Argentine Culture Crash-Course

I've spent almost 2 months in Argentina and realized that despite detailing all of my adventures and travels thus far, I haven't really given any insight of Argentine culture and some of the main characteristics that distinguish it from home.

Wow, that sounds like the start of a very dull, information-packed, sleeper of a blog.

Take 2:

ARGENTINE CULTURE: THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE LOCO!!

*Whew* that was a close call!

Ok people, here we go. I'll start with my favorite part - the FOOD! (of course).

I am throroughly convinced that to truly be Porteño (a person from Argentina) you must:

1) like coffee (done and done). But not like it in large quantities. When you order a "coffee" here, you generally get a portion roughly the size of half a cup - measuring cup that is. The coffee here is stronger, it's more like espresso - but come on, a 1/2 cup?! Now, if you order a café con leche (coffee with milk) it will generally be bigger - if you're lucky, you'll get up to a full cup! The sweet thing that comes with ordering a coffee - the restaurants will usually bring you a little something to munch on. Maybe a small cookie or brownie or a couple - which is always a plus!

One of the things "to do" here is to go to a cafe at ANY time of the day or night, bring a paper or a magazine or something important-looking, sip your miniscule-sized coffee, nibble on your cookie, give off an aura of non-chalance and pretend that you rule the world. And that's not even a slight exaggeration.

2) drink mate. The cool Porteños go to a cafe and drink their little coffees, but the really cool Porteños drink mate. AND they can carry it around with them all day! Trust me, some of them do. Yerba mate is similar to a loose-leaf tea drink. The way to drink it is in a Mate cup, of course. This mate cup is generally a dried out gourd that has been decorated. You'll also need your metal bombilla, or straw, specialized for drinking the mate so that you don't suck up any of the mate leaves.

People will carry their gourds and straws and mate around with them - and a thermous of hot water so that they can have it whenever they'd like to during the day. Even in the middle of summer you can see people drinking their hot mate! Mate link: http://www.noborders.net/mate/index.html

3) incorporate empanadas into your diet as it's own separate food group. The best way I can describe an empanada is like a pastry filled with meat, cheese, veggies, really whatever you could want. And these things are everywhere!!! The majority of them are fried - and they are pretty much all delicious hot or cold. There are stands dedicated to the art of perfecting the empanada and then selling it for a whopping 3 pesos or less (less than $1). Glorious.

Argentina is known as the land of beef, so if you don't like red meat, you're screwed. Ok, maybe not so much, but there are Parrilla restaurants everywhere. These are grills where you can get almost any type of meat (and from almost any part of the animal) that you want. Most times a good thing, sometimes you'll be surprised by what's on your plate - not always such a good thing.

Dining is an art here. There are restaurants everywhere. If you don't eat out, it's sacreligious. These people love wining and dining and cafe-ing. No joke. I have never seen so many restaurants in one area at one time. And they always have people in them! The people here also love their sweets - they have some of the best bakeries I have ever seen with anything you could possibly want or imagine. It's hard to believe that Argentina is the leading country of anorexia and bulemia problems - it's true. Argentines are also proud of their invention Dulce de Leche. They could put this stuff on anything. They eat it for breakfast on toast or bread, fruits, they make desserts out of it, put it in coffee, probably eat it by the spoonful! I, on the other hand, cannot. It's good, but rich - like caramel but thicker. I think the sweets here have killed the tastebuds and pallet of the Argentines. Why? You cannot, I repeat, CANNOT, find spicy food here to save your life! Everything has flavor, but when it comes to spicy, it's non-existent. And for me, that's a problem. Even if you do find "spicy" food, don't expect to need an extra glass of water. Oh well - I just plan on drinking a bottle of Cholua when I get home. Also, tap water does not exist - you have to pay for bottled water at restaurants, sin gas, of course.

Ok so the food part is huge - I'll just briefly point out some other things so you don't have to read a novel.

·Electricity here is expensive. You don't leave lights on or computers or any electronics unless you absolutely have to.

·The economy here is even worse than in the U.S. The exchange rate right now is 3.6 pesos to the dollar. Good for me, bad for Argentina.

·The nightlife here is crazy - it is uncommon to go out to dinner before 10pm, and you're the nerdy kid if you show up to a club before 1am.

·I don't know how they do it, but the people here love to shop! There are stores everywhere - mostly clothing, but others as well. You can always see people walking down the street holding the bags of their recent purchase.

·Shoes are unbelievably expensive. Enough said.

·"Fast-food", or comida rapida, isn't really heard of. Yes, they have McDonald's and Burger King, but these places are like legit restaurants. You go in, order, and sit down to enjoy your meal. And they're CLEAN!

·Time isn't really a big issue for people here. You'll get there when you get there. Don't make plans, things just spontaneously happen.

·There are dog-walkers everywhere. It's a profession, I swear.

·Don't drive a car or ride a bike here ever. Unless you have a death wish. (I think I mentioned this in a previous post).

·Pop/soda is called gaseosa, which, let's face it, could be funny.

·In every store and cafe you're almost guaranteed to hear American music - and way more bad 80s music than there should be. Don't worry though, sometimes they're remixed to a latin beat.

·These people love their mayonnaise.

·Tango is gorgeous! It's so fun to watch!

Overall, it's a pretty go-with-the-flow kind of culture, with a few curveballs here and there. I know I left out alot of stuff, but that's what I can think of for now.

I leave for Iguazú in 3 days so look for updates about that! Iguazú is a giant waterfall (one of the biggest in the world) that borders Argentina and Brazil!

Besos!