¡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! :)
A - Hola, Audrey! We have really enjoyed your blogs so far, and I have finally worked out our problems with posting. We have made a list of countries where we have lived or visited: Costa Rica, Mexico (Progreso, Cozumel, Cabo San Lucas, Playa del Carmen, Acapulco), Indonesia, Japan, Canada. We have been to many places, but here are some questions about your adventures!
ReplyDelete1 - Are the people (especially the young women) attractive there? What do the people look like (generally) compared to other places you have travelled (taller, shorter, darker, lighter)? Do the women and girls wear makeup and fix their hair similarly to people in the U.S.? We saw that you said the people dress in darker clothing, but do they dress more formally or casually than here?
2 - What is the shopping like there? What have you been shopping for? Are prices for clothing similar to prices here in the U.S.?
3 - Are there sales taxes on everything?
4 - Have you had a chance to see many animals (other than dogs)? Have you been to a zoo and seen animals that would seem odd or foreign to us? And what are the most common breeds of dogs that you see there in Buenos Aires?
5 – We have seen pictures of Buenos Aires and seen that it is HUGE, but we have also heard that the people do not go shopping for groceries like we do (at Wal-Mart, in bulk). Are there corner markets in all of the neighborhoods for daily shopping of a few items?
My classes would love to see lots of pictures! ¡Chau!
Hola chicos! I am glad you are enjoying the blog so far! I will try to share some pictures with you in future posts!
ReplyDeleteHere are the answers to your questions!
1- Yes there are some pretty young women here. I actually had the opportunity to visit Argentina's show of Dancing with the Stars and the dancers there were very pretty. The people here in general are petite. In fact, i don't know about men but for women it is more difficult to find shoe sizes over a US 9 or for pants an 8 or 10. The majority have darker tanned skin and dark features (hair, eyes, etc.). The hair and make up styles I have not noticed any differences in. But for the style, especially here in Buenos Aires, people like to dress up and present themselves well. It is not common to see people in tennis shoes or t-shirts or sweatshirts. From my perspective, Argentines are very fashion conscious. That being said...
2- The shopping here is awesome! Girls, or guys too, if you like to shop for clothes Buenos Aires is a very good place to do it! I walk about 12 blocks to class everyday and practically the whole walk is passing by clothing stores. The prices in the majority of these stores are similar to prices at clothing stores in the U.S. If you would rather shop in market areas for artisan items there are also good places to do that in and around Buenos Aires. For example, the San Telmo barrio of BsAs has a market every weekend where you can buy touristy items and the prices are cheaper than in stores. El Tigre, about 40 minutes outside of BsAs, also has a very good market for shopping. I have mostly looked at scarves, bags, and jewelry. I have not bought a lot yet, I'm trying to keep my eyes open for stuff that I really want before I leave here to move on to Peru.
3- I could be wrong but I don't believe I have been charged sales tax on any of the items I have bought so far.
4- Other than dogs, there is no shortage of pigeons here in the city. They are everywhere! I have not visited a zoo yet but it is on my to-do list while I am here. When I traveled to Iguazu Falls (waterfalls on the border of Argentina and Brazil) I saw a lot of exotic birds and an animal called a "cuanti" that is similar to a raccoon. There was a lot of them and they are not shy! If you have food with you watch out because they will try to steal it!
5- Shopping and buying in bulk is not common here at all...nor are there many stores that offer a one stop shop like Walmart. There actually are 3 walmarts in Argentina but surprisingly they are not in Buenos Aires. Stores are more by category. If you want to buy meat, you go to one store, if you want bread you go to another, fruit, you go to another store. People here shop for foods more on a daily basis than a weekly basis like in the U.S. I have noticed that pharmacies are on every block it seems like as are kiosks where you can buy snacks, gum, drinks, etc.
Hope this answers your questions! I will try to share some pictures soon! Hasta Luego!
Audrey -
ReplyDeleteWe hope that you had a great weekend in Córdoba! We can't wait to hear all about it!