I was cleaning out my room yesterday morning when I came across a packet that my study abroad program gave to every student the first day during our orientation.  I was flipping through it when I noticed the heading, “Culture Shock” followed by three pages detailing the various stages of the term.  I was curious to see which stage I’m in, and according to them, I fall into the fourth stage called Adaptation and Biculturalism, which says that “the person realizes that the new culture has good and bad things to offer.” 

I’ve been in Buenos Aires for over two months now, and based on my personal experience, I think that’s a pretty accurate statement.  However, I’d take it even one step further and say “the person realizes that the new culture has good and bad things to offer and is willing to accept them for how they are.  It’s strange because I feel like in the past couple of weeks, I’ve reached a turning point in terms of my expectations from the Argentine culture I’ve been trying (moderately successfully) to immerse myself in.  Things that used to frustrate and annoy me so much no longer even phase me.  Two days ago, I was eating lunch at a great restaurant in Palermo with Emily and we asked the waitress for the check when we were finished.  Fifteen minutes later, she still hadn’t returned with the bill, and finally Emily stood up and handed her our $100 pesos, without even knowing how much the meal cost.  Then, another fifteen minutes later, she came back with our change without the bill!  So we couldn’t even see if she gave us back the correct amount. This would not fly in the U.S.  But while a month ago I would have gotten angry how long we waited and demanded to see the bill, we just laughed it off.  

Another “bad” thing I’ve come to accept are the cabs.  Twice in the last two weeks, I’ve gotten ripped off in taxis.  Once with Adam and once with Rachel.  And not the type where they take a longer route to take you to your destination–no, this is when their fare meter goes up way faster than it should.  In both situations, I noticed it and then told the cab driver not to cheat us, that the meter was going up way too fast in price.  The drivers just deny there’s anything wrong, so we end up making him pull over and let us out of the cab, which leads to us being stranded both times late at night on the side of the road, having to look for another cab who will actually take us home.  The first time this happened, I got so angry.  I wanted to scream at the driver and tell him how cheated I felt, but the whole not-being-so-great-at-Spanish thing prevented me.  The second time, though, I wasn’t even surprised.  Since I had now experienced the exact thing so many people had warned me about (cab drivers cheating Americans), I knew it wasn’t even worth it to argue.  Me and Rachel just shrugged and got out of the cab, paying what we owed.  To tell you the truth, the only thing I was mad about what having to wait outside in the cold for the new taxi to come. 

Okay, so these are the “bad” things I’m willing to accept as part of my transition out of culture shock.  But honestly there are so many more good things, I can’t even compare the two.  

When I last posted, I had just gotten back from Córdoba, so I was ready to get back into the swing of things.  That Thursday was especially exciting because a certain someone named Adam came to visit.

 It was so great to have him here and show him where I’ve been living the past two months.  We did a lot of the touristy things that I’ve already done, but everything felt different since I was in the position of being the “tour guide”–this time I was the one who knew where to go, which bus to take, how many subte stops away things were.  I didn’t even realize how well I knew the city until I was the one who was “in charge.”  We went to San Telmo, Recoleta, Puerto Madero, Palermo, downtown, the zoo, etc.  We ate at amazing restaurants, like Sucre, Cabaña Las Lilas (a parilla in Puerto Madero), Novecento (in Las Cañitas), Zadvarie (Peruvian) and a few others.  It was so nice to go out to dinner, since I usually just eat whatever my host mom cooks for me.  We drank great Malbec wine and I’m pretty sure Adam had at least a few good steaks while he was here.  On the Monday he was here, my host mom also had us over for a nice homemade meal, which was surprisingly better than usual.  He got to meet my friends and go out with us to the boliches.

 It was so much fun having him here so I could share my experience with him.  It was also strange, because it was my first taste of home since I’d been here.  I was afraid that I’d start to get really homesick right after Adam left, since his visit “broke the seal” on my physical isolation from home. It was really sad when he left and hard to say goodbye, but after a few days, things relatively went back to normal. 

 Of course, without question I miss everyone at home, but it’s almost like I don’t even think about home when I’m here.  Down here, I’m having constant stimuli in my face at all times, that I sometimes does realize I have a whole life in the States.  I’ll go days or even weeks without talking to some people, and it’s not because I’m consciously ignoring them.  It’s more that time goes by so fast for me here, so sometimes I just lose track of it.  

On another note, midterms started for me last week, so I’ve been busy “studying” for them.  It’s crazy that I’m just on midterms, and people are already out of school for the summer or even forever.  Speaking of, I should probably get back to studying.  I hope everyone has a great start to their summer! Happy Mother’s Day Mom & Nana!!! 

xo K