...con la frente marchita..las nieves del tiempo...

I feel like I'm back!

It was wonderful to squire my dear aunt and uncle around the city and province for more than an month...but it took me away.

On occasion, over the past weeks, I would peek in on the BsAs Expats Group...you should too, it's great group and managed by great people.

However, I encountered there a thread that astounded me: Argentina: Land of the Selfish.

Enraged me...would be more a more accurate description of my reaction to some of the posts.

The thread went on and on...until the admin mercifully closed it. It then opened into a PART 2 for Christ's sake!

Entonces...I decided to warm back up for yanquimike.com.ar by starting my own thread, creatively entitled, "Argentina: Land of the Generous."

A zillion words later, I realized that I could write a book about my warm feelings for this city (and I never even got a chance to rhapsodize about the little towns of the province!)

So here's my post to that thread...and it's your turn to contribute your warm and fuzzies...just don't forget to read all the poison and invective from the originals here and here first.

Don't let it sour you on the BsAs Expats Group, tho! They are wonderful and you should visit their outing tonight and consider joining them.

Argentina: Land of the Generous

Posted on: 11/17/2006 01:52 PM

I really couldn't believe that the "selfish" thread lasted so long (and now it's morphed into part2!)

How long can we continue THIS thread? Certainly as long or longer.

BsAs in particular had little or no experience with tourism 3 years ago...today it handily welcomes more than its population in annual visitors.

Argentina is still open to immigration 19th century-style. Immigration requirements are actually part of the constitution. I would love to see a ranking of countries as to their acceptance of immigrants...then I would like to see how many of those countries you would even consider immigrating to.

Do you attempt to speak the local language? You really should. It doesn't have to be perfect. In fact, it can be bad. But it represents effort, humility, and the attitude of a guest...which is what you are. If you don't you should be prepared for at least a variant of the yankee sobriquet, "If those people want to come here why don't they learn English?!?"

Do you buy a local newspaper everyday? You really should...at least the English language editions. If you do, you will very likely drum up a friendship with your local kiosquero which will be source of advise, answers and a venue for shared experiences. There are quiosqueros that remember me from years ago when I was "just visiting".

Do you buy flowers? You should (especially some of the more bitter among us.) The lowly jasmine will fill your place with perfume for a couple-two-tree pesos and give you another opportunity to fall into the rythym and music of Buenos Aires as well as friendly discussion of the weather and, possibly, some advise or answers that you might need. Not only that...you'll keep in business one of the little parts of this city's soul.

Do you walk? For all its narrow broken sidewalks (I have a collection of travelogues that go back more than 100 years of English language complaints about the sidewalks here!) this is a very walkable city and shot-through with greenspace and balconies overflowing with santaritas (bougainvillas) and little shops that harken back to the 19th century selling buttons, brushes, ladies' hats, etc. The best way to know a town...and maybe the only way to love a town and be loved in return...is to burn some shoe leather. Walk. Get tired. Stop at a cafe. Restore yourself. Walk some more. And don't forget to talk. Your health, your Spanish, and even your attitude will improve.

Notice the light. I never hear it mentioned but if you notice it and maybe mention it to others, you'll realize that the sunlight here is special. Something like the Greek isles are famous for.

Breathe. Rush hours can, indeed, make you gag. However, pay attention to how Our Lady of the Good Winds blows the nox out almost immediatly afterward. That's something I've never encountered in my safaris of the great, large cities of the world.

In breathing, you'll notice sometimes that you've wandered into the invisible envelope of a jasmine or tilo tree...if the humidity is dense enough (very rare), you'll swear as though you and your clothing have been saturated with the perfume in a lasting way.

Let yourself feel the natural cycles of the day. If you're lucky enough to be at your leisure, don't forget to feel that "skipping school" sort of feeling as you watch millions of people make their way to work, lunch, meetings, home. And if you find yourself on one of the bondis (city buses) during peak times...especially during the semana brava ("the tough week" of heat and humidity) try to notice what you aren't noticing: these are a very clean people! Try to compare that to being crammed into a bus or subway car in the middle of Summer wherever you are from...the stench back home would be deadly.

Look at the pretty girls and how they fight for their art of beauty. Look at the older men and the porteño elegance they maintain...even if it is a little threadbare on occasion, the choice of fabrics and cuts of their suits have an elegance that is/should be a national treasure. Notice how the elderly are completely and totally integrated into the activity of the city. Ancient women do their shopping and make their purchases...and sometimes you'll see them chance to meet friends in the street. It's really beautiful. It's also something I've never seen to this extent in the US (maybe in Chicago's Little Italy...back when that was really in existence.)

Go out at night...even if you are older or just not used to late night "carousing". You'll find that you feel safe...probably safer than in your (old?) hometown. Notice how lots of foot trafic on a street makes things safer. Keep an eye especially open for octogenarians taking an ice cream after midnight. There is, of course, crime here. But whatever the crime rate, it doesn't scare the elderly or anyone else off the street like it does in the country of my particular birth.

This might surprise you but my foreign visitors to Chicago would always ask the question, "Where are all the OLD people?" If you can't notice it here and now...try to remember to notice it when you return home to the states.

Depending on you're background, you will soon get a feel for what it is like to live and work here. When that happens, try to develop a little tolerance for young people that work hard under difficult conditions, pocketing each week what you spend for dinner...even as they maintain their hopes and dreams in an unsure country and world. They are inclined to let off steam...but I'm unaware of young people anywhere that don't.

Keep in mind while you apply your foam earplugs (you should!) that many more of them will be partying in your apartment building Friday and Saturday now that the city has embraced a northern hemisphere attitude of 24/7 total prohibition toward protecting your right to smoke-free bars and nightclubs (those places and hours among which one writer to this forum aparently likes to take his children.) A bit of imported intolerance that comes with a price as does everything.

I haven't covered everything! Let all lovers of the beauty and art and artfulness of this tremendous city and country post here and post here and POST HERE...until the admin is forced to close the thread!!!

Your friend and lover, Buenos Aires,
maskow

p.s.

"Friendly and open" are quite subjective qualities. In the interest of full disclosure, I lived in Le Marais, Paris for a month...dying for a "souvenir" experience of classic parisienne rudeness...I never got one. In fact, I was daily beset with random acts of senseless kindness. (Now you know who you're dealing with.)

My 3 years here have been even more enjoyable in this regard. I think I can explain this: people from rural, small-town, and even suburban parts of the US consider my hometown of Chicago very rude...notwithstanding much anecdotal evidence of it being the friendliest big city in the country. Buenos Aires is a big city...big cities are difficult to live in, work in, move around in, stay-on-schedule in. Don't expect to be treated and accorded the recognition that you would in Peoria or a small Thai village...people just don't have that kind of time.

However, sociologists will tell you that there is a method to approaching "bigcityites" and receiving the attention you need and/or crave. To wit, don't approach strangers with a big, open smile and greeting...you will look suspicious to them. Instead, approach with the words, "Pardon me, I have a problem, I was wondering if you could help me." Then stand back as the flood gates of personal aid open. As busy and harried and, yes, suspicious as these residents are...(perhaps, even, because of that!) they each consider themselves to be tremendous experts in surviving and enjoying the city in which they live. They will, in Paris, NYC, Chicago, and any other megopolis that I have visited, literally go out of their way to help you and make your experience enjoyable if you make their acquaintance in this way. Try it. You'll like the results.

pps. See you tonight, Igor.