El Mate the poster child

10/28/2007 at 7:30 PM

When I was young, I was a sun person. I would spend all my time outdoors playing in the sun, swimming in direct sunlight, and never wanting to leave the outdoors. There is a picture of me at 4 years old standing outside with my great-grandmother squinting in the sun; tan-faced and arms golden brown. As I grew older I changed, I no longer was a sun person as I was in my youth. I often locked myself indoors staring at television all day. My skin became pale and any direct sun light resulted in sun burns or freckles. My sun days were over.
Coming to Buenos Aires, I noticed that most people here are sun people. When a sunny day appears everyone is outside playing football (soccer for those North American people who just have to be different), sun bathing, talking to friends, and sipping mate. Mate, the traditional herb drink, is a central marker in Argentinean lifestyle. I remember one day I went to the Cities Park Reserve with my Spanish teacher and all her alumni and when I looked around not one group of people was without their thermoses of hot water and their mate in the traditional pumpkin or wooden gourds, sipping away on a hot, sunny day, relaxing and chatting with friends as they shared this communal drink. There were literally over 50 people sitting in the small green patch and at least over 100 passing by; not one without their mate minus the runners and bike riders.
There is nothing like a well prepared mate. Of course, there are many different types of mates and different ways to prepare it. There are whole books dedicated to this discussion. El Mate is the poster child of Argentina, if not of South America. I remember as I went through customs in Uruguay, the Uruguayan customs man was making fun of Luli because of the way she prepared her mate. He remarked that he could tell she was Argentinean because of the gourd she had her mate in. It was very untraditional, but in her defense, we were traveling and had to make due with her neon green plastic mate cup so she wouldn’t damage her others. There is no where you can go within Argentina without someone carrying their gourd and a thermos. Most people drive with one hand on the wheel and the other holding their Mate. El Mate and the Sun: two important symbols of Argentina.
One day, I went to the park and read in the shade of a tree. When I looked up I noticed that everyone was in their shorts or bikinis sunbathing, sipping mate. No wonder they have the sun on their flag. These sun people can’t get enough, although the cities weather is so temperamental and we’ve had an equal amount of rain as sun during the year, you could almost say they were hinchas por el sol (sun fanatics). I could almost see them rooting for the sun as they do for their football teams. I have to admit I felt out-of-place as I sat in the shade of a tree in black pants and a black shirt, without sun and without mate. I took a deep breath and reminded myself that I am not Argentinean therefore; I didn’t need to be a sun person.

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What it means to be American

10/28/2007 at 7:29 PM

I’ve been here before, seen a lot. But to live in a place and to visit a place are two different things. I came here with a pink bubble in my head. The last time I came here was with a friend in 2005 for two weeks- which was a whirlwind where we slept during the day and went dancing until the wee hours of the morning. I didn’t quite understand the city as I have come to understand it now. It was as though I was blinded to parts of the cultural experiences such as drinking mate with friends, or to the economical problems that still affect the people today. I was a tourist, exactly what I didn’t want to be, and now that I have ran down that wall and really begun to understand the mannerisms and lifestyle of an interesting people and culture, I feel much more aware of how politics, economics, life, and personal relationships can affect different countries, cultures, and people in many different ways.
Although most of what I have described about living in Buenos Aires is frivolous in many ways, I feel that the core of where I began my journey and where I’ve ended have changed many different things, including myself. I’ve written humorously, or at least what I feel is humorous about my life in order to relate things that are hard to fathom unless twisted and turned and described with humor. People often ask tourists where they are from. If they respond America (as if to say North America) people will respond, ¨us too. We’re Americans just like you¨. Own your words-be more specific.
The demographic of Buenos Aires has changed so much in comparison to before the Crisis. Now that the extreme dangers are less apparent, there are a flood of North Americans, Europeans and the like setting up camp in Buenos Aires and Argentina to live, retire, and dream. The good thing about that opportunity is that Buenos Aires is so rich in culture, the bad thing is that the culture is more and more trying to adapt to the changes and may eventually lose some of its beautiful spin. Either way, it’s apparent that one must look at the bigger picture when you are living in a beautiful, distinct, and troubled Buenos Aires.
I met an American woman recently-excuse me- a North American woman who started talking about all the problems she has in this city, being robbed four times, not having people call her back…etc., I had to interject and remind her that the sad reality is that although she is accustomed to living in big cities, she is not accustomed to living in a big city in a third world country and that she either has to choose to adapt to the cultural norms in a city that she chose to live in or return to her country. This city is safer in comparison to a lot of other countries, however it is a huge city and Argentina still hasn’t let go of it’s economical problems, no matter how well hidden.
There is a false sense of security in Buenos Aires that I think makes it so deliciously tempting to want to move here. It is a third world city with the illusion of being first world. Although, there are many aspects that still keep it on the map as a possibility of being first world, there are factors such as the economics, the troubled politics, the poor, the crime, the types of crimes, the police, the corruption, etc., that would have to change and doesn’t seem to be making much progress. So, being North American, and getting on my soap box, being a tourist, volunteering in a third world country, living in a third world country, expecting changes, I want the dollar and the Peso to go back to 1:1, I want the cartoneros to have better jobs than going through the trash every night, I want the little street kids to be put in homes and go to school instead of running around selling things in the subway and on the street, I want these people to have a better life, they deserve nothing less.

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One girl`s mullet is another girl`s fashion statement

10/28/2007 at 7:28 PM

Saturday morning in a South American country makes you more aware that the fashion statement can be different depending on the culture and cultural norms. The fashion in Buenos Aires is something of a mix of modern New York and 80`s/90`s reject; I live in a world of rat tails and mullets. The woman find the mullet the most popular choice of haircut here as the ends are all stringy and the bangs stay cut and swept to the side. There is something incredibly Argentinean about that.
Although they won’t admit that the look is something of an oddity as I have tried to convince many of my Argentinean girlfriends that the look is out. Now I find the fashion even more extreme as nice young ladies walk around with big bags, big bangs and big belts…oh, and flat shoes. The in look is skinny pants, long dress-like shirts and bold colors. Its flavor is decidedly genuine and I have to admit I’ve grown accustomed to it and find myself jealous of a girls outfit as she walks by. Gone are the days of modest looks-we need bright purple outfits and matching red shoes.
The most interesting part of the fashion is when there are girls dressed in promotional costumes for various products, jobs, and nightclubs- It’s almost like Halloween 24/7. It’s not to say that it isn’t interesting, some of the costumes remind me of a retro 70`s look while other looks stem from the playboy bunny of the 50`s.
Men on the other hand, still have an early 90`s look; The long hair, band t-shirts and ripped jeans are all the norm…not to forget the rat-tails. In defense, it’s hard not to have these fashion norms here due to a couple of factors. Firstly, and most important is that this ¨Paris of South America¨ does stem more from a European background then a North American one. Although the outside influence now is primarily North American (with the music, movies, etc.,) the base is a South American and European influence, and let’s face it, there’s a big difference of what is ¨in¨ and acceptable in Europe versus North America. The second and most important factor is also the most obvious- there is a mix of first world and third world culture and economics- you can’t expect the really poor to change their fashion statement when they can’t afford it, I’m only referring to the people who can and should know better. And the third and most distinct factor of all is that I am beginning to like my mullet hair-cut, so back off YANQUI!

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