William Hall: Argentina

First Impressions:  

Flying out of Nashville on July 8th, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from my trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina. I was both excited about living with Salvador Moncayo von Hase, whom I had hosted twice at MBA, and nervous about the prospect of living in a foreign country in the native language for the first time, alone. Fortunately, I was able to brush up on my Spanish on the plane from Houston to Buenos Aires, where I sat next to an older woman, Aquel. She first spoke to me in English, but after hearing her accent, I responded nervously in Spanish. We continued talking for about the first hour of the flight, and she gave me some great suggestions on things to do in the city. She finished the conversation with a piece of advice; “I fear that many young students come to visit the country and only eat fast food and play on their cell phones. You must take every opportunity to immerse yourself in the culture of the country, the food, and the people.”

  I was enthusiastically greeted by Salvador and his mother, Elcha, upon my arrival in the airport. In the car on the way to the house, I had a bit of a hard time understanding the rapid speech and Argentinian accent, but I gradually caught on. At the house, I met Salvi’s three younger sisters, Julia, Camila, and Fransisca. We had english tea and ‘media lunas’ (small crescents) from the local bakery. Later in the afternoon, we had “Lomo”, a braised beef tenderloin in a sauce. The fabled “red meat of Argentina” had lived up to its reputation.  

School

I attended the Goethe Schule with Salvi and his sisters the next day. The Goethe is a co-ed, German school in San Isidro, only a few blocks from their house. (Salvador and his family are completely bi-lingual at home, speaking Spanish and German equally due to the German heritage in the family. During my stay, however, they only spoke Spanish.) The Goethe is academically rigorous. Students in Salvi’s grade take 14 subjects during the week on a block schedule. Some are duplicate subjects, taught in both Spanish and German, and a few in English. All of the students are tri-lingual. I was blown away by their language ability. I was also surprised by how casual the classroom environment was in some cases. Girls are allowed to knit during class, and all students are very open about disagreeing with their teachers. After school, I was able to go with Salvi to “La Villa” (the slum). Salvi and I changed clothes into baggy jeans and sweatshirts and removed our watches so that we did not draw attention to ourselves in the slum. We tutored unprivileged, impoverished children in math, reading, and writing skills. For me it was an incredible experience being able to teach in a second language.

The Goethe School 

      

La quinceañera 

    Salvi’s winter break began, and the next weeks were spent showing me around the city and familiarizing me with his way of life. I was able to meet much of his extended family at various birthdays, dinners, and celebrations. I spent a lot of time speaking to his grandparents and relatives about life in the U.S. and my impressions of Argentina. I was also a part of Julia’s quinciñera, which is the 15th birthday celebration for girls in Argentina and represents the passage from girl to woman. I helped set the table and prepare a few classic dishes (like “choripan”) for the family lunch. The Parrilla or grill is a huge part of cooking. All meat is grilled outside in the parilla, typically by the men of the family. Properly cooking meat is considered an art form of sorts.

I was surprised by the prevalence of American music. Originally, I expected to hear local music in Spanish, but at every party or in the car, there was always American pop music playing.

The grill for Julia's quinceañera

Me with Salvi's family and relatives. I enjoyed getting to know them throughout the trip

Some of the incredible food that was prepared for Julia's quinceañera

In the City:

We spent the next few days in the city with Salvi’s good friend Theo and his two exchange students from Brazil and Germany. We felt like the United Nations as we walked through the city because at any given moment, one could hear Portuguese, Spanish, German, or English being spoken amongst us. The irony was that we did not all share a common language. I was able to learn a lot about their ways of life, but also their perceptions of Americans. I had many eye opening discussions, to say the least.

In La Plaza de Mayo, we visited the Casa Rosada where Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the president works, but does not live. This was the main square in Buenos Aires where we also saw the obelisk, National Bank, and other government buildings. There was a rich sense of history in the plaza, which has been around since the early 19th century. I had my first “Milanesa” which is a thinly sliced piece of beef that is fried and is served with a variety of toppings. Later, we visited La Recoleta Cemetery, where notable Argentinians are buried. The cemetery consists of above ground stone/marble tombs in which entire families are laid to rest together. We saw the tomb of Eva Peron here, as well. Later in the week, we saw a Tango show, the traditional dance in Argentina, as well as the MALBA museum of modern art, La Facultad de Derecho (Historic Law School of Buenos Aires), La Flor (A steel flower sculpture that opens during the day and closes at night), and El Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, which contains significant works Argentinean and French art. We also visited the botanical garden, which was very diverse.

La Casa Rosada 

Milanesa (one of my favorites)

La Flor 

Tango show with Salvi's friends

The Cemetery
                                                                                               

At this point in my trip, we were scheduled to ride horses on a farm in the west of Argentina in the mountains. Unfortunately, there was a bad storm in that area and the Gauchos were not comfortable making the trip. 
We then went to the Evita Museum. Eva Peron was a well known and loved politician in the late 1940’s. Salvador was extremely familiar with her history and was able to give me some great information along the way, not sparing any of his own political opinions. She is still a very controversial figure today for her socialist views. At night, a mural of Evita is lit with the colors of the Argentinian flag in 9 de Julio avenue.

One of the exhibits in the museum

On my trip, politics actually played a significant role. A controversial presidential election was approaching. The streets were filled with flyers and propaganda, and I witnessed many heated political debates at the dinner table. One thing that Salvador mentioned was the casual nature of the candidates and their dressing in street clothes instead of business suits. For the general population, the most “common” candidate is appealing. Right now, there are some serious issues in Argentina like inflation, the restrictions of import/export goods, and other economic concerns. I personally experienced some of the economic problems first hand. Legally, 1USD=9.5 Pesos, however, on the street certain vendors would give 14-16 pesos for every one of my US dollars. Stable currency was in high demand.

One day, I went with Salvador’s father, Martin, to vote for the governor. Voting was much more antiquated. Just two weeks before I arrived, any political voting was done by paper ballot. I witnessed Martin’s first electronic voting in his life! During that week we also visited La Feria de San Telmo in the oldest part of the city of Buenos Aires.
For me personally, I was able to sense the political tension one evening on a bus. On our hour long journey home from the city, a woman sat next to me on the bus. She heard my accent in spanish, and proceeded to chide me for being American. She raised her voice, blamed the United States for local economic issues, called me a few names that got the attention of other bus riders, and proceeded to scold me for coming to Argentina to “take advantage of our rich resources and use us as a business interest.” Although I was frightened in the moment, it really struck me later how Americans are perceived around the world. However uncomfortable this experience was, I think it was an integral part of my trip.

 We spent some of the last days of my trip in Puerto Madero, the main port for the city. We visited the Museo de Inmigracion which gave the history of immigration in Buenos Aires. In the same museum, we saw an incredible exhibit by Brazilian artist Vik Muniz. Our last stop on the trip was La Boca, which is known as the birthplace of the tango. I had seen pictures of La Boca, but they didn’t do it justice. It was such a unique place! The buildings are painted bright colors and the streets are lined with cafes and tango stages. It was in La Boca that I first felt that I had really bonded with all of Salvador’s great friends. I knew that I was going to miss them.

Vik Muniz. Notice the materials used to make the image (garbage)

La Boca

Salvador's friends and I in Puerto Madero

Overall Experience

I was sad that my time in Argentina had come to a close. What I had thought would be a trip full of “learning more Spanish” enriched me in ways that I had never imagined. My Spanish undoubtedly improved, but my appreciation for another culture grew the most. What made my experience unique were the people. I had the blessing of being able to live with an incredible family the entire time who treated as if I were one of their own. I met and bonded with so many Argentinian students of my age, but also students from around the world; Germany, France, and Brazil; many of whom I still contact. During my entire stay, I did not speak to a single American. I was completely immersed in the culture, the people, the food, and the lifestyle without having the comfort of an English speaking friend. I had to constantly adjust and I loved every second of it.  I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have experienced life in another country. I had read about the bustling streets of the city, the fabled grilled meat, the social openness of the people and their hospitality, the obsession with soccer, and the passion of the tango, but until I had the blessing of witnessing these things with my own eyes, they were just pages in my textbook. The grant brought those pages to life and wrung every last drop of meaning from them. I would like to sincerely thank the Wilson family for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime. I am a better student, a more diverse person, and more globally aware American because of it. I would like to thank Sr. Kamm and Sr. Paolicchi for their unwavering support, passion, and guidance throughout my time as a Spanish student. They have given me invaluable skills and a love for language that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. Once again, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Wilson family for such an incredible opportunity.