¡Hola Chicos!
I hope that you have all enjoyed the first few days of class. I have been here in Buenos Aires for almost three weeks now. To begin, I am going to share with you some of the general observations I have made since I have been here in Argentina and how they relate to the United States and the rest of Latin America.
Pero, primero yo quiero preguntarles ¿Habían viajado afuera de los Estados Unidos? ¿Adónde?
Every country outside of the United States is unique in its own culture, atmosphere and environment, history, the list is endless. If you have the opportunity to travel abroad for work, study, volunteering, vacation, etc. I encourage you to do so!
But, to discuss specifically Argentina and Buenos Aires, here are some characteristics that have stood out to me.
-La Gente-
The people here in Buenos Aires are nice, son amables. But, the idea of “politeness” here is noticeably different from that in the United States. The fact that this is a huge city may play some role in this. The people, without meaning to, can seem overly direct, and at times even aggressive with their words when explaining something or giving a command. However, as I have had it explained to me, forwardness here is a cultural concept and not meant to be impolite.
-El Concepto de Espacio-
The concept of space here in Buenos Aires, like the rest of Latin America and other places throughout the world, is extremely different from that in the United States. Your “personal bubble” does not exist. People in lines, for example, will stand much closer to one another than in the U.S. It’s the same on buses, trains, or simply when talking in a group of people.
-Saludos-
Similarly, people also greet each other in a closer and more embracing manner. There is no such thing as shaking hands. It does not matter if you are meeting someone for the first time or they are your best friend, you greet someone or say goodbye to someone by leaning into the left side of the other person’s face and kissing their cheek. In some places in northern Argentina, the greeting is the same but with kissing on both cheeks. I believe it is this way in Spain as well.
-El Concepto del Tiempo-
It can also be noted that the concept of time in Argentina and Latin America is more relaxed than in the United States. In the U.S. many times people are constantly rushing to accomplish their next task, leisure activities are cut short, and meals are a rushed event. However, here it is common for people to take time to enjoy their activities and their meals they share with family and friends on more of an everyday basis. This counts for restaurants or for meals at home. While this is probably more evident outside of large cities, it is still very evident here in Buenos Aires. You can say the lifestyle is “más tranquila.”
Finally, here are a few random things that I, myself, have found interesting about Buenos Aires.
*The people here dress in a lot of dark colors. I do not know the reason behind this, if there is one, but it is just something I have noticed.
*The education at the college level here is free when attending a public university. Imagine if universities in the U.S. were “gratis.”
*Plastic surgery is covered here under regular medical plans. That is you can easily have plastic surgery done at low cost without a need for it, such as reconstruction.
*Perros. Porteños (the people of Buenos Aires) love their dogs. Watch out for the dog walkers with groups of 10 to 15 dogs that take up the sidewalk or for poop that is always on the sidewalks..everywhere!
¡Nos hablamos pronto! :)
