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By juliaraewagner

The beginning and end of our section in Buenos Aires was bookended by a stay at the downtown Hotel Bauen. Upon arriving, the hotel seemed like any other hotel in the city. It had a grand lobby, a cafeteria, and wifi.  Our country coordinator, however, was sure to put in the plug that the hotel was not just any ordinary hotel, but that it was in fact, a cooperative business. This means that the Bauen is owned and operated democratically. Every month, the workers meet and make decisions based on their collective opinion of the best plan of action for the hotel. This means that they collective agency over their own working conditions, salaries, and benefits as well.  Further, their profit does not feed in to one person's paycheck, but is either divided evenly or invested back into the hotel.

The Bauen used to operate as a for-profit hotel, under a standard business model. After the financial crisis of 2001, the hotel went under, leaving its employees out of work in a very rough economic climate rife with high unemployment and massive inflation. The workers at this moment decided that they would claim the property as their own and operate it through democratic means. It has been operating ever since as a cooperative business. The Bauen remains unstable because its land ownership continues to be disputed in the national court. Though they manage to pay the bills, they are always threatened with eviction. For instance, we made reservations one month in advance, with the caveat that the hotel might be shut down by the time we arrived.

The Hotel Bauen is not the only cooperatvie business operating in and around Buenos Aires; the city is full of them. Many sprang up during the past financial crisis and have kept hold because the economy has not been looking up in any spectacular way. Cooperatives have proven in some ways more stable here, as they allow their workers to trust each other and mandates that the businesses give back to their employees. Despite their strength and high level of participation, cooperatives have a lot of work to do in the legal sphere. The government has passed some laws to protect them and the properties that many of them have seized, but much work is still needed to ensure that many of these businesses stay open.

By juliaraewagner

As the fifth week in Buenos Aires rolled around and we began to wrap up our end-of-semester lessons, our country coordinator led us through an activity that I found really helpful in "reading" the city. She split us into groups and asked that we each identify four elements of the city, its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Many people have probably heard of this activity as the SWOT exercise and may have used in professional or team-building situations. In our context of urban planning, the exercise helped us to review what we'd studied this semester, but also revealed some interesting quandaries in relation to the city.

Buenos Aires' strengths were obvious. The city has a strong downtown, cheap transportation, a highly educated population, and strong political involvement. We soon noticed, however, that many of these benefits also lead to some issues of their own. For one, the strong downtown that has grown up around the Plaza de Mayo means insane traffic congestion. It is not uncommon to sit on a bus for more than an hour when coming in from downtown. Furthermore, the city lacks a strong road network that runs along the outskirts of the city; most roads leading from North to South run straight through downtown, only adding to the congestion. This has led to a severe division between North and South halves of the city, which is not only a physical, but cultural.

Though few would claim that the portenos' strong political involvement is a weakness, or even a threat, the framework upon which this involvement stands is deteriorating and is prone to collapse. Of the many parties that comprise the political representation in the country, most of these consider themselves "Peronists." Peronism is a political movement that takes its underlying values from the Peron's, perhaps the most popular political figures in all of Argentine history. Juan Peron served as the country's first populist president, and his wife, Eva Peron, won the hearts of the masses. Today, however, Peronism is a blanket statement, that nearly every politician claims in order to gain popular support, though it doesn't necessarily mean that he carries popular sentiment. Many Argentinians claim that this label allows politicians to say they represent one thing, while their policies say another.

Another point of contention in our discussion was the villas, the infamous informal settlements that run along the outskirts of the city. Many have labeled these settlements as a threat to the city. They are known as hotbeds for crime, the black market, and illegal immigrants. Still, further investigations into the villas have revealed that property values are worth the same as some of the most posh neighborhoods in the city. Many legal immigrants as well as people moving in from the outer provinces of Argentina populate these areas because a municipal law requires people lacking strong familial connections in the city from renting their own property. Furthermore, the villas each support their own micro-economies, which subsist despite their lack of formal recognition. Under this light, the villas seem less like a threat and more like an opportunity for Buenos Aires to expand and integrate these densly urbanized areas.

It is discussions like these that have propelled my classes these past four months. Deciphering the strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities in these cities has been incredibly informative and eye-opening. Nothing is ever as simple as it appears at face value, but that makes this field of study vibrant and interesting. I will carry this with me as I continue to "read" more cities.

By juliaraewagner

During this past year abroad, I've had to navigate a solid lifetime's worth of awkward conversations with host families as well as other people who I've met regarding my perceptions of their countries. When this question rolls into conversation, I usually respond with some iteration of the following:

"Oh I just love the people here in [insert country name here]. And the [insert popular national dish here] is so great too!"

It's not for lack of wonderful things in each country that propels me to give this bland response; it's just that developing an understanding for a place takes a lot of time and reflection. I was talking to my homestay brother the other day, however, and he called me out on my typical PC response, saying, "No, really. Why do you even like it here in Buenos Aires?"

I stuttered for a moment, collecting my thoughts. I had never really been forced to articulate what I find so magical about this city, but I'm glad that my host brother prodded me. The following was my response:

"I love the way that every woman here whether 16 or 76 commits to wearing platform shoes because she is not afraid of expressing herself.

I love the pink light that shines on the city in the late afternoon and how it makes the buildings pop in contrast with one another.

I love that while the city is always bustling, people always take enough time to  sit down in a cafe to drink their cup of coffee, rather than carrying it out into the street.

I love how everyone grows gardens on their balconies.

I love how people will take their 3 year olds out to dinner at midnight.

I love how people protest in the streets every single day, if for no other reason than just because they have the political freedom to do so.

I love how graffiti is legal and how every spare wall is painted with a beautiful mural.

I love that, if you look hard enough, you can find an immigrant from almost any country in the world.

I love that the city is devoted to its artists and even subsidizes many cultural events, making them easily accessible with my student budget.

I love that of all the traditions that they've stolen from their Italian immigrant population, they've really managed to get gelato right.

I love that everyone from the Pope to the President addresses people with the word 'che'."

If it had been any other person, I think my response would have been too much information, but as an Argentine, my host brother had a poetic appreciation for it. He smiled and said, "that's the answer I was looking for."

After this yearlong adventure, I am booked to return home in exactly one week from today. In addition to a suitcase full of souvenirs, an SD card of photos, and a year's worth of memories, I hope to carry with me the small beauties of Buenos Aires. I only hope that I can integrate their obsession for art, their staunch insistence for expression, and their appreciation for taking time for small moments of the day.