I thought it was interesting to see the size and intricacy of 19th and early 20th century mansion; the building looked like something from a Disney fairytale yet it was completed in 1916. This place, just as the MNBA, was heavily guarded which I found to be interesting given the minimum security nature of some of the museums and historical sites in the United States. There was somewhat of an artwork overload in this collection which made it difficult for me to able to take everything in.

Overall it was a very interesting day that ended with dinner at the local shopping center Kentucky Fried Chicken. The steak and Italian food has been wonderful, but sometimes you just need that unique taste of home!