After moving to live with my professor's mom, my life in Argentina has changed a lot. I now live in a rather upper-class neighborhood. There are no supermarkets nearby, but there are plenty of health-food stores-- dietéticas, almacenes naturales, places that advertise tofu and mixed nuts and fancy cheeses. The streets have little guard-houses every few blocks for safety. The house is part of a gated complex. We have a dishwasher, not to mention a nice shower (with, yes, reliable hot water), an awesome stove, oven, laundry, cleaning lady... it is a different life from what I had been living.
The creature comforts are wonderful, but the best thing about having moved here is the community. I'm getting much more practice and exposure to Spanish, and I feel so much less isolated. True, I do have to take the bus for 45+ minutes to get into the city center for activities and to meet up with people, but I had to do the same trip in the opposite direction for work when I was living in the Center anyways.
As always, it's difficult to come up with a specific topic for my blog post.
I've been feeling a lot happier the last week, probably because of the trip to Iguazú and because of the change in living circumstances. A couple nights ago, I played music in my headphones and danced around my room at 11pm... I haven't done that in ages. :)
Because things feel positive right now, I want to focus on some of the things I've experienced in Argentina that I really appreciate.
Before that, though, I want to acknowledge something that happens a little too easily when talking about a country in which one does not live.
I've definitely had the experience here of Argentines telling me what the U. S. is like, and occasionally speaking over my experiences or giving their own perspective without giving me a chance to talk about my own. And, likewise, sometimes when I talk about Argentina, or when I hear other foreigners talk about their impression of the country, I realize that we're doing the same thing: telling someone what their country is without giving them space to define their own experiences. (Note: I recognize it's a different context when people here talk about the United States, because the U. S. has had a damaging presence in South America throughout history that does not go the other way)
Sometimes I do think that people who view something from the outside can have interesting insights, but that should never override people's lived experiences.
So I want to be clear that everything that I have to say about Argentina comes from a very limited viewpoint, and I do not by any means think that I have anywhere near a complete understanding of this country, let alone this province, city, or neighborhood. I can only speak to the specific experiences I've had here. And I highly recommend that you visit for yourself and talk to actual Argentines about their lives.
Also, one of the biggest misconceptions I think people in the States have about Argentina is that Buenos Aires is representative of all of Argentina. I know this is something that many people I have met in Córdoba definitely resent, because Buenos Aires is NOT all of Argentina. It is of course an important city, but Argentina is huge! There's Jujuy, Salta, and Missiones in the north, full of beautiful landscapes, salt flats, Iguazú Falls. There's of course Córdoba in the center, landlocked, full of contradictions like the radical queer artistic community living alongside conservatives from the older generations, the flat city with the second largest population in the country surrounded by the calm natural beauty of the sierras. And of course there is the vast south, from the snowy mountains of Bariloche to the "end of the world" by Ushuaia. And that's only a few of the highlights I know of-- there are 23 provinces in Argentina.
Sometimes I feel frustrated when people here find out I'm from "los Estados Unidos" and they go on to tell me everything they know about what the states are like because "I went to New York once!" or "I brought my kids to Disneyworld!" or "Hollywood!" and I think "The U. S. is so much more than New York, Miami, and LA..." So I can only imagine how people feel when anytime someone says "Argentina" the response is "Oh, Buenos Aires is great, it's so European!" Buenos Aires is great, but there are 23 provinces in Argentina, there many different climates and landscapes and cultures, and there is a lot more to it than that one city.
Anyways, some things that I really appreciate from my experience of Argentina that maybe I can carry back with me in some form when I return to the US:
Siesta, in some form
Maybe not all of siesta, because it can be a little frustrating to be unable to do any shopping or activities from 1:30-5pm, but I really like the general idea that workers deserve a break longer than 30 minutes in the afternoon to rest, recuperate, eat a solid meal, and spend time with friends and family.
Downtime
Along with the idea of siesta comes the cultural acceptance of downtime. In the states, I feel a constant pressure that if I am not Accomplishing Something-- working, cooking, gardening, cleaning, networking, etc-- I am wasting time. That is not a cultural phenomenon here in the same way. Most of the time when I ask someone what they did over the weekend, they don't laundry list 50 different activities, they say "Oh, not much... spent time with my family, watched a movie..." And there is no shame in that! Time off work is time to relax, not time to keep working.
Downtime can actually be hard. In order to be able to just chill for a day without guilt, you have to be able to sit with yourself. You have to, in some sense, be at ease with who and where you are. And I think a lot of people are afraid of that quiet time, afraid of the thoughts and feelings that they will no longer be distracting themselves from. Learning to face all of that and embrace downtime is something that I have gotten a lot better at here, and I think it is far more valuable than we give it credit for.
Emphasis on Socializing (with people you actually want to socialize with)
My professor spends every Sunday with her family. They don't do anything special. They just hang out together.
If there is anything I have learned during my time in Argentina, it is the importance my family has in my life. This is not only because I see so much emphasis on family time in the culture here, but also because I have missed my own family so much.
I don't think this is exclusive to family time, though. Not everyone wants to spend extended periods of time with their blood relations. But it is important to have time to be with the people you care most about, whoever they are. It doesn't have to be a big deal, it doesn't have to involve lots of planning and activities... just being in the same place with those people.
I know a lot of people who individually do this, but I wish that it was a more integrated part of day to day life... I think "socializing" often gets turned into "social obligation," "networking," "taking care of others," "going out and getting totally wasted," and other more draining forms of socializing. Socializing as in intentionally spending time in the same space as people who you care deeply about and who care deeply about you is something I believes deserves prioritizing.
No Detention in School
This is already changing in the states (the elementary school I worked at had eliminated detention), but it has GOT to become the norm.
Detention makes absolutely zero sense.
A student is struggling in a class, so instead of helping that student acclimatize to class in some way you... kick them out?? For a student who is unhappy in the classroom, this is literally incentivizing them to act out so that they can avoid the classroom environment. It does nothing to address any of the underlying problems that the student is facing. It does nothing to help them improve their chances of successfully engaging in classrooms in the future. It makes absolutely zero sense.
Free Education at the University Level
This is not just Argentina, but seriously, this is a no-brainer at this point. Higher education should be accessible to anyone who is interested, not just those who can afford the abSURDly high cost of college in the states.
I have had discussions with students and teachers about how in some schools, there is a lack of investment on the part of some students, and some may argue that when students are paying $200,000 for their education, they definitely don't take it for granted.
But I do not think apathy is the direct outcome of free education, and I have seen that a level of rigor and engagement absolutely is possible without charging students and their families so much they are in debt for years.
Minimum Paid Leave and Paid Holidays
All employees in Argentina receive a MINIMUM of two weeks paid vacation and 11 paid holidays, and that number increases with the number of years someone works.
Do you know what the minimum is in the states?
0.
Argentina also has a minimum of 13 weeks paid maternity leave, with 100% pay, and several days required paternity leave.
How many do we have in the states?
0.
And so many people I know in the states are exhausted, overworked, and anxious to take a single vacation day let alone a sick day.
I know that many companies offer paid vacation benefits in the states, but it's not required by law, and so those in most need of those rights are often the ones deprived of them.
But aside from it being a right that should be assured regardless of where someone works, I think it is also connected to the culture. There is a culture here that workers deserve rest, they deserve time to themselves, they deserve to have life outside of work. In the states... sometimes I'm afraid of entering the workforce because for so many people, their work becomes their whole life because it's hard to have the time or energy to do anything else. Even for someone who really loves their job, that's a lot, and I hope that this is something that we will change in the future.
To end the post, as usual, just some pictures from the week... apparently I've been in the mood for documenting inane occurrences in my day-to-day life, so here you go:
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| The cat really wants to read Harry Potter with me |
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| I took a picture of myself getting stuck on a doorknob by the belt loop in my pants because THIS IS LIKE THE 4TH FREAKING TIME IT HAS HAPPENED WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME |
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| srsly, every time I get out HP, kitty wants to join in |
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| Finally visited the Museo de la memoria in the City Center, where desaparecidos were held during the dictatorship... across from the cathedral of Plaza San Martín, close enough to hear the church bells... |
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| The atrium where recently abducted desaparecidos were held |
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| Where now their pictures are on the walls |
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| Playing tourist and finally taking a pic of the Capuchinos Cathedral at Paseo del Buen Pastor... named Capuchinos not like "cappuccino" coffee, but because the members of the congregation wore capuchas (hoods) |
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| Bruncheríaaaaaaaa |
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| I had to take a pic of this store front... I just had to... it actually turned out real artsy with my reflection lol. What does it say about me?? :P |
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| Sometimes the writing on the desks at school (remember we share classrooms with a secondary school) make me happy :) |
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| Went out for drinks/dinner and guess what was on the menu??? Poción multijugos, which I have been reading about in HP and know as Polyjuice Potion!!! Yes, of course I ordered it... it was pretty good. |
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| Kitty came to watch HP5 with me ;) |
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