By Sina, a 2L at Yale Law School

Do not be fooled by appearance. That is the first lesson Buenos Aires, Argentina taught this chica. Sure, I was enchanted by the large luscious steaks, the ubiquitous fine wine, the gorgeous people, and stately buildings. I wanted to believe in a place where a five course dinner costs 30 pesos (US$15) and where I could spend all afternoon in a spa, exit manicured, waxed, and massaged for less than 18 pesos (US$6). But in the end, sometimes the sweet smell is exactly what tells you something has gone terribly sour.

For instance, when I first landed in this city I was astounded by the number of women in the law. Of the roughly fourteen lawyers I work with at Asociacion Civil por la Igualidad y la Justicia (ACIJ) only five are men. All the interns are women. Argentina has two women on its 9 justice Supreme Court. Women make up 61.4% of the faculty at the University of Buenos Aires Law School (UBA). Six out of every ten of the law students at UBA are women. Can the law really smell this sweet?

My argentine sisters in law have sadly warned me not too be too optimista. All three of the directors of ACIJ are male. Entry level positions at UBA are unpaid. And, while women make up the vast majority of the entry, arguably fairly undesirable, positions, men make up the vast majority of the equivalent of what is best equated with our tenured faculty positions in the U.S. Turns out women in Argentina are talking as well about how to bust through that disquietingly universal glass ceiling, techo de cristal.

For now, I cannot tell a lie: the steak and wine is divine, and I work in an office brimming with wonderful women.

Saludos de Buenos Aires, AR.

Sina, 2L at Yale Law School