Week 39: My Favorite Argentine Walk

Most days after work I like to take a walk to a nearby plaza where I run or walk.  Part of the fun is the walk to the plaza.  I cross into another neighborhood that is one of the riches around meaning that there are many beautiful homes and gardens.  There is a grocery store near the plaza as well where I like to shop because it usually has a better selection than the grocery stores nearby. 

The plaza is about 10 blocks away from the church where I live.  I enjoy taking these walks because there are may different types of houses and it is one of the greener areas around with lots of pretty trees along the road plus landscaping and gardens in the yards of most of the houses.  

This is the view from my apartment window (I live on the second floor).  There is a patio that belongs to the church and where most of the children's program activities take place.  When the weather is nice we bring tables and chair outside and enjoy our after church lunch there.

This cute little girl is also one of the main sights I see when heading out for a walk.  She is my neighbor and plays outside on the second floor balcony with all of her toys.  Eire likes to show me her toys and tell me the names of her pet cats.  She also like to escort me to my apartment door.  She is the granddaughter of one of my supervisors at church (Cristina) so she sometimes helps us in the kitchen when we are making the pizza for Sunday lunch.  She is such a precious little girl and it is fun to be her neighbor.  

This is the Ballester bridge that crosses the train tracks and leads to the one way street which I live on.  It is located about a block from the church and I cross it almost everyday coming back from work at MAMA.  It is a very busy bridge and when I go on my walks I sometimes have to wait almost 5 minutes before I can cross here.  

Now I am entering into the nice neighborhood.  Trees start to line the sidewalk and the homes are bigger.  I always walk by this glass shop and enjoy looking in the window at the many frames, mirrors, and windows.  

This is a physical rehabilitation center in the neighborhood and I always take pleasure in the style of the pretty blue building.  

It is now fall meaning that I get to savor the golden fall afternoons with colored and decomposing leaves.  This stretch of sidewalk passes by two fancy churches.  

This is a Baptist church that I find charming and it has a nice soccer field in back for the kids to enjoy.  

This is one of many houses along my usual walk that I enjoy looking at.  It is one of the largest in the area with four floors and a cool turning staircase to enter into the front door.  I walk by all of these amazing houses and wonder what they look like inside, who lives there, and how much they are worth.  This area is such a night and day difference from the area of the MAMA comedor where most people are living in small structures that they built with their own two hands out of things they could find laying around.  It is crazy to be able to see such wealth disparities within less than 20 minutes of each other. 

More houses

A local gym that I pass by which is always hopping with people

Pretty trees

Cool old fashioned mailbox

Tiny red car

Lot for sale

Secondary School

So finally we have made it to the plaza.  The plaza, as you can see above, is called plaza mitre and it is one of the only semi-green spaces around.  It is a pretty dirty park due to the fact that so many people spend time here.  Lots of people come to meet with friends, drink mate, exercise, and let their kids play at the small play ground or marry-go-round.  

Plaza Mitre

This is the main fire station located across from the plaza.  I often hear their whistles going off from my apartment.

This neighborhood has a lot of people from German decent living in it.  This sign means that the resident breeds German shepherds which must be a popular dog in the area.  I sometimes see the gentleman that lives there leaving with a cute German shepherd dog. 

This is the border of the plaza where I usually run or walk

In the center of the plaza there are benches and a small basketball court

The grocery store I frequent.  My boss' wife from MAMA is actually a store manager here so sometime I run into her here.

And the South American plaza just won't be complete without a monument dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

So I hope you all can get a little feel for one of the nearby neighborhoods that I like to walk through.  It is always a nice quite time after a sometimes long day of playing with screaming kids.  This walk helps me unwind from the day and deal with the harsh realities of this world that I see day to day at the MAMA comedor.