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Published: October 14th 2006
The Mate ritual
Everybody drinks it - it's basically herbal tea but with a strong stimulant. But it symbolises sharing and taking a break!I've been living here for nearly a year and I wanted to share some of the things that I've noticed.
Family is everything here. If you do not live with your parents, most people will see them at least once a week - for the day on Sunday if they live far away or twice or three times a week if they are closer. It is common for couples to visit and stay with their partners family and to go on holiday with them. It is impressive how much time is dedicated to being with their families. And their families can extend to 80 or 90 people. They are lots of cousins, aunts, uncles etc.
Young children are highly valued. Their presence in society is much more central - children are involved in lots of things, they stay up later and are always addressed by adults.
Kids are just generally more visible. They are in restaurants, most social events and gyms.
In fact, in my gym, there are young, fashionable men looking after playgroups. In England, this type of work is solely a female domain and a lot of money has to be forked out in private nurseries
BA
Wide streets - it's a big country for the type of quality provided here. Moreover, parents are involved in their childs' day. They attend their children's nurseries and play with their children (both Mum and Dad), they have family days in companies where a firm will lay on food and games (sometimes inc an entertainer) for the children of employees to spend the afternoon.
The flip side of this is that ON THE WHOLE, Argentinians are not very hard working. There are obviously exceptions and some of my students work very hard, but generally speaking a working week consists of starting at 10am and finishing at 6pm. An hour is pretty standard for lunch. Fridays are a bit of a doss, as a lot of companies finish at 2pm and in the others there is a general feeling that no real work is accomplished. The working week can also be punctuated by "holidays" such as strikes, Grandmother's day or any other excuse to finish early.
More commonly known sights:
1. Cartoneros - these are people who pick through the litter to salvage cardboard, plastic and anything useable or that can be sold. It's still a shocking sight to see, but it is a good way
Buenos Aires
Demonstration - 30yr anniversary of army coup for the poor to make some money. Apparently, they appeared after the economic crisis in 2001.
2. Dog walkers - they have up to 20 dogs and they are paid (approx: $300 pesos) for a few hours. Some seem a little lazy, just tying up the dogs in the nearest parks and chatting to their friends.
3. Chivalrous men - It is the norm that men do not sit on public transport. They willingly give up their seat and not only that, even if they are first in a queue for the bus, they wait for the women to get on. They are also incredibly helpful and will go out of their way to offer assistance - it can be a bit too much sometimes when you just want to quietly ask something and suddently there are 3 men around you trying to help.
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SG
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Friends
It looks as if there are lots of ex-pats about so you never need to be lonely or on your own.