Argentina: Buenos Aires (& the 2018 World Cup)

On an ordinary Saturday morning, I teach classes until 11am. Last Saturday, however, I did not teach during the last hour of my normal schedule for two main reasons: 

1. Chinese students were finishing exam week, beginning summer vacation, and celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival; therefore, there was less demand for English classes. 
2. Argentina debuted at 10am in the 2018 World Cup.  

My shortened schedule turned out to be a win-win situation, as it allowed me to watch the full match and also kept me from having to explain all of the excess background noises to my students, i.e. emotional shouting at the television screen, noisemakers including firecracker-type explosives thrown in the streets, communal cheering, loud clapping, etc. Like the U.S., China did not qualify for this World Cup, and most of my students have not expressed interest. My level of interest is not quite on par with that of the average Argentine, but it was still nice to sit together and analyze the Argentine players' great ability to pass the ball to each other and complete lack of desire to take shots on goal. As we ate breakfast, we watched Argentina play to a 1-1 tie against Iceland, a result which produced headlines that gave way too much credit to Iceland. 

Argentina has its second game this afternoon against Croatia, and the general consensus is that if anyone tries to do anything besides watch the match between the hours of 3-5pm, they are out of their mind. In class this morning, a student informed me that Australia and Denmark were currently playing. Feeding off of his comment, I told him that Argentina would play later in the day, to which he responded, "Yeah, but Argentina only has Messi." Taking no offense, I accepted the fact that he prefers Brazil and continued on with the class. 

Today we will watch the game while in Argentina, and we will catch Argentina's last game in the group round while on a layover. By the time the final rounds commence we will have arrived to Minnesota. Yes! We finally have Emi's passport in hand and are able to travel. 

In honor of it being Game Day, I will close with some photos of a few iconic landmarks in Buenos Aires. Vamos, Argentina!

Photo op at the obelisk in the middle of the widest avenue in the world.

Different angle, same obelisk.

Buenos Aires is host to the Youth Olympic Games in October of this year.

The "Casa Rosada," or Pink House - Argentina's equivalent to the U.S.'s White House.

Congress Building

Teatro Colón - where you will be charged 4 times more for a tour if you admit to being a non-Argentine.
I only have photos of the exterior, for obvious reasons.