PHOTO GALLERY
Prior to the spring semester beginning, the Harvard field hockey team has traveled to Argentina for an international trip. Below are blog posts from members of the team after their first two days.
DAY ONE - Clare McClintock - Sophomore
Yesterday, after nearly a full day of travel, we arrived in Buenos Aires. The warm weather is definitely an improvement from Cambridge's single digit temps. We got to our beautiful hotel, rested briefly, then went to an amazing lunch on the river. Almost everyone ordered the steak; Argentina is famous for its incredible meat. After lunch we did some touring on the river and then saw the Plaza de Mayo. This touring was followed by a grueling workout with Rutger and then dinner in a pizza restaurant near our hotel. After dinner we all basically fell asleep, exhausted from the traveling and touring.
DAY TWO - Madison Jung - Junior; Catriona McDonald - Senior; Kyla Cordrey - Sophomore
Today we enjoyed our first full day in Buenos Aires. After our "wake up" – morning jog – with Rutger, we then took a trip to the trendy neighborhood of Palermo Soho, where we ambled around the local markets and bought handmade souvenirs. After spending three hours wandering in the sunshine, soaking in the culture and eating lunch we hopped back onto the bus to return to the hotel.
After a short period of rest, we left to travel to the local Club Italiano for our first game. The club was a short bus ride away and after arriving we were welcomed by the head coach of the women's team. We started off with a short practice since many of us had not touched a stick since our last game – a win against Columbia. After practice we took to the field for our first match against Club Italiano's First Women's team. We won 4-2 and everyone thoroughly enjoyed being back playing the game we love. After the game, we shook hands and celebrated the camaraderie between the teams.
Club Italiano kindly invited us to join them for a post-game barbecue in their club house. We consumed vast amounts of delicious local meat – an Argentinian specialty. We were also offered 'blood sausages' which some of us kindly declined while others embraced. We had so much fun getting to know the local team and their families. We were astounded by the young children's ability to translate our earnest attempts at speaking Spanish. Although it was not easy to engaging in conversation with our new friends, it was a great experience and we learned so much about Argentinian culture.
