After having spent a year living and working in Buenos Aires, I have had the opportunity to fully experience Argentine culture. Having lived my whole life in the U.S, I can only speak to my experience of the cultural differences that I personally came across here. One of the wonderful things about travelling is that it allows you to be conscious of your own cultural habits that you never questioned before. When you grow up in one place it doesn’t always occur to you to question whether or not there is a different way to do things. Travelling offers you the opportunity to pick and choose the cultural habits that you like best and to try to incorporate them into your daily life in the future. Some won’t work in any culture but some will and you can enjoy the best of both worlds. Here are five things that I have learned during my time here in Buenos Aires, some of which I hope to carry with me no matter where I end up.
1 – Sleeping in is wonderful
One of my favorite lessons I learned during my time here is how to sleep in, guiltlessly and endlessly. When I arrived to Buenos Aires I was shocked at the way that my roommates would sleep all day on the weekends. Sometimes they would sleep until as late as 4pm and would almost never get up before 12pm if they had no obligations. Back home I felt like I was being lazy if I slept past 10am or so. After having spent a year here, I realized that I love sleeping. It is a basic pleasure that should be enjoyed as much as possible. Granted in Buenos Aires the night life goes much, much later and perhaps the time spent sleeping in was deprived the night before. None the less, I find myself slipping into that dreamy abandon with a level delight that I had not before experienced.
2 – Food is to be shared
Above all else, I hope to take home with me the Argentine culture around food. The U.S. is known for being an individualistic culture, an aspect that is particularly evident when it comes to meals. Although there is some culture of having family dinners, it is largely a thing of the past and it is now very common that people cook an individual meal and eat alone or even on the go. Oftentimes if we invite someone over for dinner it is a slightly more formal, involved event.
In Argentina, people see food as a time to be with friends and family and no one eats alone if they can help it and certainly never on the go. I have received countless casual invitations to share a meal with friends and acquaintances and have been happy to return the favor at the next mealtime.
3 – If we all decide to be late, it’s not such a big deal
Pretty much everyone is late here, pretty much all of the time. Although it is always a good idea to show up on time for your first time meeting a friend, going to work, or to a show at a new venue, just to be sure that you don’t show up late when you are really expected to be punctual. It is generally true that events can happen as late as 30 minutes to 3 hours after the planned time without anyone batting an eye (*screams*). Although when I am still waiting at 3am for a band to play that was supposed to play at midnight “on the dot” I can sometimes feel annoyed at this lackadaisical cultural quirk. On the contrary, when I am running late to a meeting and upon my arrival I realize that I am the first one there, I am quite thankful for the lenience.
4 – How to call a spade a spade
Buenos Aires is a very informal town. Strangers talk to each other as though they were old friends, students greet their teachers while they are in the middle of a lecture with a kiss on the cheek even when 20 minutes late to class… you get the idea. It is not uncommon to call someone by their nationality or physical characteristics and since it is all done with a joking camaraderie; no one seems to get upset. While in conversation it is normal for everyone to speak at the same time, very loudly, and if you’d like to get a word in edgewise you will have to do the same. Sometimes it is a relief to be able to avoid the social niceties that we abide by all of the time. I find that many of my relationships here have developed a sibling-like intimacy very quickly and I would be willing to bet that it has to do with everyone relaxing a bit and being able to laugh off a bit of teasing.
5. Taking care of those around you, even in the simplest ways, makes all the difference
Before living in Latin America it didn’t occur to me to take note of how those around me were doing, or what they needed. I don’t mean to say that North American people are selfish but rather that they are accustomed to a culture in which everyone looks out for themselves. People in Argentina are always asking me if I would like a drink, some food, to have a seat, whatever it seems like I might need. Here people offer each other their seats on the subway and ask you where you are trying to go when you open up your map on a street corner. When you bring a drink to a party, it is for everyone, and that is OK because everyone brought something to share with you too. Admittedly this took me some getting used to but after having lived here for a year I have learned to trust that whatever I give will come back to me in some way, shape, or form and knowing this culture, it will probably come back several times over.
It is not always easy to get over cultural differences upon your arrival to a new country. However, with the right attitude, you will find with time that some cultural practices you prefer to your own as well as those that you really appreciate from your country of origin.
Written by: Heather Houde
Edited by: Rachel Orga
