Cultural Norms

These are some of my recent observations in Mendoza, and some things that just take a while to get used to.

1. Staring is completely acceptable in Argentina, and they love to stare at the foreigners. People will watch you on the bus, at restaurants, walking down the street, really wherever, and it's not just creepy men staring; it's kids and old ladies and everybody. I find it awkward to be caught staring at someone, and even more awkward to be goggled at when walking down the street.

2. Public displays of affection (PDAs) are also acceptable. Since everyone lives at home until you are married, young couples don't have a place to go to display their affection, so instead they display it in public. You quite often see couples laying in the grass in the parks together, making out aggressively on the micros, or taking up every bench in the park. There are even these places called telos which are hotels where you can pay by the hour... for when being in public isn't sufficient enough. PDA was very common in Chile too when I was there this past weekend. I ran up to this railing by the beach to take a picture of the sunset one night, to accidentally intrude in a couples' make out sesh right next to me. They probably thought I was taking a picture of them.

3. People here often refer to others as exactly what they are, for example, as "gordita" (fatty) for a person who is generally bigger, or "niña" for a child. This applies to nationalities too, like saying "chino" for someone from China. It isn't meant offensively, it's just how they refer to people and are normally terms of endearment. 

4. When sitting down to a meal, Argentinians don't wait for each other to eat. Once the food is on the table, you can start eating while it's hot. But then we occasionally say a prayer after everyone has sat down, when I'm normally awkwardly halfway through a bite.

5. Smoking is very common, as it is in many countries, but a lot of people smoke in this city. I've gotten a lot of second hand smoke here, especially because a lot of the IFSA students have picked up social smoking habits too because a pack of cigarettes costs less than a dollar here. Smoking is illegal in enclosed and public places, and there are really graphic warning labels on the packs and in the stores warning against the consequences, such as that it hinders your sexual abilities. Even after this, a lot of people still smoke. I was really lucky to be placed with a host family that doesn't smoke.

6. Seatbelts are barely used here; neither are car seats for children, which is actually quite concerning. I see so many kids in the back seats of cars just hanging out, or even babies sitting in the laps of their mothers in the front seat.

7. Argentinians are very proud and stubborn people who don't trust easily and also often leave responsibility and the blame for other people. I've learned this in classes, been warned this by our program, and see it everyday in Mendoza. A good example of this is when you talk about food. Everything is "rica" no matter if it's a hot dog or a steak. If you ever want to experience the attitude of a Argentinian, ask about the Malvina islands, which are technically a part of the U.K., but every Argentinian will tell you how they belong to Argentina. It's hard to argue with an Argentinian. They believe what they want.

8. From my perspective, I think kids here have more independence at a young age than what I'm used to seeing in the States. For example, I often see kids taking the buses by themselves, which I sometimes can't even do by myself. Or sometimes I see very young kids just playing on the sidewalk near an acequia outside a store while their parents are shopping. I'm no child expert, but at the preschool I worked at I feel like we had much stricter rules for safety.