1. Promoting understanding between cultures.
2. Positive exchange of ideas.
The first one I think is especially important as an American. I don't know if you guys heard, but we have a bit of a bad rap around the world these days.... We need to be presenting ourselves as open-minded, educated, and cosmopolitan, and less as a self-absorbed, self-righteous, blindly nationalistic group of bullies. Which, by the way, most of us are NOT, but we seem to viewed that way as a collective.
So, by immersing ourselves in another culture we are not only able to understand more about the way millions of other people live day-to-day in the world but also give the rest of the world a chance to see Americans in a positive light. Then we can all understand political and cultural situations beyond what national medias and hearsay provide.
The second reason, to me, has always been about bringing knowledge home. I think it's important to study abroad, or at least travel, to places that are very different from what we already know. Chris' trip to Morocco, Matt's trip to Madagascar, Lyndia's trip to Nepal. These are places with a way of living radically different than the US. It's an amazing opportunity to see what works for others peoples and societies and what doesn't. We then have the power to bring back the positive attitudes and behaviors that maybe Americans lack. I was thinking about this idea today, and how, well, it's kind of selfish. I sort of bumble around Buenos Aires looking for some amazing outlook on life that I can apply to my life at home. But, the more I search for an outlook, the further it seems within my grasp.
I think it's because I am not looking to give something the same way I expect to take something from this experience.
What am I talking about? The life the Porteños (those who life in Buenos Aires) is pretty different than American life, and certainly different from Boulder life. But it's not radically different. Both my dad and I have found ourselves extremely comfortable here. Yesterday he said that he knows he is comfortable when he does the same things he would at home: plays his guitar, writes songs, eats good food, cooks chicken wings, visits with friends. Do we just have a different backdrop?
I'm trying to figure out what is making my adjustment to life here so simple. Is it the fact that I am around Americans so often via program kids? Is it because Inés is a bomb host and makes me feel at home with my own room, wifi, and dulce de leche galore? Or have I not actually adjusted to the different culture and am sitting in a tourist limbo--between novelty maté sessions and tours around Caminito, perhaps I haven't actually fully thrown myself into the thick of it?
I have been proactive in my attempts. Trying to hang out with locals as much as possible. But my dad's trip here sent things on a little different vector as I attempted to show him what I had learned in my first two weeks being here. I sort of had to put language immersion on hold for these two weeks. Next week I will attempt to return to my objective and get talking way, way, way more.
But. I need to get over the fact that I SHOULD BE LEARNING (and thereby taking something home) at all times.
This brings me to the title of today's blog. The pace of life here is a phenomenon that I've noticed transcends a lot of daily culture.
These are "superficial" cultural observations that are always brought up in conversations with other tourists, but they clearly indicate some element of the local culture.
1. Transportation:
The subte (subway) can be Tokyo crowded here. Lose your privacy, lose your personal space, sweat balls. Pickpocketing on the subte or colectivo (bus) is common. You can only pay with exact change on the colectivo, and there is a huge shortage of currency due to some poor policies, and now there is mad hoarding of coins. Using precious moneda on the bus better be worth the trip. Oh and if you run out? Good luck getting change.
2. Food:
So much meat...large quantities, dulce de leche, medialunas (croissants), low prices, vino.
3. The Schedule:
Okay, so. Porteños eat dinner between 9 and 11. For weekends, it's fine because you need some energy if you are going to dance until 6am, but it definitely is taking some getting used to.
Why so late? If you eat lunch at one, you are hungry by 7.
This is where pace is brought to the equation. Argentinians are not known for punctuality. In fact, for an exact appointment or date, there is a 15 minute buffer for it to actual happen. For something less formal, 15 to 45 minutes is more than acceptable. In a big city with somewhat unpredictable transportation, it makes sense. But in my observations, people also just sort of do what they want, when they want, at the speed they want. So, dinner just sort of happens...eventually.
This may sound frustrating to you Type A's out there, but I actually fit in very well with this lifestyle.
In Boulder, I would get up hours before class so that I could bumble around my house, drink my tea slowly, finish up some homework, read the news. I still happened to be AT LEAST ten minutes late every single day last semester. And I was perfectly okay with it. I never seemed to miss anything important and I stopped feeling awkward walking into rooms and having everyone stare at me. So, here, the Argentine habit feels perfectly normal. It makes me think I should have studied somewhere like Germany, so I could learn some discipline!!
Just kidding, kind of. But that brings me to the issue I am facing. I seem to be under the impression that studying abroad/traveling should be so taxing and radical, that you return with perspective you never would have garnered in your own country nor with your own resources. And the path to that perspective is HARD, rigorous, shocking.
I was latched to this idea of being super-challenged by my semester, but with a cultural experience, I'm quickly realizing there are no guidelines for how it should affect you. Just because I'm not having a massive culture-shock, doesn't mean I am not learning. Language is a HUGE issue, but it doesn't paralyze me. Big city life is different, but I'm not freaked out. I'm running with the current here in BA and it's not "changing my life" via shock treatment.
I need to get to the point where I am not desperately seeking something LIFE-CHANGING because it's never going to happen if all you're doing is pining for some earth-shattering epiphany and not actually living the experience.
So I need to chill. But not too much. I still have to be conscious, aware, observant. But in a more neutral way.
And I can keep moving in slow motion and be late to everything!!
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A few years of songwriting and the requisite analysis of the human condition and surroundings was good preparation for my trip to Buenos Aires. Instead of getting uptight, I was amazed as taxis, scooters, delivery trucks, buses, and personal cars co-navigated the streets like logs on a river on their way to the sawmill. It looked that dangerous, but also fun. In time I wondered if it was actually safer than the lane discipline and distance margin with which I was familiar, since everybody had to so carefully watch everyone else. I do not think I saw any drivers applying make-up.
I found Caroline in her host’s apartment in a building surrounded by bustling commerce. Just as busy as the streets, I came to understand the people’s interaction on the sidewalks as a gentle chaos. While there was a lot of activity, there was a sense of respect. Collisions were infrequent. In the twelve days I was there I saw only one car accident and one scooter accident. The two times I saw pedestrians collide I was one of them.
Later in my first day, I met Caroline’s host Ines. I would have to describe her as 75% heart, and the rest, that stuff we’re all made of. It was only in a matter of hours, that we learned how to communicate around our language barrier. Her English was good enough for me to identify the context of her thoughts and for her to understand mine. Beyond that we had art, music, and the game skills of charades, Jeopardy, and Wheel of Fortune to assist us. Once I realized Ines and I thought similarly and that we knew many things in common, it was merely a matter of linking the different words we used. It was quite a contrast from speaking to someone who expressed only words and never really had a thought. I knew Caroline was a little disappointed when her interpretation became less necessary, but it also freed her to focus on her studies.
Getting me beyond the language barrier allowed us all to exchange our music All three of us had composed, performed, and recorded music. It was almost unbelievable that we could enjoy such discovery together. Ines shared three songs she had professionally recorded. Though I understood none of words, the music and feel was amazing. As I listened to each one all the way through, I had the growing sensation that Rosetta Stone Software for Latin America was in my future. Caroline and I performed a few of my songs, and after encouragement, she played us her most recent song. Often the evenings would end up with Caroline furiously reading the enormous stacks of paper from her classroom assignments, while Ines and I continued the music discovery over wine with the stack of songs she had collected over the years. During the day when I had time to myself, I worked on a Tango song I really wanted to write. By the end of the week I had a rough recording of it. Though I initially went for family and food, it was music that would bring me back to Buenos Aries.
Seeing Caroline this new environment was very good for me, especially so early in the program. She had become a highly competent person with amazing personal skills. Her friends both inside the program and out were exceptional too. One of them was Javier, a student of the culinary arts. Between Javier and Ines, I was able to take home some understanding of Argentinean cooking. I left them both with an adaptation of my Buffalo-style chicken wings using only local ingredients.
Surprisingly after only 12 days, parting with Ines was perhaps as difficult as with anyone I had ever met. Thankfully we made a music connection that would forever link us with the Tango song I wrote for her. It was much easier to deal with leaving when I thought about Caroline and Ines together for the rest of school term. They were terrific together. As much as I wanted to stay, I really needed to get out of the way for a while. I knew my visit distracted from Caroline’s education.
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