Hello! YES I am still alive, and my apologies for not writing sooner. My goal as of today is to start writing LESS more often. Anyways, I hope all is well back in the States and I think of you often!
This past month has been FULL of activities and sometimes it is hard to find time to take a breath. I spend 2 days at the eldery home and 3 days at the barrio and the majority of my off time is spent with the community here at birthday parties, concerts, lectures, etc... I came into this experience thinking I would be lonely at times and preparing myself to deal with that, however, I have had ample opportunities to spend with others and I find myself savoring (rather than dreading) the time I have alone to think, read, and write!
There are so many things I love about this culture and I would break my goal of trying to keep this short if I were to go into detail about what it is like to really LIVE day to day in Argentina. However, my experience this past Saturday at the barrio and then at home sum up some of the things I like most about Argentina.
On Saturday I got up early ready for Omar to pick me up at 10:00 to go to the barrio...at around 10:45 he pulled in and we made our way down the main street. Being on time is RARE in Argentina and it is generally acceptable to be 10-15 minutes late. Life moves at a slower pace and in general, people are not always in a hurry. I love this.
At the community center, we made bread with the group for jovenes (teens) for the whole community to eat later that day. As we were waiting for the bread to cook, I had one of the kids casually leaning on my shoulder while another had her arm linked around mine. I looked across the room and saw another one of the volunteers hugging and kissing one of the kids while having her arm linked to one of the teens. When one of the high school boys entered he said hello to everyone with a kiss on the cheek and then stopped to look at the bread with his arm casually slung around the shoulder of his buddy. Later that day when kids of all ages were at the center, I found myself with two kids on my lap, one playing with my hair, and one pulling at my arm. THIS CULTURE IS AFFECTIONATE and I LOVE IT. The power of touch is so important and unfortunately is not freely expressed in our culture.
Later that day, kids and adults of all ages came to the center to play, learn, talk, and laugh. One of the volunteers bought 2 bottles of soda, opened the cap, and passed them around. By the time the bottle got to me, around 40 kids had already taken their swig. People are not as concerned about germs and share openly and abundantly. I challenge you to buy a 2 liter and pass it around church/school/sports teams and see how many people openly drink out of the same bottle without knowing who drank out of it last.
Later that day, we had a meeting with all of the volunteers and leaders within the community. There were about 30 of us sitting in a circle when one of the volunteers walked in with a small loaf of bread. Intead of eating the whole thing, he grabbed a small piece and passed it around the whole circle. Later choclate was passed around and again broken into small pieces so that everyone could have a bite. Again, SHARING is second nature here...no one carries around their individual water bottles, or if they do, they open it and share with everyone else. WOW.
I retured that evening around 10pm ready to fall into my bed and crash. However, Rosy came over and invited me to eat dinner with her family who had recently arrived from the north. The table was LONG and everyone sat in community. We started eating around midnight and the evening ended around 2. Throughout the night I was struck my the talking and laughter. Everyone was talking at the same time and somehow everyone understood the jokes and stories that were being told. I sat back and watched for a while and decided that I have never seen such a large amount of genuine laughter in one place. Later that night Omar whipped out the guitar and over the talking, played various songs to which his uncles and brothers sang along. His uncle is 82 and heartily sang along with everyone. I looked at the corners of his eyes and smiled. They were full of wrinkles from laughter. I then preceded to look at the eyes of everyone in the room and found the same characteristic...eyes surrounded by wrinkles of laughter. Argentines like to laugh, talk, spend time together, eat meat, chocolate, and icecream , drink wine, and enjoy the richness of life. I love this.
Well I better get back to work. This week try to laugh with someone over a glass of wine while sharing a piece of chocolate. Enjoy the chaos of life and slow down a bit.
I miss all of you! Thank you for all your thoughts, letters, packages (mmmm peanut butter!) , notes, emails, and prayers!
Love,
Cristina
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