1. Notes: 14 / 2 years ago 

   PUERTO MADERO

   What can I say - it’s one hell of a photogenic city down here. WIth December it looks like summer’s rolling around, so that week or two of clouds, rain, and really some surprising cold, the weather has really opened up beautifully. Sure the sun has been shining, the air has been warm, and the occasional breeze shakes things up a little but, but what made the other day in Puerto Madero so special was the abundance of clouds in the sky - perfect for some pictures if you ask me.

   Puerto Madero is the newest district in Buenos Aires, not more than five or so years old. It’s located on the city’s eastern edge, next to the old ecological preserve, an absolutely enormous and beautiful park-area along “the river,” the very dirty Rio de la Plata. But that doesn’t matter, except yes I suppose some of the pictures would be nicer if the water running through the port wasn’t a disgusting brown. But no matter.

   More relevantly, Puerto Madero is actually turning into one of my favorite districts in the city. Ultimately there’s really very little to do over here, but I think it’s absolutely splendid. With all the money they’re throwing at the place, there are ultra-modern skyscrapers scattered everywhere with a lot of new and interesting hotels and a few shops as well. The main touristy area runs along the little water-channel separating most of the district from Central, where there are a bunch of (not cheap) restaurants along the walk-way.

   Besides the grandiosity and majesty of the new skyscrapers - and the distraction of the constant construction everywhere - what I find most incredible about Puerto Madero are the numerous and vast planned parks that are dotted all over the area. For some reason, it’s usually quite empty out there - well, probably because no one can afford to live there and there’s really nothing to do - so the parks are quite magnificent.

   There really is an overwhelming sense of newness, and being as of yet untouched or unscathed by the usual Buenos Aires’ pollution, constant movement, and abundance of people. It’s quite beautiful and serene, definitely a sterile, yet fresh, little bubble all on its own in a city with a huge sense of history and personality. My new favorite building in this city, as a matter of fact, is incredible because of the way it reflects the cloudy sky while overlooking what is also my new favorite park (as seen above). Anyway that is why I love it out there, especially on a beautiful day, so I hope you take some time to try to understand some of that through the photos.

   Also included in this album is Central and a bit of the Monserrat district, which are full of people during the weekdays and on the way, by foot, to Puerto madero. The Playa de Mayo with the Pink Palace, the latter being the analogous White House and the former being the square in front of it that usually serves as the birth of any and all protests in the city, can also be seen.

2. Notes

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So I, Sean Kesluk, left Los Angeles for a 6 month adventure abroad in Europe and South America. After a few weeks studying the Deutsch in Freiburg, Germany, it's two months up north in Hamburg working for the city's Jewish community center. After a brief foray into Sweden, I'll head South to Buenos Aires for some Spanish classes and volunteer work in a La Boca soup kitchen. After that it's back home to the States and national service with AmeriCorps NCCC. With a month of training at the VA medical campus in Perry Point, MD, it 's off to Baltimore for my first project, two months working for The Samaritan Women, a non-profit renovating a hundred-year-old mansion to use as a transitional home for women in recovery from heroin addiction and human trafficking, in addition to expanding a farm/urban garden to distribute produce to soup kitchens, shelters, and those in nutritional poverty. The second project will see us down in New Orleans, LA doing post-Katrina work with The Phoenix of New Orleans, a non-profit which renovates homes for Lower Mid-City homeowners who can't afford to do so.

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