Aimee Gray, Spring 2012

I’ve been in Argentina for four full days and these are my conclusions thus far:

1. Buenos Aires is reminiscent of NYC especially in central BA, but on a smaller scale and in Spanish.
2. The youth are more interested in politics than in the US and more than willing to talk about it (great for a Latin American Studies major ).
3. Despite what I was told before leaving, the people here do NOT speak English.  Perhaps they can, but all you hear is Spanish on the streets.

I was very fortunate upon arrival because two Argentinian friends picked me up at the airport and welcomed.  This was very lucky for me because I spent 2 days with personal tour guides who gave me the most accurate tips on how to travel, using money, etc. Not only that, but I also got the chance to know how the average person lives before moving into my upper-middleclass neighborhood.  The hospitality of the people here is overwhelming to the point you don’t know how to show them how grateful you are.  Whether one is middle class, working class, or poor, friends are welcomed in and showered with food and drink. 

I feel really lucky to be in an exchange program rather than a study abroad because I don’t have the luxury of being with other foreigners.  There are pros and cons to this, but a big pro is that it forces me to hang out with the locals.   Which brings me to the asado (a barbeque without any barbeque sauce) I was invited to where I  tried anything that was thrown at me including: crispy pig intestines (chinculines) filled with something, morcilla crudo, and MATE!!!  Everything was good althought I must admit that I could only eat a small amoung of chinculines.  Yerba Mate, a tea, is soo good and it’s a very  social drink which you pass around and share.  I now drink it almost daily, in place of coffee.

 

 I feel right at home here, loving the change of scene from suburban south Jersey, but there is still a lot of adjusting.  First, people go shopping for food almost daily. Most meat does not have preservatives and so if you don’t use it within 2 days, it will go bad.  Not only that, there is less storage space, especially as a renter.  Secondly, cooking is a sweaty endeavor.  I’m sure that part of this is just because it’s summer (84 degrees and very humid), but it also is because the small ovens/stove tops get SUPER hot.  It took all my will-power to finish cooking my pasta dish today!

Things to adjust to:

• Money:  the biggest bill is 100 pesos which =  roughly US $26 and the smallest bill is 2 pesos which = roughly US $0.50.   Prices are not extremely different from the US where I live (some things cheaper, other things not) and so you feel like you are spending so much money when in reality, you’re not.  And some stores won’t accept 100 pesos because it’s too big of a bill. 

Busses: you have to flag them down haha!  If you are standing at a bus stop (which is labeled with the number), the bus will not always stop but keep speeding by.  You have to be in the exact spot and flag it down to be guaranteed it will stop.

Those are the most challenging things for me right now, but I’m sure more will come up! But I am really happy I decided to do the exchange in Argentina so far I have a great first impression of this country.  I am actually really excited to begin classes in March and hear more about politics from the perspective here. But or now I am happy to get settled and tour this this beautiful city!