Turning Point

Book/art supplies store that also functions as an ice cream store. Jackpot! 

We had the option of writing on several topics in these weeks, but I chose to tell you guys about my Turning Point so far. I am sure there will be many to come but I had a pretty monumental one in the last couple of weeks I feel I should share.

I should preface this anecdote by saying that I made a very silly (in retrospect) assumption that because I had been raised in a Latin American country, I would have little difficulties settling into Argentina. Oh man! As my good friend Charlie Brown says, Good Grief! Was I ever wrong! Turns out, Argentina is NOT Costa Rica...who knew?! (Anyone who owns a map :) ) So the first 2 weeks I was experiencing all kinds of frustrations and stress due to cultural shock. Except I didn't know that was what was causing it. I keep looking externally at all the difference factors that had been introduced in the last 2 weeks, and it never occurred to me that I was having a difficult time settling in because everything was so different!

The funny thing is, I was constantly pointing out "oh in Canada we do it this way", or "That's so different here! In Canada..." or "Why is it like that here?". But had no clue I was subconsciously pointing out the things that were stressing me or causing me anxiety.

If I had to boil down the primary causes of my anxieties and adaptation curve, they'd be:

1. The pace of life in Argentina is a lot, a lot slower than in Canada. I knew this coming here but I had no idea how it would affect me. The concept of 'work' for example, is not how I had conceptualize it in Canada or even in my first few days here. It is not laziness or apathy by any means, in fact, people work just as hard here as anywhere else in the world. But the culture overall is so much more relaxed that efficiency is not a priority.

Here is how that's a wonderful thing: I know that my baker has a friend living in Ottawa, I know that the man at the post office recognized the city I was from Oshawa from a news bit he read online, and so forth. When I went into their locales, I got my bread and I got my mail. So, they were efficient. But the priorities were different. They took the time to serve me well, politely, and even made small talk with me when they heard my strange accent.

As a result, my turning point came from realizing that I needed to switch off all my Canadian definitions of work, efficiency, travel, task completion, etc. Once I did that, I could start to enjoy small talk with my baker instead of hoping into the shop, buying bread and then bailing. *Lightbulb*

2. I have been very cold. Like, really, really cold. Like I wore 6 shirts, leggings, and sweat pants for 2 straight weeks. Yes Canada is cold. But are we used to feeling cold indoors? I wasn't. That was a huge shock to me. I was cranky that I couldn't keep warm. In fact, in 2 weeks, I don't think I wore a single layer of clothing at any point.

I kept freaking out and asking how come they don't build the homes different, why is there no gas for central heating, how come only a wooden stove heats up an entire house, etc.

Until someone set me straight and said that what was cold compared to sitting close to a friend and sharing a kettle of hot water for Mate or tea. *Lightbulb* Ahhhh.....
I'm sure this is not everyone's philosophy but I like it. I have had more tea than my body can handle and no it didn't warm me up, but sitting for hours talking with friends has done me more good than central air ever will. And to tell you the truth, I got really distracted from the cold by doing stuff like sitting with friends and drinking tea.

Again, I wasn't able to see any of this stuff until I switched off my Canadian-ness and started to absorb more of the Argentina-ness.

It has not been easy at all. But good grief it feels great to appreciate this experience for what it is. Something new and not something "Like Costa Rica".

I was always very skeptical about people who came back from trips and said it was life changing or that they learned soooooo much. I thought it was just for people who had not lived outside of the 'Western World'. Turns out I was wrong about that too. I get it now. Travelling is awesome because you get to switch your '-nesses' on and off.

Hmmm....

Okay, so after 2 weeks in Argentina I can finally sit down and write my first blog post from here. I had the unfortunate incident of finding out while here that my cats chewed my laptop cord to the point where it no longer got power, hence being MIA. The good news is that another is en route!

I feel like I have experienced so much since being here that I would need a novel to write it all. So I thought I would share a list of the things that have happened to me that have made me go {hmmmm}

1. The news plays Top 40 music in the background. No matter how serious the topic or hilarious the newbit, there is always some random song playing in the background. If the story is sad or serious, they pick like a Whitney Houston song. Hmmm....

2. From what I observe, it is not typically frowned upon to interrupt someone while they are talking. Tv show hosts do it to one another, and so do news anchors. And even more {hmmmm} worthy is the fact that the original person hardly ever stops talking.  So you end up with one conversation, 2 simultanous speakers. Needless to say, despite being fluent in Spanish, I often lose my place in conversations.

3. The sharing of Yerba Mate is so culturally embedded, that they were shocked when I confessed I did not like the idea of sharing the same bulb with 5 other people. It was explained to me that even though germs are a concern, it is not enough to make someone reject the offer of drinking from their mate bulb. I also dont enjoy the bitter taste of mate but realizing how important it is for people, I never say no anymore.

4. The first time I spoke with my husband on the phone/chat, my tongue had momentarily forgotten how to form English syllables.

5. Yesterday at an artessans fair, a small child got lost. Everyone around him started to clap rhythmically so that the parents could find the source of the clapping and thus find their child. What a brilliant idea!!!

6. You have to have a special activation on your landline to call mobile phones.

7. There is apparently a shortage of coins so every time I go buy something and they owe me coins as change, they say they will pay me back later or give me more and say, you owe me x next time. All I can think of is, you don´t know me! But they trust me anyways :) I owe the baker 50 cents right now.

8. The mail only comes when there is enough mail to make it worth while for the postman to take the trip. We got mail for the first time in 2 weeks today.

9. Books are super expensive!!! 30 bucks for a novel. And the library is only open 3 hours per day.

10. Since everything shuts down at 1pm for siesta. You cannot run errands or do shopping at this time...learned that the hard way.

So far 10 is all I can come up with but I will be keeping track of everything ´{hmmm} worthy to share here.

Overall I´m having a great time living at the hostel. People from all over Argentina come and go and I get to hear about cool places to visit or how it is in other parts of the country. I get the sense here, that like Canada, you need months to travel all over Argentina to truly enjoy all it has to offer. Maybe on another trip down here, I will tackle the challenge.

For now, this small town is keeping me plenty busy!

Chau!

-Vivian-Sofia