Día de Malvinas

Día de Malvinas

April 2^nd is Día de Malvinas in Argentina. It is a public holiday where the veterans and fallen of Guerra de las Malvinas (The Malvinas War) are officially remembered. The name refers to the Malvinas Islands, or as we call them in English “The Falkland Islands”.

This year was the thirty year anniversary since the Argentine occupation of the islands on April 2, 1982. A total of 649 Argentines (633 military and 16 civilian) lost their lives during the 74-day campaign.

I attended the memorial service in Crespo and it reminded me very much of ANZAC day in New Zealand. Most of the local schools were represented and carried flags. It is a big honor if you are chosen to carry the flag at something like this.

Escuela

Escuelas (es-kew-las)

I will be based at one escuela (school) called Instituto Comercial (a secondary school) for the duration of my stay in Crespo. However, AFS have made arrangements so that I can visit other schools to see some of the differences between them.

As well as Instituto Comercial I have also been visiting two primary schools (Escuela San José and Escuela Guaraní) and what I do in each place varies. Sometimes I observe, sometimes I help with lessons and sometimes I teach (English or an English lesson that is focused around New Zealand culture). I brought a jar of Marmite in last week for some of my classes; most of the students didn't like it! They were running outside to get water and turning on the fans to get rid of the smell! The next time I saw the class the first thing that a student said to me was "no tengo hambre" (I'm not hungry!).

Children want to know what life is like in New Zealand for people their age, "do teenagers in New Zealand like Justin Bieber?” etc (by the way the girls here do and the boys don't!). They also like practicing what they have learnt in English with me "What is your favourite colour" or "Do you have any brothers or sisters?".

There is a morning school and an afternoon school and students go to one or the other. There are normally three of four breaks throughout the day but they are very short (between five and ten minutes). They have lunch at home with their families so they do not have a long lunchtime like we do. You do not get much free time with your friends!

The schools that I have been to all have a uniform and in primary schools teachers wear one too! As do the youngest children who are three and four (you do not have to start school until you are five but most primary schools have the initial levels as well). White smocks are the traditional school uniforms of public schools and children wear their own clothes underneath them. Originally they were seen as a way of treating the poor and the rich as equals so that nobody would be embarrassed by their clothing. Students don't seem to like the smocks (!) and now most schools also have another option.

When the bell goes in the morning, the students meet in an outside area before going to the classroom and say the pledge to the flag while the flag is raised in the school yard. At the end of the school day, students do the same while the flag is lowered. Generally two or three students are in charge of the flag, and it is a great honor to “pasar a la bandera” (go to the flag). Teachers choose which students get to go according to their behavior and academic performance.

Spot the teacher's uniform in the background!

A typical classroom

The traditional uniforms are the two on the right.

In the playgound

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¡Hola!

¡Hola!

I've finally got a blog up and running and I will try and have a weekly update ready for you every Monday morning (New Zealand time).

Today it is exactly one month since I boarded the plane in Auckland New Zealand and arrived in Buenos Aires Argentina.

I am based in a town called Crespo, it is in the province of Entre Ríos and has a population of about 20,000. It is a town based around agriculture and is the poultry capital of Argentina. It has a strong German heritage and many people are descendants of Volga Germans who migrated from Russia to Argentina from 1875 onwards. There are many places and people with German names but German is no longer spoken or taught in schools.

Crespo doesn't get many (if any!) tourists; there is an American student and a German student both doing an AFS exchange but as far as I know we are the only foreigners! Nobody here has ever met a New Zealander so I have been talking a lot about myself and our country.

Today I thought I would share three important things about Argentinian culture that I have learnt about since being here.

Numero Uno: Besos (beh-sos)

The way people in Argentina greet one another with a beso (kiss) is fascinating!

Argentinians kiss each other on the cheek when they meet or say goodbye; whether they are close friends or strangers who have just been introduced is not important. People make contact with right cheeks, and make a light “kiss sound” but not touch the cheek with their lips. In most places it is just once but there are certain regions in the country where a kiss on both cheeks is the norm. It’s more common among men with women and women with other women. And even though Argentinian society is generally quite macho men still kiss each other. Trying to shake hands when offered a kiss would be considered strange.

Numero Dos: Siesta (si-es-ta)

People in Argentina like to have a siesta and the day is built around it. Schools typically have a morning school from 7.30am - 12.30pm and an afternoon school from 1pm- 6pm (students go to one or the other). Shops operate during similar hours and in Crespo the whole town shuts down from 12pm – 4pm (even the supermarkets close!).

While it might sound appealing to have a sleep in the afternoon I think it is something that your body needs to get used to; I find it hard to fall asleep straight after lunch! And because people are accustomed to having a siesta it means that they like staying up later at night. A normal time for dinner in the weekday would be 9pm. And if you get invited somewhere in the weekend for dinner don't expect to get home before 2am!

Numero Tres: Mate (mah-tay)

EVERYONE in Argentina drinks a type of tea called mate. Although mate is much more than a simple drink. It is an elaborate ritual, shared among family, friends and coworkers. One person, the cebador (server) fills the mate gourd almost to the top with yerba mate and then adds hot water. The person then drinks it through a special straw called a bombilla. The cebador keeps filling the gourd and passing it to the next person (the yerba does not need to be changed for some time). If you do not want any mate simply say “gracias” and the server will know to miss you out. At first I found mate extremely bitter and not very nice but as I have drunk more the taste has definitely grown on me. I am however, still getting used to sharing a straw with people that I hardly know! The preparation and drinking of mate is a cultural practice that truly transcends ethnicity, class and occupation.