Argentine Flag
The most exciting part of this trip is the amount of time I am able to stay i
n one new place. Before leaving San Diego, this was the one thought that constantly consumed my mind: I was not just going on vacation for a few days or weeks, but rather moving to a foreign country in a different continent for a few months! Living in San Diego was an amazing paradise for me for so long, but after the routine of work, a comfortable lifestyle and all the geography becoming normal, I craved that excitement of "newness" again, of being surrounded by a foreign atmosphere. I wanted to shake up my world and have a whole bunch more of new "firsts."
Buenos Aires has definitel
y done just that so far. Its so rad to live somewhere and have time to get to know the people and area. Since I can remember, I have always had the desire to study abroad. After hosting foreign exchange students from Germany in high school, my fascination with other countries and the size of this world grew. Being a foreigner in a different land seemed so exciting to me. I remember it being so difficult to communicate all of my American ideals and cultural characteristics to my new German friends as we came from such different places with such different ideas about the world. My impression of them, however, was positive because of how well they could speak my language, tell me about my country and my culture, all by the time they were 16. I felt inferior at the time and knew that I needed to be out in the world learning all that I could about everything there was!
So here I am, a foreigner visiting Buenos Aires and sta
ying for more than just a few days, and I am realizing this is not as easy to learn all there is so quickly. Also, the welcoming attitude I had for the Germans is not as prevelant here. I am finally a foreigner though: everywhere I go, people stare at my blonde hair and my unusual clothing, they can’t understand my Spanish and some of them just speak to me in English as I keep talking to them in Spanish. If I had come here for a week like I have done in the past in most other cities, I would have missed so much. I probably would have paid a lot of money to see an average Tango show, ate some awesome Argentine beef, went to a couple of crazy clubs until 8AM and ran around and to see all of the major landmarks like el Obilisco (a tall vertical structure that looks like the Washington monument in DC), la Casa Rosada (the “pink house” in Spanish, is like our “White House” in the States) and maybe a few others. I would have taken cabs around to experience the insane driving of Porteños, and probably would have had the honor to experience a cab driver drive me in circles, in the wrong direction, then over charge me because my spanish was crappy and didn't have time to develop and be able to yell at the cab driver. I would have noticed the pollution, the crime, then probably would have gotten robbed and became sick. At the end, I would leave with a bad attitude towards the city of Buenos Aires and its asshole citizens.
Well, that has pretty much all already happened (with exception with being robbed, luckily, but other student weren't so lucky. I did have the privilege of experiencing a shady taxi driver taking me to a dark park one night instead of home where he parked and I had to yell at him to take me home. For some reason, he did, thank god!). The difference is that I am not leaving yet. I have only been here for three weeks and I don’t leave until November 3. I go to school here, and I live with people in their home that have lived here their whole lives. I walk to school and have experiences that I would never have if I was a tourist for a few days.
n one new place. Before leaving San Diego, this was the one thought that constantly consumed my mind: I was not just going on vacation for a few days or weeks, but rather moving to a foreign country in a different continent for a few months! Living in San Diego was an amazing paradise for me for so long, but after the routine of work, a comfortable lifestyle and all the geography becoming normal, I craved that excitement of "newness" again, of being surrounded by a foreign atmosphere. I wanted to shake up my world and have a whole bunch more of new "firsts."Buenos Aires has definitel
y done just that so far. Its so rad to live somewhere and have time to get to know the people and area. Since I can remember, I have always had the desire to study abroad. After hosting foreign exchange students from Germany in high school, my fascination with other countries and the size of this world grew. Being a foreigner in a different land seemed so exciting to me. I remember it being so difficult to communicate all of my American ideals and cultural characteristics to my new German friends as we came from such different places with such different ideas about the world. My impression of them, however, was positive because of how well they could speak my language, tell me about my country and my culture, all by the time they were 16. I felt inferior at the time and knew that I needed to be out in the world learning all that I could about everything there was!So here I am, a foreigner visiting Buenos Aires and sta
ying for more than just a few days, and I am realizing this is not as easy to learn all there is so quickly. Also, the welcoming attitude I had for the Germans is not as prevelant here. I am finally a foreigner though: everywhere I go, people stare at my blonde hair and my unusual clothing, they can’t understand my Spanish and some of them just speak to me in English as I keep talking to them in Spanish. If I had come here for a week like I have done in the past in most other cities, I would have missed so much. I probably would have paid a lot of money to see an average Tango show, ate some awesome Argentine beef, went to a couple of crazy clubs until 8AM and ran around and to see all of the major landmarks like el Obilisco (a tall vertical structure that looks like the Washington monument in DC), la Casa Rosada (the “pink house” in Spanish, is like our “White House” in the States) and maybe a few others. I would have taken cabs around to experience the insane driving of Porteños, and probably would have had the honor to experience a cab driver drive me in circles, in the wrong direction, then over charge me because my spanish was crappy and didn't have time to develop and be able to yell at the cab driver. I would have noticed the pollution, the crime, then probably would have gotten robbed and became sick. At the end, I would leave with a bad attitude towards the city of Buenos Aires and its asshole citizens.Well, that has pretty much all already happened (with exception with being robbed, luckily, but other student weren't so lucky. I did have the privilege of experiencing a shady taxi driver taking me to a dark park one night instead of home where he parked and I had to yell at him to take me home. For some reason, he did, thank god!). The difference is that I am not leaving yet. I have only been here for three weeks and I don’t leave until November 3. I go to school here, and I live with people in their home that have lived here their whole lives. I walk to school and have experiences that I would never have if I was a tourist for a few days.
Exploring
The one thing I would not have been able to do as a short staying tourist is finding all of the holes
in the wall and gems amongst a million cafes, bars, nights clubs and stores. A majority of them are shit: too expensive, geared towards Americans and terrible quality! There are so many cool ferias (fairs) and cool areas to check out for locally made clothes, jewlery, food, mate (a tea very popular here) accesories, and anything else you can think of. I checked out the area of La Boca with some of my friends in the group a few weekends ago. We came across this awesome park called Parque Lezama with a little "feria de arte" with vendors selling some of the coolest art and hand made crafts that I have seen yet. Mate is huge here, so there are a ton of hand made accesories for the hobby. I spent the day getting to know some new friends like Veronica, Brittany and Sara. Veronica and I clicked right away. She's laid back, interesting and looking to have fun. Most of the people are on this trip, which is awesome! We sat at this cool little spot watching locals play with their kids and relax in the sun. This is also a pretty poverty stickened area so there were a lot of homeless children sleeping around us. The class system is so separated here with the economy being in the condition it is that people are starving on the streets right in front of others that walk by. The homeless seem to have way less here than the bums I am used to seeing walk around Ocean Beach.
The one thing I would not have been able to do as a short staying tourist is finding all of the holes
in the wall and gems amongst a million cafes, bars, nights clubs and stores. A majority of them are shit: too expensive, geared towards Americans and terrible quality! There are so many cool ferias (fairs) and cool areas to check out for locally made clothes, jewlery, food, mate (a tea very popular here) accesories, and anything else you can think of. I checked out the area of La Boca with some of my friends in the group a few weekends ago. We came across this awesome park called Parque Lezama with a little "feria de arte" with vendors selling some of the coolest art and hand made crafts that I have seen yet. Mate is huge here, so there are a ton of hand made accesories for the hobby. I spent the day getting to know some new friends like Veronica, Brittany and Sara. Veronica and I clicked right away. She's laid back, interesting and looking to have fun. Most of the people are on this trip, which is awesome! We sat at this cool little spot watching locals play with their kids and relax in the sun. This is also a pretty poverty stickened area so there were a lot of homeless children sleeping around us. The class system is so separated here with the economy being in the condition it is that people are starving on the streets right in front of others that walk by. The homeless seem to have way less here than the bums I am used to seeing walk around Ocean Beach. 
Yo
Veronica Watson
Health
In anthropology the other day we discussed an article that delt with an American Anthropologist who lived amogst a small indigenous group and actually helped this group with westernized medicine methods. This led into a debate over the conception of health cross-culturally and how different cultures perceive different ideas of what is healthy, how to take care of oneself and methods of treating ailments. In Buenos Aires, the lifestyle is way different than what we consider healthy in California, or the USA in general. From their diet, to their sleeping habits, to their pollution: it's all pretty hardcore! I have eaten more sugar in three weeks than I probably have all year back home. Dulce de Leche is everywhere, in every food and can be eaten anytime of the day. "Medialunas" (spanish for "half moon") is the name for croissants here and they are another staple. Only most of them are glazed in sugar. Lots of meat. Everything is ham and cheese, chicken, beef, milanesa, lengue, cured meats, pork-one of these must be included in all snacks and meals for them to be sufficient. Pizza, panchos (hotdogs), and papa fritas (potato chips) are junk food snacks. Empandas are everywhere in every shape, too! Aside from food, most people do not eat before 9 PM here. I see people eating dinner as late as 2 AM. Its completely normal to see large groups of people walking home from bars and clubs at 8 AM from Wednesday to Saturday. The air, as I have mentioned before, is not "Bueno." Its hard to breathe here sometimes. The back of your throat is constantly seared from the smog from vehicles and pollution all over the streets. During the winter it only makes walking around more miserable. Trash is thrown everywhere. Smoking is also everywhere! It is supposed to be illegal to smoke inside clubs and restaurants, but most clubs don't follow this. When your in clubs, they are filled with a cloud of cigarette (and often other kinds) smoke! It makes you feel drained and suffocated. Smoking is not the taboo it is in the states. People openly smoke and blow it in your face while your talking to them, people smoke while they're kissing you, cab drivers smoke while they drive you, and people just walk down the streets smoking like chimneys and throwing just toss their butts on the ground. And there is definitely no CalPIRG environmentalists standing on the corner telling people about their effects on the environment! Instead people are more concered with why you have your feet on their furniture! (Apparently it is also rude to sleep in public here, at school or anywhere! oh how us Americans got pissed when we were sat down and told that couches are not for resting, but rather for sitting. Imagine that. . . )
The lifestyle caught up to everyone on the group. Every one of us got sick already. A few of us had the pleasure of getting really sick and being taken to the hospital. I was one of these lucky people. I woke up with a fever last week and couldn't breathe out of my nose. It sucked. I had to spend a few days just sleeping to stay semi-functionable. I couldn't do too much, had to miss school and salsa classes. I got to go to the hospital and experience their medical system. Luckily it was a private hospital. I am not sure exactly how their system works, but unlike the United States, I was seen in a private hospital without their membership. I walked in without an appointment, waited in one check in line for 5 minutes, then sat and waited for only 20 minutes to see a doctor, where he checked me out and diagnosed me with patience and without rushing me out of the office. After, he diagnosed me with a sinus infection and gave me three presciptions: two antibiotics and 1 nasal spray. All of this, with no Argentine insurance, only costed me US$83. It was $33 to see the doctor (I pay a $15 copay alone in the States, half the cost) and $50 for 3 prescirptions, one including Amoxicillin (I normally would pay at least $10-$15 for each with my insurance). So without insurance, in a foreign country where I am a vistor, I paid only $83, and in my own country where I do have insurance and it is suppossed to cover about 90% of my medical costs, I would have paid at least $50, only a $33 difference!
The PeopleBut thats not all there is here. These are culture shocks that, like I said, you notice right when you get here. Its all the surface though. The Argentine people are all very warm people. All big cities suck for different reasons like pollution, congestion, noise, assholes. . . But, thats not how you get to know the city. I have noticed people listen to eachother speak here. People pay attention to others' presence, kissing everyone on the cheek hello and goodbye. "Suerte" means luck in spanish, and its also a common goodbye to eachother. Mothers are children are extremely close and honest with one another. There is more a communal way of thinking than individual. People pay attention to others before themselves. And everyone knows how to dance! In the begninners salsa class, those who don't know salsa still know how to move their hips and groove!
People are also more aware and involved with their politics. The peso crisis of 2001 brought the entire country to their knees as their economy crashed and banks took mon
ey from the accounts of citizens to deal with their debt. People were all of a sudden left with nothing and the peso's value dropped significantly. Before then, AR$1 was at equal value to US$1. Now, its about AR$3 to US$1. People are also unhappy with the current president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner(who is Argentina's first female president) and her high taxes placed on the "Malvinas" (or argriculturalists) to pay off the deficit. With other arising issues in neighboring foreign countries, like the dangerous situation just starting to brew with the controvery surrounding President Morales in Bolivia, people start speaking openly about politics. There are marches in the streets for countries like Bolivia, protests (including those by students of UBA-University of Buenos Aires- for certain changes is policies). It's relieving that people pay attention here to social and political situations, and actually have knowledge to back up arguments. It's also stange to understand that they must pay attention, as history has proven for South Americans, their lives and future depend on it.
ey from the accounts of citizens to deal with their debt. People were all of a sudden left with nothing and the peso's value dropped significantly. Before then, AR$1 was at equal value to US$1. Now, its about AR$3 to US$1. People are also unhappy with the current president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner(who is Argentina's first female president) and her high taxes placed on the "Malvinas" (or argriculturalists) to pay off the deficit. With other arising issues in neighboring foreign countries, like the dangerous situation just starting to brew with the controvery surrounding President Morales in Bolivia, people start speaking openly about politics. There are marches in the streets for countries like Bolivia, protests (including those by students of UBA-University of Buenos Aires- for certain changes is policies). It's relieving that people pay attention here to social and political situations, and actually have knowledge to back up arguments. It's also stange to understand that they must pay attention, as history has proven for South Americans, their lives and future depend on it.Upon learning all of this knowledge and as new revelations surface about life outside of the United States, I am still finding time to party with my American friends and learn more about how the hell we all got here! Everyone is from a totally different background, from differences in social and economic situations, to just different kinds of personalities and interests. Of course, this process of getting to know eachother entails hand-stands at student apartments and ruining the walls! Oops, guess I'll pay for that and not go to Bolivia anymore. . . .
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