Ingles

Simeon said that we might suffer from “reverse culture shock” when we came back to the states. Looking up “reverse culture shock” on wikipedia I found that it only really applies to people who have lived over a year in another country. Nevertheless, here is a list of things that made me realize how American I actually am.

REFILL: Water refills in America are FREE. They are not free in Argentina (or most other countries).

FOR SALE: Americans sell used cars by writing on the windows. Argentines sell cars by placing a water container on the roof.

WATER: When ordering water in Argentina you must specify if you would like “agua CON GAS” or “agua SIN GAS” (without carbination and with carbination – respectlivly). After getting a vile of holy water that said “Yo soy la vida” I tried to use my conductive reasoning skills and told Jacky “Yo soy con gas” but she said it didn’t really work that way.

KISSING: Kissing once on the cheek is the acceptable greeting, much like shaking hands in America.

GARBAGE: Because of the excess of stray dogs in Argentina, the residence place their garbage in wire baskets high above the ground.

PESOS: The exchange rate is 4-1. Four pesos for one dollar. This was a great treat for the mathematical side of my brain.

QUESTIONS: Simeon would randomly begin deep intriguing questions that only a few members of the group would participate in. This point has nothing to do with Argentine culture but it was something to get used to nevertheless.

HEAD COLDS: At the end of the first week I came down with a cold. This was shared with many of my group members. Between all of us with colds, we bought the whole city out of Halls.

TRAFFIC: The lines on the roads are more of suggestions.

MATE: Drinking mate is ingrained in the culture. Mate is tea made from loose leaves and drank from a gourd through a special straw that filters the leaves. We were invited to partake during a lecture. Proper mate manners require you to pass the mate back to the original pourer and once they fill the gourd you then pass it to the next person who wants it. When you do not want any more you say “gracias” to the pourer.

MILK: Breast feeding is perfectly acceptable to do in public. I tried not to stare.

DINNING: Dinner is typically not served till 10:30/11 pm. Most of the nights we could not hold out that late.

BRITS: In school the students are taught British English. The tapes that they learn from have British voices on them so naturally when and Argentine is fluent in English they have a British accent.

TP: Most countries that are not the United States politely request that you “do not flush the toilet paper”. What they do not do is write this in a language you can understand. I ended up flushed some toilet paper because of American habit and my inability to read Spanish.

So there you have it folks: the last Argentine entry. Hope you have forgiven my spelling mistakes and love me in spite of them.