¡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.